On 1/15/10 9:12 AM, Onno Meyer wrote:
Because they would have been better? I could write a TL8 ship of the line with sails and broadside guns, and it could wipe out Nelson's fleet all by itself, but that doesn't make sailing warships a sound TL8 technology.
It might, in a universe without easy refueling sources. The other option would of course be nuclear.
Your comment made me think about how the modern USA or Britain might design a ship to operate in David Weber's Hell's Gate universe. If a universe portal to a parallel Earth opened up on the ocean in the next few years an exploration ship might want to use sail power.
The first exploration ship would probably be nuclear. Possibly a full carrier group although that might be too risky since we wouldn't know if the portal is permanent or not.
If the next universe portal is on land, and the one after that on the ocean again, we might very well be in the situation of building TL8 wooden sailing ships, at least until a railroad and shipyard can be established.
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