Cepheus Engine Only 10 Ton Jump ship

[Grav_Moped]

I have an issue in CT with the 20dT minimum BRIDGE in a 100 dT Scout or 200 dT Free Trader. Try taking a set of deckplans and a highlighter and coloring in the squares that denote “20 dT of Bridge”. Does that really look like a “Bridge” to you? For a SCOUT, the BRIDGE needs 20 dT with ONE pilot seat surrounded by (presumably) 19 dTons of “equipment”.

Look at the canon (flattened pyramid paper airplane) Type S. It's really thin and pointy up front! Then note that the official deck plans don't specify what parts of the non crew quarters part of the ship are literally the bridge... if you do the math, it's a weirdly large portuin of the deck plans.

 

[Condottiere]

Great for atmospheric manoeuvring.

I don't recall if it was a popular hull configuration for pulp magazine illustrators from the Fifties to the Seventies, prior I would have thought rocket tailsitters.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Look at the canon (flattened pyramid paper airplane) Type S. It's really thin and pointy up front! Then note that the official deck plans don't specify what parts of the non crew quarters part of the ship are literally the bridge... if you do the math, it's a weirdly large portuin of the deck plans.

This is what I was talking about: Suliman, fixed (my re-interpretation of the classic W.H. Keith design). See how much of the deck plan is the (green) bridge... By volume, that's still short-changing it a little since some of the electronics is up in the "attic".

 

[Rupert]

Needle/wedge/cone designs are also deceptive because there's very little volume in the front part of the ship. The front half of the ship has 1/8th of the volume, for example.

 

[Condottiere]

You mean for the guys drawing up deckplans?

On the plus side, full hydrogen tanks, spread all over the place, can act as hull armour.

 

[TamsinP]

I said nothing about SOLAS merchant ships. reread EXACTLY what I wrote

Well, you said this:

The crew requirements for smaller ships is about what it would be for a present day ocean going ship.

So I took the requirements for 500-3000 GT ships as they are approximately the same size as the small ships in Traveller which PCs would be using/encountering.

Ships in the 100-500 GT range (28.35-134.5 dTons; mostly tugs and fishing vessels) do have slightly lower requirements:

Deck - Master, 1 officer/mate (2 if Master doesn't stand watch), 2 navigation ratings, other deck ratings as required.

Engineering (assuming 350-750 kW) - 1st/2nd engineer, 1 other engineering officer, (2 engine ratings)

Steward's - Cook


Ships and boats under 100 GT aren't covered by SOLAS, which is why solo round the world sailing is possible.

 

[Marcatlas]

Well, you said this:



So I took the requirements for 500-3000 GT ships as they are approximately the same size as the small ships in Traveller which PCs would be using/encountering.

Correct. Which is NOT SOLAS merchant ships at sea on Earth

 

[atpollard]

Needle/wedge/cone designs are also deceptive because there's very little volume in the front part of the ship. The front half of the ship has 1/8th of the volume, for example.

I liked the Dr.WHO Phone Booth aspect to the plans ... larger on the inside than the outside.
I always enjoyed the RAW part about STANDARD HULLS having this distinct ENGINEERING SECTION that ONLY a few specific things could be placed in with an immovable bulkhead that required a Custom Hull (at far greater price) to change ... and then NONE of the standard plans met the letter or spirit of that draconian rule about ENGINEERING.

 

[TamsinP]

Correct. Which is NOT SOLAS merchant ships at sea on Earth

SOLAS covers all ships of 100 GT and over, including non-commercial ships like larger private yachts. As such, it exactly matches your comment "...what it would be for a present day ocean going ship."

Ships which only operate in near-coastal waters have a lower crew requirement because they usually go into port at night so don't need to keep watch 24/7.

 

[Marcatlas]

SOLAS covers all ships of 100 GT and over,

It doesn't cover ANY spaceships of any tonnage

 

[TamsinP]

It doesn't cover ANY spaceships of any tonnage

Of course it doesn't. However, my reply was in response to your comment saying

The crew requirements for smaller ships is about what it would be for a present day ocean going ship.

I simply posted what the crew requirements are "for a present day ocean going ship", which transpire to be quite a bit more than for small ships in Traveller.

 

[Grav_Moped]

and then NONE of the standard plans met the letter or spirit of that draconian rule about ENGINEERING.

I wondered why the standard hulls weren't all identical (at least each size-and-streamlining combination). That is, for example, any 400Td streamlined standard-hull ship -- whether it's a liner, a freighter, or a yacht -- is going to look like a Subsidized Merchant because it's the standard hull in that size. And a streamlined Type Y will look like a Free Trader because that's the standard 200Td streamlined hull.


My other complaint is that some of the standard hulls do not have drive bays that correspond to any plausible set of drives.

 

[Condottiere]

Circumstantial, probably.

Though I doubt that standard blueprints are going to be misread, across the Imperium.

On the other hand, individual shipyards may be cutting corners, have a particular way of doing things, or are substituting something.

And then, gradual customization of aging starships.