Well, you have to remember that the "Theif" is an assault freighter. The way I see that one working is in conjunction with one or two fighters, perhaps a gunboat, and snagging any loot the target drops. Then they beet feet and squable over percentages when they reach port.
As for the gunboat turrets on large trains... I'll have to agree with you that it's another case of "Just because it fit's dosn't mean you should." Transport turrets, MAYBE one or two gunboat turrets. Maximum.
Me? I don't use 'em. Just another thing to be repaired on my run, and if I ever get disrupted by PC pirates, I just pay 'em. No point in not.
This is the real true story of rock and roll; it was not about anything more then, how to live your life, as a gangster, in sartorial splendor, and turning the world into a place where normality would never return again...- Malcolm McLaren