Being used in the real US Navy for years, it's a great idea and I think all Star Army ships should be upgraded to included it.SOUND-POWERED-TELEPHONE SYSTEM
The battle telephones are sound-powered; that is, instead of a battery or generator, your voice provides the power for the circuit. Failure of the electrical power system has no effect upon the sound-powered phones, although one or more stations can be knocked out by a direct hit. You should remember that every sound-powered receiver is also a transmitter, and vice versa. In other words, if all but one earpiece on a sound-powered headset is knocked out, you normally can continue to both talk and receive through the earpiece.
Source: http://www.tpub.com/content/administrat ... 067_39.htm
It also got me thinking: Most of our ship stats include no provisions for firefighting.
The site linked has a ton of information from military manuals...I'm thinking of assembling link lists to revelant info for each Star Army occupation. Having players learn about their character's occupation would be good for players and for the story's realism.