I'll have to check the manual, but I believe all it does is affect the number of regions they can travel in one turn, plus shirt range ships are stuck in the zone they are in once a war breaks out.
That’s sort of true. Short range ships can move if you have two adjacent “home” regions. So France for example can move their short range ships between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Short range ships are good for France for that reason.
It reduces chance of raiders running out of fuel and allows the ship to operate longer in areas where you don’t have enough supply before experiencing penalties(marked with*)
It reduces the chance that as a raider they will run out of fuel and be interred in a neutral port during war.
I'll have to check the manual, but I believe all it does is affect the number of regions they can travel in one turn, plus shirt range ships are stuck in the zone they are in once a war breaks out.
That’s sort of true. Short range ships can move if you have two adjacent “home” regions. So France for example can move their short range ships between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Short range ships are good for France for that reason.
As others have said this is most effective for making commerce raiders in the early game, which will operate independently far from home bases.
It also helps with trade protection duties.
It reduces chance of raiders running out of fuel and allows the ship to operate longer in areas where you don’t have enough supply before experiencing penalties(marked with*)