* * It is true observation, however, for BG and game sake, it must be handled in the simplest manner.With work on new Supreme Ruler announced, maybe it is time for us to help BGs with some ideas. So, here it is:
1. Coal and oil burning ships. Very important resource shift for the era, but I don't think engine can handle this...
* * Suggestion:
1. Coal versus Oil-powered ships:
Generally, coal-powered ships ran at slower speeds. Oil fired ships got underway, steamed faster.
Therefore: make all Coal-powered ships steam at 10-knots;
.....all Oil-powered ships, at 15-knots (as SR-36)
2. Transition from oil to coal began in @ 1920, or soon thereafter, for most navies.
Pre-dreadnought battleships and coastal defense ships /Guard ships (PATROL) were nearly all scrapped beginning this year - clearly obsolescent to totally obsolete.
Therefore: for warships (all categories), use 1920 as date for presumed, "conversion" to Oil.....automatically
given the ships 15-knot cruising speed.
3. Merchant Ships: same applies.
Any ships built after 1920 (or 1922), automatically are Oil-powered (as in SR-36).
Any merchant ships in service prior to 1920 (or 1922, BG choice), become Oil powered 1Jan1920 (or 1922).
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Note. The reference to 1922 is related to the date of the Washington Naval Treaty year, and while some smaller navies (Peru for example), retained coal-fired scout cruisers and destroyers for more than a decade after the dates above, it was the exception rather than the rule.