Re: Small Ships--Why?

Going back to my memories when I was serving on a small ship we had 5
main 
missions. 

Screening - Early warning for the CVBG. Either by detecting an enemy or 
(hopefully not) triggering an attack by them.

Protecting - This is the unenviable task of sitting with the ECM gear
blaring 
away, trying to convince the incoming missiles and/or pilots that you
are the 
carrier, or preferably, shooting down the incomings. 

Chokepoint Blocking - A place like the Florida straits can be
effectively 
closed to passage by a few small ships. Its the naval equivalent of 
Thermopylae. You wont survive a real push, but you will buy time and
alert 
the rest of your forces to their intentions. 

Hunter-Killer - This was the fun one. A small ship not advertising its 
presence can often get surprisingly close to an opfor BG or base. A
launch of 
missiles, torpedoes, etc. from a previously unknown enemy can even if
actual 
damage is small cause opfor sailors to be hyper alert, tiring themselves
out 
prior to real action. And with modern missiles, even we could mission
kill a 
large ship that was only slightly unlucky.

Gunfire Support - Smaller ships can come in closer to the beach, and
with 
their lighter guns hit opfor targets that are closer to our own front
line 
troops. 

All of these with the exceptions of the protection mission, are probably

outside the range of a one off battle. But in a campaign game, the use
of 
small ships to act as tripwires along possible attack routes would allow
the 
heavier ships to hang back and stay more concentrated. Where those
points 
would be are a matter for you to work out based on the nature of the
actual 
"cosmos" you game in.  But it would certainly be an accurate
representation 
of how they were used back in 1980. 

John Rebori ETN2 (Discharged)
USN 1976 - 1982
ex-USS Pegasus PHM-1