OT: Battleships and Merchants was Re: Mercs, yet again

  John wrote:

>The time of privateers and letters of
>marque was the time when the only
>expense in converting a merchantman
>to a warship was cutting holes in the side
>and mounting cannon (Yes, I know purpose-
>built warships were better.  But they
>weren't required.)

And Then Tom wrote:

>[Tomb] And you can make ad hoc warships
>in GZGverse by removing some cargo
>spaces and installing weapon spaces in a
>fast freighter. The rules don't preclude this
>at all and neither, AFAIK, does the
>universe. Yes, purpose built warships are
>better. That is still the same.

G'Day

Just a bit of trivia :) Actually the battleship of Nelson's day had a
lot 
in common with their merchant counterparts, that's because John
basically 
got it right in saying ".........only expense in converting a
merchantman 
to a warship was cutting holes in the side and mounting
cannon.........". 
That's because the only difference between a man of war and a
merchantmen 
was the gunports cut into the hull, the H.M. Bark Endeavor (Captain
James 
Cook's ship) started life as a collier (the 'Earl of Pembroke').

Yes, warships were purpose built from the keel up but it wasn't until
the 
introduction of exploding shells, armour plate and steam propulsion that

warships began to differ greatly from their merchant cousins. In fact it

was these similarities that allowed the Royal Navy to attain a strategic

reach unequaled by even today's modern navies [Yes, even the US Navy ;)
]. 
Warships of Nelson's day still retained large cargo holds left over from

their merchantmen ancestry and unlike later vessels being sail powered
they 
didn't need to give over large amounts of area to the storage of fuel
(nor 
did they have the constant need to refuel).

Cheers

Derek

Derek Fulton
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