Don't have to sink it - just disable it, which a single missile could do. But I'm pretty sure more than a single missile or torpedo could get through.
Yes and no. I agree, one missile on the flight deck would stop air ops and send a few airborne
swimming looking for a place to land. Water tight integrity on these ships are huge. Unless
you've been on one, or right next to one, it's hard to understand just how big they are.
Mind you with the right warhead you might be able to take one out. I don't think too many
navies have missiles with large enough payloads. Of course the older smaller carriers are
going to be far more prone, and this one is quite a few years old.
A couple good arguments (as you can see these arguments have been going on for years):
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=[HTML_REMOVED]threadid=96282
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-133949.html
Direct hits aren't needed, if the payload is big enough:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/es310/uw_wpns/uw_wpns.htm
.
.
.
.
"i surf because, i"m always a better person when i come in"-Andy Irons
.
.
.