Escort Speed

[Tanthalas]

I always felt that escorts should be 3+ knots faster than the ships they are escorting, However while working on my 4,000 ton PC I had an interesting thought... Do they realy in this period? Since my battle line (such as it is) is all capable of 20 knots and VTE ships can only realisticly maintain maximum power for about an hour wouldnt it be more logical to have my escorts capable of cruising at a higher speed than my battle line, but possibly with only the same max speed (or possibly slightly higher) since most of their time will be spent at cruising speeds anyway?

[The Rock Doctor]

Well, there's always the question of the escorts having sufficient margin of speed to manuever around their charges.  Those of us with ploddy eighteen knot ships can pull that off with our PCs, but you'll have more of a challenge with your fast frigates.  I suspect your options are to emphasize speed with your escorts or to ensure that the capital ships have enough light guns that they can handle whatever enemy TBs your escorts can't intercept.

[Kaiser Kirk]

As I recall the Brits were the ones who felt 2-3 knots were necessary to ensure you could pick the range even after accounting for difference in fouling, or machinery wear.  That margin would seem to explain why most vessels were a tad faster than the next largest class.

As for a close in escort role, the battleline will probably be moving a bit under top speed, that way engines are not as stressed, damage less likely to force a vessel out of line, vessels can speed up/down to adjust relative to other ships in formation.  So merely having a speed comparable to the top end is probably sufficient - esp with VTEs.

Just my opinion.