It felt like I was downloading the entire internet but I finally got it done.
I have not played extensively yet, but with stock 1.4b I have not experienced any crashes, in any of the areas of concern, mentioned in previous posts.
The merchant fleet is now above all praise.
It only too bad I can't locate a good periscope upgrade mod that will work with 1.4b.....
....in order to do this mod justice.