Thats a one big SU

[Eric R.]

While not much was on TV tonigt so I got out one of my FASA books and started to read through it it was the merchant book.

So I came across the section on SCU or Standard Cargo Units and read that it equalled 6.75 cubic meters or volume, 200 bushels or 6,750 liters. So I got an Idea of tryng to figure out how much 1 SCU wieghed of course the only way I could fine out was too get the weight of the Liters this turned out to be 14, 267 pounds or roughly 6.5 metric tons. Then I remebered that a SU of Cargo in Spacedock holds 33,000 metric tons so now excited and as determined as coupon maniac determining to fine the experiation date code on the bottom of a can I went to work. and this is what I came up with

Volume
1 SCU = 6.75 cubic meters (1.5m x 1.5m x 1.5m) of bulk cargo, 200 Bushels or 6,750 liters of liquid.
1 SU = 33,000 Cubic METERS of Bulk Cargo,

Weight
1 SCU = 6.5 cubic metric tons (Liquid)
1 SU = 5076 SCU’s

So at least for now you have an Idea of what at least one catagory of SU measures at that is alot of cargo no wonder most cargo ships have been so little in Trek.

[Eric R.]

Changed the threads name and resurected it.

[Captain Leana Craig]

Erm, Eric I hate to rain on your parade(well actually I could not care less ) But 1 SU=33,000 cubic METRES , not tons.

Sorry.

[Eric R.]

Noted and corrected

[spyone]

I created a very similar thread shortly after Spacedock debuted. I had noticed the way the system could become a little rediculous at the extreme end of the spectrum.

Here's a little of what I said:

In other sillyness, Size Classes of ships are given (guideline) outer dimensions, and Cargo Bays are given a stated volume.

The sillyness comes in when you realize that a Size 1 ship can have (theoretically) up to 325 cargo bays, each of which is about 1000 times larger than a Size 1 ship.
TARDIS, anyone?

Elsewhere in the same thread, I noted that the crew guidelines could also produce silly results. Basicly, the table does not work well for extremely small ships (below Size 3).

For instance, the largest size of shuttle (which will be the size of a small rent-a-truck) will have a recommended crew of 9. And If one were silly enough to designate it as a medical, rather than transport, ship, it would now have about 3 crew per cubic meter, which I think cannot be achieved without a food processor.

I encountered this while trying to build a Size 2 Science ship: I was aiming for a crew around 12, and found a "surveyor" about 50m long will have a crew of about 180, by the table. Reducing it to 6m long puts it closer to 90 crew.

To be fair, it is made pretty clear that ships like Explorers and Medical ships are not supposed to be really small, so the truly weird numbers there aren't an issue.

Someone asked how my warped crew projections reflected on an Oberth Class vessel.

My best sources put it at 120m long, which is Technically Size 4. However, the ship is small and uses space inefficiently, so let's call it Size 3.
Size 4 covers 800-1300 SU, Size 3 covers 600-1000. I'd guess off hand that an Oberth runs 600-800 somewhere. Call it 700.
An Oberth Class Escort, Courier, or Transport would have a crew of 21. An Oberth Class Scout would have a crew of 42. As a Research/Labratory ship, it would have a crew of 56.
The TNG Rulebook says the Oberth has a crew of 80, but then it also says it's 160m long and calls it a Surveyor.
If it were a 1300 SU Scout, the crew numbers match perfectly. A 1000 SU Labratory Ship matches even better.

Now, let's get silly.
As a Frigate, it would have a crew of 161. As a Cruiser, 175. As a Surveyor, 210. As an Explorer, 252. Lastly, as a Medical Ship, it would have a crew of 294. Mighty crowded in there..