Stellar Navy Carriers By ILJackson Watch

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Carriers are specialized ships designed to carry smaller vessels, typically fighters and bombers, into battle. They can be some of the largest, most heavily crewed vessels in any fleet and are often capital ships which entire fleets are built to support. The Terran Protectorate Stellar Navy makes more extensive use of star fighters, and thus carriers, than any other known species. It is humanity's specialty and by no accident. In the first Interstellar War with the Imperial Consortium, humanity had taken a severe beating and was on the ropes. Whole colonies were being wiped out, and mankind was driven back to a few core worlds. All that was left were a few cruisers and a number of converted cargo ships used to transport star fighters. In desperation, the Terran Protectorate used the fighters against the massive, advanced vessels of the Consortium. The Consortium was unprepared and could ill defend against the small, nimble fighters. Humanity quickly reorganized its fleets into carrier-based fleets and drove the Consortium back, eventually winning the war. Since then, the Stellar Navy has been mainly a carrier-focused star fleet.



(Top) The Archer-Class Carrier: The original Archers were those first cargo container ships that were hastily converted into makeshift carriers. Over time the design was refined and more sophisticated flight decks were added, as well as powerful weapon systems. The Archer has stayed in service for nearly 70 years, going from main fleet carriers to being re-designated as escort carriers currently. They carry three squadrons; typically two fighter squadrons and one squadron of bombers or strike fighters.



(Upper Front) The Liberty II-Class Fleet Carrier: These ships are currently the backbone of the Stellar Navy. One fleet carrier has more than 100 smaller craft, including fighters, bombers, shuttles, drop ships, pinnaces and support vessels. They are at the core of nearly every fleet and are usually a fleet admiral's choice for a command ship. Even though their direct firepower only rivals that of a cruiser, they are considered the most powerful vessels in the fleet.



(Middle) The Archangel-Class Troop Carriers are some of the largest manmade ships ever constructed. Each ship carries 48 combat shuttles or dropships and are capable of deploying an entire regiment of Colonial Marines in one combat drop. Each ship houses an entire marine regiment, including sleeper pods, recreation and training areas. They are only used during massive planetary invasions, in which case dozens of these gigantic motherships might be involved in landing operations. They have a battery of powerful weapons but they are not designed to go into combat and their commanders are trained to avoid engaging enemy starships. They are always heavily escorted.



(Bottom) The Skirmisher-Class Escort Carrier: The Skirmisher was designed to replace the Archers. They are combat-ready escort carriers designed to be frontline warships, meaning they can engage enemy ships in direct combat as well as deploy their fighter wing, unlike most carrier designs. The Skirmishers incorporate all of the lessons learned from the Archers and improve on them whenever possible. They carry 36 fighters and 11 auxiliary craft.

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Published : Sep 20, 2013