New Manty ship ideas.

We also have demi-canonical textev of an SD limpeting LACs as SOP within the Andermani navy, from the Zahn short story An Act of War.

If nothing else I still think having a few 2-6 LAC docked with (within) each freighter would eliminate the need for any kind of escort ships for merchants.
Going into systems where they might not be happy to see such ships it would be easy to have them deploy and wait outside the hyper limit for the Merchants. 6 freighters 12-36 Shrike B & or Katanas / Ferrets would be able to do anything an older DD or CL could do.

For operations where they may need to wait out system for extended times, a C version of the Shrike with crew quarters would solve all sorts of situations.

Whoa be the tincan that tries to pick off a dozen seemingly unarmed freighters only to run into a dozen or two Shrikes.

Kind of makes me think of the Somalia situation and how, as far as we know there seem to be very few, if none at all, merchant ships with a hold full of marines along for the ride.

Lord Skimper wrote:If nothing else I still think having a few 2-6 LAC docked with (within) each freighter would eliminate the need for any kind of escort ships for merchants.
Going into systems where they might not be happy to see such ships it would be easy to have them deploy and wait outside the hyper limit for the Merchants. 6 freighters 12-36 Shrike B & or Katanas / Ferrets would be able to do anything an older DD or CL could do.

For operations where they may need to wait out system for extended times, a C version of the Shrike with crew quarters would solve all sorts of situations.

Whoa be the tincan that tries to pick off a dozen seemingly unarmed freighters only to run into a dozen or two Shrikes.

Kind of makes me think of the Somalia situation and how, as far as we know there seem to be very few, if none at all, merchant ships with a hold full of marines along for the ride.

Would also largely eliminate the commercial incentive for building and operating the freighter.

dreamrider

The LAC transport freighter might get a significant payment from the other ships in the convoy to show their appreciation for the protection. They also might get a discount on transit fees or taxes because they reduce the need for convoy escorts and piracy patrols.

dreamrider wrote:

Lord Skimper wrote:If nothing else I still think having a few 2-6 LAC docked with (within) each freighter would eliminate the need for any kind of escort ships for merchants.
Going into systems where they might not be happy to see such ships it would be easy to have them deploy and wait outside the hyper limit for the Merchants. 6 freighters 12-36 Shrike B & or Katanas / Ferrets would be able to do anything an older DD or CL could do.

For operations where they may need to wait out system for extended times, a C version of the Shrike with crew quarters would solve all sorts of situations.

Whoa be the tincan that tries to pick off a dozen seemingly unarmed freighters only to run into a dozen or two Shrikes.

Kind of makes me think of the Somalia situation and how, as far as we know there seem to be very few, if none at all, merchant ships with a hold full of marines along for the ride.

Would also largely eliminate the commercial incentive for building and operating the freighter.

dreamrider

IIRC, David directly suggested freighters hauling LACs were one of the things the SEM would do in a post here, though it was some time ago.

Remember Capt Backfish from War of Honor who had grassers mounted on his freighter?

They were not cheap and the compromised cargo capacity, but he still had them. IIRC, he got some type of subsidy from the SKM.

Even prior to WW-2 England and the US paid ship builders to install reinforced decks to accommodate gun mounts on freighters.

A LAC transporting freighter would not be unprecedented nor would some type of govt subsidy.

namelessfly wrote:Remember Capt Backfish from War of Honor who had grassers mounted on his freighter?

They were not cheap and the compromised cargo capacity, but he still had them. IIRC, he got some type of subsidy from the SKM.

Even prior to WW-2 England and the US paid ship builders to install reinforced decks to accommodate gun mounts on freighters.

A LAC transporting freighter would not be unprecedented nor would some type of govt subsidy.

Big difference between LAC docking cradles and a few grasers, though.

That subsidy was more of a payment for intelligence reports on non-Manticoran activities in Silesia.

munroburton wrote:

namelessfly wrote:Remember Capt Backfish from War of Honor who had grassers mounted on his freighter?

They were not cheap and the compromised cargo capacity, but he still had them. IIRC, he got some type of subsidy from the SKM.

Even prior to WW-2 England and the US paid ship builders to install reinforced decks to accommodate gun mounts on freighters.

A LAC transporting freighter would not be unprecedented nor would some type of govt subsidy.

Big difference between LAC docking cradles and a few grasers, though.

That subsidy was more of a payment for intelligence reports on non-Manticoran activities in Silesia.

yes, but if the LAC bay was in just an oversized cargo container, designed so almost any freighter could carry it, it could be carried as regular cargo. This would allow it to switch ships and destinations ad hoc, and keep pirates on their toes. The crown would pay the freight (@ a discount), and the freighters get a cheap n-space escort.

Lord Skimper wrote:If nothing else I still think having a few 2-6 LAC docked with (within) each freighter would eliminate the need for any kind of escort ships for merchants.

We already know that will probably happen soon. David Weber talked about this a couple years ago. He implied that LACs mounted on the exterior of freighters would be able to take up a lot of the necessary civilian escort duties.

If you are going to "mount" LACs on freighters as a semi-permanent feature, you are going to have to make what amount to non-trivial modifications to at least the freighters involved and add some extra gear to what is normally involved in servicing a LAC
At the very least you will need to run power, data/communications lines, environmental service conduits and full sized access corridors from reasonable (either primary sources or new junctions in the ship's infrastructure) places in the freighter to where each LAC is going to be mounted. That would include an airlock (at least one) that would provide access to the LAC for both people and equipment.
You are going to have to provide some kind of quarters and other support (mess and other space) for your LAC crew(s) plus whatever is at least minimally required to physically support the LACs.
There are going to need to be some sort of docking attachments/clamps/etc to hold the LACs securely to the hull capable of both releasing them quickly and latching them down in a hurry if they need to be recovered fast. Also going to need some system FOR EACH LAC that will let it approach and dock with a LAC mount. That would be at each mounting point of the freighter and include the electronics and physical items for each mount and each LAC
Unless you are going to install a full up ammunition handling system (like a CLAC) for each mount, you are going to need to figure out how to rearm each LAC at it’s mount or at some other place on (or in) the freighter, perhaps in a cargo bay.
The WW II expedient of putting fighter aircraft on some freighters with a catapult launch system was just that- an combat expedient solution. Unless you were fairly close to land (within the range of the aircraft after spent X time shooting down or driving off enemy aircraft) you were going to lose the aircraft and quite probably the pilot when it had to effectively crash land in the sea.
They never did work out something that would allow the launch of a PT Boat from a freighter. That would have been somewhat effective against all three potential threats: aircraft, submarine, commerce raider/warship. I say somewhat effective because the PT would have some limitations. The AA capacity would be limited to .50 cal, 20mm or 40mm guns. Smaller target, and would present another firing platform and highly maneuverable. Typically armed with only two depth charges but, again, highly maneuverable and deadly to a sub unlike a freighter which isn’t likely to try and over run a submarine to drop a charge. The torpedoes would be effective against at least a commerce raiding “freighter” and a surfaced submarine though not as much against a warship. PT Boats were routinely carried as deck cargo and may have gotten guns involved in defense of a freighter during transit but this was not something you could swing out to deploy or to recover while the freighter was underway.
Any module you construct that would house a LAC in a cargo hold is going to need the same kind of service and access to resources and crew as a hull mount. Given the amount of resources you are going to provide each LAC, you are probably going to want to put any hull mount on an exterior wall of a cargo hold and just run all the power, environmental trunks, data and crew/servicing access along the interior of the hull wall if for nothing else than to avoid a lot of cutting through things.
Then there is the challenge of upgrading the sensor and providing some tactical system to the freighter.
Much better to build something like an Escort CLAC and give it the equipment it will need to do the job and survive. Either way, you are diverting resources that Manticore and Grayson don’t have yet.