Dante (WarShip class)

Dante
Production information
Manufacturer	ComStar Titan Yards
Introduced	2941
Use	Frigate
Tech Base	Star League
Cost	9,968,115,999 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass	610,000 tons
Length	640 m
Sail Diameter	610 m
Fuel	3,000 tons
Burn Rate
Safe Thrust	2.5 g
Top Thrust	4 g
Sail Integrity	4
KF Drive Integrity	13
LF Battery	Yes
Armament	16 x ER Large Lasers 48 x Small Pulse Lasers 32 x Large Pulse Lasers 24 x Anti-Missile Systems 32 x LRM-20 16 x NAC/30s 4 x NAC/35s 12 x NL55s
Armor	600 tons of Ferro-Carbide
DropShip Capacity	2
Crew	188, 24 Passengers
Grav Decks	1 x 135 meter diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats	24/0
Heat Sinks	650 Double Heat Sinks
Structural Integrity	50
BV (1.0)	???
BV (2.0)	???

Description

Developed at the request of Primus Hollings York, the heavily automated Dante-class frigate was built by ComStar as a stop-gap during the early years of the ComStar Guards and Milita.

While ComStar had retained a number of ex-SLDF WarShips in mothballs, these required large crews which the Order could not yet supply. With a degree of automation akin to the Sovetskii Soyuz Class, the Dante Class was principally intended to serve as the command and escort ship for DropShip flotillas. The Dante's mix of speed, firepower and armor also make it adept at raiding tactics, but due to the purely defensive role of the Com Guards at the time of its creation the small cargo bay and full bunkerage it was designed with hamper any independent operations.

In all three Dante Class ships were constructed between 2935 and 2941 when the spiraling cost of the renovation of existing ships, difficulty in hiding both the vessels and large number of personnel to crew them from the Successor States and the death of the project's champion Primus York led to the program being frozen. As a proven design, Precentor Martial Focht had considered the construction of further Dante Class ships, but the loss of the Titan Yards to the Word of Blake occurred before construction could even be started.

Having gained control of the Sol system, the Word of Blake built two additional Dante vessels prior to the liberation of Terra in 3078 during Operation SCOUR. When the allied coalition forces assaulted the Sol system, one of these two Dantes was part of the Blakist WarShip squadron which defended the Titan shipyards; incorrectly identified at the time as the Narbonne, it was later determined that the vessel was actually one of two new ships of the class.

Armament

Like many modern WarShips, the Dante Class features a mixture of capital class weaponry, naval autocannons and lasers, and smaller weaponry geared to fight fleets of DropShips and Aerospace Fighters, the Successor State navies having obliterated each others WarShips prior to its development. This weaponry is spread fairly evenly across every angle of the ship, with only the rear lacking in a capital weapon.

Cargo

Due to the defensive role of the ComStar WarShip fleet and the inclusion of Lithium-Fusion Battery System, the Dante Class have limited cargo capacity of 17,087 tons split between two bays, and 12 fighter complement.

Named Vessels

Com Star

• CSV Narbonne - The Narbonne was built 2941 in and assigned to the ComGuard Second Fleet at Ross 248. Among the ships that took part in the disastrous Case White in March 3068, the Narbonne was originally believed to have been salvaged by the Word of Blake and to have served as part of the defensive squadron for the Titan Shipyards during Operation SCOUR's assault on the complex, but this was later determined to have been a case of mistaken identity.

• CSV Bordeaux - The Bordeaux was built in 2944 and assigned to the Com Guard First Fleet at Luyten 68-28. On 1 August 3068, the Bordeaux ran the Blakist blockade of Tukayyid. Personnel from the 104th Division were able to rescue Primus Sharilar Mori and some senior ComGuard officers. The vessel safely returned ComStar's leader to Orestes after reportedly only suffering minor damage. In the first week of November 3068, the Bordeaux was defending Orestes when Blakist forces attacked the planet. The Bordeaux was badly damaged, though ground troops were able to drive off the Word's forces. The Bordeaux took part in the liberation of Chara in 3077, but was later destroyed in action in the Luyten system.

• CSV Montpellier - The Montpellier was built in 2948 and assigned to the ComGuard First Fleet at Luyten 68-28. It was believed to have taken part in the Word of Blake's nuclear bombardment of Alarion in April of 3069, meaning that the vessel had to have been captured by the Word, but it was later determined that the Montpellier had been destroyed in the Columbus system and that one of two new Dante-class ships manufactured by the Word of Blake was most likely involved in the attack on Alarion.

Word of Blake

• WoBS Perdition - Both the Perdition and her sister ship the Salvation were destroyed in the Sol system during the campaign to liberate Terra in 3078.

• WoBS Salvation - One of a dozen Blakist WarShips to be destroyed in the Sol system in 3078.

Notes

The destruction of all three ComStar Dante class vessels was confirmed by BattleTech Devloper Øystein Tvedten in the Catalyst Game Lab BattleTech forums:

“	No ComStar Dantes were captured by the Word of Blake. Bordeaux died at Luyten, Monpellier (sic) at Columbus, and Narbonne bit it during Case White.	”
	— Øystein Tvedten, BattleTech Developer, 29 Oct 2011

Bibliography

• Blake Ascending
• Dawn of the Jihad
• Field Manual: ComStar, pp. 156-157
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3070
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3072
• Jihad Hot Spots: Terra
• Technical Readout: 3067, pp. 202-203

Dante-class frigate from Field Manual: ComStar