Reserves & Detached Duty

[paltrysum]

Third Imperium, page 147,

"Mothball Fleet – The last stop for many of the
navy’s starships is the Depot Mothball Fleet.
Ships are brought to one of Depot’s maintenance
hangars for a thorough inspection, given
preservative treatment and then designated
for one of the following: refit and reassignment
to a colonial or reserve fleet, the breaker yard
to be disassembled for scrap, equipped with
automation and used as targets in live-fire
exercises or storage at one of several auxiliary
facilities on one of the other planets or planetoid
belts in Depot system. Assignment to storage
usually means the navy is uncertain about quite
what they want to do with the ship and that it
requires more time to make the decision."

Sounds like a great starting point for a group of Travellers. We need a ship to carry out a dangerous mission in war-torn space, and the only thing we have is this old wreck that was intended for live-fire exercises. We need you to use it to take this very important message and these black globes across enemy lines to our allies, trapped on the other side.

Sign me up, cap'n! I hear they award the SEH posthumously!

 

[Condottiere]

 

[ottarrus]

Sounds like a great starting point for a group of Travellers. We need a ship to carry out a dangerous mission in war-torn space, and the only thing we have is this old wreck that was intended for live-fire exercises. We need you to use it to take this very important message and these black globes across enemy lines to our allies, trapped on the other side.

Sign me up, cap'n! I hear they award the SEH posthumously!

Years ago, there was this wonderful book about a great space war. A desperate navy was bringing old dilapidated ships out of the knacker's yards and the protagonists were the crew. I forget the name of the book sadly but the ship made a great impression on me.

Her name was the L'imperatore Umberto Magno. She was a creaky old collection of panels and bolts that sometimes even kept an atmo seal if you didn't piss her off too badly. Mostly all her parts flew in the same direction. If she was in a good mood, they'd even stayed attached

But when it came time for the misfit crew of aged reservists, hand me downs that no other captain wanted, and pissed off merchantmen who were TUFT back into the Navy kicking and screaming to earn their pay, Ol' Bertie fought like a lion and brought most of her crew home before she finally had had enough. The crew was decorated for their efforts and the captain specifically requested that their medals be minted out of pieces of Ol' Bertie's hull.

 

[GabrielGABFonseca]

Years ago, there was this wonderful book about a great space war. A desperate navy was bringing old dilapidated ships out of the knacker's yards and the protagonists were the crew. I forget the name of the book sadly but the ship made a great impression on me.

Her name was the L'imperatore Umberto Magno. She was a creaky old collection of panels and bolts that sometimes even kept an atmo seal if you didn't piss her off too badly. Mostly all her parts flew in the same direction. If she was in a good mood, they'd even stayed attached

But when it came time for the misfit crew of aged reservists, hand me downs that no other captain wanted, and pissed off merchantmen who were TUFT back into the Navy kicking and screaming to earn their pay, Ol' Bertie fought like a lion and brought most of her crew home before she finally had had enough. The crew was decorated for their efforts and the captain specifically requested that their medals be minted out of pieces of Ol' Bertie's hull.

Well, now I really want you to remember what that book was called!

 

[ottarrus]

Well, now I really want you to remember what that book was called!

Well the name escapes me right now, which means it'll wake me up in the middle of the night two weeks from now and I won't know why...
But I CAN recommend two series for you featuring cantankerous space navy ships...
-- Battleship Leviathan by Craig Martelle, and
-- Starcruiser Shenandoah, by Roland Green

 

[Condottiere]

I think I read the sequel to Shenandoah.

I think there is a sort of romance of resurrecting old battlewagons, and leading them to glory.

 

[Vormaerin]

From a story point of view, it lets you give your protagonists a powerful warship while still letting you make them seem the underdog.

 

[ottarrus]

From a story point of view, it lets you give your protagonists a powerful warship while still letting you make them seem the underdog.

Well, it's also making the ship a central protagonist in the story...

 

[Condottiere]

The Action of 22 September 1914 was an attack by the German U-boat U-9 that took place during the First World War. Three obsolete Royal Navy cruisers of the 7th Cruiser Squadron manned mainly by Royal Naval Reserve part-timers and sometimes referred to as the Live Bait Squadron, were sunk by U-9 while patrolling the southern North Sea.

 

[wintertraveller]

Well, it's also making the ship a central protagonist in the story...

I agree with this analysis but I'm not sure that it is a problem. The science fiction stories that prominently feature a ship that has become an iconic character are stories that I tend to enjoy.

 

[Vormaerin]

I don't think anyone suggested it was a problem? He was just saying that was also a factor in addition to the one I mentioned earlier.

 

[ottarrus]

I agree with this analysis but I'm not sure that it is a problem. The science fiction stories that prominently feature a ship that has become an iconic character are stories that I tend to enjoy.

But the Enterprise [any era] didn't have moans and groans and jimmy fixes and weird rituals you have to do to get system [x] to run correctly. THAT'S what I'm talking about
Every piece of machinery in the US Department of Defense, from aircraft carriers to computer printers, must be respected as a person or else the sum'bitch will short out on you for sure... usually at an important time when you and your supervisor are there to watch. You defy the machine gods at your considerable peril!
More realistically, consider how bashed the Battlestar Galactica looked at the end of the series. She looked like she'd been run over with a snow plow! I mean, it isn't like the crew had any time to refit or extensively repair her.

 

[Condottiere]