Those are also clever interpretations, and may be true. However, there is no indication of this, and in fact some of the named shipyards may also be "numbered", though it's not a requirement. Hence there could be a lot of "numbered" yards.
Sure, it's possible. And it's possible that there are no Yard 1, Yard 2, etc. But its most likely that the yards involved in the
Azhanti production run was a representative selection of the available yards. Given that the numbers we hear of are 11, 16, 17, and 22, it's quite possible that there are more than the 24 I suggested. 28 or 30 or 32, perhaps. But probably not 40 or 50.
Therefore, I suggest that yard numbers are part of an Imperial registration system, and are therefore related to Imperial interests, but it is not clear that those interests are any different than that of named starports.
Here we're down to personal opinions. No, it's not clear how they're different from named shipyards (not starports), but the very fact that they have a uniform, Imperium-wide naming scheme indicates that there is some difference. If you don't like the idea of shipyards established by the Imperium in partnership with a member world (or even private enterprise), please come up with another explanation.
Three numbered yards (11, 16, 22) are important enough to produce Imperial warships, while one numbered yard (17) might only be regionally important in the navy's eyes (note that it was scheduled to produce a significant percentage of the Kinunirrin, more than Clan Severn on Rhylanor, so it's not a trivial yard).
It also produced five
Azhantis, so I don't understand why you think it's of less importance than the other numbered yards.
At the same time, a number of named yards are just as important as the numbered yards -- Gashidda, for example.
Yes, of course. That's the basis for my guesstimate of roughly 100 major shipyards across the Imperium. All the named shipyards that produce
Azhantis would be just as important as numbered yards.
Yard 17 is on Efate
Well, maybe not, but a case can be made. Yard 17 has the navy's local interest, and produces Imperial navy ships, so an attached naval base is reasonable. It built a large number of Kinunir, which figure prominently in the Regina subsector, so it's probably on a TL13 world.
As it produced
Azhantis, it would have had a space TL of 14 back in 1000. I don't mind putting it on Efate on that account, since I believe Efate has a space TL of 15 in the Classic Era, but others may object.
The reason why I don't want Yard 17 in the Marches is that we already have 17
Azhantis being produced in the Marches at Clan Severn, Ling Standard, and Yard 11. That's a sizable chunk of the whole production run. Adding the five that was produced at Yard 17...
Efate is of strategic importance, and that plus the naval base plus the Type A starport just about guarantees an important shipyard.
Or a few dozen medium shipyards.
And the only shipyard we have recorded for Efate is a ratty little General Products mini-yard capable of producing 600t ships. Hans speculates that a starport may have more than one shipyard, and Efate is a prime candidate for that.
Bear in mind that al the info about General Shipyards are pre-HG and thus pertains to a non-existent small-ship universe. To fit in with the big-ship OTU, those numbers should be upped by one or two orders of magnitude. It really is quite ridiculous to speak of an important megacorporate subsidiary that builds one or two 600T ships per year. If General Shipyards really only do 600 and 1000 T ships, then it's too small to be worth the amount of notice it has been getting.
Hans
g5 Produced Tral Wolf light cruisers
