Jonathan_S wrote:Actually - it's after it crosses the critical point.
More Than Honor - The Universe of Honor Harrington wrote:Note also that in 1900 pd, 8,500,000 tons represented the edge of a plateau in inertial compensator capability. Above 8,500,000 tons, warship accelerations fell off by approximately 1 g per 2,500 tons, so that a warship of 8,502,500 tons would have a maximum acceleration of 419 g and a warship of 9,547,500 tons would have a maximum acceleration of 1 g. The same basic curves were followed for merchant vessels.
And bolded the critical portion, the drop in compensator efficiency was last calculated in 1900, which predates Manticore-Grayson technology sharing. The tonnage cap is based entirely around compensator capability, and from ~1903 (HotQ) onwards, Manticoran & Grayson compensator capability took off like a rocket, and Haven was not far behind through both wars.
Jonathan_S wrote:It's hard to imaging that the RMN and GSN designers would have forgone nearly all of that 4.7 mtons of additional displacement if it actually was possible to design a ship that large with that acceleration.
Are their compensators good enough for a max tonnage jump from 8.5 mtons to 12+, maybe or maybe not, but it also depends on the acceleration curve one is willing to accept. Manticoran have that battlecruiser fetish, and they continued making DN-sized CLACs knowing that Haven used SD-size CLACs, which shows Manticorans would
never be willing to accept "equal" acceleration even if they could have a massive tonnage advantage. Manticoran doctrine heavily influenced Grayson, so nothing more to be said there. Same logic applies to the Andermani, circa WoH they
knew they couldn't keep up with the Sphinx or Gryphon SD's, so they built their Seydlitz-class a little smaller to match effective acceleration curves; which makes the Andermani something of a speed junkie as well.
Haven on the other hand, was totally willing to build bigger than anybody else, if that's what it took to equalize. They built CLACs on an SD hull, so they could carry LACs in sufficient numbers to win fights. They also consistently built bigger missiles than Manticore all the way back to First Hancock to force a match of capabilities.
If Haven was willing to build big to match Manticore, then they'd do it again if that's what it takes to go toe-to-toe with a Lenny Det. But the biggest problem isn't shooting an LD, it's detecting and locating it in the first place. So even Haven wouldn't be crazy enough to actually go for a 12 MT half-fort... yet anyways. If a MAlign superweapon were revealed that could one-shot anything smaller than 9MT's, Haven would have 12MT half-fort SD(L)'s clearing the slips of Bolthole in less than 3 months, absolutely laden with the very latest tech the Horrible Twosome thought up.
With Manticore, Grayson, Andermani, and Haven knocked out of the running, there's few entities left that have known shipyards at all.
- Beowulf if it forms it's own independent star nation with Hypatia (and other nearby systems) won't, they're going to be building universal GA ships.
- Neither Maya nor Erewhon could at all due to technology, and Torch doesn't even have shipyards of it's own nor could it crew one when it's having crew issues just with BC's.
- The main Solarian League don't have the compensators but more importantly just had their ass whooped by Manticoran speedsters. So they're unlikely to build a 12MT behemoth that's going to be borderline slow and ponderous anytime in the next century.
- MAlign would totally build to 12MT or larger if they could actually lay hands on Manticoran compensators, but I recall reading somewhere they haven't yet gotten samples. So while they would, they're technologically unable to do so.
- If MAlign can't, that also means the Renaissance Factor is out too.
- AFAIK nobody else has shipyards of their own, and if they do they're so utterly irrelevant they can also be ignored