Re:The Nation Needs a Shipbuilding Revolution
by bombcar on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @11:33AM
(#42934612)
People think ships for war are all warships, but the most important are transport, and those ships exist in large numbers.
In case of war, those ships get commandeered and taken by whoever thinks they can get away with it.
Ships are also not nearly as prevalent as they were in WW2 (as international capable jet transport didn't really exist then). Vietnam used troop transports, but I don't think Desert Storm used much beyond airplanes.
Bulk goods and supplies are another matter.
Re:The Nation Needs a Shipbuilding Revolution
by 0xffff2 on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @03:39PM
(#42938252)
>Ships are also not nearly as prevalent as they were in WW2 (as international capable jet transport didn't really exist then). Vietnam used troop transports, but I don't think Desert Storm used much beyond airplanes.
As someone who supported loading a whole division's worth of vehicles onto ships during the Iraq war, I would like to know what you're basing that on. Sure, the people go by plane, but the people represent an overwhelming minority of the total tonnage moved to deploy a unit.
Yes, I think so. In wartime, a government can order them to do so. For example (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Mauretania_(1906)#First_Wo...):
“Mauretania was planned to replace the Lusitania on the Transatlantic run after the Lusitania was sunk, but she was ordered by the British government to serve as a troop ship to carry British soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign.”