<<Dope1: Oh, well. Maybe they'll sink a ship or 3 and that will be enough.>>

I can guarantee you, if any ship of the USN is fired upon, the CO of that ship will respond with every weapon at his disposal, regardless of any standing order or any task force order.

The task force commander is responsible for seeing that none of his assets are placed in a threat situation where they lack the capability to defend themselves.

Side Note: 'Lots' (ALL???) active ships of the fleet are equipped with the Phalanx defensive Gatling gun. Runs on auto, detects incoming, opens fire. Nick named 'R2D2', for its resemblance to the cute robot in the Star Wars movies. The very first issues of the Gatling concept were effectively deployed all the way back in "the war between the states".

Fun videos of R2D2 in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_qSLR7a5qI&ab_cha...

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