Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
The Following ship was designed using MgT rules, with a little form MGT High Guard, and a made up component I pulled out of thin air.
Spoiler:
Kingston Class 1Kdton Merchant.
- Thread starter Xerxeskingofking
- Start date
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
Backstory
I've Departed a little form the official fluff here. officially, the Near Boötes Cluster, which is rimward and a slightly spinward of Terra, In Cappella subsector, was not discovered or colonised until after the Interstellar Wars were over.
However, I feel that a 16 world jump main with something like 11 earth-like worlds would be too huge a prize to pass up. the terrans had a easy run into the cluster via Ys and Remulak, which leaves the 3 parsed gap to Cameroon to bridge, which I admit would impose difficulties with J-2 max, but not insurmountable ones. either jump tanekrs or a refuelling station would open up the cluster to settlement, and the easy to inhabit nature of the worlds would let colonisation proceed rapidly.
anyway, enough waffling, heres my backstory:
Kingston Class Cargo Ship
The Kingston class is a old design, dating back to the Interstellar Wars era. designed for use as a military transport for supporting operations on infrastructure poor colonies, it became a familiar sight all along the borders of the Terran Confederation and the Rule of Man after it. While her cargo hold is smaller than other designs of similar tonnage, her rough landing abilities gave her advantages on the less developed worlds.
Background
The Kingston class was designed as part of a series of cargo ships during Late 2160 AD (-2,362 Imperial), as the Terran confederation started to rebuild and expand after the devastation of the Third Interstellar War in which Terra herself was nearly taken.
Terran strategists felt that what was needed was new, secure industrial areas some distance form the front lines to coreward. thus, a sustained effort was made to colonise the systems to Rimward, Initially in the Outback, but later into the rich Near Boötes Cluster, a jump main of over 16 worlds in what is now the Capella and Gemini subsectors.
To support these fledgling colonies, new merchant ships were needed, both to replaces those lost to vlani commerce raiders, and to expand into the new colonies. The backbone of this new merchant fleet was going to be a government run Terran Merchant Navy, which would focus on non-profit supply runs and infrastructure support than for-profit commercial missions.
Of the several ship classes that were created for the TMN, the two most prominent and long lasting were the Singapore class heavy merchant, a 10,000 ton bulk hauler intended to move large amounts of staple goods to existing colonies, and the Kingston class, a smaller ship designed to be able to directly land at a colony site with only minimal ground assistance.
Design
The Kingston design emphasised self reliance and independence from ground support. The hull was fully streamlined, and multiple control surfaces made the Kingston handle very well in atmospheres. The cockpit and sensor array were designed to maximise forward view and aid the pilot in landing the ship, much like on shuttlecraft a tenth the size. The ship used numerous landing struts to minimise ground pressure, and the whole craft was actually buoyant when loaded with less than 200 tons of cargo.
The Cargo bay was a single continuous bay running the length of the ships lower deck, with doors at both ends to allow “roll on/roll off” loading. Another feature was the central cargo lift, which pierced the upper decks and, via a hatch, allowed a grav cargo tug to take or deposit terran standard cargo containers directly form the ship’s topside.
To accommodate the cargo bay and the cargo lift, the ships engineering section was split in two, with the main fusion plant being shifted to the port side and the jump drive to the starboard, with the M drives split in two, either side of the rear cargo doors. While this arrangement was sub optimal from a engineering point of view, the designers felt that cargo handling took priority.
Due the threat of Vlani commerce raiders, the choice was made to invest in heavy armour for the hull, and to mount a light defensive armament geared towards point defence against missiles
more to follow.....
I've Departed a little form the official fluff here. officially, the Near Boötes Cluster, which is rimward and a slightly spinward of Terra, In Cappella subsector, was not discovered or colonised until after the Interstellar Wars were over.
However, I feel that a 16 world jump main with something like 11 earth-like worlds would be too huge a prize to pass up. the terrans had a easy run into the cluster via Ys and Remulak, which leaves the 3 parsed gap to Cameroon to bridge, which I admit would impose difficulties with J-2 max, but not insurmountable ones. either jump tanekrs or a refuelling station would open up the cluster to settlement, and the easy to inhabit nature of the worlds would let colonisation proceed rapidly.
anyway, enough waffling, heres my backstory:
Kingston Class Cargo Ship
The Kingston class is a old design, dating back to the Interstellar Wars era. designed for use as a military transport for supporting operations on infrastructure poor colonies, it became a familiar sight all along the borders of the Terran Confederation and the Rule of Man after it. While her cargo hold is smaller than other designs of similar tonnage, her rough landing abilities gave her advantages on the less developed worlds.
Background
The Kingston class was designed as part of a series of cargo ships during Late 2160 AD (-2,362 Imperial), as the Terran confederation started to rebuild and expand after the devastation of the Third Interstellar War in which Terra herself was nearly taken.
Terran strategists felt that what was needed was new, secure industrial areas some distance form the front lines to coreward. thus, a sustained effort was made to colonise the systems to Rimward, Initially in the Outback, but later into the rich Near Boötes Cluster, a jump main of over 16 worlds in what is now the Capella and Gemini subsectors.
To support these fledgling colonies, new merchant ships were needed, both to replaces those lost to vlani commerce raiders, and to expand into the new colonies. The backbone of this new merchant fleet was going to be a government run Terran Merchant Navy, which would focus on non-profit supply runs and infrastructure support than for-profit commercial missions.
Of the several ship classes that were created for the TMN, the two most prominent and long lasting were the Singapore class heavy merchant, a 10,000 ton bulk hauler intended to move large amounts of staple goods to existing colonies, and the Kingston class, a smaller ship designed to be able to directly land at a colony site with only minimal ground assistance.
Design
The Kingston design emphasised self reliance and independence from ground support. The hull was fully streamlined, and multiple control surfaces made the Kingston handle very well in atmospheres. The cockpit and sensor array were designed to maximise forward view and aid the pilot in landing the ship, much like on shuttlecraft a tenth the size. The ship used numerous landing struts to minimise ground pressure, and the whole craft was actually buoyant when loaded with less than 200 tons of cargo.
The Cargo bay was a single continuous bay running the length of the ships lower deck, with doors at both ends to allow “roll on/roll off” loading. Another feature was the central cargo lift, which pierced the upper decks and, via a hatch, allowed a grav cargo tug to take or deposit terran standard cargo containers directly form the ship’s topside.
To accommodate the cargo bay and the cargo lift, the ships engineering section was split in two, with the main fusion plant being shifted to the port side and the jump drive to the starboard, with the M drives split in two, either side of the rear cargo doors. While this arrangement was sub optimal from a engineering point of view, the designers felt that cargo handling took priority.
Due the threat of Vlani commerce raiders, the choice was made to invest in heavy armour for the hull, and to mount a light defensive armament geared towards point defence against missiles
more to follow.....
Last edited:
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
Fluff, Part 2:
Service History
The first Kingston entered service in 2162, and quickly proved to be popular with the crews. Compared to the ships they replaced, the Kingston handled like a dream when landing. Indeed, in rough weather, the heavy mass of the Kingston meant it actually had better handling than lighter smallcraft, as it could push though buffeting that would knock a pinnace off course. It was Also much quicker to unload than a Singapore, which was reliant on shuttles to delver it’s cargo planetside. the Kingston's hold could be unloaded by conventional cargo haulers, or fly direct to the end destination, which let a colony economise on the use of expensive shuttles and shuttle pilots.
The Kingston could land pretty much anywhere on a colony, form the hub starport to a advanced way-station with nothing but a strobe light to mark where to land. The water landing ability, combined with the top loading ability the lift provided, proved especially useful on water worlds like Midway and Hephaistos, allowing direct resupply to fishing fleets hundreds of miles form the nearest shoreline.
The Confederation navy also took notice of the Kingston, and brought it into naval service as a supply ship. for colonists on the edge of settled space, and terran marines in remote garrisons, the Kingston was often thier only link with the wider universe, and it’s arrival was always eagerly anticipated.
the Kingston, and designs derived from it ,remained in low level production for almost the entire history of the Terran confederation and the Rule of Man, always operating on the edges, reaching those places other merchants could not.
Toady, the Imperial Colonial Office operates the Delphi class, which has very similar performance and capabilities, though the interval layout is somewhat different, with the cargo lift being shifted further forward and the rear cargo doors deleted, to allow the engine space to be recombined into a single room for easier maintenance.
Service History
The first Kingston entered service in 2162, and quickly proved to be popular with the crews. Compared to the ships they replaced, the Kingston handled like a dream when landing. Indeed, in rough weather, the heavy mass of the Kingston meant it actually had better handling than lighter smallcraft, as it could push though buffeting that would knock a pinnace off course. It was Also much quicker to unload than a Singapore, which was reliant on shuttles to delver it’s cargo planetside. the Kingston's hold could be unloaded by conventional cargo haulers, or fly direct to the end destination, which let a colony economise on the use of expensive shuttles and shuttle pilots.
The Kingston could land pretty much anywhere on a colony, form the hub starport to a advanced way-station with nothing but a strobe light to mark where to land. The water landing ability, combined with the top loading ability the lift provided, proved especially useful on water worlds like Midway and Hephaistos, allowing direct resupply to fishing fleets hundreds of miles form the nearest shoreline.
The Confederation navy also took notice of the Kingston, and brought it into naval service as a supply ship. for colonists on the edge of settled space, and terran marines in remote garrisons, the Kingston was often thier only link with the wider universe, and it’s arrival was always eagerly anticipated.
the Kingston, and designs derived from it ,remained in low level production for almost the entire history of the Terran confederation and the Rule of Man, always operating on the edges, reaching those places other merchants could not.
Toady, the Imperial Colonial Office operates the Delphi class, which has very similar performance and capabilities, though the interval layout is somewhat different, with the cargo lift being shifted further forward and the rear cargo doors deleted, to allow the engine space to be recombined into a single room for easier maintenance.
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martletsquire
SOC-12
Totally neat. Love the fluff that brings a ship class to life.
Patron Zero
SOC-13
Back-story is an essential part of a ships as much as it's hard numbers.
Well done !
Well done !
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
Alas, I can't draw for toffee. I might have a go at a deckplan, but a picture would be really beyond my skills/
Cool understand that, with you brief description you should be able to kick out at least a deckplan on the cocktail napkin sorta level.... (some of my favorite designs exist at that level...)
I am not messing with y'all, just a little bit is within the capability of everybody. It doesn't have to be perfect just get the relational points across...
I am not messing with y'all, just a little bit is within the capability of everybody. It doesn't have to be perfect just get the relational points across...
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GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
With the control surfaces given special mention and a full RORO configuration, it probably looks like a gigantic version of a Super Guppy.
martletsquire
SOC-12
I pictured it as kinda R merchant on steroids, with the aerofoils top-mounted for water landings.
Patron Zero
SOC-13
Isn't Traveller overdue for a starship of a Super-Guppy or Packet Plane style of hull design ?
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