Re: [FT] Naval Manpower

> Questions arising from this:
>
> 1. What kind of % of total personnel is there is each area of
operations
on
> board a military naval vessel?

I don't know enough to touch this one...

> 2. Presumably there as some tasks manpower is always needed for, that
can't
> be automated. What kind of tasks would these be, and what plausible
sci-fi
> elements could lead to these being done by automation?

The biggest problem is damage control.	Articles have been flying back
and
forth in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings over manpower requirements
for
damage control.  Automated systems are great as long as you have
electric
power.	Men have the advantage of being able to move to the part of the
ship
where they are needed.	Automated systems can't.  Note that this assumes
that an effective comm. system is still functioning.  In Star Wars, you
have
astromech droids, which combine the best of both worlds.  Their an
automated
damage control system that has its own power, and can go where it is
needed.
Go R2-D2...

> 3. Also presumably you need 2-3 times the number of people needed to
do
all
> the jobs. Does anyone see this aspect of crew requirments as ever
being
able
> to change?

Actually, you need more depending on damage control requirements and
damage
control automation.  I don't see it changing unless your sci-fi universe
includes genitically enhanced humans who can function effictively for
extend
periods of time with much less sleep then our current models.  Or if you
have fully automated ships and the humans are just along for the ride.

> 4. Would crew comfort, health etc. be a bigger concern in space, and
would
> this lead to larger vessels or smaller crews; or shorter deployment
times?

Well, space ops. are far more like sub ops.  If a naval ships loses all
power, the crew can survive for as long as they have food and water
(assuming the ship isn't taking on water, and there not too far north or
south).  In a sub, you have to wory about too little oxygen, too much
CO2,
and freezing to death as the temperature drops inside the hull (if you
are
not in shallow warm waters).  In space, you have all the problems of the
sub, plus the problem of broiling if you are too close to a star.  Note,
Earth's orbit is too close.

Health concerns are related to how fast FTL travel is, and how fast FTL
communications are.  Basically, it is how fast can the nearest base
and/or
fleet be notified and how fast can they respond.  The slower they are
when
compared to exist with now on earth, the more important health concerns
will
be.

The Swedish Navy has the most experience of slim manning reqiurements,
but
they operate small ships.  Does anyone out there know how how the
Swede's
plan on dealing with damage control.