From:	Russ Myrick <rm91612@****.net>
Subject:	Re: Naval units (was Re: Killing in Shadowrun...)
Date:	Mon, 27 May 1996 10:57:49 -0700

Adam Getchell wrote:
<snip>
> 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.
>
Being a Bubble Head myself I try to keep up on available tech for boats
around the world.

With regards to hull forms --
1. Any submersible these days has to be deep diving (excess of 400 ft)
three reasons a. Many of the "super tankers" currently afloat
have a draft of 200' to 250' fully loaded; b. General Dynamics
has been playing around with a prototype semi-submersible cargo/
container vessel for the past 5 years (the sail ... err.. bridge
rides about 10-12m above, while the rest is below water - arial
photos place this to be about the size of the USS Eisenhower);
c. ASW/surveilance tech allows airborne and satellites to
optically spot a submerged vessel upto 200 ft in depth.
2. As noted GD does have one sub type freighter and they are working on
other hull designs that will allow for greater depth & speed.
One note on this ... the deeper you go the faster you can go
before cavitating ... unfortunately there reaches a point that
in spite of your depth & screw (that's propeller to you skimmers
and dry landers) design, the noise created by rapid water
displacement gives you away first (that can be pin pointed half
way around the globe with any of the current issue French sonar
systems
Notes on speed --
1. See 2. above for the serious limitation
2. There is indication that the Swedes have been doing some serious work
on magnetic impeller propulsion systems (an underwater ramjet).
The advantage here is high speed with no cavitation. So we're
only limited by hull noise.
3. There is some development of a slug shaped hull (as opposed to the
current tear drop shape in use now) going on around the world
at the moment that is proving to be very promising. One of the
best I've read reports on is one that is the basic slug (pointy
on both ends) viewed from the side, but is more manta shaped when
viewed from above -- high speed, VERY maneuverable, small size
though for the people tank -- behaves very much like a jet plane.
Russian Ports --
Until the break up of the USSR, the Vladivostok(sp?) river was dredged on
a regular basis so that subs could come and go below ice (6 in.
of snow covered ice is equivalent to 200 ft of depth as far as
satallites are concerned) -- we lose track of more ruskie boats
that way. It would make sense that Russia would want to maintain
this capability in the future.
Armed Transports --
Under current maritime law all merchant marine vessels under US and UK
registry must have triple redundency on key systems and be equiped with
hard points for mounting weapon systems in time of war. They are also
subject to naval service in times of regional conflict or relief efforts
as directed by their government or the UN.