Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

V. Either a recovery bay, or a launch tube, will require three and a half hundred tonnes each, three and a half hundred power points, and cost one and three quarters hundred megastarbux.

W. The Skimkish class light carrier has one of each for standard Imperium fifty tonne fighters, which it carries eighty examples.

X. Surprising lack of redundancy.

Y. Fifty sets of forced linkage apparatus weigh in at a hundred tonnes, and the basic model would cost a total of two and a half megastarbux.

Z. Though, that does complicate maintenance, and crew access.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

1. Escort carriers tend to be derided as combustible, vulnerable, expendable.

2. Which means, they have to be cheaply built, and not have payload whose lose would be keenly felt.

3. Operationally.

4. One reason light carriers were built post bellum, because the strategic need for cheap, easy, and quickly constructed starwarships was over.

5. However, if you tweak the concept public relationswise, and don't go out of your way to cut every corner and turn around every penny, you could get a reasonable safe vessel, that the enlisted crew wouldn't balk serving in.

6. As long as you don't get shot at, every vessel tends to be invulnerable.

7. And if you train your crew how to take care of equipment, and damage control, if not, it becomes less combustible.

8. The expendable part is perception, by either the public and the servicemen, so get competent public relations personnel.

9. And thus, you have the starting point for peacetime built escort carriers.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

A. A frontline starwarship with acceleration factor/three is going to have tactical issues.

B. You couldn't have a destroyer with that limitation.

C. However, a frigate with the same tonnage, could probably operate at that speed.

D. Destroyers could be confined more to fleet operations.

E. Or, operate in flotillas.

F. Frigates could be more on independent cruises and be general purpose.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

G. We expect less from frigates, as compared to destroyers.

H. It's also a designation that harkens back to the age of sail.

I. Corvette is a word invented by Johnny Foreigner.

J. Battleship, cruiser, carrier, and destroyer, imply modernity.

K. Escorts should be expensive, and obliging.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

L. Four primary reasons you want destroyer hulls five kilotonnes plus.

M. Crew efficiency bonus.

N. Distributed arrays covering said hull.

O. Ignore critical hits from turrets and barbettes.

P. And assuming you manage to tightrope exactly five kilotonnes, it's harder for a spinal mount to single you out.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

Q. Modern perception of frigates are that they are platforms with specialized functions, generally against subsurface or aerial threats.

R. The Confederation view is that they are general purpose starwarships, whose purpose is to exert presence in the less dangerous, more remote, or less important, systems, during peacetime.

S. And in wartime, act as interstellar commerce protection, and patrol trade routes.

T. While the simple answer might be that they are designed as cheaper, slower versions of destroyers.

U. Whereas destroyers are intended to be aggressive, (Confederation Navy) frigates tend to err on the side of caution.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

V. One reason you might need more mass, is to host a wide variety of drones onboard.

W. This would allow an extension of it's sensor nets.

X. Also, while not defined as a carrier, a wide selection of smallcraft.

Y. In either case, this would make acceleration factor/three less of a handicap, in carrying out it's missions, especially in different areas at the same time.

Z. Also, chase down faster vessels.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

1. Reducing crew requirements isn't so much as reducing the ship's complement.

2. It's more about being to effectively run the vessel with less personnel, while quite a number are deployed elsewhere.

3. This can occur with smallcraft launched on extended patrols, extending the frigate's reach.

4. Or, in the event that a spacecraft needs to have a boarding party.

5. Also, Confederation Navy vessels are usually overcrewed, in order to ensure a large reserve of trained personnel is built up, as well as free training for planetary merchant marines.

6. And also, the cruiser gap.

7. You do have to have an effective largish minor combatant that can perform most of the roles and missions of a light cruiser.

8. We'll use that as one of the reasons that the Confederation started to emphasize torpedoes.

9. Frigates being not quite as agile as destroyers, nor having the firepower of a light cruisers, launch massive volleys of torpedoes to take out anything that can outrun, and outgun, it.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

A. Next would be engineering.

B. Didn't quite like where two three hundred fifteen tonne jump drives were leading me to tonnages I didn't feel suitable for either frigates or destroyers.

C. Recalled that some Great War destroyers had four funnels, and decided on five one hundred and five tonne jump drives.

D. I could say it was for damage control.

E. But really, it was more that each had a clean four thousand parsec tonnes.

F. Which would give us four parsec range for a five kilotonne hull.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

G. Current canon has the range of Confederation Navy starwarships at three parsecs.

H. I'm going to say that it really remains at four parsecs.

I. The difference is, that they carry baggage that reduces the range to three parsecs, from four.

J. They can drop that baggage, so that in a clean configuration, the Confederation Navy starwarships can jump their designed range of four parsecs.

K. As such, frigates and destroyers tend to have an additional sixteen hundred and sixty six tonnes attached to their hull, which lowers their performance for both acceleration and jumping.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

L. Acceleration would be one major difference between the destroyers and frigates.

M. The destroyers would be accompanying the primary fleet units, and need to be able to screen them.

N. The frigates would have to cap acceleration at factor/three, optimal for five kilotonnes.

O. Since I'm going for standardized engineering, I'll go for four thirty five tonne manoeuvre drive modules, which gives us factor/two point eight at five kilotonnes.

P. And factor/two point one at sixty six and two thirds hundred tonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

Q. Command centres for frigates should be default.

R. I was sort of tempted to use a small bridge, but when you're potentially fighting for your life, cost cutting wouldn't be appreciated.

S. Nor, for routine operations.

T. The destroyers would have a command bridge added to their sixty tonne bridge.

U. This would allow them to act as flotilla leader, or, with their sensor suites, act as command and control for smallcraft and minor combatants.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

V. I think what we could do, is attach a sixteen hundred tonne secondary hull to a forced linkage apparatus.

W. This could act as a mission module, allowing role specialization.

X. I did say that a frigate of this size would be general purpose.

Y. You could think of the module as the general purpose frigate giving a piggy back ride to another specialized role frigate, which doesn't happen to have a jump drive.

Z. Or, a manoeuvre one.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

1. If we're willing to drop to a two parsec range, you can max out the forced linkage apparatus to five kilotonnes.

2. If you assume merchantmen convoys proceed at two parsecs at a time, that would coincide with that of a frigate with an enlarged pod.

3. Five kilotonnes allows quite a lot of hangar space.

4. Divided by thirty eight and a half, that be a tad just short of one hundred thirty.

5. In theory, we could utilize a third of that capacity as hangars for an escort carrier sized aerospace wing.

6. Which sort of fits in with my concept of just attaching a large enough pod for aerospacecraft operations.

7. Or, for planetary assault, bombardment, or even exploration.

8. Even act as a salvage vessel for damaged five kilotonne hulls.

9. Or, a tanker.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

A. Once you thought about it, I never quite understood why anyone would assume that a major interstellar Navy would bother with light fighters.

B. Especially deployed on an actual carrier.

C. It's the same argument that happened when the main battle tank was evolving.

D. You can have designs that emphasized specific qualities, that would succeed under certain circumstances.

E. Such as cost, weight, firepower, or mobility.

F. But, it's easier just to have a general purpose model.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

G. A bigger hull allows a fighter to pack in more capabilities.

H. And hull armour protection.

I. This tends to ensure that a fighter is more likely to successfully carry out it's mission.

J. And almost as importantly, crew survival.

K. Which represents an large investment in money, time and effort, to train, maintain, and retain.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

L. Lighter fighters though have their utility.

M. Such as training or light attack.

N. Ground attack and air/atmospheric support is organic to the Confederation Army, using gravitational vehicles.

O. What the Navy provides is orbital bombardment, and aerospace support.

P. Which skirts the line between orbital and atmosphere.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

Q. You'd primarily use it for advanced training.

R. Acrobatic display doesn't appear to matter, considering you have the same agility between five to forty nine tonnes.

S. It's really to help give pilots actual flight experience and hours, which one assumes is still preferable to simulators.

T. Reconnaissance might be more of a case when a Mark One eyeball view is required.

U. Point defence, if you're caught with your pants down, or that's all you can afford.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls and Primitivation

V. Short range surveillance and patrols.

W. In the more extreme cases, escorting suspect spacecraft, and shooting down drones.

X. The primary role has to be advanced training, since more capable aerospace frames exist, or should.

Y. The other roles would be subordinate.

Z. Except, as a way to gain cost cutting capability.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Gig Economy

1. Canon has the gig smallcraft at twenty tonnes, armour factor/zero, and streamlined.

2. A bridge, really?

3. Three tonnes at fifty kilostarbux, when it should default to a semimegastarbux, for the first hundred tonnes.

4. And acceleration factor/seven, at technological level/twelve, which should make that a prototype.

5. Anyway, I wondered if we could utilize it, whether as a (para)military or commercial smallcraft.

6. A gig /ˈɡɪɡ/ is a type of boat. It was optimised for speed under oar, but usually also fitted with a sailing rig for appropriate conditions. The type was in use by Deal boatmen in the 18th century. It first occurred as a naval ship's boat after Deal boatbuilders recommended a different design to boats ordered from them by the Royal Navy to equip the cutters purchased in the 1760s to combat smuggling. The captains of larger warships soon sought permission to substitute a gig for one of the heavier boats which were then used; some even had a gig built at their own expense. The gig therefore became part of the usual complement of ship's boats used in warships.

7. Gigs also had civilian uses, being employed to take pilots to and from ships, carrying mail and people for vessels waiting at anchor for favourable winds, salvage and lifesaving – and for smuggling. They could be found in places like the Mersey, as one of the faster and lighter boat types providing communication with ships anchored off the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, and also from Deal to the Downs. The West Country is well known for its pilot gigs, with surviving and new-built examples now being raced at a large number of clubs in the region.[1][2]: 100–110 [3]: 46–47

8. Gigs were lightly built, usually of clinker construction. They were narrow for their length. Typically, in naval gigs a beam of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) was used for hull lengths from 20 to 28 feet (6.1 to 8.5 m) – propelled by between four, six or eight oars. Exceptions included gigs pulling ten oars.[2]: 106 [3]: 87–88  Oars were always single-banked[a] in a gig.

9. Some would describe larger gigs as a galley, with regional variation on this terminology for civilian craft. Others regard the galley as a similar but different type.[2]: 106-107  In Royal Navy usage of the latter half of the 19th century, the captain's gig was always referred to as "the galley".[4] This contrasts with the US Navy usage: here the "captain's gig" was originally the traditional wooden boat, but in recent times a fibre-glass hulled powerboat which provided transport for the captain to and from their ship.[5]: 94