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Solomani Confederation (Military)
- Thread starter Condottiere
- Start date
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Considering the expanse of the Imperium, Domains may influence construction policy, which may include pork barrel projects for lobbyists with below tech level fifteen shipyards, or just find that some ships can be constructed at a lower tech level with marginally less utility, and at a significantly lesser cost.
As regards to the Solomani, considering their tech gap, all new warship construction is likely to be uncompromisingly at tech level fourteen, except where it can be proven that for second tier ships it matters less, and saves money.
This would also ease maintenance costs.
As regards to the Solomani, considering their tech gap, all new warship construction is likely to be uncompromisingly at tech level fourteen, except where it can be proven that for second tier ships it matters less, and saves money.
This would also ease maintenance costs.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Modern Heavy Cruiser
The Constitution class cruiser is the only major combatant that the Solomani Navy is still constructing.
It's optimized for the deep strike role, though never referred to as such, despite the fact that the factor five jump and factor two manoeuvre drives makes this obvious. While it's known to most naval intelligences that these vessels incorporate high burn thrusters, meant to be used only in critical phases during combat, a lot of unwary captains do tend to get caught by surprise when a Constitution cruiser suddenly accelerates.
Under current doctrine, the Constitution class incorporates sizable Marine and Aerospace Group contingents, which makes it ideal with it's long legs, to act independently as the Solomani Navy's rapid reaction force. The Aerospace Group also compensates for lack another major combatant to act as it's buddy, or even an intermediate sized one, as the preceding Beijing class vessels have been retired due having worn out their ship systems due to heavy usage, and lack of numbers of the Constitutions means that they tend to get deployed and act singly.
Some small ship classes exist that can keep up with the Constitution, though they would act more as long range reconnaissance and communications vessels.
Constitutions are the only large modern warship usually seen beyond the immediate borders of the Confederacy, and usually only assigned to important diplomatic or exploration missions, the most renowned of which being the SCS Enterprise. At sixty six thousand tonnes, their elegant lines make an impressive and imposing sight to most observers and foreign governments.
The Constitution class cruiser is the only major combatant that the Solomani Navy is still constructing.
It's optimized for the deep strike role, though never referred to as such, despite the fact that the factor five jump and factor two manoeuvre drives makes this obvious. While it's known to most naval intelligences that these vessels incorporate high burn thrusters, meant to be used only in critical phases during combat, a lot of unwary captains do tend to get caught by surprise when a Constitution cruiser suddenly accelerates.
Under current doctrine, the Constitution class incorporates sizable Marine and Aerospace Group contingents, which makes it ideal with it's long legs, to act independently as the Solomani Navy's rapid reaction force. The Aerospace Group also compensates for lack another major combatant to act as it's buddy, or even an intermediate sized one, as the preceding Beijing class vessels have been retired due having worn out their ship systems due to heavy usage, and lack of numbers of the Constitutions means that they tend to get deployed and act singly.
Some small ship classes exist that can keep up with the Constitution, though they would act more as long range reconnaissance and communications vessels.
Constitutions are the only large modern warship usually seen beyond the immediate borders of the Confederacy, and usually only assigned to important diplomatic or exploration missions, the most renowned of which being the SCS Enterprise. At sixty six thousand tonnes, their elegant lines make an impressive and imposing sight to most observers and foreign governments.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Pennant Numbers
The Solomani Navy doesn't issue pennant numbers to it's capital ships, in order to limit Imperium Naval Intelligence access to how many are built and if they are still in operation, preferring just to select from a pool of currently unused but appropriate names.
This practice seems to overlap to heavy and deep strike cruisers.
Anything below this gets assigned a confusing mish mash of alpha-numeric designators.
The Solomani Navy doesn't issue pennant numbers to it's capital ships, in order to limit Imperium Naval Intelligence access to how many are built and if they are still in operation, preferring just to select from a pool of currently unused but appropriate names.
This practice seems to overlap to heavy and deep strike cruisers.
Anything below this gets assigned a confusing mish mash of alpha-numeric designators.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Pre-bellum Capital ship numbers
The Solomani Navy has ten named fleets, plus the strategic reserve.
That would give us forty four to one hundred seventy six FleetRons, and around eighty eight to three hundred fifty two battlecruisers and fast dreadnoughts. The latter number seems unlikely, since not every fleet will have it's full complement of capital ships, though it would allow a deployment of fifty Prometheuses, one hundred Zeuses, and two hundred Victories. Not to mention that some really elite units have four instead of two primary elements.
We could meet the numbers in the middle, and come up with two hundred twenty capital ships, which would be one hundred twenty Victories, fifty Zeuses, and fifty Prometheuses.
There would be eleven to forty four Midways built in the preceding twenty years, and I'd say forty to make up for the lack of actual capital ships,
There probably are twenty Zhukov assault carriers.
Let's assume that half the above numbers survive the war.
The Solomani Navy has ten named fleets, plus the strategic reserve.
That would give us forty four to one hundred seventy six FleetRons, and around eighty eight to three hundred fifty two battlecruisers and fast dreadnoughts. The latter number seems unlikely, since not every fleet will have it's full complement of capital ships, though it would allow a deployment of fifty Prometheuses, one hundred Zeuses, and two hundred Victories. Not to mention that some really elite units have four instead of two primary elements.
We could meet the numbers in the middle, and come up with two hundred twenty capital ships, which would be one hundred twenty Victories, fifty Zeuses, and fifty Prometheuses.
There would be eleven to forty four Midways built in the preceding twenty years, and I'd say forty to make up for the lack of actual capital ships,
There probably are twenty Zhukov assault carriers.
Let's assume that half the above numbers survive the war.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: FleetRon, Modern Modularity and General Reconciliation
In theory, we can still work with on the basis of six capital ships per Fleet Squadron.
The Solomani military is quite enamoured with the concept of modularity, and each Fleet Squadron is divided into battle divisions, usually three.
Each battle division consists of two capital ships, escorted by four minor combatants, two fleet couriers, and a tender and a tanker.
Each FleetRon has one or two Deep Strike Cruisers assigned to it.
At best, a sector fleet has sixteen hundred strikecraft from four fleet carriers, or forty five fighters per division.
Vanguards should have a hundred each.
Promethii should have enough space for fifty each.
Zeuses should have twenty to thirty each, with ten ordinary launch facilities sized and located appropriately.
Victories would have a mixed bag, squeezed in where there was space.
That does leave enough room for around ten ancient fleet carriers deployed forward around the Confederation.
In theory, we can still work with on the basis of six capital ships per Fleet Squadron.
The Solomani military is quite enamoured with the concept of modularity, and each Fleet Squadron is divided into battle divisions, usually three.
Each battle division consists of two capital ships, escorted by four minor combatants, two fleet couriers, and a tender and a tanker.
Each FleetRon has one or two Deep Strike Cruisers assigned to it.
At best, a sector fleet has sixteen hundred strikecraft from four fleet carriers, or forty five fighters per division.
Vanguards should have a hundred each.
Promethii should have enough space for fifty each.
Zeuses should have twenty to thirty each, with ten ordinary launch facilities sized and located appropriately.
Victories would have a mixed bag, squeezed in where there was space.
That does leave enough room for around ten ancient fleet carriers deployed forward around the Confederation.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Carriers
The Solomani Navy hasn't really built has military spec carriers since the War of Imperium Aggression, except for assault carriers, but carefully maintains their legacy of ten Midway class fleet carriers, the lead ship which is currently a part of their orbital Naval museum around Home. The Solomani Navy doesn't believe in wasting a viable platform, and anything that can deploy one or two thousand strikecraft would give anyone pause.
The other three are evenly distributed among the three military districts, though their restricted range of three parsecs tends to deprive them of the necessary flexibility that the Naval Staff now demand.
While administratively, the carriers are attached to a Zeus class FleetRon, in reality, the FleetRon is broken into it's three component divisions, and they act as an escort to the Midways, which works out since both types are factor three range.
The Solomani Navy hasn't really built has military spec carriers since the War of Imperium Aggression, except for assault carriers, but carefully maintains their legacy of ten Midway class fleet carriers, the lead ship which is currently a part of their orbital Naval museum around Home. The Solomani Navy doesn't believe in wasting a viable platform, and anything that can deploy one or two thousand strikecraft would give anyone pause.
The other three are evenly distributed among the three military districts, though their restricted range of three parsecs tends to deprive them of the necessary flexibility that the Naval Staff now demand.
While administratively, the carriers are attached to a Zeus class FleetRon, in reality, the FleetRon is broken into it's three component divisions, and they act as an escort to the Midways, which works out since both types are factor three range.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Evolution of the Assault Carrier
With the discontinuation of the Victory class battlecruiser production lines, the shipyards were cleared for the introduction of the Zhukov class large troop carriers, which at the same hundred kay tonnage allowed the utilization of a lot of the same ship systems from the Victory class.
The Zhukovs provided valuable service in the mass and relatively safe transfer of troops to combat zones, though Naval staff soon realized that the Zhukovs needed their own organic fighter squadrons, both to provide CAS and close escorts for the assault shuttled troops, and to provide a screen for the troop transport itself, as regular pocket and fleet carriers couldn't always be guaranteed to be locally available.
Post war, concerns of the capability of the Solomani Party being able to visibly internally project it's military power, and the Navy's inclination to expand the number of strikecraft platforms, resulted in the first of the assault carriers, the Iwo Jima class, which beyond reusing the Zhukov ship systems, was internally laid out to more optimize it's role(s), which included C3I, as it also was a massive insystem electronic intelligence vacuum for SolSec.
Having internally secured itself, a follow up assault carrier class with an increased range to four parsecs is on the Solomani design boards, which either indicates a wish for increased strategic mobility, or ambitions beyond current Confederation borders.
With the discontinuation of the Victory class battlecruiser production lines, the shipyards were cleared for the introduction of the Zhukov class large troop carriers, which at the same hundred kay tonnage allowed the utilization of a lot of the same ship systems from the Victory class.
The Zhukovs provided valuable service in the mass and relatively safe transfer of troops to combat zones, though Naval staff soon realized that the Zhukovs needed their own organic fighter squadrons, both to provide CAS and close escorts for the assault shuttled troops, and to provide a screen for the troop transport itself, as regular pocket and fleet carriers couldn't always be guaranteed to be locally available.
Post war, concerns of the capability of the Solomani Party being able to visibly internally project it's military power, and the Navy's inclination to expand the number of strikecraft platforms, resulted in the first of the assault carriers, the Iwo Jima class, which beyond reusing the Zhukov ship systems, was internally laid out to more optimize it's role(s), which included C3I, as it also was a massive insystem electronic intelligence vacuum for SolSec.
Having internally secured itself, a follow up assault carrier class with an increased range to four parsecs is on the Solomani design boards, which either indicates a wish for increased strategic mobility, or ambitions beyond current Confederation borders.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Wolfe and Naval Arms Limitation Concordance
Wolfe may have agreed in secret to keep the number of major combatants and capital ships within certain limits, in order to re-establish an equilibrium along the Solomani Rim.
Whereas an arms limitation treaty would be very hard to monitor, let alone enforce, in interstellar space, it would be fairly easy to count the number of large ships that are operating within civilized regions.
Wolfe knew that the first priority would be the economic rehabilitation of the Confederation, and the creation of a tech level fifteen industrial base that would eventually translate into at least parity with the Imperium.
The Imperium knew that lack of shipyard capacity would handicap Solomani attempts to create large numbers of cruisers, let alone battleships, to overwhelm their fleets with sheer numbers, let alone the economic costs this would impose of them.
As such, the agreement caps total numbers, rather than actual tonnage, which didn't differentiate between commissioned or reserve ships.
Imperium naval strategists had noticed that the Solomani had successfully implemented a new doctrine that emphasized task groups based around cruisers and carriers, to make up for the lack of the effectiveness of their battlecruisers and new fast dreadnoughts, when caught in a drawn out engagement.
The agreement may have taken the form of limiting the total number of fleet carriers to ten, and assault carriers to ninety.
The total number of capital ships, not counting carriers, and major combatants would be five hundred, that have a jump drive installed.
The arbitrary limit for a major combatant may be anything above five thousand tonnes, has greater armour than factor six, is faster than factor four, has more than four bay weapons, and is equipped to carry large numbers of smallcraft.
Wolfe ensured that the new Solomani dreadnoughts and cruisers could maintain their own organic strikecraft, which made limitations on carriers irrelevant.
Battleriders would probably have been limited to another hundred, but more importantly, their tenders would also be limited to ten. Large monitors would be operated by system navies, though a loophole exists that allows the Solomani Navy to maintain five thousand tonne variants.
Wolfe may have agreed in secret to keep the number of major combatants and capital ships within certain limits, in order to re-establish an equilibrium along the Solomani Rim.
Whereas an arms limitation treaty would be very hard to monitor, let alone enforce, in interstellar space, it would be fairly easy to count the number of large ships that are operating within civilized regions.
Wolfe knew that the first priority would be the economic rehabilitation of the Confederation, and the creation of a tech level fifteen industrial base that would eventually translate into at least parity with the Imperium.
The Imperium knew that lack of shipyard capacity would handicap Solomani attempts to create large numbers of cruisers, let alone battleships, to overwhelm their fleets with sheer numbers, let alone the economic costs this would impose of them.
As such, the agreement caps total numbers, rather than actual tonnage, which didn't differentiate between commissioned or reserve ships.
Imperium naval strategists had noticed that the Solomani had successfully implemented a new doctrine that emphasized task groups based around cruisers and carriers, to make up for the lack of the effectiveness of their battlecruisers and new fast dreadnoughts, when caught in a drawn out engagement.
The agreement may have taken the form of limiting the total number of fleet carriers to ten, and assault carriers to ninety.
The total number of capital ships, not counting carriers, and major combatants would be five hundred, that have a jump drive installed.
The arbitrary limit for a major combatant may be anything above five thousand tonnes, has greater armour than factor six, is faster than factor four, has more than four bay weapons, and is equipped to carry large numbers of smallcraft.
Wolfe ensured that the new Solomani dreadnoughts and cruisers could maintain their own organic strikecraft, which made limitations on carriers irrelevant.
Battleriders would probably have been limited to another hundred, but more importantly, their tenders would also be limited to ten. Large monitors would be operated by system navies, though a loophole exists that allows the Solomani Navy to maintain five thousand tonne variants.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: The Evolution of the Super Cruiser
Let's try and tie up some loose ends.
The Victory class battlecruiser was a remarkably successful design for the Solomani, representing as it did the pinnacle of tech level twelve technology, and pretty much as large as you could build a starship with that tech base.
Unfortunately for the Solomani, technology marches on, and they decided to go with more of the same, only bigger, which is what the Zeus class was, an enlarged Victory, while they decided to keep an uprated Victory jump drive in production, amongst the current version which ended up in the Zhukovs and the new hundred kay tonnes fleet tankers. The uprated engine was built in the new super cruiser class of eighty thousand tonnes that had a range of four parsecs.
The interesting question is if we want that to be the Minsk class (supposedly sixty kay tonnes), or a rather early introduction of the Normandy (seventy kay tonnes). Decisions, decisions.
The aftermath of Jutland caused a lot of naval strategists to look closely at the design, concept and deployment of battlecruisers, because as Beatty pointed out, there's something wrong with their bloody ships on that day.
Fisher had conceived the battlecruiser, not that t was termed as such, as a natural evolution of the armoured cruiser, a type of ship that nearly ate up the same resources as a battleship, but had a greater range and speed at the expense of protection and fire-power. The Japanese seemed to have figured out how to use them effectively in the battle line, but Tsushima also indicated their inefficiencies, and those of contemporary battleships.
The bottlenecks that the Royal Navy was facing were employment of a limited pool of skilled personnel, and efficient use of existing infrastructure, so Fisher got rid of anything he thought wasn't worthwhile keeping, and among other things, wanted a more efficient successor to the armoured cruisers, which turned out to be a larger cruiser with capital class weapons.
Essentially, the battlecruiser is meant to be a rapid deployment force that hunts down commerce raiders, and reconnaissance in force to locate the opposing battlefleet. You really don't want them exposed in a prolonged exchange with anything else that has capital class weapons.
Until the War of Imperium Aggression, things may have worked out well for Solomani strategists, since any engagements between their fleets and opposing forces would likely be short and sharp. The may have been aware of the shortcomings of the Victories, acutely or otherwise, but they proceeded with the introduction of the Zeus class, which was just an enlarged version.
At this point, someone was figured out that they were heading up a blind alley, which was why they seemed to have thrown most of their eggs in the fast dreadnought concept, as soon as the tech level fourteen industrial base was available. The Zeus was probably recognized early on as a dud, probably because lots of shortcuts were taken in the design and construction, or it's possible it was always meant to be an intermediate design.
While the Victories still remained the backbone of Solomani Fleet Squadrons, it was decided that a newer design with a greater range was needed, though not necessarily with the same fire power, which was where the eighty thousand tonne successor to the battlecruiser's actual roles of commerce protection and reconnaissance that brushes aside cruiser and destroyer screens.
The Solomani decided that the next stage would be a cruiser that instead of protecting commerce, was capable of penetrating enemy lines and hunt down their merchant shipping and destroy critical civilian infrastructure, but was large enough to ignore minor combatants. This takes place at the same time as the introduction of Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts, Solomani naval strategists decide that most roles of cruisers in the battle line could be taken over by smallcraft, and that cruisers should be independently employed.
Upping the Beijings from forty to sixty six kay tonnes would neatly cover that.
Let's try and tie up some loose ends.
The Victory class battlecruiser was a remarkably successful design for the Solomani, representing as it did the pinnacle of tech level twelve technology, and pretty much as large as you could build a starship with that tech base.
Unfortunately for the Solomani, technology marches on, and they decided to go with more of the same, only bigger, which is what the Zeus class was, an enlarged Victory, while they decided to keep an uprated Victory jump drive in production, amongst the current version which ended up in the Zhukovs and the new hundred kay tonnes fleet tankers. The uprated engine was built in the new super cruiser class of eighty thousand tonnes that had a range of four parsecs.
The interesting question is if we want that to be the Minsk class (supposedly sixty kay tonnes), or a rather early introduction of the Normandy (seventy kay tonnes). Decisions, decisions.
The aftermath of Jutland caused a lot of naval strategists to look closely at the design, concept and deployment of battlecruisers, because as Beatty pointed out, there's something wrong with their bloody ships on that day.
Fisher had conceived the battlecruiser, not that t was termed as such, as a natural evolution of the armoured cruiser, a type of ship that nearly ate up the same resources as a battleship, but had a greater range and speed at the expense of protection and fire-power. The Japanese seemed to have figured out how to use them effectively in the battle line, but Tsushima also indicated their inefficiencies, and those of contemporary battleships.
The bottlenecks that the Royal Navy was facing were employment of a limited pool of skilled personnel, and efficient use of existing infrastructure, so Fisher got rid of anything he thought wasn't worthwhile keeping, and among other things, wanted a more efficient successor to the armoured cruisers, which turned out to be a larger cruiser with capital class weapons.
Essentially, the battlecruiser is meant to be a rapid deployment force that hunts down commerce raiders, and reconnaissance in force to locate the opposing battlefleet. You really don't want them exposed in a prolonged exchange with anything else that has capital class weapons.
Until the War of Imperium Aggression, things may have worked out well for Solomani strategists, since any engagements between their fleets and opposing forces would likely be short and sharp. The may have been aware of the shortcomings of the Victories, acutely or otherwise, but they proceeded with the introduction of the Zeus class, which was just an enlarged version.
At this point, someone was figured out that they were heading up a blind alley, which was why they seemed to have thrown most of their eggs in the fast dreadnought concept, as soon as the tech level fourteen industrial base was available. The Zeus was probably recognized early on as a dud, probably because lots of shortcuts were taken in the design and construction, or it's possible it was always meant to be an intermediate design.
While the Victories still remained the backbone of Solomani Fleet Squadrons, it was decided that a newer design with a greater range was needed, though not necessarily with the same fire power, which was where the eighty thousand tonne successor to the battlecruiser's actual roles of commerce protection and reconnaissance that brushes aside cruiser and destroyer screens.
The Solomani decided that the next stage would be a cruiser that instead of protecting commerce, was capable of penetrating enemy lines and hunt down their merchant shipping and destroy critical civilian infrastructure, but was large enough to ignore minor combatants. This takes place at the same time as the introduction of Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts, Solomani naval strategists decide that most roles of cruisers in the battle line could be taken over by smallcraft, and that cruisers should be independently employed.
Upping the Beijings from forty to sixty six kay tonnes would neatly cover that.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Texas Class Light Cruiser
The Texas class light cruiser took it's jump drive from an earlier ten kay tonne tech level eleven design, but the upgraded three hundred tonne engine only permitted a seven and a half kay tonne hull to transition three parsecs.
While categorized as a cruiser, like many light cruisers that the Solomani have designed, it does not have a central spinal mount that would be the norm for Imperium designated cruisers. It compensates with a small light fighter contingent, that have made these ships a potent threat as a commerce raider, despite their overall tech twelve systems.
The Texas jump drives have also been used in the Bremen Pocket Carriers and the rather larger than expected Hussar troop carriers, while upgraded variants went into the smaller six kay tonne Madrid light cruiser, and the disappointing five kay tonne Dingir Deep Strike Destroyer, which were optimized for five parsec transitions to accompany the Beijing class.
The Texas class light cruiser took it's jump drive from an earlier ten kay tonne tech level eleven design, but the upgraded three hundred tonne engine only permitted a seven and a half kay tonne hull to transition three parsecs.
While categorized as a cruiser, like many light cruisers that the Solomani have designed, it does not have a central spinal mount that would be the norm for Imperium designated cruisers. It compensates with a small light fighter contingent, that have made these ships a potent threat as a commerce raider, despite their overall tech twelve systems.
The Texas jump drives have also been used in the Bremen Pocket Carriers and the rather larger than expected Hussar troop carriers, while upgraded variants went into the smaller six kay tonne Madrid light cruiser, and the disappointing five kay tonne Dingir Deep Strike Destroyer, which were optimized for five parsec transitions to accompany the Beijing class.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Striker Class Destroyer
While the Striker Class started off as a tech level eleven minor combatant, what interests us is the tech level twelve upgrade with a one hundred and twenty tonne jump drive, which gives the three kay tonne destroyer a three parsec range.
The Tau Ceti had an upgraded Striker jump drive, that allowed it to extend it's range to factor four, allowing the twenty four hundred frigate to keep up with the newer Prometheus task groups.
The Kormoran two kay long range patrol ships, had a tech level fourteen Striker engine that allowed them to penetrate deeply into Imperium space.
The tech level eleven variant of the jump drive is popular amongst commercial interests, as the four thousand tonne hull is a very popular size for Solomani merchantmen.
While the Striker Class started off as a tech level eleven minor combatant, what interests us is the tech level twelve upgrade with a one hundred and twenty tonne jump drive, which gives the three kay tonne destroyer a three parsec range.
The Tau Ceti had an upgraded Striker jump drive, that allowed it to extend it's range to factor four, allowing the twenty four hundred frigate to keep up with the newer Prometheus task groups.
The Kormoran two kay long range patrol ships, had a tech level fourteen Striker engine that allowed them to penetrate deeply into Imperium space.
The tech level eleven variant of the jump drive is popular amongst commercial interests, as the four thousand tonne hull is a very popular size for Solomani merchantmen.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser classes
Keeping in mind that the Solomani kept their terrestrial and interstellar institutional knowledge over the past five millenia, they could pretty much identify naval trends, besides the fact that they were trailing the Imperium in most decades by a tech level.
By the time the Solomani were ready to be Autonomitized, their Navy would be mostly built around a tech level eleven to twelve range, and mostly pushed to tech level twelve in order to remain in reach of Imperium technology for their warships.
Their tech level eleven spaceyards could only build to fifty thousand tonne starships, though you might jump to the conclusion that they could import the requisite tech level twelve core computers.
Still, their tech level twelve spaceyards manufactured their hundred thousand tonne Victory class jump factor three battlecruisers, while their tech level eleven spaceyards came out with their fifty thousand tonne jump factor two armoured cruisers.
In theory, armoured cruisers should have an extended range, and at tech level eleven, fifty thousand tonnes should be a battleship.
The Solomani knew that at tech level thirteen, there was no limit on the size of starships, and had identified that most line of battle ships would be standardized by the Imperium at two hundred thousand tonnes. That redefined anything below a hundred thousand tonnes as a major combatant, but unable to significantly contribute in a major engagement against an actual capital ship.
Seen from the perspective of tech level fourteen, while the Solomani still classify the battle cruiser as a capital ship, the hundred thousand tonne tech level twelve jump factor three Victory class is a first class cruiser.
Their eighty thousand tonne tech level thirteen jump factor four warships would be defined as strike cruisers, and recognized as first class cruisers.
The follow up to the strike cruiser were the sixty six thousand tonne tech level fourteen jump factor five deep strike cruisers, which would be defined as super cruisers, and certainly as cutting edge of Solomani naval technology, defined as first class cruisers.
Keeping in mind that the Solomani kept their terrestrial and interstellar institutional knowledge over the past five millenia, they could pretty much identify naval trends, besides the fact that they were trailing the Imperium in most decades by a tech level.
By the time the Solomani were ready to be Autonomitized, their Navy would be mostly built around a tech level eleven to twelve range, and mostly pushed to tech level twelve in order to remain in reach of Imperium technology for their warships.
Their tech level eleven spaceyards could only build to fifty thousand tonne starships, though you might jump to the conclusion that they could import the requisite tech level twelve core computers.
Still, their tech level twelve spaceyards manufactured their hundred thousand tonne Victory class jump factor three battlecruisers, while their tech level eleven spaceyards came out with their fifty thousand tonne jump factor two armoured cruisers.
In theory, armoured cruisers should have an extended range, and at tech level eleven, fifty thousand tonnes should be a battleship.
The Solomani knew that at tech level thirteen, there was no limit on the size of starships, and had identified that most line of battle ships would be standardized by the Imperium at two hundred thousand tonnes. That redefined anything below a hundred thousand tonnes as a major combatant, but unable to significantly contribute in a major engagement against an actual capital ship.
Seen from the perspective of tech level fourteen, while the Solomani still classify the battle cruiser as a capital ship, the hundred thousand tonne tech level twelve jump factor three Victory class is a first class cruiser.
Their eighty thousand tonne tech level thirteen jump factor four warships would be defined as strike cruisers, and recognized as first class cruisers.
The follow up to the strike cruiser were the sixty six thousand tonne tech level fourteen jump factor five deep strike cruisers, which would be defined as super cruisers, and certainly as cutting edge of Solomani naval technology, defined as first class cruisers.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser Classes
The tech level eleven armoured cruiser has only a range of two parsecs, but it's primary purpose was commerce protection by essentially hunting down commerce raiders, which a factor two jump drive is sufficient if the commerce raider is taken by surprise, as it is unlikely they carry enough reserve fuel capacity to outjump the armoured cruiser. Factor two is usually sufficient to escort most merchantmen convoys.
Having only factor two range tends to limit it's strategic movement, though having seventy seven percent of total tonnage devoted mostly to armour and weapon systems, tends to allow a greater contribution to the battle line than you'd have suspected at first glance.
Armoured cruisers were considered first class at tech level twelve, but second class at tech level thirteen and fourteen, since the factor two jump drive does drastically rein in the contribution the armoured cruiser can make to the battle fleet.
Heavy cruisers were introduced at tech level twelve, to bridge the gap between the battlecruiser and lighter combatants, and were heavier than armoured cruisers, but their functions were eventually taken up by the strike cruisers, introduced at tech level thirteen, which were both heavier and had overall greater capabilities.
Heavy cruisers were considered first class at tech level twelve and thirteen, and second class at tech level fourteen. Heavy cruisers, like armoured cruisers, were intermediate solutions, and essentially, had no evolved successor types.
The tech level eleven armoured cruiser has only a range of two parsecs, but it's primary purpose was commerce protection by essentially hunting down commerce raiders, which a factor two jump drive is sufficient if the commerce raider is taken by surprise, as it is unlikely they carry enough reserve fuel capacity to outjump the armoured cruiser. Factor two is usually sufficient to escort most merchantmen convoys.
Having only factor two range tends to limit it's strategic movement, though having seventy seven percent of total tonnage devoted mostly to armour and weapon systems, tends to allow a greater contribution to the battle line than you'd have suspected at first glance.
Armoured cruisers were considered first class at tech level twelve, but second class at tech level thirteen and fourteen, since the factor two jump drive does drastically rein in the contribution the armoured cruiser can make to the battle fleet.
Heavy cruisers were introduced at tech level twelve, to bridge the gap between the battlecruiser and lighter combatants, and were heavier than armoured cruisers, but their functions were eventually taken up by the strike cruisers, introduced at tech level thirteen, which were both heavier and had overall greater capabilities.
Heavy cruisers were considered first class at tech level twelve and thirteen, and second class at tech level fourteen. Heavy cruisers, like armoured cruisers, were intermediate solutions, and essentially, had no evolved successor types.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser Classes
Much as the heavy cruiser was designed to fill the gap between the battlecruiser and light combatants, the protected cruiser was meant to fill the gap between the tech level eleven armoured cruiser and minor combatants.
The protected cruiser differs from the armoured one not only in size, but also by specific application of protections, compared to a overall protection scheme of the armoured cruiser.
The protected cruiser was meant to allow navies to deploy a cheaper asset, that could patrol their trade routes and form cruiser screens for their battle line. Protected cruisers, like armoured cruisers, can have their own internal classifications, though in the Solomani Navy, both the armoured and protected cruisers were considered intermediate solutions on their road map to have sufficient tech level twelve spaceyard capacity to produce a more suited class with advanced systems. At tech level eleven, the protected cruiser would second class, at tech level twelve and thirteen, it would be third class, and at tech level fourteen, it would be fourth class.
Ironically, the twenty thousand tonne protected cruisers' jump factor two drives became the the jump factor three of the tech level twelve light cruisers, the Yarmouths.
While the Imperium seemed to standardize what they categorized as light cruisers around thirty thousand tonnes, the Solomani seemed determined to squeeze those roles associated with light cruisers in the smallest possible hull, which may have been the origin of the trend that created the cruiser gap, or at least, made it acceptable to naval staff at a later date. At tech level twelve, the Yarmouths are second class cruisers, and at tech level thirteen and fourteen, they are considered third class cruisers.
The twelve thousand tonne Madrid light cruiser craft adopted the tech level thirteen factor four jump drive variant, though the increased range was at the expense of it's spinal mount. It seems at this stage that the Solomani begun to believe that a small spinal mount was not quite as useful as a larger armament of bay weapon systems. The lack of a spinal mount, places the Madrids as third class cruisers.
The current form of the light cruiser is a ten thousand tonne five parsec ranged vessel, that's designed both to accompany the Beijings, or to go on independent cruises, though others might more properly term it as a rather large destroyer leader. At best, these vessels would be third class cruisers at tech level fourteen, or really first class destroyers. They are popular temporary flagships for naval subsector admirals, who want to get away from having the Army and SolSec constantly underfoot onboard the assault carriers.
Much as the heavy cruiser was designed to fill the gap between the battlecruiser and light combatants, the protected cruiser was meant to fill the gap between the tech level eleven armoured cruiser and minor combatants.
The protected cruiser differs from the armoured one not only in size, but also by specific application of protections, compared to a overall protection scheme of the armoured cruiser.
The protected cruiser was meant to allow navies to deploy a cheaper asset, that could patrol their trade routes and form cruiser screens for their battle line. Protected cruisers, like armoured cruisers, can have their own internal classifications, though in the Solomani Navy, both the armoured and protected cruisers were considered intermediate solutions on their road map to have sufficient tech level twelve spaceyard capacity to produce a more suited class with advanced systems. At tech level eleven, the protected cruiser would second class, at tech level twelve and thirteen, it would be third class, and at tech level fourteen, it would be fourth class.
Ironically, the twenty thousand tonne protected cruisers' jump factor two drives became the the jump factor three of the tech level twelve light cruisers, the Yarmouths.
While the Imperium seemed to standardize what they categorized as light cruisers around thirty thousand tonnes, the Solomani seemed determined to squeeze those roles associated with light cruisers in the smallest possible hull, which may have been the origin of the trend that created the cruiser gap, or at least, made it acceptable to naval staff at a later date. At tech level twelve, the Yarmouths are second class cruisers, and at tech level thirteen and fourteen, they are considered third class cruisers.
The twelve thousand tonne Madrid light cruiser craft adopted the tech level thirteen factor four jump drive variant, though the increased range was at the expense of it's spinal mount. It seems at this stage that the Solomani begun to believe that a small spinal mount was not quite as useful as a larger armament of bay weapon systems. The lack of a spinal mount, places the Madrids as third class cruisers.
The current form of the light cruiser is a ten thousand tonne five parsec ranged vessel, that's designed both to accompany the Beijings, or to go on independent cruises, though others might more properly term it as a rather large destroyer leader. At best, these vessels would be third class cruisers at tech level fourteen, or really first class destroyers. They are popular temporary flagships for naval subsector admirals, who want to get away from having the Army and SolSec constantly underfoot onboard the assault carriers.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser Classes
To the Solomani, there are no frontiers, except to Rimward; after all, they are in a civilized quadrant of space, and their borders were mostly next to lost territories that are going to get recovered.
As such, there is no category for frontier cruisers, though to many observers, there seems little difference between the Imperium's Azhanti High Lightning, and the Solomani's Beijing deep strike cruiser classes, though deep strike cruisers are popularly if unofficially, termed as super cruisers by the Solomani public.
The Solomani also have no category for colonial cruisers, since they don't have colonies, only settlements. Despatching super cruisers there seemed to most naval staff planners as overkill, though that really was one of the roles that the super cruisers were conceptualized for, rapid deployment to any point within the Confederacy with, if not overwhelming force, at least one that would give most opposing forces pause.
Basically, if the mission is one of internal security and/or peacekeeping operations, the intent of the sudden appearance of a super cruiser would be to impress the locals.
Colonial cruisers primary purpose is similar to that of protected cruisers with the exception of supporting the battle line, a cheap cruiser sized hull that had adequate armament and great endurance, able to operate along the trade routes and the edges of empire, sufficiently equipped to overwhelm any colonial uprising or less sophisticated political entities.
There was a movement to recategorize the spineless light cruisers as patrol cruisers, but the general opinion was that it was unnecessary, and as light cruisers, might actually have Imperium Intelligence and naval staff view them as more of a threat than they actually were, or if not, underestimate their capabilities.
The Texas class at seventy five hundred tonnes represents the lower end of the light cruiser range, much as the Yarmouth shows the upper end at fifteen thousand.
To the Solomani, there are no frontiers, except to Rimward; after all, they are in a civilized quadrant of space, and their borders were mostly next to lost territories that are going to get recovered.
As such, there is no category for frontier cruisers, though to many observers, there seems little difference between the Imperium's Azhanti High Lightning, and the Solomani's Beijing deep strike cruiser classes, though deep strike cruisers are popularly if unofficially, termed as super cruisers by the Solomani public.
The Solomani also have no category for colonial cruisers, since they don't have colonies, only settlements. Despatching super cruisers there seemed to most naval staff planners as overkill, though that really was one of the roles that the super cruisers were conceptualized for, rapid deployment to any point within the Confederacy with, if not overwhelming force, at least one that would give most opposing forces pause.
Basically, if the mission is one of internal security and/or peacekeeping operations, the intent of the sudden appearance of a super cruiser would be to impress the locals.
Colonial cruisers primary purpose is similar to that of protected cruisers with the exception of supporting the battle line, a cheap cruiser sized hull that had adequate armament and great endurance, able to operate along the trade routes and the edges of empire, sufficiently equipped to overwhelm any colonial uprising or less sophisticated political entities.
There was a movement to recategorize the spineless light cruisers as patrol cruisers, but the general opinion was that it was unnecessary, and as light cruisers, might actually have Imperium Intelligence and naval staff view them as more of a threat than they actually were, or if not, underestimate their capabilities.
The Texas class at seventy five hundred tonnes represents the lower end of the light cruiser range, much as the Yarmouth shows the upper end at fifteen thousand.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser Classes
The Solomani, despite various descriptors attached to their cruisers, don't really have specialist vessels.
Their designs tend to be general purpose ships, rather than over emphasizing any particular feature or capability, something they have regretted with the Zeus class battlecruiser.
While it could be argued that the deep strike cruisers and light cruisers could be considered somewhat Riftish in capability, the Confederation doesn't feel it worth the effort to ratchet up tension in the Rift areas unnecessarily, and since they don't see a need to maintain a fast lines of communication there, have instead decided to use highly reliable, if somewhat dated, tech level twelve technology to provide the engineering for their version of the rift cruiser.
With a tech level jump three drive, and doubled fuel tanks, travel through the rift sector is twice as long as a comparable Imperium Navy vessel specialized to operate in that region, but the Confederation is playing the long game of trying to establish commercial and cultural links with outlying human settlers in these barren regions, and while well-armed, Solomani rift cruisers are manufactured on commercial specifications, rather than military ones. The Solomani believe that their ships are rather more reliable in this role, than an Imperium Navy vessel equipped with a factor six jump drive.
The Solomani Navy doesn't have a specific vessel for interdiction duties, since a show of force by a FleetRon tends to settle most matters, if the deep strike task group didn't, followed shortly by an assault carrier task force.
If the system is too unimportant to despatch the usual peacekeeping force, a task force built around an escort carrier and a troop transport, possibly a largish leased freighter, could be sent to cut off the lines of communication.
All cruisers have command facilities, though some are notoriously cramped, such as in the Yarmouths. Most vessels aren't specifically roled for command and control, with the exception of the assault carrier.
Really heavy bombardment also tends to fall within the purview of the assault carrier, since one of it's capabilities is for a close planetary approach, to allow a mass drop of it's assault shuttles, while also giving them covering fire. However, no Solomani cruiser is optimized for this role.
This also applies to the missile cruiser.
The Solomani Navy doesn't have Scout nor Reconnaissance cruisers, though these may be misnomers as the ships tend to be smaller than what would be considered cruiser size, though one of the primary duties of cruisers in general would be to scout in advance of the battle fleet, which is basically the same as reconnaissance, in various degrees of stealth and/or force.
SolSec generally handles and operate ships whose primary functions are infiltration of foreign space and collection of electronic intelligence.
Exploration cruisers are usually obsolete ships that have been refurbished for this role, and are not a designed as a separate type.
This doesn't mean that Solomani cruisers aren't capable of fulfilling these roles, but as general purpose vessels, their designs are not emphasized for them.
The Solomani, despite various descriptors attached to their cruisers, don't really have specialist vessels.
Their designs tend to be general purpose ships, rather than over emphasizing any particular feature or capability, something they have regretted with the Zeus class battlecruiser.
While it could be argued that the deep strike cruisers and light cruisers could be considered somewhat Riftish in capability, the Confederation doesn't feel it worth the effort to ratchet up tension in the Rift areas unnecessarily, and since they don't see a need to maintain a fast lines of communication there, have instead decided to use highly reliable, if somewhat dated, tech level twelve technology to provide the engineering for their version of the rift cruiser.
With a tech level jump three drive, and doubled fuel tanks, travel through the rift sector is twice as long as a comparable Imperium Navy vessel specialized to operate in that region, but the Confederation is playing the long game of trying to establish commercial and cultural links with outlying human settlers in these barren regions, and while well-armed, Solomani rift cruisers are manufactured on commercial specifications, rather than military ones. The Solomani believe that their ships are rather more reliable in this role, than an Imperium Navy vessel equipped with a factor six jump drive.
The Solomani Navy doesn't have a specific vessel for interdiction duties, since a show of force by a FleetRon tends to settle most matters, if the deep strike task group didn't, followed shortly by an assault carrier task force.
If the system is too unimportant to despatch the usual peacekeeping force, a task force built around an escort carrier and a troop transport, possibly a largish leased freighter, could be sent to cut off the lines of communication.
All cruisers have command facilities, though some are notoriously cramped, such as in the Yarmouths. Most vessels aren't specifically roled for command and control, with the exception of the assault carrier.
Really heavy bombardment also tends to fall within the purview of the assault carrier, since one of it's capabilities is for a close planetary approach, to allow a mass drop of it's assault shuttles, while also giving them covering fire. However, no Solomani cruiser is optimized for this role.
This also applies to the missile cruiser.
The Solomani Navy doesn't have Scout nor Reconnaissance cruisers, though these may be misnomers as the ships tend to be smaller than what would be considered cruiser size, though one of the primary duties of cruisers in general would be to scout in advance of the battle fleet, which is basically the same as reconnaissance, in various degrees of stealth and/or force.
SolSec generally handles and operate ships whose primary functions are infiltration of foreign space and collection of electronic intelligence.
Exploration cruisers are usually obsolete ships that have been refurbished for this role, and are not a designed as a separate type.
This doesn't mean that Solomani cruisers aren't capable of fulfilling these roles, but as general purpose vessels, their designs are not emphasized for them.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Cruiser Classes
Now we get to the more murkier definitions of cruiser.
noun
1.
a person or thing that cruises.
2.
one of a class of warships of medium tonnage, designed for high speed and long cruising radius.
3.
squad car.
4.
a vessel, especially a power-driven one, intended for cruising.
5.
cabin cruiser.
6.
Also called timber cruiser. a person who estimates the value of the timber in a tract of forest.
7.
Slang. a prostitute who walks the street soliciting customers.
1. (Military) a high-speed, long-range warship of medium displacement, armed with medium calibre weapons or missiles
2. (Nautical Terms) Also called: cabin cruiser a pleasure boat, esp one that is power-driven and has a cabin
3. any person or thing that cruises
: a large and fast military ship
: a boat that has room to live on and that is used for pleasure
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout this period. During the Age of Sail, the term cruising referred to certain kinds of missions – independent scouting, raiding or commerce protection – fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the cruising warships of a fleet.
In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification for the ships intended for this kind of role, though cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the small protected cruiser to armored cruisers that were as large (although not as powerful) as a battleship.
By the early 20th century, cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer. In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre. These limits shaped cruisers until the end of World War II. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era were now classified, along with battleships, as capital ships.
The term "cruiser" or "cruizer"[1] was first commonly used in the 17th century to refer to an independent warship. "Cruiser" meant the purpose or mission of a ship, rather than a category of vessel. However, the term was nonetheless used to mean a smaller, faster warship suitable for such a role. In the 17th century, the ship of the line was generally too large, inflexible, and expensive to be dispatched on long-range missions (for instance, to the Americas), and too strategically important to be put at risk of fouling and foundering by continual patrol duties.
The Dutch navy was noted for its cruisers in the 17th century, while the Royal Navy—and later French and Spanish navies—subsequently caught up in terms of their numbers and deployment. The British Cruiser and Convoy Acts were an attempt by mercantile interests in Parliament to focus the Navy on commerce defence and raiding with cruisers, rather than the more scarce and expensive ships of the line.[2] During the 18th century the frigate became the preeminent type of cruiser. A frigate was a small, fast, long range, lightly armed (single gun-deck) ship used for scouting, carrying dispatches, and disrupting enemy trade. The other principal type of cruiser was the sloop, but many other miscellaneous types of ship were used as well.
Mercenary cruiser; the Solomani Navy does contract mercenaries, both for planetary and space operations. This is permitted by the Confederacy in order to cover some shortfall in their Navy's capabilities, usually caused by lack of long term planning, less due lack of foresight, more due to budgetary pressure.
Outside of groundside private military contractors, the navy usually doesn't provide any space vessels or facilities, so the mercenaries tend to be on their own, outside a SolSec and/or Naval liaison officer(s), possibly Army and Marine liaisons as well, depending on the overall importance and/or sensitivity of the operation.
Mercenary cruisers, legally defined as such, have to be licensed to operate within the borders of the Confederacy, though ironically, usually not permitted to be up to the tonnage even the loose definition of the Solomani Navy will rate a light cruiser, being capped at five thousand tonnes, and these are usually closely monitored by elements of SolSec and the Solomani Navy. The lower end is generally accepted to be four hundred tonnes, as being the smallest hull that can still have the capability to perform their usual missions.
Mercenary cruisers, within the Confederacy, are usually built to commercial specifications, as military specced craft in private hands requires a special dispensation by SolSec. The usual procedure by the Solomani Navy is to use up their allotted ships, and continuous maintenance gives crews practice as to actual conditions during wartime. Any warships deemed surplus to requirements, very rarely end up in reserve or ordinary, but get sold on or donated to client states or Naval Home Guard units.
There are no patrol cruisers in the Solomani Navy; any tendency to turn the Solomani Navy into the Interstellar Space Patrol, a popular tridee series, gets stamped heavily upon by the more militant elements within the Naval establishment, though apparently influential personages with the Secretariat and SolSec favour such a move, if only for the Public Relations value. The Army would support it, if only for the LULZ.
To be accurate, there are patrol ships and patrol craft within the Solomani Naval inventory.
Unprotected cruisers, sometimes referred to as unarmoured cruisers, come from a tech level eleven base, where protection in a smaller hull was mostly sacrificed in favour of armament and endurance. Most experts agree that this has turned out to be a bad compromise, especially when the ship is confronted by an actual warship in the more or less same size category. The Solomani Navy never manufactured such warships.
The Solomani Navy has, usually on an ad hoc basis, commissioned escort cruisers, which are usually largish commercial ships refurbished for secondary combat role(s), and armed accordingly. While mercenary cruisers might seem to fall within this category and would be an easy choice to be requisition, most tend to agree it's easier to just contract the ship and crew together, rather than replace them with personnel unfamiliar with the ship.
The Solomani Confederation have asked their shipping companies to make provisions to arm their ships, should circumstances require. The Solomani Navy never bought into the concept of the Armed Merchant Cruiser, and have clearly stated they are against the practice in wartime,as the ships would be far more useful in logistics and transportation roles. This hasn't prevented them from occasionally commissioning such ships for specific missions, outside the fact that some shipping corporations have received a license to appropriately arm their ships when operating in certain regions.
While Q-ships are generally associated with starships way below cruiser tonnages, they are operated by SolSec rather than the Solomani Navy, if only for purely security reasons. The Solomani tend to build such ships from the keel up for their assigned role.
Many mistake, and this seems to be deliberate policy, that auxiliary cruisers act in the Q-ship role. Auxiliary cruisers are identified beforehand by the Solomani Navy, and prepped to be converted to commerce raiders equipped to a light cruiser level of armament. The Solomani Navy doesn't believe these preparation could be hidden in the long term, and such preparations have a proforma level of secrecy attached to them. This would allow a rather fast transformation into an auxiliary cruiser, as compared to the much longer time spent in the yards to refurbish an unprepared merchant ship to more or less combat standards.
While auxiliary cruisers would be expected to be unleashed into the hinterland of the enemy during wartime, the Solomani Navy do have a number currently commissioned to bulk out their forces, or as a cheap substitute for a major combatant. It also gives them an institutional knowledge base as to what these vessels are capable of, and provides experience for crew members that would be earmarked for such assignments in the event of future hostilities.
While the Solomani Navy would rather have pure warships in their inventory, they are rather proud of the performances of their auxiliary cruisers and their respective crews, and because they are employed in the anti-piracy missions, tends to give hijackers pause when planning on going after largish fish.
Now we get to the more murkier definitions of cruiser.
noun
1.
a person or thing that cruises.
2.
one of a class of warships of medium tonnage, designed for high speed and long cruising radius.
3.
squad car.
4.
a vessel, especially a power-driven one, intended for cruising.
5.
cabin cruiser.
6.
Also called timber cruiser. a person who estimates the value of the timber in a tract of forest.
7.
Slang. a prostitute who walks the street soliciting customers.
1. (Military) a high-speed, long-range warship of medium displacement, armed with medium calibre weapons or missiles
2. (Nautical Terms) Also called: cabin cruiser a pleasure boat, esp one that is power-driven and has a cabin
3. any person or thing that cruises
: a large and fast military ship
: a boat that has room to live on and that is used for pleasure
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout this period. During the Age of Sail, the term cruising referred to certain kinds of missions – independent scouting, raiding or commerce protection – fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the cruising warships of a fleet.
In the middle of the 19th century, cruiser came to be a classification for the ships intended for this kind of role, though cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the small protected cruiser to armored cruisers that were as large (although not as powerful) as a battleship.
By the early 20th century, cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer. In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre. These limits shaped cruisers until the end of World War II. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era were now classified, along with battleships, as capital ships.
The term "cruiser" or "cruizer"[1] was first commonly used in the 17th century to refer to an independent warship. "Cruiser" meant the purpose or mission of a ship, rather than a category of vessel. However, the term was nonetheless used to mean a smaller, faster warship suitable for such a role. In the 17th century, the ship of the line was generally too large, inflexible, and expensive to be dispatched on long-range missions (for instance, to the Americas), and too strategically important to be put at risk of fouling and foundering by continual patrol duties.
The Dutch navy was noted for its cruisers in the 17th century, while the Royal Navy—and later French and Spanish navies—subsequently caught up in terms of their numbers and deployment. The British Cruiser and Convoy Acts were an attempt by mercantile interests in Parliament to focus the Navy on commerce defence and raiding with cruisers, rather than the more scarce and expensive ships of the line.[2] During the 18th century the frigate became the preeminent type of cruiser. A frigate was a small, fast, long range, lightly armed (single gun-deck) ship used for scouting, carrying dispatches, and disrupting enemy trade. The other principal type of cruiser was the sloop, but many other miscellaneous types of ship were used as well.
Mercenary cruiser; the Solomani Navy does contract mercenaries, both for planetary and space operations. This is permitted by the Confederacy in order to cover some shortfall in their Navy's capabilities, usually caused by lack of long term planning, less due lack of foresight, more due to budgetary pressure.
Outside of groundside private military contractors, the navy usually doesn't provide any space vessels or facilities, so the mercenaries tend to be on their own, outside a SolSec and/or Naval liaison officer(s), possibly Army and Marine liaisons as well, depending on the overall importance and/or sensitivity of the operation.
Mercenary cruisers, legally defined as such, have to be licensed to operate within the borders of the Confederacy, though ironically, usually not permitted to be up to the tonnage even the loose definition of the Solomani Navy will rate a light cruiser, being capped at five thousand tonnes, and these are usually closely monitored by elements of SolSec and the Solomani Navy. The lower end is generally accepted to be four hundred tonnes, as being the smallest hull that can still have the capability to perform their usual missions.
Mercenary cruisers, within the Confederacy, are usually built to commercial specifications, as military specced craft in private hands requires a special dispensation by SolSec. The usual procedure by the Solomani Navy is to use up their allotted ships, and continuous maintenance gives crews practice as to actual conditions during wartime. Any warships deemed surplus to requirements, very rarely end up in reserve or ordinary, but get sold on or donated to client states or Naval Home Guard units.
There are no patrol cruisers in the Solomani Navy; any tendency to turn the Solomani Navy into the Interstellar Space Patrol, a popular tridee series, gets stamped heavily upon by the more militant elements within the Naval establishment, though apparently influential personages with the Secretariat and SolSec favour such a move, if only for the Public Relations value. The Army would support it, if only for the LULZ.
To be accurate, there are patrol ships and patrol craft within the Solomani Naval inventory.
Unprotected cruisers, sometimes referred to as unarmoured cruisers, come from a tech level eleven base, where protection in a smaller hull was mostly sacrificed in favour of armament and endurance. Most experts agree that this has turned out to be a bad compromise, especially when the ship is confronted by an actual warship in the more or less same size category. The Solomani Navy never manufactured such warships.
The Solomani Navy has, usually on an ad hoc basis, commissioned escort cruisers, which are usually largish commercial ships refurbished for secondary combat role(s), and armed accordingly. While mercenary cruisers might seem to fall within this category and would be an easy choice to be requisition, most tend to agree it's easier to just contract the ship and crew together, rather than replace them with personnel unfamiliar with the ship.
The Solomani Confederation have asked their shipping companies to make provisions to arm their ships, should circumstances require. The Solomani Navy never bought into the concept of the Armed Merchant Cruiser, and have clearly stated they are against the practice in wartime,as the ships would be far more useful in logistics and transportation roles. This hasn't prevented them from occasionally commissioning such ships for specific missions, outside the fact that some shipping corporations have received a license to appropriately arm their ships when operating in certain regions.
While Q-ships are generally associated with starships way below cruiser tonnages, they are operated by SolSec rather than the Solomani Navy, if only for purely security reasons. The Solomani tend to build such ships from the keel up for their assigned role.
Many mistake, and this seems to be deliberate policy, that auxiliary cruisers act in the Q-ship role. Auxiliary cruisers are identified beforehand by the Solomani Navy, and prepped to be converted to commerce raiders equipped to a light cruiser level of armament. The Solomani Navy doesn't believe these preparation could be hidden in the long term, and such preparations have a proforma level of secrecy attached to them. This would allow a rather fast transformation into an auxiliary cruiser, as compared to the much longer time spent in the yards to refurbish an unprepared merchant ship to more or less combat standards.
While auxiliary cruisers would be expected to be unleashed into the hinterland of the enemy during wartime, the Solomani Navy do have a number currently commissioned to bulk out their forces, or as a cheap substitute for a major combatant. It also gives them an institutional knowledge base as to what these vessels are capable of, and provides experience for crew members that would be earmarked for such assignments in the event of future hostilities.
While the Solomani Navy would rather have pure warships in their inventory, they are rather proud of the performances of their auxiliary cruisers and their respective crews, and because they are employed in the anti-piracy missions, tends to give hijackers pause when planning on going after largish fish.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Confederation: Subsidization of Jump Drives for Commercial Purposes
Having long recognized that the jump drive is of the primary costs in starship construction, the Confederation is willing to subsidize part of that cost for qualified persons and corporations, engaged in commercial activities that contribute to the Solomani Confederacy economy.
The standardization across tech levels allows the manufacture of a single jump module that can be easily replaced within in hours, instead of days and weeks, in the field with suitable repair ship, instead of requiring their ships to be transported to a starport.
However, the Confederacy has standardized the size of most jump drives manufactured within it's borders, the specifications conform that to those demanded (and apparently widely used by) the Solomani Navy:
1. Vanguard model
- 15'000-tonnes
- tech level 14
- maximum jump factor 5
2. Prometheus model
- 12'500-tonnes
- tech level 13
- maximum jump factor 4
- remarks: rarely available
3. Zeus model
- 6'000-tonnes
- tech level 13
- maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 13 variant)
- remarks: none available, spares reserved for Midway carrier class
4. Victory models
- 4'000-tonnes
- tech levels 12-14
- maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), 4 (tech level 13 variant) and 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: widely available, a cheap jump factor 2 variant is also available
5. Defence models
- 1'500-tonnes
- tech level 11
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant)
- remarks: uncommon
6. Eclipse models
- 600-tonnes
- tech levels 11-14
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: tech level 11 and 12 variants are most popular with commercial shippers
7. Texas models
- 300-tonnes
- tech levels 11-14
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
8. Warrior models
- 100-tonnes
- tech levels 9-14
- maximum jump factor 1 (tech level 9 variant), maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: while not the oldest Terran jump drive design, the original design dates back to the very start of the interstellar era, and propelled the largest hulls then capable of transitioning hyperspace, allegedly, it's near impossible to misjump with Warrior jump drives
Having long recognized that the jump drive is of the primary costs in starship construction, the Confederation is willing to subsidize part of that cost for qualified persons and corporations, engaged in commercial activities that contribute to the Solomani Confederacy economy.
The standardization across tech levels allows the manufacture of a single jump module that can be easily replaced within in hours, instead of days and weeks, in the field with suitable repair ship, instead of requiring their ships to be transported to a starport.
However, the Confederacy has standardized the size of most jump drives manufactured within it's borders, the specifications conform that to those demanded (and apparently widely used by) the Solomani Navy:
1. Vanguard model
- 15'000-tonnes
- tech level 14
- maximum jump factor 5
2. Prometheus model
- 12'500-tonnes
- tech level 13
- maximum jump factor 4
- remarks: rarely available
3. Zeus model
- 6'000-tonnes
- tech level 13
- maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 13 variant)
- remarks: none available, spares reserved for Midway carrier class
4. Victory models
- 4'000-tonnes
- tech levels 12-14
- maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), 4 (tech level 13 variant) and 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: widely available, a cheap jump factor 2 variant is also available
5. Defence models
- 1'500-tonnes
- tech level 11
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant)
- remarks: uncommon
6. Eclipse models
- 600-tonnes
- tech levels 11-14
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: tech level 11 and 12 variants are most popular with commercial shippers
7. Texas models
- 300-tonnes
- tech levels 11-14
- maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
8. Warrior models
- 100-tonnes
- tech levels 9-14
- maximum jump factor 1 (tech level 9 variant), maximum jump factor 2 (tech level 11 variant), maximum jump factor 3 (tech level 12 variant), maximum jump factor 4 (tech level 13 variant), and maximum jump factor 5 (tech level 14 variant)
- remarks: while not the oldest Terran jump drive design, the original design dates back to the very start of the interstellar era, and propelled the largest hulls then capable of transitioning hyperspace, allegedly, it's near impossible to misjump with Warrior jump drives
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Solomani Navy: Balance of Forces
Going by Sector Fleet, the Imperium Navy around Terra would consist of around eight dreadnoughts, sixteen first class battleships, thirty two second class battleships; two battle rider tenders and ten battleriders; eight four cruisers; sixteen carriers of varying type.
Going by Solomani Rim, they'd be countered by seventy two capital ships, possibly four carriers and two assault carriers.
My new take on the Solomani Naval organization, while it remains divided into three military districts and a strategic reserve force stationed near Home, the military districts have the equivalent of two sectors worth of naval assets.
For carriers, that still means three Midways, and about, give or take, thirty two assault carriers, being the command ship for naval assets in each subsector.
There should be about thirty or so deep strike cruisers, about one per FleetRon, though that still about one sixth of the equivalent of Imperium cruisers confronting them. Cruiser numbers would be made up by legacy cruisers, probably another thirty or so.
So each military district would have thirty FleetRons, two thirds of which would have the Vanguard fast dreadnought class, which have an extensive organic fighter complement, the other half made up of legacy capital ships, two Zeus class battlecruisers, four Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts, and four Victory class battlecruisers. Two battle rider tenders should be available, with five battle riders each.
If you half that, that means sixty Vanguards, six Zeuses, twelve Prometheus and twelve Victories, with two Midways can form into a battle fleet, probably divided in various task forces. The deep strike cruisers would all converge into the Imperium hinterland, but unless the Solomani had decided on a defensive pre-emptive war, only around fifteen would be immediately available, which means a cruiser gap of around seventy units.
Not counting the technological edge the Imperium has, nor the reserve units that would be activated, nor the Vegan Navy.
I think that the Confederation would have to add another six FleetRons per military district, with three available for operations against the Imperium, possibly two each of Vanguards, Promethii, and Victories.
The strategic reserve would consist of one museum/training/military academy ship, the carrier Midway, ten FleetRons of Vanguards, forty battle riders, and one battle tender.
Going by Sector Fleet, the Imperium Navy around Terra would consist of around eight dreadnoughts, sixteen first class battleships, thirty two second class battleships; two battle rider tenders and ten battleriders; eight four cruisers; sixteen carriers of varying type.
Going by Solomani Rim, they'd be countered by seventy two capital ships, possibly four carriers and two assault carriers.
My new take on the Solomani Naval organization, while it remains divided into three military districts and a strategic reserve force stationed near Home, the military districts have the equivalent of two sectors worth of naval assets.
For carriers, that still means three Midways, and about, give or take, thirty two assault carriers, being the command ship for naval assets in each subsector.
There should be about thirty or so deep strike cruisers, about one per FleetRon, though that still about one sixth of the equivalent of Imperium cruisers confronting them. Cruiser numbers would be made up by legacy cruisers, probably another thirty or so.
So each military district would have thirty FleetRons, two thirds of which would have the Vanguard fast dreadnought class, which have an extensive organic fighter complement, the other half made up of legacy capital ships, two Zeus class battlecruisers, four Prometheus class fast dreadnoughts, and four Victory class battlecruisers. Two battle rider tenders should be available, with five battle riders each.
If you half that, that means sixty Vanguards, six Zeuses, twelve Prometheus and twelve Victories, with two Midways can form into a battle fleet, probably divided in various task forces. The deep strike cruisers would all converge into the Imperium hinterland, but unless the Solomani had decided on a defensive pre-emptive war, only around fifteen would be immediately available, which means a cruiser gap of around seventy units.
Not counting the technological edge the Imperium has, nor the reserve units that would be activated, nor the Vegan Navy.
I think that the Confederation would have to add another six FleetRons per military district, with three available for operations against the Imperium, possibly two each of Vanguards, Promethii, and Victories.
The strategic reserve would consist of one museum/training/military academy ship, the carrier Midway, ten FleetRons of Vanguards, forty battle riders, and one battle tender.
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