i feel the same way. at first i was like: yeah upgrades. i try them out.
after fully upgrading i had no trouble against 5 dds at the same time
it is just boring and ridiculous.
i am in rpgs as well as i like sim games and realism. i love the idea that your crew gets promoted and became veterans, but the devs get totally out of line with this. sh5 is arcade, casual gaming and rpg-style. we can only wait for a realism mod.
what is most annoying about this morale system, is the fact that it is bugged as hell and you never knew what the abilities does to your ship and your crew...