Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Swordfish Class Torpedo Bomber

A. Why seventy tonnes?

B. Because, with three firmpoints, you can install a barbette.

C. The Confederation Navy could CoCoMisTer missile launchers to add a torpedo capability.

D. Or, convert a firmpoint to a torpedo grapple.

E. It's basically cost.

F. And a sustained barrage.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Standardized Tonnages

1. Five tonnes - Dinghy class ultralite utility transporter, Dingbat class gunboat, Dingo class ultralite fighter, Dingle class lift transporter, fortyish foot cargo container

2. Ten tonnes - cargo container

3. Seventeen and a half tonnes - light fighter, light cargo container

4. Thirty five tonnes - medium fighter, medium cargo container

5. Seventy tonnes - Swordfish class torpedo bomber, large cargo container

Confederation Navy: Standardized Tonnages

1. Five tonnes - Dinghy class ultralite utility transporter, Dingbat class gunboat, Dingo class ultralite fighter, Dingle class lift transporter, fortyish foot cargo container, Dingdong class grounded transport, Dingleberry drop pod

2. Ten tonnes - cargo container

3. Seventeen and a half tonnes - light fighter, light cargo container

4. Thirty five tonnes - medium fighter, medium cargo container

5. Seventy tonnes - Swordfish class torpedo bomber, large cargo container, assault glider

6. Two hundred tonnes - cutter

7. Nine hundred seventy tonnes - corvette, sloop

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

1. The forty kilotonne Beijing class refused to fit in my revised shipbuilding programme.

2. I didn't want to start a new production line for a large jump factor/five jump drive module.

3. With the Normandys it's simple, you can use two Prometheus modules for sixty two and nine tenths kilotonnes for jump factor/four.

4. It's a tad short of seventy kilotonnes, but I'm getting better mileage.

5. The model would be orphaned, if you couldn't find a use for them after the production of the Beijings stopped.

6. However, it seems that the narrative states that the Confederation Navy still builds battlecruisers.

7. And I asked myself, why would they, since fast dreadnoughts supplanted the last battlecruiser class.

8. Fisher would emphasize range and speed, at the expense of protection.

9. And in our case, technological level fourteen battlecruisers would have a range of five parsecs.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

A. When I calculated the pre Washington Treaty Royal Navy, I came up with one battlecruiser for every three battleships.

B. Or, one first class armoured cruiser for every three predreadnoughts.

C. The Confederation Navy has no armoured cruisers.

D. The Victory class battlecruisers fulfilled both line of battle and cruiser functions, until technological level thirteen was breached.

E. If I had to guess, at the start of the War of Imperial Aggression, the three forward sector fleets had each twelve Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts, twenty four Zeus class battlecruisers, and twenty four Victory class battlecruisers.

F. The three rear sector fleets and the strategic reserve, twelve Prometheusii, thirty six Zeusii, and seventy two Victoryii.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

G. Likely that Normandys match Prometheusii for numbers.

H. And Beijings are half that.

I. Strike cruisers likely match battlecruisers in number, with maybe slighly more Yamamotoes than Minsks.

J. Indications are that there are not that many modernish light cruisers, and appear to act as destroyer flotilla leaders.

K. Competing with pocket carriers, maybe Madrids number the same as Prometheusii, Yarmouths slightly less that, and the balance is made of Texii.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

L. I'm going to guess that pocket carriers probably number the same as Prometheusii.

M. Half Bremens, and half de Gaulles.

N. Dingirii are probably considered failures, and not worth manufacturing more.

O. Numbers likely not exceed three times Beijings.

P. Which I guess would be less than seventy five.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

Q. For something that was designed to accompany the Prometheusii (and Normandys) there seem to be a lot of Tau Ceti class destroyers.

R. If I had to guess, nine Tau Cetiii per Prometheus.

S. Striker class destroyers number in the hundreds.

T. Though, at a minimum, they'd need to be at least as twice as many as Tau Cetiii.

U. Quite likely, the Confederation Navy really has a lot of destroyers, being the easiest fleet asset to manufacture.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

V. My guess is, that the Confederation Navy tacticians and strategists are going to come to the realization that they aren't the Royal Navy, and their problem isn't shepherding freighters across the Atlantic.

W. For fleet assets, without some other rationale, building hulls below five kilotonnes is a waste of resources.

X. Convoy escorts and patrol ships, beyond a kilotonne, are designed in response to existing spacecraft designs and expectations.

Y. What's more important is deterrence against opportunistic commerce raiding, and extending the sensor net.

Z. The actual response would be escort carriers.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

1. Since it's in the narrative, at some point shortly after the end of the war, the Confederation Navy is going to start building new battlecruisers.

2. It's going to be a new design, since the Zeus class is technological level thirteen.

3. For all intents and purposes, the Prometheus class fast dreadnought supercedes battlecruisers, both in range and armament, and likely equals them in acceleration.

4. And, they'll just continue building them, if slightly improved, from wartime experience.

5. The new battlecruiser design is going to need to find a niche that is both considered important to fulfill, and that the Prometheusii don't have the capability to do so, even marginally.

6. Apparently, the Beijings wrecked quite a lot of havoc behind the lines.

7. So, we're back to original missions that Fisher had contemplated for the Invincible.

8. Rapid reaction, fleet scouting, cruiser killer, hunter killer, commerce protection, and, if it finds the time, commerce raider.

9. It's not officially mentioned, but the implication is there.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

A. This is my take on it, but it forms the basis of what follows.

B. The Solomani Confederation Secretariat has authorized ninety nine Fleet Squadrons, nine of them Guards designation, which would be fifty percent overstrength.

C. The Confederation Navy lays down six fast dreadnoughts every year, plus two battlecruisers.

D. The fast dreadnoughts were improved Prometheus class, superceded by the technological level fifteen Mercury class fast dreadnoughts.

E. The current battlecruiser class are the Shanghais, technological level fourteen.

F. Their technological level fifteen successor is currently being designed.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

G. If we parallel history, battlecruisers are about the same size as battleships, but more expensive because of the engineering.

H. To be fair, that was about the same for first class armoured cruisers, and predreadnoughts.

I. Depending on your viewpoint, after the millenium, the Imperium Navy gave up totally on battlecruisers.

J. It could be, that they came to the conclusion that a technological level fifteen fast battleship can cover eighty percent of the capability of a contemporary battlecruiser, and be more survivable.

K. And have the heavy cruisers cover any gaps.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

L. I think we'll call the follow up to the Shanghais, and stablemate to the Mercurii, the Admiral class.

M. Tempting it is to increase range to six parsecs, and I think we'll stick to five.

N. It's obvious I deeply disagree with the narrative that the standard range of Confederation Navy fleet assets is three parsecs.

O. It was, a hundred odd years ago.

P. Before the introduction of the Prometheus, Normandy, and Tau Ceti classes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

Q. Surviving Victory and Zeus class battlecruisers have a three parsec range.

R. I'm going with the premise that the Confederation Navy kept all their surviving capital starwarships, and rebuilt their Fleet Squadrons around them.

S. Surviving Midway class fighter carriers, and Zhukov class troop carriers were integrated into Fleet Squadrons, instead of being in separate Carrier and Assault Squadrons.

T. Thus, these themed Fleet Squadrons would have a common three parsec range.

U. The surviving Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts would be segregated into their own Fleet Squadrons, and reinforced by newly launched ones.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

Q. The Prometheus based Fleet Squadrons would start to get clustered around the Sylean Empire borders.

R. And the fighter carriers would be replaced by a battle tender.

S. To keep within the narrative, the Prometheus fast dreadnoughts would attach mission pods to their outer hull.

T. Compensating for those would reduce range to three parsecs.

U. The four parsec range battle tenders would also overload themselves, to reduce range.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

V. Pretty sure that the Confederation Navy would start integrating their heavy cruisers into the line of battle, once they started running out of battlecruisers, to make up the numbers in Fleet Squadrons.

W. The practice would continue post war, until sufficient numbers of new Prometheii were commissioned.

X. Since Confederation Navy strategists were pretty sure that the Sylean Empire really wasn't interested in trying to reintegrate the rump Solomani state, and Wolfe likely had emplaced a (secret) policy of peace for the next century, the Navy could slowly rebuild their numbers, to fill up the authorized ninety nine Fleet Squadrons.

Y. In the meantime, large destroyers and frigates would take over the usual cruiser roles and missions.

Z. And new cruiser commissions, few as they were, were mostly test beds for new technologies and doctrines.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

1. Post war Strike Squadrons would be based around the surviving Beijings, pocket carriers, and light cruisers.

2. Patrol Squadrons are regionally based administrative formations.

3. Assets assigned to Patrol Squadrons, can be detached to other squadrons, divisions, task forces, and groups.

4. Post war, patrol assets were one kilotonne and down.

5. Then, five kilotonne frigates start taking over the mission.

6. Corvettes and sloops would be a kilotonne and less.

7. Unlike a frigate, that can exert presence, these would be more monitoring what's going on, and keeping lines of communication open.

8. If you assume member world autonomy, it's not the business of the Confederation Navy to snoop around every nook and cranny.

9. That's Solomani Security's job.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

A. Convoy protection would be Patrol Squadron responsibility.

B. Possibly, with a Strike Squadron tagalong.

C. Trade (route) protection would also fall under Patrol Squadron.

D. Unless there would be a known or suspected large commerce raider, in which case a Strike Squadron is organized.

E. Which was basically one of the battle or armoured cruiser's roles.

F. Since Confederation Navy light cruisers lack spinal mounts.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

G. Why do Confederation Navy light cruisers have no spinal mounts?

H. Genesis was from a different edition, and maybe the authors wanted to differentiate them from the Imperium designs.

I. My take on it was that there was spinal mount bottleneck.

J. And given a choice, the priority was for larger variants.

K. And currently, the sweetspot for cruisers is fifty kilotonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

L. It sort of evolves into the Arleigh Burke/Ticonderoga similarity.

M. You have the (light) cruiser baseline, specific to the Confederation Navy.

N. And you try to shove that into a destroyer hull.

O. Which should be a lot easier without a spinal mount.

P. Though, you do have size inflation for said destroyers.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Battlecruiser

Q. You could also have commonality in parts for battlecruisers concurrent with fast dreadnoughts.

R. Battlecruisers could more or less have a similar design, but differ in engineering and hull armour protection.

S. Currently, I have the Prometheii at a quarter megatonnes, and the Shanghais at two hundred twenty five tonnes.

T. With a pizza slice hull configuration, you could slice ten percent of the rear end off.

U. Probably easier with a pencil configuration.