Starship Missions: Medical Ships and Other Things

[robject]

T5 has a taxonomy of ship missions. It's informative, but it's not restrictive. In other words, it doesn't completely describe all possible starships.

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One example is the Medical Ship. In the ship taxonomy, it's Governmental/NGO/Private -> Exploration -> Medical Data -> Med Ship.

That's fine -- I can see plot hooks there in fact.

However, that's not the only possible medical ship.

• I think Naval auxiliaries could be medical ships.
• There could be world-owned "Hospital Ships" which are for treatment rather than exploration.
• There could be commercial-based "emergency" ships, perhaps contracted out to belter stations or remote secondary systems or wherever.

Maybe these aren't typical or common, but they certainly could exist.

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Thus the taxonomy isn't the end-all be-all. It's a guide.

Similarly the modifier codes. There are a lot of them, but there are edge-case ships which could use modifiers that aren't there. Thus I think modifier codes are an open class.



Thoughts?

 

[whulorigan]

T5 has a taxonomy of ship missions. It's informative, but it's not restrictive. In other words, it doesn't completely describe all possible starships.

----

One example is the Medical Ship. In the ship taxonomy, it's Governmental/NGO/Private -> Exploration -> Medical Data -> Med Ship.

That's fine -- I can see plot hooks there in fact.

However, that's not the only possible medical ship.

• I think Naval auxiliaries could be medical ships.
• There could be world-owned "Hospital Ships" which are for treatment rather than exploration.
• There could be commercial-based "emergency" ships, perhaps contracted out to belter stations or remote secondary systems or wherever.

Maybe these aren't typical or common, but they certainly could exist.

----

Thus the taxonomy isn't the end-all be-all. It's a guide.

Similarly the modifier codes. There are a lot of them, but there are edge-case ships which could use modifiers that aren't there. Thus I think modifier codes are an open class.

Thoughts?

Certainly.

Based on the historical usage of the term, "Packet" (i.e. T5 "Unscheduled Passenger") could overlap with Government/NGO/Private --> Information vessels (Courier/Messenger/Express) as a "Dispatch Vessel" (and probably did prior to the establishment of the X-Boat Network in the 600's).

Yacht could also fall under "Private" as opposed to "Charter".

 

[robject]

Good catch, Wayne, on Yachts that could be owned by a wealthy dilettante, rather than a cruise ship chartered by the rich and famous for a jaunt.

The temptation to take rules as the final word is strong. I must resist.

 

[whulorigan]

Good catch, Wayne, on Yacht being owned by a wealthy dilettante, rather than a cruise ship chartered by the rich and famous for a jaunt.

The temptation to take rules as the final word is strong.

Maxim on the Wiki also made a good identification of the Packet Ship as a Blockade Runner with the right qualifiers.

 

[robject]

Maxim on the Wiki also made a good identification of the Packet Ship as a Blockade Runner with the right qualifiers.

Yeah, that's valid. A Blockade Runner is a Fast Packet with XYZ... Yes.

I wonder if Blockade Runner can be arrived at from a number of starting points...

 

[kilemall]

Is Rescue mission part of the taxonomy?

 

[whartung]

Is a taxonomy really an appropriate way to categorize ships? Seems to me a hierarchy is misplaced. Would be better to use a tag cloud.

"Medical facilites" "State owned" "Jump capable"

 

[Rigel Stardin]

What about Doctor's without borders?

 

[Spinward Flow]

However, that's not the only possible medical ship.

• I think Naval auxiliaries could be medical ships.
• There could be world-owned "Hospital Ships" which are for treatment rather than exploration.
• There could be commercial-based "emergency" ships, perhaps contracted out to belter stations or remote secondary systems or wherever.

Under the heading of "great minds think alike" ...

I'm currently in the process of doing a refresh/update on my LSP Clipper design in which the whole point and design purpose of the ship is external cargo loading as a "container ship" via use of Modular Cutter Modules ... which includes ... Medical Modules (standard) as well as Medevac Modules (military). Essentially the LSP Clipper (and its associated LSP Armored Fighter) provides the "transportation" of what amounts to a "mobile hospital" to wherever it is needed (for disaster relief or whatever).

What about Doctor's without borders?

My LSP Clipper would certainly be one way to accomplish that.
The starship provides the transport and the modules "do the work" that needs doing.
Heck, you could conceivably make multiple trips to bring even more modules on site if a single shipment of them wasn't enough.

That's because it isn't the starship that's the medical stuff you need ... it's the modules the starship delivers that's the medical stuff you need.

Kind of like being able to deliver an Ee Two class or Dee Six class Downport via delivery of 2 or 6 modules.
You don't need to cannibalize the starship to get the job done, you just need to deliver the modules and it's the modules that get the job done.

That kind of modular flexibility could come in REALLY HANDY I'm thinking.
Not as "perfect" as a single purpose dedicated ship ... but certainly "good enough" for a humongous variety of potential missions.

Got a new mission?
Swap out the modules and let's get going!

 

[Condottiere]

I think the descriptors, general and multi, purpose, apply.

If you use medical, hospital, or ambulance, the implication is that's it's a support ship, that will not be used in combat, and that function is it's primary mission.

 

[whartung]

A medical ship primary purpose would be combat support. MASH unit with a Jump drive.

I know that Mercy was deployed to LA to help support the early stages of the pandemic. Mercy was also used after the Tsunami.

The USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort are converted oil tankers, and 3rd largest by length of any ships in the fleet. So, they're big.