How many layers to bullet proofness?

[cthippo]

Originally Posted by Mr Efficiency

Best bet would be a naval escort through pirate-infested waters, but they may want to stay at a discreet distance using your boat as "bait" to lure the bandits out of their lairs.

For $6000 a day you can do that. The Russians do pirate cruises on big yachts, try to lure them in, and then open up with heavy crew served weapons. For a little extra the passengers can get their own AK and join the fun!

No, I'm not kidding.

Good news / Bad news

The good news is that mostly they're carrying AKs and a quarter inco of steel will probably stop a 7.62x39 round.

Bad news is everybody and their brother has RPG7s and they can mess you up. The redeeming feature there is that the RPG is an anti tank round and during Vietnam they would frequently pass in one side of the fiberglass PBRs and out the other side because there wasn't enough resistance to trip the fuse.

[PsychicWarrior]

Originally Posted by Mr Efficiency

Any punk can shoot you driving down the road, but few people have bullet-proof cars, if yachties won't be deterred from entering waters known for piracy, they will just have to wear it if the worst happens.

Well few cars are worth $10M plus and they don't go in bad neighborhoods.

Needless to say we are getting off course. I didn't ask for an opinion if it was needed but how its possible. Thank you.

As for the Russians.. yes that will work in and around Russia. RPGs need to very close 200 yds or closer and aren't so accurate. Sure I wouldn't want to face one, and yet thats a highly organized pirate. It's the simple gun I want to make sure wont ruin the voyage/sink the boat etc.

[Mr Efficiency]

Originally Posted by PsychicWarrior

I am very intrigued by this subject as I am planning a 30 mtr Exploration yacht to go around the world. The hull design is one I have been pondering for a while.

THe new space age materials are nice, light etc yet one bozo/pirate/rogue patrol office can sink you with one shot from a medium rifle? or AK47.. which makes me wonder.

Would a Steel hull be better off ? I would think so.. but curious who knows what here.

Thank you.

As has been said, a battle tank is about the only bullet proof conveyance available, thinking you can avert pirate mayhem by an armoured vessel seems a bit silly, unless your ship carries its own substantial armament and crew trained to use it, which would be illegal in many jurisdictions, I'm sure.

Originally Posted by PsychicWarrior

A steel hull would afford you that I would think yet thats heavy and slow. There must be some answers.

Who says a steel hull is heavy and slow? What is a FRP hull at the same size boat? Lightweight?

You cannot make a yacht bulletproof without screwing the intended purpose up completely. (assuming the intended purpose is recreational by nature, not pirate hunting)

Regards
Richard

[wardd]

when i was in the army working on ch-47's only the pilot and co-pilot had armor

you could use this principle on a yacht of just armoring say just part of the wheel house or secondary control station

on any fair sized cruiser a few bullet holes wouldn't cause sinking while the pumps worked

afterward a few bungs would take care of them

as far as diesel tanks not much would probably happen as long as they were not tracer

[cthippo]

You're only solving half the problem though.

Sure the boat may be bulletproof, but unless you have a decent arsenal of your own to fight them off or can outrun them, there is nothing to stop them from boarding you.

[PsychicWarrior]

Well, They assume you have guns and you don't want them to assume you don't.

Lets leave it at that. As well, Someone you think I am planning an Aircraft carrier when all i want to prevent is the punk with a gun. A real savvy and heavily armed pirate corp with RPGS/AK 47s and a speed boat will be tuff to fend off unless you are a Navy ship.

[BATAAN]

The first bullet barely scratches the surface. It's the ensuing bullets left in the magazine that chew their way through anything eventually. The question is, what is eventually?
A .50 cal BMG is pretty awesome at destroying concrete walls, I wonder what it does to F/G laminates?

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by PsychicWarrior

Well, They assume you have guns and you don't want them to assume you don't.

Lets leave it at that. As well, Someone you think I am planning an Aircraft carrier when all i want to prevent is the punk with a gun. A real savvy and heavily armed pirate corp with RPGS/AK 47s and a speed boat will be tuff to fend off unless you are a Navy ship.

Realistically, a 'punk with a gun' probably isn't going to sink your boat -- especially since sinking it, as opposed to commandeering it, wouldn't be profitable. In the event you do get into a firefight with him and survive, or outrun him and survive, a decent bildge pump should handle any likely damage until you can deal with it.

Don't stay awake nights worrying; your odds of even running into a punk with a gun are probably lower than the odds of ramming a lost cargo container. So it might behoove you to be beefing up your stem instead, if you want to make your boat 'bullet-proof'....