[gurps] Re: Tinker's Starship? = Fleet Tender!!!

[Onno Meyer]

> I just realized something:  There's another name and business for
> such a ship.  Fleet Repair Tender.  It travels with fleets of
> military vessels to help repair them after heavy battles.  Pure
> military ships would have less space for repair facilities as they
> would want to devote the mass and/or volume to engines, generators,
> weapons, and defenses.

Say the primary nanofac has a capacity to built 1,000-ston and 
$200,000,000 items (a TL12+ 100,000,000-lb. super reactionless
thruster). 

In GURPS 3E, a TL13 nanofac would be $2,000,000,000, 20,000 
stons and 4,000,000 cf. It would take 12,500 hours (almost 18
months) to manufacture the thruster as an unit.

In GURPS 4e, TL11 nanofacs (remember the TL reorganization)
are rated for their capacity per hour, not total capacity. A
$2,000,000,000 and 500 ston nanofac would take 100 hours to 
manufacture the thruster.

Obviously 4E is much more friendly to your tender than 3E. But
in both cases I'd wonder if it allows timely repairs. Salvage tugs 
might be the better option.