What does it mean to "detach" from a Ship Yard?

[tabicat]

When I click on my Ship Yard, I'm given the option to "Detach 1", "Detach 2", or "Detach 3". What does this do? I don't see any reference to the word "detach" in the game instructions.

[Brez]

I believe it's to split ('detach') the ships in a stack.

In other words: if you do not detach, then the opponent sees a single stack of unknown ships. If you were to detach one or more, they would see two or more stacks of unknown ships. My take is that the term 'detach' is basically 'split'.

Hope this is correct, I'm only learning the game as well!

[Lunalol]

Yes, it is split and join, perhaps I should change it for beginners.
My native langage is not english, so I don't know which word is better : split/detach or another one ?

[kawlaw]

In the physical version of the game, units are represented on the map by small cardboard squares called counters. Each counter is marked to show what type of unit it is: Scout ship, battlecruiser, battleship, etc. The way the game is structured, a single counter represents a group of ships. The group can be from 1 to 6 ships, which must be all the same type: 3 Scouts represented by 1 Scout counter, 2 Battleships represented by 1 Battleship counter, etc. Well, how the heck can you know how many ships are in a group? In addition to the counter identifying the unit group, there is a separate set of counters which show a number, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. The player who owns the ship group secretly places underneath the counter identifying the UNIT TYPE, a second counter with a number on it, 1 through 6, so that when you look at the counters on the board, you can only read what is on the top counter (UNIT TYPE) and the quantity of ships within the unit group is hidden from view. Except the unit group owner knows how many ships are in the group, and can look to remind herself if she forgets.
There are only a certain number of unit group counters in the game, so that if you want more of a certain unit than there are unit type counters, you are forced to "stack" all the ships of the same type under a single unit type counter, in order to make another counter of the same unit type available to use elsewhere. In converting the game to the BGA version, the game programmers kept the same system. When ships are constructed at a shipyard (and shipyards, too, by the way) they sometimes appear on the map as a single UNIT TYPE COUNTER, which may represent multiple ships of the same type. If you were sitting at a table playing the physical copy of this game, let's say you had a single unit counter showing Scouts, and underneath that unit type a counter showing the number 4. That would signify you had a group of Scout ships, 4 in number. Only you would know how many ships are in the group until you meet another player's ships and they are then able to see your group and how large it is. But let's say you wanted to split the group up into two smaller groups. In the physical game you would reach up with your hands, place a second UNIT TYPE counter on the board next to the other one and then replace the 4 underneath one of the counters with, say, a "2" counter and also place another "2" counter underneath the UNIT TYPE counter you just added. You can do that with your hands, or other prehensile appendage with which you may be endowed, but in the BGA version of this game, they added a button to allow you to perform the same act. By clicking on "Detach" or "Combine" you are dividing the group or combining the group of ships of the same type.
All of this is explained much better and much more clearly in the Rules, Section 2.2. Just try to remember a unit type counter is a group, not a single ship. The group can be comprised of a single ship, but it still represents a group. This is the way the game is designed and it works pretty well.
And the BGA developers that translated the physical game into this online digital version....:chef's kiss!!!!!!

[Lunalol]

@kawlaw: thanks for this long but really clear explanation
You just teach me that English expression: "chef's kiss"