Re: [FT] Missing ships

>>I'd say that the question is not EXACTLY who bought what, but
>who generally
>>buys from whom.

>>Oceanic Union (OU) - Self-Design & Purchase (Assorted
>Suppliers)
>Or sometimes "astonished suppliers".  Whatever did happen to
>that NSL capital ship, eh?

That brings up yet another source of supply: Prizes of War, and on
irregular
occasions, Salvaged vessels.

So we have the following sources:

Construction to a native design
Construction to a licenced design (perhaps with mods)
Construction to an un-licenced design (perhaps with mods)
Purchase 
Purchase of a base hull to be refitted using local parts.
Captured (ie taken as a Prize during conflict)
Salvaged (ie taken without owners permission in a damaged condition)
Stolen
Leased
Lent

I forget what proportion of the Royal Navy's ships of the line were
actually
prizes in 1805, but it was on the order of 50%. They took more ships
than they
lost from all causes.

I think the best that we can say is that, for each Canonical service,
they get
"the bulk" of their forces from source X, much of the remainder from Y,
a few
notable instances from Z, and the rest "miscellaneous".

Examples (which may not be true):

The OU forces are mainly locally constructed mass-produced modular BORON
(Basic
Operational Refit of Navy) designs (the Eureka models)*, with the
remainder
from a variety of sources, including small numbers of other local
designs.

Recently, they bought 2 Suffrens from the FSE just before relations
deteriorated,
but these ships were never fitted with their missile armament. Another
notable
ship is the (former) NSL SuperDreadnaught "Graf von Lueckner", salvaged
without
NSL permission (and under the noses of Vultures R Us) and currently
refitting
as the OUS "Jackaroo". Given the damage this ship incurred, the refit
may be
abandoned as not cost-effective.

Several UN-standard Design Cruisers and a number of smaller UN-standard
ships
are in theory part of the OUDF, but are leased to the UN and usually
serve with
the combined UN fleet crewed by OUDF personnel. Likewise, there are a
number
of IAS vessels (usually IAS-manufactured BORON designs) with IAS crew
that are
leased by the OU to provide supply and scientific backup to IAS
installations
in OU space. 

There are persistent rumours that some Special Forces Landing Ships of
destroyer
size exist with exotic Stealth technology, but the exact status of these
(if
they exist at all) is unknown.

*The original designation, Modular Operational Refit of Navy was quickly
changed.

The IC has purchased most of its Navy from a variety of sources, however
a large
number of local construction units exist, such as the ( GZG range yet to
be
designed ). Difficulties in construction have meant that not many of
these have
so far seen service, but the number is growing. 

Nearly all shipyards have always found someone in the IC to buy their
wares
at inflated prices (providing the right "agents fees" were paid). 
Various families'
agency agreements have meant that designs from all 4 major powers are in
service,
along with small numbers from the OU and Switzerland, a larger number
from the
IF, and others. 

The IC consequently has a large number of logistics support vessels, as
interchangeable
spare parts are almost unknown. Many of these vessels are also fitted
for landing
self-contained intervention Task Forces. Both ships and their military
passengers
are often available for hire at quite competitive rates.

Under direct Presidential Command, the IC Forces are said to contain a
"Ghost
Fleet" of vessels fitted as experimental or operational platforms for
Alien
weaponry discovered by Archaelogical teams in IC space. These rumours
are so
far unconfirmede, and details are sketchy.