Newgrange
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- This article is about the yardship. For the DropShip, see Newgrange (Individual Union-class DropShip).
| |
| Newgrange | |
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | Star League |
| Introduced | 2600 |
| Production Year | 2600[1] |
| Use | Yardship |
| Tech Base | Star League |
| Technical specifications | |
| Mass | 2,300,000 |
| Length | 2,680 meters |
| Sail Diameter | 3,000 meters |
| Fuel | 10,000 tons |
| Burn Rate | 39.52 |
| Safe Thrust | 1 g |
| Top Thrust | 1.5 g |
| Sail Integrity | 9 |
| KF Drive Integrity | 44 |
| LF Battery | No |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | 601 tons Ferro-Carbide |
| DropShip Capacity | 4 |
| Crew | 8254 |
| Grav Decks | 4 x 500 meter diameter |
| Escape Pods/Life Boats | 600/600 |
| Heat Sinks | 787 |
| Structural Integrity | 25 |
| BV (2.0) | 25,471[2] |
Description[edit]
Among the largest KF drive equipped vessels in known existence, the 2,500 meter–long and 2,300,000 ton Newgrange-class yardship was the pinnacle of Star League Defense Force's mobile repair and refit support vessels.
Built using the same Compact Kearny-Fuchida Drive and Ferro-Carbide armor as the huge WarShips it was intended to maintain, the Newgrange features a mammoth forward-mounted unpressurized repair bay capable of housing and servicing vessels up to its own 2.3 million ton weight. Each Newgrange-class was literally a self-sufficient mobile orbital factory, home to over seven thousand crewman and maintenance workmen. Because the vessel could not jump or maneuver while a ship was repaired in its dry-dock, the Newgrange boasted somewhat luxurious recreation and exercise facilities on its four 500-meter grav decks and its own mobile HPG transmitter to keep in touch with home.
A rough total of two hundred Newgrange-class yardships were known to have been constructed, but only forty-five remained in the Inner Sphere after the devastation of the Amaris Civil War and General Kerensky’s Exodus. Unable to flee while servicing another vessel, the Newgrange-class became prime targets during the maelstrom of the First and Second Succession Wars and none were thought to have survived intact; even ComStar's hidden fleet could only boast two supposedly unsalvageable derelicts. Serving as the basis for the Blessed Order's smaller Faslane-class yardships, records from the era indicate that both wrecks were then scrapped, but the appearance of two of the massive ships in the hands of the Word of Blake during their Jihad has called this into question. Likewise, questions also remain as to the fate of those Newgrange ships that accompanied the exiled SLDF to the Pentagon Worlds.[3][2]
Armament[edit]
Focused on a noncombat role, the Newgrange was equipped with only a limited "defensive" weapons array. Mounted in the nose and aft are two Barracuda launch tubes and four ER large lasers, with two NL45s and PPCs in each forward and rear angle. Each broadside features a mixture of the capital grade weaponry of the other angles, mounting two Barracuda tubes, four NL35s and ER large lasers. While each Barracuda missile tube has a supply of a hundred missiles, every angle of the ship is covered with a set of five anti-missile systems, fed with a total of a hundred and ninety-five tons of ammunition to prevent such missile attacks in return.[3][2]
Cargo[edit]
Its entire front section built around the massive unpressurized dry dock, the Newgrange features enough cargo storage to house an entire dismantled destroyer and sufficient onboard manufacturing capacity to construct everything up to the WarShip's KF Drive. Beyond its four docking collars, due to the large number of passengers and supplies needed for its role, the Newgrange also maintains a small fleet of seventy-two small craft for in-system transport duties. The vessel was also equipped with a battalion’s worth of WorkMechs to assist with repair work, though many actual BattleMechs were housed in these bays to assist in defense of the yardship.[3][2]
Variants[edit]
- Erinyes
- Decrypted Blakist information indicated the massive repair bay of the Erinyes was reconfigured, featuring a spinal-mounted heavy mass driver and storage holds for large asteroids, allowing them to be fitted with system drives. While supposedly intended as a deep space mining vessel, these modifications made the Erinyes a deadly means of performing stealthy orbital bombardments.[2]