Farbourne
Rear Admiral
I just got around…finally…to reading End Run. Great book, a complete page turner. But in reading it, it got me wondering about a couple of things.
First, there was a copy or editorial error in the version I read (Kindle)… when Bear first comes aboard the Tarawa, he mentions that the CVE carries Sabres, Ferrets, and “F-54 Rapiers”. The Rapier, of course, is the F-44. The F-54 is the Epee. The fighters are referred to throughout the rest of the book as Rapiers, and the ships described seem to be Rapiers far more than they seem to be Epees, so F-54 was either a typo or a copy error or a case of the author releasing the book before the ship guide for the game had been finalized. But it got me wondering…
Given that we’re repeatedly told in the novels that deck space was at an absolute premium on CVE’s… why did they carry Rapiers? The Rapier was not a small fighter. Wouldn’t the more compact Epee have made a better choice for the cramped CVE’s? Or the similarly compact Arrow?
The other thing I was wondering was about ranks in Confed. I think there might already have been threads on this, and my memory is that the fleet personnel used contemporary Navy style ranks (ensign, Lt JG, Lt, LCDR, CDR, CAPT), while the pilots use contemporary Air Force style ranks (2nd Lt, 1st Lt, CAP, MAJ, LTC, COL). But Bear is promoted to LCDR while leading the flight wing. So Fleet (navy-style) ranks for wing commanders?
And in Milk Run, the comment that the captain of the Johnny Greene, a “captain” is outranked by a LCDR (an O-4). But if he’s a captain in the fleet, shouldn’t “captain” imply he’s an O-6? (Though admittedly, that seems like a very high rank for a corvette commanding officer). We’re the corvettes staffed by Space Force, not fleet? And do “captain” means an O-3?
First, there was a copy or editorial error in the version I read (Kindle)… when Bear first comes aboard the Tarawa, he mentions that the CVE carries Sabres, Ferrets, and “F-54 Rapiers”. The Rapier, of course, is the F-44. The F-54 is the Epee. The fighters are referred to throughout the rest of the book as Rapiers, and the ships described seem to be Rapiers far more than they seem to be Epees, so F-54 was either a typo or a copy error or a case of the author releasing the book before the ship guide for the game had been finalized. But it got me wondering…
Given that we’re repeatedly told in the novels that deck space was at an absolute premium on CVE’s… why did they carry Rapiers? The Rapier was not a small fighter. Wouldn’t the more compact Epee have made a better choice for the cramped CVE’s? Or the similarly compact Arrow?
The other thing I was wondering was about ranks in Confed. I think there might already have been threads on this, and my memory is that the fleet personnel used contemporary Navy style ranks (ensign, Lt JG, Lt, LCDR, CDR, CAPT), while the pilots use contemporary Air Force style ranks (2nd Lt, 1st Lt, CAP, MAJ, LTC, COL). But Bear is promoted to LCDR while leading the flight wing. So Fleet (navy-style) ranks for wing commanders?
And in Milk Run, the comment that the captain of the Johnny Greene, a “captain” is outranked by a LCDR (an O-4). But if he’s a captain in the fleet, shouldn’t “captain” imply he’s an O-6? (Though admittedly, that seems like a very high rank for a corvette commanding officer). We’re the corvettes staffed by Space Force, not fleet? And do “captain” means an O-3?