[Cheeze]

Yes, the self-destruct device is there to deter boarding parties, but it does serve this other purpose. I don't entirely agree with the abandon ship option, since it makes it too easy for players to send ships as far from their own systems as possible, and then simply abandon them when they are out of supplies or usefulness. That would unbalance game play since it would not check the player who just continues to build and send ships out to attack constantly and doesn't mind their maintenance expenses. I would also say it's mostly unrealistic. From the perspective of a crew, why abandon a ship when there's no hope of being recovered? Sci-fi stories that do an "abandon ship" are either leaving a ship that's being destroyed or they engage some self-destruct device/sequence. In this sense, the AI is annoyingly on target...it's ships immediately return for resupply when they are low on supplies.

You don't want a ship any more or can't afford it? Then you can: destroy it (SDD or fire on it), mothball it, scrap it (both requiring a shipyard), or send it on a suicide mission. In any result, it requires at least some thought and planning on the player's part. Or you hope the computer decides to trash that one when you run out of resources to support your ships. This does put it out of your control, but it could be said that different ships have, or do not have, resources that keep them going where others, even inconveniently, must be scrapped.