Essex II (WarShip class)

Essex TRO2750.jpg
Essex
Production information
Manufacturer Mitchell Vehicles
Introduced 2711
Use Destroyer
Tech Base Star League
Cost 1,893,822,000 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass 620,000
Length 615 m
Sail Diameter 1,120 m
Fuel 3,000 tons
Burn Rate
Safe Thrust 3
Top Thrust 5
Sail Integrity 4
KF Drive Integrity 13
LF Battery No
Armament 12 x NAC/20s
3 x Barracuda Missile Tubes
8 x NL35s
8 x Medium NPPCs
Armor 306 tons of MVT CL200 Improved Ferro-Aluminum
DropShip Capacity None
Crew 208
Grav Decks 2 x 55 meter diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats 6/6
Heat Sinks 746 Double Heat Sinks
Structural Integrity 60
BV (1.0) 62,357
BV (2.0) ???

Description

The second class of WarShip to bear the name, the Essex-class destroyer was designed in response to Star League Navy's request for a quick destroyer that could also make sustained voyages far from support, replacing the older Naga Class which had in turn replaced the original HAF era Essex Class in 2645.

The modern SLS Essex slipped its moorings from the Mitchell Vehicles shipyards above Graham IV in late 2711. Because its designers had wished to emphasize the vessel's swiftness and reliability, they had given it three compact and dependable lnterSystem Class VII engines, built by the Saro Company of Keid, which produce great thrust. The ship's computer systems were built by the Nirasaki Computers Collective, allowing the Essexs crew to do everything from monitor remote surveillance satellites to orchestrating corvette squadrons.

However, the Essex was noted for its ammunition bays, which were too lightly armored to protect its missiles and autocannon shells adequately, and became quite evident with the destruction of Essex destroyers in action against Periphery forces in the 2730s and during the Amaris-Kerensky Civil War. Less than thirty survived the campaign to liberate Terra and the bulk left with the Exodus Fleet, but surviving examples continue to serve in the fleets of ComStar, the Free Worlds League, Word of Blake as well as various Clan Toumans.

Armament

The Essexs main weapons are its twelve Whirlwind-20 Series NAC/20s, manufactured by Karon Naval Armaments of Terra and unmatched for reliability, mounted in four turrets. The Essex carries three missile tubes capable of firing Barracuda missiles, the smallest and smartest of the three standard missile types used by the Star League Navy. The remainder of the vessel's weaponry consists of a mixture of Magna-35 NL35s and Rand-10 Medium NPPCs.


Cargo

Lacking Docking collars, the Essex has a single 132,634 ton capacity cargo bay, with four Small Craft bays a single six fighter capacity AeroSpace Fighter bay located amidships with entry and exit doors port and starboard.


Variants

  • Clan - Those vessels that survived the genesis of the Star League in Exile continue to serve in the Clan Toumans, beyond a reduction in armor and cargo space to allow the Essex to carry two complete Stars of OmniFighters and add a Lithium-Fusion Battery, the most most notable modification is refitting the ships with the advanced Athena-3 computer system. Far superior than those of the Star League, the Athena-3 can control almost all shipboard functions so a skeleton crew of 25 can run it, though normally it only monitors the ship's system.


Named Vessels

  • CC Windrunner - Former SLDF vessel that became part of Clan Coyote's Touman. [1]
  • CGB White Fang - This Ghost Bear Vessel is assigned to the Naval Reserve.[4]
  • CIH Moore's Honor - Originally SLDF vessel, which was part of General Kerensky's Exodus Fleet. The ship was later assigned to Clan Ice Hellion as part of their Touman. [5] The ship participated in Hellion's invasion of Clan Jade Falcon's Occupational Zone in 3071. The ship was destroyed over Toland by intruding Clan Hell's Horses WarShips, in November of that year.[6]
  • CSA Tuhantepec - Former SLDF vessel that became part of Clan Star Adder's Touman. [7]
  • CSV Starlight - ComStar assigned the ship to Task Force Serpent. It was destroyed over Huntress in 3060.
  • CSV Hammerstrike - Originally a SLDF Vessel, it was reactivated as part of the ComGuard First Independent Squadron by the middle of the 31st century. The ship saw action over Tukayyid in January of 3068, where it was destroyed fighting the Blakists who assaulted the planet.[9][10]
  • CSV Deathblow - ComGuard Second Independent Squadron. Among the ships that took part in the disastrous Case White in March 3068, the Deathblow was salvaged by the Word of Blake, serving as part of the defensive squadron for the Titan Shipyards during Operation SCOUR's assault on the complex. [11]
  • CSV Brandenburg Crusader - ComGuard Second Independent Squadron.
  • DCA Sabre Cat - This was the former Clan Smoke Jaguar vessel that was responsible for the orbital bombardment of Edo on Turtle Bay durring the first wave of the Clan War in 3050, and thus lead to the removal of all Clan WarShips from further combat.[13] The captured Sabre Cat entered service with the Draconis Combine Admiralty shortly before 3067.[14] Its crew was subverted by the Kokuryu-kai and the Sabre Cat was listed as MIA after the Jihad.[15] Before it disappeared, it destroyed two DropShips belonging to the 7th Ghost regiment.[16]
  • FWLS Raven - A derelict located in the Federated Commonwealth-held Elgin system, a FWLM and Blakist team spent the bulk of 3055 secretly repairing the former SLS Oslo enough to jump it to back to the Free Worlds League. Once there, it was fully reconditioned to become the first ship of the League's Secret Fleet.
  • FWLS Schrack - Another ship in the League secret fleet, the Schrack was posted in the Marik system along with the Raven.
  • SLS Gettysburg - Launched in 2722, the Gettysburg came to fame by defeating a Dart-class cruiser while defending shipping in and out of the New Vandenburg system, and then fending off further Taurian Concordat assaults while under the command of Major Evgeny Baratynsky, a decorated nephew of General Aleksandr Kerensky. The SLS Gettysburg was destroyed by Caspar drone warships above Terra in 2777.
  • WoBS Deliverance - Originally a Star League vessel, the Deliverance was salvaged by the Free Worlds League in the late 3050s. It was donated to the Word of Blake in thanks for the aid given to the League's WarShip programs. This ship first saw combat with a ComStar battlecruiser, the Invisible Truth, in 3058, where it was defeated and forced to escape.[17][18] The ship was repaired and used in the early years of the Jihad against ComStar on Tukayyid. With the McKenna-class battleship, Blake's Sword, the Deliverance overran the planet's space-borne defenders to assault the planet. The ship took heavy damage from its ComStar sister-ship the CSV Hammerstrike.[9]
  • WoBS Hidden Meaning[18] - The Hidden Meaning was part of the naval flotilla that entered the Northwind system on 15 December 3067 and established a blockade.[19]

Essex Ship Gallery

  • Essex-c.gif

    Clan Refit Essex-class

Notes

  1. ↑ Field Manual: Updates - p. 57 "Coyote Touman - Naval Assets"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Field Manual: Updates - p. 59 "Diamond Shark Touman - Naval Assets"
  3. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 63, "Goliath Scorpion Touman - Naval Assets"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 86, "Clan Ghost Bear Naval Assets"
  5. ↑ Field Manual: Updates - p. 47 "Ice Hellion Touman - Naval Assets"
  6. ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 29 - Operation Ice Hellion - November, 3072 - Moore's Honor destroyed by two Hell's Horse WarShips.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Field Manual: Updates - p. 50 "Star Adder Touman - Naval Assets"
  8. ↑ Field Manual: Updates - p. 65 "Snow Raven Touman - Naval Assets"
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, pp. 88-89, "Tide of Fire - Tukayyid Hit, Heavy Casualties Reported" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "DotJ" defined multiple times with different content
  10. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, p. 14 & Blake Ascending, p. 174, "Timeline of the Jihad"
  11. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 97-99
  12. ↑ Field Manual: Updates - p. 67 "Steel Viper Touman - Naval Assets"
  13. ↑ Invading Clans (sourcebook), p.56
  14. ↑ Field Manual: Updates - p. 105 "Draconis Combine Naval Assets"
  15. ↑ Field Report: DCMS, p. 5
  16. ↑ Field Report: DCMS, p. 15
  17. ↑ Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 208, "Alain Beresick"
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 90, "Naval Assets and Militia Divisions"
  19. ↑ Dawn of the Jihad & Blake Ascending, p. 33, "Northwind Blockade"

Bibliography

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