SJSinNYC-
Not really.
Water hammer is caused by liquid (which is not compressible) coming to a sudden stop. The force of this jolting stop can actually break pipes. There are “air cushions” (I forget their actual name – they are basically empty tubes, sometimes twisted in a spiral, installed upside-down to keep their air bubble) that are sometimes installed by a sink, atop the hot and cold water lines, specifically to allow air compression and prevent “water hammer” when the faucet is suddenly flipped off.
What “feivel” is describing is cavitation, which occurs when something (i.e. a submarine’s screw – this is a bane of submariners trying to avoid detection) is moving thru the water so quickly that the water separates, leaving a “bubble” that quickly closes again.