Aw, I want that password too!
Hmm. Outside of designer mode, is there any way to get rid of those ships without borking the db?
(Ew, I was wrong. Their speed is 40, not 60. Blech.)
EDIT: Ohhh, I think I get it. Reading your reply above, it seems that it's quite possible that the civvy freighters *did* update with the design when I changed it, but that their fleets are stuck at the max speed of 40 set when that was the cool thing to do. So I guess I did *not* really test it fully.
(Thanks for the answer, though -- good to know that there is at least some way to force the issue if those civvy freighters become a serious nuisance.)
EDIT 2: Tested it -- I tried the pulling-out-all-their-engines-and-fuel-tanks trick. They don't update when I change the design. In fact, my confusion as to the 40 speed versus 60 is because a while back (few years of game time) I updated the freighter design with more engines to make it faster. The civilian-owned versions of that freighter that existed before the update continue to go only 40, while the ones that were built since go 60.
I imagine that, when a civilian line launches a ship, Aurora creates a locked copy of the design as it is at the time, tied to those ships, but nonetheless retains their link to the design in the player race's design inventory so as to show them on the Ships in Class tab, even if it's been since changed?
Hmm... when I develop warships I think I know what my first testing targets will be...