training and psychological warfare.

There is a way that the 200 Sphinx / Gryphon SD's could be used to great effect for the SEM.

1. They provide a large training platform for the multitude of new recruits. Yes a destroyer or light cruiser is traditionally used in peacetime to bring recruits into battle, but in this case as many as possible recruits are going to be given basic training then shipped off for on the job training. 4000+ recruits and a couple hundred trainers on an SD will speed the process along.

2. 200 SD will be a force multiplier when ships are needed but not available. Add in ERM missiles sized for their tubes, missile production is coming back on line, they willn't be completely useless. An SD could replace 2 smaller ships of any type in any squadron. Be it Terminus control or holding a planet or system.

3. Psychological effect. The Sollies may not respect the Manty tech, but everyone, possibly except the Manties, respects the presence of an SD in system. 6 BC have attacked 3 CA and 4 DDL. But would they even have tried to attack 2 CA 3 DDL and a SD? Probably not. Thus freeing up a Saganami C and a Roland. Even with standard missiles the 6 BC would lose to a standard Gryphon.

4. In Shadows of freedom had a SD been attached to each engagement the mere presence would have had worlds/ forces everyone surrendering without a fight. The mere presence is usually enough. The extra marines they carry, boarding crews everything that Manty ships lack, mainly crew numbers are all solved by having a training SD along.

5. Dispersing a SD with each of the small ship groups takes nothing away from the SD(P) fleets. They wouldn't be used anyway, and they can tow extra pods supply extra, albeit, newbie crews. While providing a psychological blow that everyone they come across will respect, whether that respect is justified or not. They act as mass on the job traning, and offer facilities that the smaller ships just don't have.

Lord Skimper wrote:There is a way that the 200 Sphinx / Gryphon SD's could be used to great effect for the SEM.

I think your estimate is off a bit: According to HoS, there were only 230 built. Some were lost in battle and some scrapped by the Janacek admiralty. The remainder are, according to HOS, are on active service:

House of Steel
Superdreadnaughts
wrote: Most of the Gryphon-class ships were spared from the Janacek cutbacks, though many were placed in the reserve in line with the policy of leaving system defense to LAC wings and concentrating the Navy’s striking power in the squadrons of pod superdreadnoughts already in commission.

During this period, a handful of Gryphons had been gutted and refitted with launchers capable of firing the new Mk23 Multi-Drive Missile from internal tubes. While plans had existed initially to refit all of the class with MDMs, the program proved prohibitively expensive and was bedeviled by technical and safety problems with the fusion-powered missiles, and only a small portion had actually been completed before the war resumed. Given the current strategic situation, the White Haven Admiralty has not been willing or able to pull the existing units off the front lines to continue the refits.

Obviously not current with the Grand Alliance, but I don't think Manticore has the capacity to be modifying functional ships just now; I imagine they're still already in use somewhere.

Isn't this exactly what a number of other people told you, back when you were trying to come with ways to use the captured SLN ships.

For Weird Harold, HOS was before Oyster Bay and the Haven attack on the Manty system.

During the Haven attack no more than 30 Sphinx / Gryphon were lost. After the pod layers were brought in, the rest were mothballed.

About 200 of them

For SWM I'm not sure what he is referencing?

Basically it was determined the Sollie SD's are so old they are worthless. 200 years old +. I suggested then replacing the lighter units in Silesia with the SD freeing up the lighter units there for extra duties. Did someone else suggest using these SD with the lighter units deployed for psychological logistic support? I don't recall. If they did I agree. I did suggest that defending Silesian system they would give pause to raiders but I didn't suggest mixing them with advanced lighter units for offensive, Lacoon, actions till now.

SWM wrote:Isn't this exactly what a number of other people told you, back when you were trying to come with ways to use the captured SLN ships.

There are people who still don't have Skimper on their ignore list?

drothgery wrote:

SWM wrote:Isn't this exactly what a number of other people told you, back when you were trying to come with ways to use the captured SLN ships.

There are people who still don't have Skimper on their ignore list?

rofl

dr

Lord Skimper wrote:For Weird Harold, HOS was before Oyster Bay and the Haven attack on the Manty system.

During the Haven attack no more than 30 Sphinx / Gryphon were lost. After the pod layers were brought in, the rest were mothballed.

About 200 of them

So, according to you, the RMN under White Haven instituted an immediate mothballing of all non-Pod SDs when, exactly? Yeah, sure, HoS is set before the Battle of Manticore, but where exactly do you propose that this mothballing took place? Before Honor sailed off to Haven? While Honor was conducting diversionary raids as part of Cutworm?

The text quoted says, in no uncertain terms, that every SD that is combat-ready is on active duty. There was no reason whatsoever for the RMN to mothball their ships in the time between the Battle of Manticore and Oyster Bay.

The E wrote:So, according to you, the RMN under White Haven instituted an immediate mothballing of all non-Pod SDs when, exactly? Yeah, sure, HoS is set before the Battle of Manticore, but where exactly do you propose that this mothballing took place? Before Honor sailed off to Haven? While Honor was conducting diversionary raids as part of Cutworm?

The text quoted says, in no uncertain terms, that every SD that is combat-ready is on active duty. There was no reason whatsoever for the RMN to mothball their ships in the time between the Battle of Manticore and Oyster Bay.

As much as I remain unimpressed with the quality of Skimper's ideas, he is correct in that many of the old SDs have been mothballed. From SftS, Chapter 9:

For example, most of the new superdreadnoughts are close enough to completion at this point that we're already assembling cadre and assigning them to their new ships. Fortunately, we've been able to decommission many of the old-style ships of the wall we were forced to put back into service after Grendelsbane, and that's freed up a lot of trained manpower.

Duckk wrote:As much as I remain unimpressed with the quality of Skimper's ideas, he is correct in that many of the old SDs have been mothballed. From SftS, Chapter 9:...

"Many of" still leaves him a good bit short of the 200 he assumes.

drothgery wrote:

SWM wrote:Isn't this exactly what a number of other people told you, back when you were trying to come with ways to use the captured SLN ships.

There are people who still don't have Skimper on their ignore list?

After a bad day at work, it is sometimes nice to come home and read everything others have posted in response to Skimper. His posts are usually good for a ROFLMAO moment, but many of the responses point me to things I have forgotten and need to re-read. And to be fair, some of his ideas have sparked some good discussions among the more rational forum members.