Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Starships: Inside the Ship That Changed WWII | The Liberty Ship

The Liberty Ship was a cargo vessel so important it helped turn the tide of World War II. We’ve recreated it in 3D for this video, so you can see exactly how it all worked, from the engine room to the bridge.

Liberty ships were cargo vessels built by the United States during World War II to transport supplies, equipment, and troops to Allied forces around the world. Designed for rapid, low-cost production, more than 2,700 were constructed between 1941 and 1945. They were built faster than the enemy could sink them. Powered by a triple-expansion steam engine, they reached speeds of about 11 knots. Although intended as temporary wartime transports, many remained in service for decades. Simple and reliable, Liberty ships became a backbone of the Allied war effort.

Chapters
00:00 - 00:54 Intro
00:54 - 02:26 History
02:26 - 04:10 Specifications & Capabilities
04:10 - 06:49 Exterior Tour
06:49 - 07:59 Weapons & Defenses
07:59 - 11:18 Bridge Deck & Boat Deck
11:18 - 11:58 Upper Deck
11:58 - 14:50 Second Deck & Steering Gear
14:50 - 15:50 Tank Top
15:50 - 17:51 Boilers
17:51 - 20:27 Engine
20:27 - 22:02 Legacy & Conclusion

1. Seven kilotonnes plus, eleven knots, and under a hundred man crew.

2. Technically, the Victory ships were fifty percent larger and faster.

3. If I had to recreate one, I'd go for five kilotonnes.

4. Though, with interstellar scale, and the requirements of an interstellar military, a hundred kilotonnes.

5. One of the advantages would be that while as a larger target it would be more attractive to commerce raiders, you'd need a lot of them to tackle it.

6. Or, a light cruiser.

7. Crew size would be cut by two thirds, and you could link weapon systems together, that would make a hit on a light cruiser possibly critical.

8. The numbers of laser turrets should ensure a rather effective point defence shield.

9. And a little investment in large bays, should give even the most aggressive of commerce raider captains pause.

 

[rinku]

Size also has a defensive value against critical hits. Above 2,000 tons ignores turret and barbette critical hits; above 10,000 tons ignore small bays. Coupled with the large number of hull points those ships come with, it becomes hard for small commerce raiders to do anything other than scratch them before they make jump (if able), or to avoid a long drawn out fight. An armed 5k hauler may well win a fight against smaller ships even if the total number of weapons were less, if it was doing effect and 10% criticals while the attackers could not.

And the longer the freighter can stay fighting, the more time any help has to catch the raiders.

Further thought on those rules - one of the ways small ships can do the job is missiles, since multiple ships can combine into a salvo to overwhelm defenses and get into 10% critical hit territory regardless of the size threshold rule.

There's also a problem in that turret/barbette missiles are the same as bay ones, so the large ship rule probably shouldn't apply to those. It seems odd that a Medium Missile Bay launching a salvo of 12 causes effect criticals, but three missile barbettes firing a salvo of 15 does not.

 

[Condottiere]

Missile and torpedo count as individuals when launching, and salvoes when arriving, so the launcher type doesn't count.

In theory.

It's more a question of fire control and fratricide, which is probably why it's fire and forget.

And, you could time it so that several salvoes arrive in the same round.

In that sense, it why you'd want a robust point defence, if only to trim down the number of missiles.

And at a hundred kilotonnes, you definitely will have close escorts.

What I'm having trouble with, is establishing what's considered the normal jump range.

When I tried mapping out a Confederation wide express boat network, it became pretty obvious why jump factor/four is a requirement.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering, Manoeuvre Drive, and Pulsing

V. At least in the short term, pulsing is faster than puttering along at a milligee.

W. In the practical sense, you'd be better off using a default hull, and install a manoeuvre drive onboard.

X. In the more taxation evasive accounting sense, it's was fundamentally cheaper to minimize capital outlay and operating costs.

Y. Balancing the requirement with simplicity and Byzantine compromises, to achieve something workable and worthwhile, is an art form.

Z. And in real life, sometimes convenience is more attractive than cost.