I just ran across this series of articles on his blog, and thought some
of you might be interested. Links:

http://www.denbeste.nu/cd_log_entrie...ceNavies.shtml

and

http://www.denbeste.nu/cd_log_entrie...eNavies2.shtml

The opening paragraphs of the second article (the one that first caught
my eye) a


So if the characteristics of ships and weapons dictate strategy and
tactics used in naval encounters, then what would be the critical
characteristics of space warships which would be critical?

It depends entirely on what assumptions you make. In most of science
fiction, it's convenient to toss the known laws of physics out the
window, to a greater or lesser extent, and once you do that the door
is wide open and anything can result. My intent is to try to stay more
realistic. So I will assume that space navies would still be bound by
such tiresome limitations as conservation of momentum, the theory of
relativity, and the laws of thermodynamics. I will assume no major
changes in our understanding of the universe. That means no "faster
than light" drives, no "space warp" or "inertialess" drives, no
"subspace" or "hyperspace", and so on.



--
Reed