RE: Re: [GZG] John's Shipbuilding

["McCarthy, Tom \(xwave\)" <Tom.McCarthy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Another factor to consider when determining whether to scuttle your
ship, or even whether to take to the escape pods, is the chance of
survival.

Depending on the setting, some ships may be incapable of rescuing
survivors from other vessels.  Submarines, in WW2, had to think hard
about rescuing survivors in some cases.  In space, air, food and water
will be in just as short supply for those ships.  It depends on the life
support capability and the speed of jumping somewhere 'green' or being
resupplied.  And all that presupposes they breathe air you can breathe,
eat food you can eat, drink water you can consume.

Even if the opposition could rescue you, what are your chances if they
don't ?  In any given battle, what are the chances there's any land
nearby for your lifeboat to reach ?  In the Tuffleyverse, fighters
aren't FTL capable, so escape pods probably aren't, so your chances of
getting somewhere green from many of the battle sites before life
support fails may be slim.

In the end, spacemen simply may not believe there's any chance of
surviving if the ship is lost.  And from there, it's a pretty short leap
to building ships with insufficient (or no) escape pods and lifeboats.
And economically speaking, that's a big cash savings so it's not
unrealistic that someone will suggest it.  So maybe most ships have just
some shuttles, EVA suits, and the like, but no real plans to escape if
the ship is lost.

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