From:	Paul J. Adam Paul@********.demon.co.uk
Subject:	Shipping (was Re: the value of education)
Date:	Fri, 16 Jul 1999 18:02:24 +0100

In article <012e01becf6a$4be16be0$9cd919c4@********.smartnet.co.za>,
DV8 <gyro@********.co.za> writes
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Paul J. Adam <Paul@********.demon.co.uk>
>>218 tons displacement, able to make 48 knots foilborne or 12kts
>>hullborne. Crew of 21 (4 officers, 17 enlisted). Armed with one 76mm
>>OTO-Melara compact gun and eight Harpoon antiship missiles.
>
>Any SR equivalent for the "compact gun"? autocannon?

"Light Naval Gun" as described in Cyberpirates on Page 181.

>I'll presume the ASMs are capable of blowing the crap ou of any ship
>the PCs are on :)

Easily. Again, Cyberpirates has sample systems and rules, but basically, if
you're in a civilian vessel and one of these starts shooting at you, either
get the white flags up or learn to swim :)

>Intelligence Rating?

4, for the 'Sea Saber' antiship missile listed in Cyberpirates.

>>Good points: fast in good weather, resistant to torpedoes and mines
>while
>>foilborne.
>
>Would they be effective in more of a brown water role? Puget Sound,
>Great Lakes?

Very much so.

>Could they be used in large rivers?

Not so effectively - they'd need too much room to build up speed and any
bottom obstacles would snag the foils, especially when running hullborne.

>>Bad points: fuel-thirsty, couldn't use their foils in anything over
>Sea State
>>4, virtually defenceless, suffered serious vibration that degraded
>their
>>(already limited) sensor fit.
>
>Would any of this be solved by 2060?

The vibration, probably. The others, doubt it.

>Defencless as in no armour?

No warships around today have what most people would call "armour",
though Kevlar splinter matting is sometimes used to protect essential
spaces.

No, 'defenceless' as in lacking the ESM, jammers, chaff and flare
launchers, Rubber Ducks, towed torpedo decoys, et cetera typical of
larger warships.

>>They make interesting coastal-defence assets if you have air cover
>and
>>can rely on fairly decent weather: they'd be quite handy in the
>Persian
>>Gulf, for instance.
>
>I presume running on foils messes your signature totally?

Yep. You need a _lot_ of power so you get hot: and the 'roostertail' of
spray thrown up makes an excellent radar and visual target.

>>The Russians and Chinese built quite large numbers of hydrofoil
>torpedo
>>boats (the Shershen and Huchwan classes) and some missile-armed
>units,
>>and Italy and Japan likewise experimented.
>
>Would you know where I can find pics of the Pegasus class, especially
>running at top speed?

Go to

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/phm-1.htm

and they have some very nice images.


--
Paul J. Adam