Most Prolific Ship Class in Charted Space?

[MasterGwydion]

Just out of curiosity, which ship types have the most ships flying the spacelanes? Free Traders? Far Traders? Subsidized Merchant? Subsidized Liner? Is the Jump-1 Drive the most used drive in Charted Space? etc.

Not really important, just food for thought.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I give you my candidate: The Kinhome-Class 100-Ton Merchant.

A Mongoose 2e design. The Kinhome-Class 100-Ton Merchant is designed for a pilot/astrogator and engineer team (often a couple) or the loner who can do it all. At less than half the cost of a Free Trader, it still boasts almost 3/4 of the other ship's cargo capacity when jumping a single parsec. It has a 10-ton fuel/cargo container that can be filled with fuel to allow J2 functionally in exchange for a loss of 10 tons of cargo space. If it needs to make a longer jump, there is a collapsable 20-ton fuel bladder that can enable it to reach a destination 4 parsecs away in two jumps with 26 tons of cargo.

It doesn't have enough power to use all systems at once and must cut thrust and other non-essential systems before jumping. There are no dedicated passenger cabins though the two cabins could be converted to double occupancy to allow for more crew (or as is common, children).

Everything is as basic as one could imagine. In all, it is one of the least expensive ships available in Charted Space and a bargain at the price, even with the corners that have been cut in the hull quality, drives, sensors, and power plant. One could even say that was a feature--not a bug--as that makes them very inexpensive. In fact, they are so affordable that they are even more common than the ubiquitous Free Trader and are seen all over the Imperium.

 

[ottarrus]

For sheer number of hulls flying, I would suspect that it's a freighter in the 1000 ton range. Probable performance is J2 or 3 and 1 or 2 G. Most cargo doesn't move via tramp traders. Cargo moves from manufacturing point to distribution point in large cargo ships. The cargo is the broken down into smaller and smaller lots as the goods head to smaller and smaller markets. There are more delivery vans than 18-wheelers and that same logic applies.
After that, I'd suspect that patrol ships in the 3 to 400 ton range. The logic there is that Gazelles and Type T's are purchased by planetary navies and corporations for self-protection in addition to the hulls flying for the IN.

 

[Condottiere]

Non military, non Scout Service, as a class/type, it's probably decommissioned Scout/Couriers.

By my fanon, it's Solomani built starships using the Venture Drive, one hundred twenty parsec tonnes.

 

[MasterGwydion]

For sheer number of hulls flying, I would suspect that it's a freighter in the 1000 ton range. Probable performance is J2 or 3 and 1 or 2 G. Most cargo doesn't move via tramp traders. Cargo moves from manufacturing point to distribution point in large cargo ships. The cargo is the broken down into smaller and smaller lots as the goods head to smaller and smaller markets. There are more delivery vans than 18-wheelers and that same logic applies.
After that, I'd suspect that patrol ships in the 3 to 400 ton range. The logic there is that Gazelles and Type T's are purchased by planetary navies and corporations for self-protection in addition to the hulls flying for the IN.

I would think that J-2 or J-3 would likely only be used for jumping between Mains or for Liners. You lose too much cargo space otherwise.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I give you my candidate: The Kinhome-Class 100-Ton Merchant.

A Mongoose 2e design. The Kinhome-Class 100-Ton Merchant is designed for a pilot/astrogator and engineer team (often a couple) or the loner who can do it all. At less than half the cost of a Free Trader, it still boasts almost 3/4 of the other ship's cargo capacity when jumping a single parsec. It has a 10-ton fuel/cargo container that can be filled with fuel to allow J2 functionally in exchange for a loss of 10 tons of cargo space. If it needs to make a longer jump, there is a collapsable 20-ton fuel bladder that can enable it to reach a destination 4 parsecs away in two jumps with 26 tons of cargo.

It doesn't have enough power to use all systems at once and must cut thrust and other non-essential systems before jumping. There are no dedicated passenger cabins though the two cabins could be converted to double occupancy to allow for more crew (or as is common, children).

Everything is as basic as one could imagine. In all, it is one of the least expensive ships available in Charted Space and a bargain at the price, even with the corners that have been cut in the hull quality, drives, sensors, and power plant. One could even say that was a feature--not a bug--as that makes them very inexpensive. In fact, they are so affordable that they are even more common than the ubiquitous Free Trader and are seen all over the Imperium.

View attachment 5067

Love the Fanon! Mongoose should print this up the next time they do a book that is mainly ships. Be great for solo games.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Love the Fanon! Mongoose should print this up the next time they do a book that is mainly ships. Be great for solo games.

And it's such a versatile little ship. Need J1? No problem. Pull the fuel out of the dual use container and load up. Need J2? Fill in the dual use container with fuel and go. Need J3-J4? No problem. Use the fuel blivit in the cargo bay and in two weeks you're there.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Random thought... If only Class-A Starports have jump-capable shipyards, and Class-A Starports must have at least 25,000-ton construction capacity, does this mean that it is impossible to construct jump-capable vessels at a shipyard with less than 25,000 tons of construction capability?

 

[ottarrus]

I would think that J-2 or J-3 would likely only be used for jumping between Mains or for Liners. You lose too much cargo space otherwise.

My logic for J3 is that if you're moving multiple thousands of tons of cargo, your markets are not gonna be J1 from each other. Yes, you're loosing an additional 20% of hulls space to fuel, but you're gaining transit time from maker to purchaser.

 

[ottarrus]

Random thought... If only Class-A Starports have jump-capable shipyards, and Class-A Starports must have at least 25,000-ton construction capacity, does this mean that it is impossible to construct jump-capable vessels at a shipyard with less than 25,000 tons of construction capability?

Depends on the port.
There are a lot of Class A ports in the Trojan Reach that barely make the minimum standards floating over worlds that really don't need that level of service. OTOH, there are a lot of Class B ports in Mora, Rhylanor, and Trin's Veil that could use the upgrade to Class A but can't find the development money.

 

[MasterGwydion]

My logic for J3 is that if you're moving multiple thousands of tons of cargo, your markets are not gonna be J1 from each other. Yes, you're loosing an additional 20% of hulls space to fuel, but you're gaining transit time from maker to purchaser.

I thought that the general consensus was that for Freight, no one cared about speed, with a few exceptions. As long as the deliveries arrived on schedule.

Passengers, yes. They want to get there quick as is affordable for them pay for.

 

[ottarrus]

I thought that the general consensus was that for Freight, no one cared about speed, with a few exceptions. As long as the deliveries arrived on schedule.

Passengers, yes. They want to get there quick as is affordable for them pay for.

Well, after an item leaves the factory floor, it's dead weight. The manufacturer wants it sold before it's even built. Until the item is sold to a buyer, it's just taxable inventory.

 

[Condottiere]

You figure out how much the majority are willing to pay for a specific service, then reverse engineer to see if you can offer that, and still make a decent, or indecent, profit.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Well, after an item leaves the factory floor, it's dead weight. The manufacturer wants it sold before it's even built. Until the item is sold to a buyer, it's just taxable inventory.

The item is sold before it ever is put on a ship. Given the communications issues in Charted Space. Brokers are probably a huge thing. Might even be working in starports buying cargo for their off-world clients and shipping it to where the client wants it.