Recent content by phavoc

The Brits converted the Atlantic Conveyor into a sort of armed merchant / auxiliary carrier when they embarked Harriers and helo's aboard. While they only transported the Harriers I don't see anything that may have stopped them from using it as a true carrier - though operationally it was...

Yeah, we started seeing the displacement inflation during the war as technology, need and other things shaped the designs and sizes of ships. Look at how the typical destroyer changed from 1939 to 1945. The Sims class was a nicely designed destroyer for it's time - 5in guns in 5x1...

Size CAN BE a function of role, but there are often other considerations at play that dictate such things. Historically things like sizes of building slips available has limited the size of a ship being built. For a period the USN warship size was dictated by the size restrictions of the...

Had to look that one up. You are referring to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Maritime Security Program (MSP). It's mostly RO/RO and container ships that military needs to move equipment around the world to places. There are 60 ships listed, and from what I could find it would appear...

Palidan Anti-Palidan

Aye, politics has a way of sometimes intruding upon things. As the Alaska class shows, even services sometimes let their biases interfere with things. Generally speaking, frigates have been smaller than destroyers even if they had the same basic setup. The OHP class the USN got rid of was a...

But isn't that the point of using a label? To convey a concept? If I build a 500k Dton warship and I call it a destroyer, that's fine I suppose. But when the label (or naval nomenclature in this case) says 'nyet!' to that, does that still make it valid? That's kind of the point of using...

I am not aware of the RN paying for weapon mounts at the time of building a ship. I looked up what I could in my naval books and the closest I could find was a passage about the RN paying for guns, ammo and doing the training of merchantmen while the ship owners paid for the modifications to...

Jervis Bay was doing escort duty for a small convoy, and it's Captain engaged to save as many convoy ships as possible. Jervis Bay couldn't outrun and it certainly did not outgun the Admiral Scheer. It's captain did the best he could for the circumstances, and arguably he did quite well by...

Also keep in mind that station populations are microcosm's of reality. I had created a small station and added in personalities behind the shops, companies and people onboard. I didn't detail every one of them out, but some it was kind of fun to create different things. I made one shop owner...

AMC's would never want to deliberately seek out a confrontation with a real warship - the odds are heavily against them. Their best bet is surprise with torpedoes at close range. AMC guns simply weren't up to the job of sinking armored (and armed) cruisers. Yes, liner's engines were generally...

The Royal Navy didn't have enough warships, even with 2nd and 3rd tier ships being used, to perform all the patrols required. What they did have was a number of liners that were available, and enough light guns and crews to arm them. Not sure what you mean in reference to 'thirsty engines' -...

Stations, like starships, would work on a 24/7 model. I though Cherryh's DownBelow Station did a good job on the station side explaining things. They used a Mainday/Alterday cycle (12/hrs each), with the Mainday corresponding to normal 'day' and Alterday being 'night'. Operations were...

It's reasonable. You'd expect a lot of stations to have very cookie-cutter approach to their accommodations, with perhaps internal walls that could be easily repositioned, but most fixtures don't. Remodelling your station apartment and adding a 2nd bath or whatever is not as practical (but not...

Labor is an expense, so for some things you'd expect automation and vending machines to be used where it made most sense. Small shops will run the gamut of 1-person operations, to multi-person operations. Your biggest driver is going to be how much credits the store might be able to make and...