| From: | acgetchell@*******.edu (Adam Getchell) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Naval units (was Re: Killing in Shadowrun...) |
| Date: | Sun, 26 May 1996 16:58:36 -0700 |
>what there was of the Canadian navy and a few of its traditions too. US
>conventions have swung in the last ten or fifteen years, though.
Hmmm ... not to offend any Canadians, but I'm not sure what sort of
maritime traditions were left after they conglomerated their military.
Canada doesn't have an Air Force, Navy, Army, but rather one combined
service.
The Canadian naval forces comprise mainly DDs and FFs, with some Ojibwa
SSs. There wouldn't be much effect on U.S. naval naming conventions, since
the Canadians don't possess SSBNs, CVNs, BBs, or CGs.
><naval pedant mode on>
>Right now... Carriers now are mostly named for Presidents (the latest
>two Nimitzes are the Harry S. Truman and the Ronald Reagan - no, I am
>not kidding).
This is again, particular to the Nimitz class CVNs; the Nimitz itself is
named for Admiral Nimitz of WWII. There is also the Forrestal class of CVs,
the single Enterprise CVN, the Kitty Hawk CV, and the old Midway and Coral
Sea CVs dating from just after WWII.
By the way, since Ronald Reagan instituted the "600 ship fleet" naval
rebuilding, there is a very good reason to name a CVN after him.
>Cruisers are battles now: Ticonderoga, Anzio, Mobile Bay, Antietam (all
>CG-47s).
Again, this applies to the Ticonderoga class CGs, optimized for air defense
and Aegis. Previous cruiser classes were named after states (California
class CGNs) or cities (the single Long Beach CGN) and the ordinance
ship/strike cruiser may again revive state names.
Submarines used to be fish, were cities for a while, are now
>confused (Seawolf and Conneticut, SSN-23 still unnamed).
Not really. Los Angeles class attack submarines (SSNs) are named after
cities while the new Seawolf class seems to be named after whatever
congressman's state can generate the most pork for the submarine shipyards.
;-) But SS(N)'s in general are named after fish: Barbel, Sturgeon, Narwhal,
Skate, etc.
Future naval technology re Shadowrun: more serious warships will be
submarines, with ordinance ships (lots of launchers on a fairly
low-performance hull) for firepower. Maritime nations such as UCAS and
Imperial Japan may build submarine aircraft carriers, especially in the
face of orbital weaponry. Surface ships with advanced hullforms (SWATH,
Seaknife, or SES) may enjoy a burst speed advantage over submersibles
(which cannot exceed a certain velocity due to cavitation stresses on the
hull), which will help them in antisubmarine warfare, but may not matter in
an extremely air-heavy combat environment. Corporations will most likely
not invest in large warships; the support structure, escort vessels,
ordninance and combined fleet-ops experience isn't there and too costly to
acquire/maintain. I'd expect the big naval powers to be UCAS and Imperial
Japan, with second-stringers being UK, France, Germany, China, perhaps
Australia (to counter Japan). Russia may also be in there but lack of an
year-round icefree seaport has hampered their naval ambitions since the
1800's. Other nations and corporations would have smaller forces, and there
could be some mercenary flotillas out there, but the nations above would
probably be the only ones fielding any sort of blue water navy. Other
countries would compensate with air force units.
>Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
