HAFS Dauntless class Light Carrier:

Like the Agamemnon class battleship, Boadicea class cruiser, and Chevalier class light cruisers, the Dauntless class carrier was one of the first starship designs developed by the Human Alliance. The Human Alliance had a few converted merchant designs but these designs were slow and generally carried a very small number of fighter. The Dauntless class carrier formed the carrier forces of the Human Alliance until the were replaced by the much larger Intrepid class fleet carrier. Still, the older carrier took on secondary roles and served the Human Alliance well. Neither the Dauntless class carrier or the larger Intrepid class was selected for the Consortium Armed Forces when formed and the Human Alliance downsized their navy with the Consortium taking over many of the roles performed by the Human Alliance. As a result, the older ships were retired while the newer (and larger) Intrepid class carriers were retained. Some of the Dauntless class carriers were retained in the inactive reserve fleet. It was later decided to simply dispose of the entire class. Some Dauntless class carriers have been scrapped but some have been sold to other military organizations.

Most militaries now consider the Dauntless class to be a light carrier but when first commissioned, they were considered full “fleet” carriers. The Dauntless class light carriers, even though on the elderly side, are still more effective than most carriers converted from merchant designs. As such, these old designs are preferred by many over merchant conversions although most “modern” light carriers are far more capable than the Dauntless class. The Dauntless is also considered on the small size even for a light carrier with a Dragonfly class massing twice as much as the old light carrier class. Still, the old ships are cheaper than most modern carriers and the age of the ships is not consider as critical as with cruisers. These ships are operated by Independent Defense Forces within Consortium space, by various powers outside of Consortium Space, and by Mercenary Companies. Until recently, none were operated by the Free Worlds Council however they have just managed to acquire a pair of the old carriers. There had been rumors of them attempting to acquire a pair for a while.

In order to reduce development cost, the Dauntless class light carrier is based on the hull of Boadicea class cruiser. The ship also shares the same engines, both sublight and faster than light, with the cruiser. Compared to many modern carriers, the carriers is a bit slow although the light carrier’s sublight speed is equal to the later Intrepid class carrier. The light carrier also uses the same power plant as a Boadicea class cruiser. Instead of an anti-matter power plant, the carrier uses a fusion reactor. While fusion reactor is far more mass intensive than a modern anti-matter power plant, it still has some advantages over the modern systems. Some of these include that fusion plants are far safer and cheaper to refuel. Shield generators are identical to those carried on the cruiser design but armor is slightly reduced compared to the cruiser.

The weaponry of the light carrier is mostly its fighters and conventional weaponry is reduced. The carrier mounts two long range missile batteries, reduced from four batteries carried in the cruiser, and mounts six point defense lasers, six point defense rail guns, and six mini-missile batteries. Payload of mini-missiles is reduced compared to the Boadicea class cruiser.

The normal fighter compliment for the Dauntless class carrier are three squadrons of light starfighters and two squadrons of medium starfighters. These light carriers also embark reasonably larger magazines for fighter ordnance and have reasonable maintenance facilities for the fighters as well. For most of the service of the Dauntless class, the Human Alliance operated the Vixen light starfighter and the Osprey medium starfighter but most militaries still operating these carriers user newer fighters. Newer fighters include the Scorpion and Tanto for light starfighters and the Katana and Black Eagle for medium starfighters. The carriers only have space for a small number of marines and the marines are generally used for shipboard defense only. The carrier only has a single bridge to increase available hanger space.

This starship design uses modified starship speed and weapon range rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model Type: CV-12.

Vehicle Type: Light Carrier.

Crew: 640 (45 Officers, 595 enlisted).

Troops: 80 marines (typically stay on board for ship defense), 120 fighter pilots, and 36 power armor pilots.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors:

Light Power Armors

Fighter Compliment:

	36	Light Starfighters (Commonly the SF-9 Vixen Light Starfighter)
	24	Medium Starfighters (Commonly the SF-6 Osprey Starfighters)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Point Defense Electromagnetic Rail Gun Turrets (6):	150 each
	Double Barrel Point Defense Laser Turrets (6):	150 each
	Long Range Missile Batteries (2):	600 each
	Mini-Missile Launchers (6):	100 each
	Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	150
	Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	80
	[1] Bridge:	8,000
	Hanger Bays (4):	3,000 each
	[2] Main Engines (2):	10,000 each
	[3] Main Body:	35,000
	[4] Variable Force Field:	2,500 a side (15,000 Total)

Notes:

[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.

[2] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.

[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the carrier out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (750 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.6 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 200 mph (322 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric flight.

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 2.5 light-years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about four years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:

Length: 645 feet (196.5 meters).

Height: 165 feet (50.3 meters).

Width: 282 feet (86.0 meters).

Weight/Mass: 156,000 tons (141,500 metric tons).

Power System: Fusion with a 10 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 10,000 tons (9,100 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ship’s officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ship’s spaces are taken up by fighters, extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.

Market Cost: Ship would cost about 1.5 billion credits to manufacture in present time in the Three Galaxies. Ships are no longer being produced. When available, these ships sell for 2.5 to 4.5 billion credits. Cost does not include embarked craft.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Six (6) Point Defense 15 mm Electromagnetic Rail Guns: Unlike most of the rail guns used on Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. They are used as an anti-starfighter and missile weapon and against targets that are impervious to energy. Each rail gun is in a turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail gun mounts at a significant fraction of the speed of light. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities. Rail guns use 15 mm depleted uranium projectiles.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 800 miles (1,290 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 3D6x10 M.D.C. for an 80 round burst.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: 16,000 rounds (200 bursts) each cannon.
Six (6) Point Defense 2 cm Lasers in Double Mounts: used as an anti-starfighter and missile weapon. Each laser turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 2.5 miles (4 km) miles through atmosphere and 250 miles (402.3 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: 2D6x10 M.D.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missile has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship.) Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. Batteries have a lower number of actual launchers than the modern CAF long range missile batteries and each launcher is slightly larger in size.

Maximum Effective Range: Long Range Missile range is 3,400 miles (5,470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.

Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for detail (Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire long range missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or twenty-four (24) long range missiles per launcher, per melee attack.

Payload: 480 total, 240 long range missiles per battery.
Six (6) Mini-Missile Launchers: These are missile turrets used for point defense against enemy fighters and missiles. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration.) Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.

Maximum Effective Range: Mini Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with mini-missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for detail.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire mini-missiles one at a time or in volleys of four (4) or eight (8) mini-missiles.

Payload: 128 per launcher for a total of 768 mini-missiles. Cargo hold has an additional 2,304 mini-missile. Reloading launchers from cargo hold takes 1D6 minutes.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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