Cameron (WarShip class)

Cameron TRO2750.jpg
Cameron
Production information
Manufacturer Daussault-Shimmon Enterprises of New Earth
Introduced 2668
Production Year 2668[1]
Use Battlecruiser
Tech Base Star League
Cost 3,927,517,000 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass 859,000 tons
Length 839 m
Sail Diameter 1.450 m
Fuel 1,000 tons
Burn Rate
Safe Thrust 1 g
Top Thrust 1.5 g
Sail Integrity 5
KF Drive Integrity 18
LF Battery No
Armament 12 x Heavy NPPCs
8 x AR-10 Launchers
16 x NAC/25s
10 x NL55s
Armor 779.5 tons of Ajax 7PK300 Ferro-Carbide
DropShip Capacity 2
Crew 287
Grav Decks 2, both 75 meter diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats 30 escape pods, 20 life boats
Heat Sinks 2,430 double heat sinks
Structural Integrity 80
BV (1.0) 134,202[2][3]
BV (2.0) ???



Description

Despite its illustrious name, the Cameron-class battlecruiser was a massive boondoggle, heavily flawed and a literal death trap for its crews. The result of contradicting requirements of the SLDF seeking to fill the wide gap between the navy's battleships and its cruisers and a peacetime budget freeze imposing enormous cost restrictions on the defense forces, the small firm of Daussault-Shimmon Enterprises of New Earth beat out the other bidders for the contract, but when the first complete ships were launched in 2668, the Cameron obviously fell short of the sleek, powerful vessel promised by its designers.[4][3]

While carrying an impressive weapon loadout, the Cameron could only match the acceleration of a battleship, due to the fact it was 50,000 tons over its design weight. Despite the flawed nature of the design, 40 of the ships were ordered, fear of public disapproval and yet further slashing the SLDF budget making the Star League Navy afraid to admit they'd made a mistake. This was to have tragic results when the SLS Saint Joan and all hands were lost due to design flaws which an investigation revealed had been covered up by engineers at Daussault-Shimmon in order to save the contract. The remaining examples were relegated to transport duties.[4][3]

Ironically being removed from frontline service allowed them to survive the Amaris-Kerensky Civil War despite the small number produced, the surviving examples continue in service in the modern era. Once the various flaws of the Cameron were corrected, both ComStar and the Clans have found the class to be a plodding but sturdy design which has proven to be an excellent mobile command center. Amusingly, not even the advanced technology available to the Clans have boosted the performance of the class to match the original design specifications.[4][3]

Armament

While featuring lackluster speed, there were no complaints about the Cameron's weaponry, with four turrets housing the two Maelstrom AR-10 tubes, a capital class launcher that can fire missiles of any size, along with six other turrets carrying two Super Rand Heavy NPPCs, the largest particle projection cannon available. Combined with secondary armament of 16 Pontiac-25 Series NAC/25 autocannons, ten Tronel-55 NL55 naval lasers, and the ability to carry 16 fighters, these weapons give the ship a tremendous offensive capability.[4][3]

Cargo

Variants

While there is little difference between the Cameron Class vessels used by the SLDF and the Com Guards, save correcting its flawed systems, like many vessels in their toumans Clan Camerons have been retrofitted with Lithium-Fusion Battery systems.[4][3]

Named Vessels

See Category:Individual Cameron-class WarShips

Gallery

References

  1. MUL online date for the Cameron (WarShip class)
  2. AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 305
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, p. 154, "Cameron Profile"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Technical Readout: 3057, p. 156, "Cameron WarShip Profile"

Bibliography