bellinghman: (Default)
bellinghman ([personal profile] bellinghman) wrote2009-01-29 11:41 am

Confusing referent

The following comes from an article on the BBC News site:

Its main armament - The Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS), known as Sea Viper - weighs as much as a small car, can accelerate to twice the speed of Concorde (Mach 4, about 2700 mph) in under 10 seconds, and has a range of more than 400km.

It also has its own hospital facilities - complete with operating table - 44 showers, 54 heads and 100 wash basins. However, it has just one bath.


Is it just me, or is that quite a missile? And though it's good for the missile to deliver not just death and destruction but also hospital facilities, is there really a need to provide 54 lavatories too?

(I'd not have misread this if that second quoted paragraph had started 'The ship' rather than 'It'.)

[identity profile] tisiphone.livejournal.com 2009-01-29 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
That second sentence is annoyingly structured as well, implying that the hospital facilities include 44 showers and so on. A devotion to sanitation is a positive in a hospital, but I think that's really a bit much.

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2009-01-29 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Certainly over-the-top for a hospital intended for the care of 190 crew.