AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
                                  VALIDATED

Class/Model/Name:  Puerto Rico 
Tech:              Inner Sphere / 3025
Vessel Type:       WarShip
Rules:             Level 3, Standard design
Rules Set:         AeroTech2

Mass:              240,000 tons
K-F Drive System:  (Unknown)
Power Plant:       Standard
Safe Thrust:       2
Maximum Thrust:    3
Armor Type:        Improved Ferro-aluminum
Armament:          
   22 NL55
   14 AR10 Launcher
   64 Large Laser
   32 AMS
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==Overview:==
When the Terran Alliance sent the Alliance Marines to Denebola in 2234, it had
nothing but itself to blame for the "Denebola Debacle" several times over.
Obviously, it's century-old policy of draconian colonial governance initiated
the rebellion. However, the subsequent failure of the Allliance Marines had
roots in complicated political wrangling between the Alliance and its Terran
member-states from the 2170s to the 2210s. 

In this era, the Alliance's eclipse of Terran member-state authority and
decades-old pressures to reduce military spending (no one to fight, really)
came together to both consolidate all interstellar military operations under
the Alliance Militia in 2204 and drastically cut spending. It was thought that
police could handle most rebellions, and only small, light infantry units
would be needed for most other threats.

The missed opportunity (for Terran imperialists) was that in the 2170s,
member-states had actually expanded their militaries in anticipation of
needing to suppress "Separatist" colonies, should they be established, and to
defend their colonies against the Separatist Terran nations. The member-state
militaries had their last hurrah supporting the Alliance Militia in its
annexation of the Separatists in the 2170s, but the elevated budgets continued
throughout the 22nd Century. 

A half-built and scrapped product of those last member-state military
stirrings was the Puerto Rico-class battleship. 

A century before James McKenna oversaw the deployment of the Dreadnought, the
United States of America had an inkling of true WarShips. A dozen of its
Saturn-class assault transports would be built, while a single Puerto
Rico-class battleship meant to escort them would be broken up in its slip when
only 10% complete. This was a far cry from the squadrons envisaged, but it
hinted at the future.

Had the Puerto Rico and its planned sisters been built, the history of naval
warfare would've been different. The Puerto Rico had a very different vision
of space-to-space warfare than was eventually implemented by McKennna. Its
main battery was an array of 8 bow-mounted, individually-targeted nuclear
missile launchers. This vicious weaponry showed a very different attitude
toward space-to-space combat than the wider range of capital weapons available
to the Hegemony, but would've been effective even into later centuries.
Secondary arrays of capital lasers were meant for "restrained" anti-shipping
engagements and heavy orbital bombardments. 

The Puerto Rico never had a chance to revolutionize space warfare. As Terra
shifted to an Alliance-dominated paradigm where any interstellar military
capabilities were in the grasp of the Alliance, member-state experiments like
the Puerto Rico were unacceptable. Its intended ward, the Saturns, was built
in small quantities and never applied in a meaningful fashion. As noted above,
the Puerto Rico had an even less noble fate: its basic spaceframe was
completed and then broken up before the KF core could be cast.

It is interesting to speculate how history might've evolved had the Saturns
and Puerto Ricos been built in their planned quantities and kept in service
into the 2230s. The Alliance Marines suffered from a lack of defensible
transport capacity that the Saturns could've provided and a lack of fire
support that the Puerto Ricos could've offered. And beyond the immediate
military implications, it is almost as interesting to consider the political
conditions that would've produced the Puerto Ricos and Saturns (and secondary
vessels).

==Capabilities:==
The Puerto Rico-class battleship was based on the same core as the Saturn
Assault Transport. It had half as much gravdeck space due to a much smaller
complement, but was otherwise almost identical.

The intent had been to use the voluminous hull space of the Saturn for missile
launcher pods and enlarged laser bays. Backing the Puerto Rico's weapons were
shuttle bays that could field two wings of armed shuttles. The shuttles were
dangerous to hostile spacecraft by themselves, but more importantly served as
spotters for the Puerto Rico's heavy nuclear missiles. A modest marine
capacity was also present for boarding actions and independent ground
interventions.

==Battle History:==
None. The ship was broken up before completion.

==Variants:==
During the Puerto Rico's decade-long stasis, combat trials of the Saturns
revealed the utility of mounting more weapons in the stern of the ship. The
bow missile launchers were fine, but WarShips could hover over a target and
deliver punishing, endless non-nuclear bombardments, which called for heavier
stern capital weapon mounts. Had it been built, either the Puerto Rico or its
immediate sister ship, the Vermont, would likely have swapped the bow and
stern capital laser arrays.

==Deployment==
The intention had been to mass produce Puerto Ricos at the ratio of 1
battleship per squadron of 2 to 6 Saturn assault transports (with the Puerto
Rico supplemented by 2 or 4 swift Orlando-class cruisers). On a larger scale,
the Saturns were to be produced by the dozens so the United States could
deliver sizable numbers of marines to its colonies.

This never happened, though. The Puerto Rico lay partly built in a
construction slip for a decade until it was clear that the whole idea of a
powerful Terran (or United States) space navy was ludicrous and unnecessary.
It would require another century before James McKenna brought the idea to
fruition.

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Class/Model/Name:  Puerto Rico 
Mass:              240,000 tons

Equipment:                                                            Mass  
Power Plant, Drive & Control:                                       28,800.00
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 2
      Maximum Thrust: 3
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive:  Compact (Integrity = 6)                108,600.00
Jump Sail: No Sail (Fusion-Charged K-F)                                   .00
Structural Integrity: 90                                            21,600.00
Total Heat Sinks:    2,785 Single                                    2,500.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps:                                                   6,120.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters:                600.00
Fire Control Computers:                                              1,525.00
Armor Type:  Improved Ferro-aluminum  (400 total armor pts)            432.00
                           Capital Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                 77
   Fore-Left/Right:                   66/66
   Aft-Left/Right:                    66/66
   Aft:                                  59

Cargo:
   Bay 1:  Small Craft (75) with 2 doors                            15,000.00
   Bay 2:  Infantry (motor) Platoons (10) with 2 doors                  70.00
           Cargo (1)                                                 8,037.00

Grav Decks #1 - 2:  (100-meter diameter)                               200.00
Escape Pods:  300 (10 tons each)                                     3,000.00

Crew and Passengers:
     25 Officers (25 minimum)                                          250.00
     75 Crew (68 minimum)                                              750.00
     32 Gunners (52 minimum)                                           320.00
    700 1st Class Passengers                                         7,000.00
    655 Bay Personnel                                                     .00
Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV  Heat    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 NL55                     Nose        22     22     22     22  340  4,400.00
4 NL55                     Nose        22     22     22     22  340  4,400.00
4 NL55                     Nose        22     22     22     22  340  4,400.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
1 AR10 (10 KW)             Nose         *      *      *      *   20    750.00
4 Large Laser              Nose     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   32     20.00
4 Large Laser              Nose     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   32     20.00
4 AMS(240 rounds)          Nose        --     --     --     --    4     22.00
4 AMS(240 rounds)          FL/R        --     --     --     --    8     44.00
4 Large Laser              FL/R     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
4 Large Laser              FL/R     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
2 AR10 (20 KW)             L/RBS        *      *      *      *   80  3,000.00
4 AMS(240 rounds)          L/RBS       --     --     --     --    8     44.00
4 Large Laser              L/RBS    3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
4 Large Laser              L/RBS    3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
4 NL55                     L/RBS       22     22     22     22  680  8,800.00
4 AMS(240 rounds)          AL/R        --     --     --     --    8     44.00
4 Large Laser              AL/R     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
4 Large Laser              AL/R     3(32)  3(32)     --     --   64     40.00
2 NL55                     Aft         11     11     11     11  170  2,200.00
2 AR10 (20 KW)             Aft          *      *      *      *   40  1,500.00
4 AMS(240 rounds)          Aft         --     --     --     --    4     22.00
4 Large Laser              Aft      3(32)  3(32)     --     --   32     20.00
4 Large Laser              Aft      3(32)  3(32)     --     --   32     20.00
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TOTALS:                                            Heat: 2,694     240,000.00
Tons Left:                                                                .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        1,649,678,000 C-Bills
Battle Value:      55,661
Cost per BV:       29,637.95
Weapon Value:      39,397 (Ratio = .71)
Damage Factors:    SRV = 2,180;  MRV = 1,992;  LRV = 1,278;  ERV = 512
Maintenance:       Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 478,386
                   (147,712 Structure, 229,210 Life Support, 101,464 Weapons)
                   Support Points (SP) = 157,441  (33% of MPV)
BattleForce2:      Not applicable