Thanks P7, yes, I appreciate what you say - the dates aren't
totally authentic to the technical make-up of the ship, which evolves over time.
Defining the dates of decommissioning for each class would be a whole pile of work - that might take me a while!
It's not perfect - but at least it gives a
feel for what ships would be operating at certain time periods. If you set a mission in 1984, playing as Soviets against Japan (for example), you'd have a
rough idea of which units would be authentic to the time-period, and which ones wouldn't.
Cheers P7,
Stew