Again, that only helps if you're able to search the system where the ship was last seen. If the enemy just won a battle there and they're holding onto their gains, that won't be an option. Even the loudest alert beacon won't help much if you're 50 lightyears from the nearest friendly base that might hear it.

Also, note that such screamers probably won't work the same way in space warcraft. The last thing a crippled spacecraft limping away from a battle needs is a beacon shouting "Hey, that damaged ship is right over here!"

On Sat, Feb 13, 2016 at 10:17 PM, William Ewing (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
This email was sent from yahoo.com which does not allow forwarding of emails via email lists. Therefore the sender's email address (xxxxxx@yahoo.com) has been replaced with a dummy one.

Emergency Locator Beacons today (EPIRBs) can't usually be turned off. You can activate them, test them, or leave them in standby. If they go in the water, they start screaming, telling the world your ship just sank at these coordinates. You'd have to disassemble each one installed on board, and they're not big machines. They're the size of home fire extinguishers (so easy to forget and easy to miss), mounted similarly, and there should be at least 2 on a ship, possibly many more. Additionally, there's the Man Overboard Indicator, MOBI, which is like a personnel EPIRB, attached to every lifejacket. 
In a long-developed space setting, I'd expect something very similar to both being required on all commercial and naval vessels, and at the least highly encouraged on private non-commercial vessels. 


From: Richard Aiken <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
To: tml <xxxxxx@simplelists.com>
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2016 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: [TML] Instant city

On Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 8:56 PM, Craig Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm positing that the battle happened deep in enemy space, and that they're winning. There may never be an opportunity to check the scene of the battle.


Or even know precisely where the scene of battle occurred.

Knowing the system alone is not enough. Given the base velocity of the debris cloud(s), even a few hours would be sufficient time to allow enough separation to make finding all but the largest hulls difficult. And that assumes one is free to use active sensors. If the battle happened in an enemy held system, nobody is going to be broadcasting an emergency locator signal unless their situtaion is absolutely desperate (e.g. capture being preferable to death).  

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein
"I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as Muhammed." Alexis de Tocqueville (1843)
"We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous." Dean Winchester
"It has been my experience that a gun doesn't care who pulls its trigger." Newton Knight (as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey), to a scoffing Confederate tax collector facing the weapons held by Knight's young children and wife.
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Craig Berry (http://google.com/+CraigBerry)
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time." - William Blake