In a standard game of battleships, what is the minimum number of strikes you will need to make to guarantee hitting at least one boat?

Battleships is played on a 10x10 Grid,
You are allowed:-
1 Battle Ship (4x1)
2 Cruisers (3x1)
3 Destroyers (2x1) and
3 Submarines (1x1)

NOTE:-These rules are slightly different than those of the board game, I am using these so that all members can give the same answer.

The ships:
1x Battle Ship (4x1)
2x Cruisers (3x1)
3x Destroyers (2x1)
3x Submarines (1x1)

This gives a total of 19 squares that the ships will occupy. There are 100 squares on the board. Giving 81 unoccupied squares. If you hit all the unoccupied spaces and dont touch a single boat, you must therefore make 82 HITS to guarantee hitting any boat.

Posted by Briso on 2005-07-24 11:20:52