The E wrote:On the other hand, starting to provide some of the promised assistance while struggling with rebuilding after the Yawata Strike has a lot of appeal.
Just one captured SLN SD can provide Solarian standard medical facilities, computer-guided career advancement courses for several hundred if not thousands of SLN career paths, Machine shops which can turn out most anything a modern society needs -- including more machine shops.
Your supposition that each SD is a complete industrial facility in a can is very likely wrong. These ships are not equipped to bootstrap a planetary economy, ...
I'm extrapolating from what I know about present day US Navy ships and 21 years of dealing with military career advancement courses. The SDs in particular and SLN ships in total aren't equipped with the intent of bootstrapping a planetary economy. That doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't capable of doing so.
There is an old adage that applies, in part:
"If you've got a machine tools, you can build machine tools." If you've got five to ten advanced machine shops, you can not only build more modern machine shops you can train machinists to use them.
The E wrote:And the average freighter can carry all of that, and several million tons of cargo on top, all in a format more readily usable by a planet.
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Or you cut out the middleman, buy stuff from Haven or the Andermani Empire, and ship it normally.
Who is going to pay for all of the equipment and shipping?
Manticore is investing virtually every dollar it can get it's hands on rebuilding the Manticoran infrastructure and re-creating its industrial base and missile production lines.
The E wrote:That way, you don't have to reactivate a bunch of SDs, you get a lot of investments flowing back and forth between GA members, and you can put a few of those Freighters that Laocoon stranded to good use.
I doubt that there is much reactivation required; The captured ships are likely manned by a harbor watch to keep them habitable until they can be scavenged before being turned over to the breakers.
The E wrote:Why not make use of everything where you know it already works? Why not use what is available until more conventional resources are available or even assist in providing those conventional resources.
Why not indeed? Why not use resources that are easily available and usable? Why go through all the trouble involved in trying to make Superdreadnoughts into something they aren't meant to be (or likely to be usable for), when the tools you actually need can be obtained through normal channels easily?
Money! The SEM has massive expenditures it can't put off; It
can put off the promised aid to bring the Talbot Quadrant until after it survives a war with the SLN.
Only one problem, the SEM also needs trained people and the Talbot Quadrant has a lot of warm bodies if training can be supplied.
The E wrote:Let me recap: You want to
a) Use the medical facilities onboard these SDs to supplement local facilities.
b) Use the computer systems and training equipment on these SDs to supplement local schools
c) Use the onboard repair facilities to supplement local manufacturing capabilities.
d) Use the SLN POWs as crew for these ships with minimal supervision.
Except for Item D, a fairly accurate summation. I do propose using SLN POWs as harbor watch and/or trainers, but I said nothing about "minimal supervision."
I do think that enlisted POWs in almost all rates can be paroled and trusted; some may even immigrate. I wouldn't be nearly as trusting of officers except for medical staff. Especially in the early stages, a substantial security presence would be prudent.
The E wrote:This scheme, to me, is a desperation measure applied to a situation that just isn't desperate. By comparison, what's wrong with buying the hardware and skillsets you need from Haven or the Andermani? I would suspect that the end result, while maybe a bit more expensive in the short term, ...
It isn't desperation. All of the Talbot Quadrant would survive just fine without the captured ships. They won't be able to contribute as much to the economy of the TQ or SEM and the necessary equipment and skillsets will have to come out of the SEM's scarce personnel reserves and or be paid for out of scarce cash reserves.
What I'm suggesting is to use resources that, while they may not be ideal, are in-place (or nearly so) and should cost much less than building from scratch.
Paroling and employing 70,000 - 100,000 POWs or so from that equatorial desert island can't hurt the budget a lot either.
The current plan -- do nothing -- doesn't provide any advantage for anyone. The SEM doesn't currently have the yard capacity to scrap them, afaik. Turning them into school ships/trauma centers solves (or at least ameliorates) several problems and turns debits into credits.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!
(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
