Strategic Combat - Formations - Fleets

[golf_prez]

I have looked through Dubious Strategy Guide, searched through the Posts here, did some of my own tests, but can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for...

I would appreciate any comments offered:

[assumptions - are these correct??]
Formations are made up of a Fleet Leader and ships numbered 1 thru "n"
Ships are assigned to the Formation based on their position within the fleet list (first ship in fleet list is assigned to ship 1 etc..)

[question]
(1) when I assign ships to my fleet list, the ships DO NOT appear in the order that I add them to the fleet list. Sometimes the ships add sequentially, then suddenly a ship will appear in the "middle" (somewhere but not at the end)...what is the LOGIC that is used to determine the position in the fleet list??

I thought I read somewhere that the ships add based on the CREATION "date" of the ship, but I have seen cases in my tests where this is not true....