posted
The thing that always bothered me about most tugs is the fact that the connection point between the starship and the containers seemed so small that in my mind, it looks like it'd be rather easy to break. Hence the long spine-like structure on my Baltic Sea. Helps give support to the pods so that they aren't likely to move around and possibly shake loose from the connection points.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I like your idea, Masao, of grouping the pods together in the triangle fashion instead of having a large string of them, it seems much more efficent and practical, especially for defensive purposes. I designed a modern 'supertug' that is akin to a modern oceanic oil carrier, with the pods held sideways along the spine in the front of the ship so that they are more clustered together and easier to protect.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Depends on what they're being used for. Building some kind of big colony, you'd need a lot of support. The Supertug could also carry small ships, towing them back for repair or whatnot.
-------------------- "Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."
-Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney, LeMans
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
According to FJ's SFTM, you could tow 2 containers linked end to end. But I figured putting a warp field around the containers would be a lot easier if the containers were bundled like sticks.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Great. I think the Imhotep class has been thrown onto the pile of unfinished stuff. With the nacelles down, it looks silly. And if I redesign it, it would probably end up much like Reverend's ship. Oh well.. it was a nice try
quote: Ok, an automated drone moving cargo containers at warp-speed.
Sounds like easy prey for pirates!
Or would this operate as part of a convoy?
I'd say yes and yes.
Since pirates seam to be a problem that only crops up in certain areas of space (like near the Orion system for instance) and probably the outer borders of the Federation, there should be plenty of space where it is safe to travel without the danger of attack.
In these "Green Shipping Zones" robot tugs could be used on direct freight runs on the primary trade routes between major systems (Earth, Vulcan, Andor etc.). In "Yellow Shipping Zones", the ones where there is a known pirate presence, robot tugs would probably move in convoys with at least one manned escort. Probably something like a Ptolemy. The "Red Shipping Zones" would basically be disputed territory or a war zone so the robot tugs would generally move as a part of a carrier group and so be well protected. If you want to be prepared for every possibility then you could say that there are "Blue Zones" for area with space anomalies, "Black Zones" which have large or dangerously arranged gravity wells (like a binary singularity) and "White zones" for uncharted areas of space.
quote: According to FJ's SFTM, you could tow 2 containers linked end to end. But I figured putting a warp field around the containers would be a lot easier if the containers were bundled like sticks.
Agreed, although it could be argued that the two pod limit could because that is the limit of the warp field and that in the Ptolemy's case a "stick bundle" configuration just isn't possible.
The reasoning for this could be that the Ptolemy is primarily designed for towing Starliner pods, which for the safety of the passengers are not permitted to travel in bundles.
Which would actually make the Ptolemy-Class a Courier/Warp Sled.
quote: Great. I think the Imhotep class has been thrown onto the pile of unfinished stuff. With the nacelles down, it looks silly. And if I redesign it, it would probably end up much like Reverend's ship. Oh well.. it was a nice try
You don't have to move the nacelles down that far, just low enough so the bottom edge of the nacelles is in line with the top edge of the forward hull.
See, that dosen't look silly at all.
As for looking too much like my design, don't worry about it, I'm sure there could be dozens of different designs for a robotic or manned tug. Just look at how many different types of big-rig trucks there are. Who knows, Masao could even dedicate a whole page to the robotic tugs of the 23rd century at SFM.
posted
I have been working on and off (mostly off) on a transport ship article. I have prepared schematics of the Robot ship and Huron and a few of my own. Truth be told I find cargo ships a bit dull and haven't been able to motivate myself to finish the article.
I like your ship, Harry. It's better than mine. It fits in nicely with the TAS ships. You could even have a manned version. However, I'd make the front dish a bit smaller, since this ship wouldn't be going as fast as a Connie. Also, I think the nacelle looks a bit funny: it's tapered, but the top surface is horizontal rather than the midline through the nacelle.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: ...and "White zones" for uncharted areas of space.
Foo'!! AIRbody knows that the White Zone is for loading or unloading ONLY!!
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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