
Rust is a $6B problem for the Navy, cruise ships and more - smacktoward
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-13/navy-ship-rust
======
spiderfarmer
I don't get the point of this article.

I think most people know what rust is, probably from other things than your
shower head, which is a weird association as most people have plastic shower
heads nowadays.

And yes, metal rusts, we've known that for millennia. It's a problem for
everyone, including the navy and if you have a lot of metal, it gets
expensive. This is no surprise and I think organisations like the navy have
rust prevention factored in in the cost of maintenance?

Exactly what point is the author trying to make?

~~~
jbob2000
The purpose of this article is to generate fear.

It could be a company that is trying to influence decision-makers to purchase
their rust-proofing solution, it could be a political arm hoping to influence
voters, or it could be a geo-political enemy hoping to sow distrust in the
American military.

But ultimately, since the article does nothing but waffle between all the
different ways that rust can mess with things, it's really just here to make
you scared.

~~~
angry_octet
There is a simpler explanation: rust is a real problem, but the author
couldn't find a good way to convey that to a general LA Times audience.

------
jokoon
I would not expect to see articles about that kind of rust on hacker news.
That was a nice chuckle.

------
h2odragon
Except they're talking about actual corrosion, where the rust on your
showerhead is more likely to be a byproduct of biological action.

~~~
0xFFFE
I am really curious to know how rust is a byproduct of biological action,
could you elaborate?

~~~
h2odragon
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-
oxidizing_bacteria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-oxidizing_bacteria)

It may a different thing for people with municipal water; out here in the
sticks everyone is on wells and this stuff keeps our white laundry brown and
leaves lovely patterns on the insides of pipes.

------
angry_octet
Barnacles are far more interesting than rust. Not least because they are
hermaphrodites, that also have the longest penises of any species.

Barnacles (and algal slime and so on) create significant hydrodynamic drag and
damage paint, leading to rust also. Toxic chemicals are added to hull paint in
order to repel them, but it is of limited efficacy and very bad for the
environment.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle)
[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/science/barnacles-
ships-c...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/science/barnacles-ships-
coating.html)

I have often mused on the possibility of a small barnacle cleaning robot.
Something the clamped and crawled with an electromagnet, a crushing/scraping
barnacle doom. A number of systems out there, but none seem to have cracked
the problem.

[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.5772/62060](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.5772/62060)
[https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-12141...](https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121416-161958/unrestricted/USCG_Final_2016.pdf)

~~~
tandr
Would electrifying hull, or making some high frequency electric zaps to the
hull make these barnacles to fall off/not to attach? (just thinking out loud,
it is probably have been tried given how common this problem is...)

~~~
angry_octet
When you say electrifying, what are the places there is a potential across?
Because salt water is an excellent conductor.

I have wondered whether a microwave would do the trick. Basically cooking the
algae. The trick is then to access all the books and crannies, e.g. near the
propeller. Unfortunately it probably wouldn't remove any barnacle polymer
cement or other buildup, like the awful tube worms, you'd still need
mechanical scrubbing.

With electrical techniques you also have to avoid magnetising the hull, which
on navy vessels has been carefully degaussed.

~~~
tandr
Thank you. I totally forgot about degaussed hulls...

------
pintxo
Is this really the level of reading skills the LA Times is targeting: "a dry
dock, a special facility with high walls where ships are lifted out of the
water"?

~~~
happytoexplain
This seems elitist for no reason. I wouldn't classify the knowledge of the
functionality of a dry dock as "reading skills". Personally, I knew what a dry
dock was in a general sense, but appreciated the visual to refresh/corroborate
my understanding of the exact function.

~~~
pintxo
I specifically found the description not very helpful. A facility with high
walls? Like a warehouse? A barn? A factory?

------
dreamcompiler
Are they using the borrow checker properly? Oh wait, never mind.

------
virgilp
They only have a problem with rust because of the C.

(excuse me, I'll see myself out. Couldn't help it, my initial reaction was
"how can Rust possibly create problems for the navy???")

------
TecoAndJix
For topside steel, the Navy uses needle guns to keep things from going out of
control [0]. You have to prime over it the same day or you get the privilege
of doing it all over again!

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKJmI7R9DgM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKJmI7R9DgM)

------
potta_coffee
Saw title, came to make a joke about Rust programming language, remembered
that HN doesn't appreciate jokes.

~~~
hombre_fatal
We appreciate funny jokes. The act of merely spotting a basic homonym or pun,
something surely everyone did here, isn't all that funny, though.

