Thr35Fingers
Hunter Class Carrier
After the War of Secession many Union industries were either bankrupt, split up or now on the side (voluntarily or not) of the ISA. One such industry was the great LinCom Corporation. Commissioned just before the war by the Terran Trade Authority to build a large fleet of multipurpose cargo vessels, the conflict left half the Board murdered and most of its assets seized by one side or the other. The giant rusting hulks of the half-finished order lay in the desolate ruins of abandoned martian shipyards, scoured clean by the stinging sands of the red planet.
When the Union Navy went looking for a carrier-type vessel for their new fleet, Tauk Drive Yards proposed an interesting scheme. Tauk engineers proposed to use the unfinished hulls of the cargo ships as the base from which to build these new warships. This would keep costs and manufacturing time very low, which were both priorities to the Union Navy at the time.
Tauk Drive Yards' Hunter-class carrier is the glorious result of this scheme. The Hunter is renowned for its massive internal hangar bays. Able to accomodate hundreds of Star Falcon fighters and a dozen bomber wings alongside dozens of orbital shuttles, the Hunter is capable of supporting a planetary invasion all by itself. Although the carrier's hull is somewhat armoured, its sheer bulk precludes it from having truly heavy armour lest its cost balloon to eye-popping proportions.
After all the prefabbed hulls were used, the following Hunters were built much ore slowly but with heavier armour. These later versions are fewer in number and more expensive, but like their earlier brethren they rely mainly on their speed and airwings for protection.
For speed, two primary and two secondary Allison-Sheffield engines provide ample Delta V, and two sets of Mk 8 maneuvering thrusters provide the Hunter with excellent mobility for its mass.
The front section of the hull has two sliding hangar doors segmented in three, to allow for a optimal balance of protection and deployment speed for the carrier's air assets. Behind that, amidships, is a through-deck landing & recovery hangar which can also launch fighters, in a pinch.
The drawbacks of the Hunter design is its huge supply cost and its lack of offensive weaponry besides its airwing. Aside from ten twin laser cannon turrets along its hull, its fighters and bombers are its only means of attack. Consequently, a Hunter always travels with a strong escort of destroyers and cruisers to screen it.
Tauk Drive Yards tried to sell the carrier design to the Terran Republic, but their representative were practically laughed out of the room when the personnel requirements to staff a single ship were revealed. Interestingly, the Territorial Navy will often post destroyers or cruisers to the screen of a Hunter-class carrier in cooperation with the Union Navy.
Battlegroup AC 12, led by the Hunter UNS Orion, was one such fleet that was involved in the evacuation of Aurelius. The Orion alone managed to bring 40,000 civilians to Charlemagne.
The Hunter plays a critical role in the Sol Union's force projection. About the only job they are unsuited for is piracy suppression. They are too unwieldy and demand so many resources that their presence in any sector is immediately advertised. In fact, the enormous complement aboard these carriers (including ship's crew, marines, landing forces, technicians, engineers, ordinancemen, aircrew, flight deck crew, and dozens of other specialties) is such that the Union Navy's traditionally strict rules about inter-service and inter-ship co-mingling are noticeably relaxed aboard Hunter-class carriers, making them a very popular posting in the Navy.
Hunter Class Carrier
After the War of Secession many Union industries were either bankrupt, split up or now on the side (voluntarily or not) of the ISA. One such industry was the great LinCom Corporation. Commissioned just before the war by the Terran Trade Authority to build a large fleet of multipurpose cargo vessels, the conflict left half the Board murdered and most of its assets seized by one side or the other. The giant rusting hulks of the half-finished order lay in the desolate ruins of abandoned martian shipyards, scoured clean by the stinging sands of the red planet.
When the Union Navy went looking for a carrier-type vessel for their new fleet, Tauk Drive Yards proposed an interesting scheme. Tauk engineers proposed to use the unfinished hulls of the cargo ships as the base from which to build these new warships. This would keep costs and manufacturing time very low, which were both priorities to the Union Navy at the time.
Tauk Drive Yards' Hunter-class carrier is the glorious result of this scheme. The Hunter is renowned for its massive internal hangar bays. Able to accomodate hundreds of Star Falcon fighters and a dozen bomber wings alongside dozens of orbital shuttles, the Hunter is capable of supporting a planetary invasion all by itself. Although the carrier's hull is somewhat armoured, its sheer bulk precludes it from having truly heavy armour lest its cost balloon to eye-popping proportions.
After all the prefabbed hulls were used, the following Hunters were built much ore slowly but with heavier armour. These later versions are fewer in number and more expensive, but like their earlier brethren they rely mainly on their speed and airwings for protection.
For speed, two primary and two secondary Allison-Sheffield engines provide ample Delta V, and two sets of Mk 8 maneuvering thrusters provide the Hunter with excellent mobility for its mass.
The front section of the hull has two sliding hangar doors segmented in three, to allow for a optimal balance of protection and deployment speed for the carrier's air assets. Behind that, amidships, is a through-deck landing & recovery hangar which can also launch fighters, in a pinch.
The drawbacks of the Hunter design is its huge supply cost and its lack of offensive weaponry besides its airwing. Aside from ten twin laser cannon turrets along its hull, its fighters and bombers are its only means of attack. Consequently, a Hunter always travels with a strong escort of destroyers and cruisers to screen it.
Tauk Drive Yards tried to sell the carrier design to the Terran Republic, but their representative were practically laughed out of the room when the personnel requirements to staff a single ship were revealed. Interestingly, the Territorial Navy will often post destroyers or cruisers to the screen of a Hunter-class carrier in cooperation with the Union Navy.
Battlegroup AC 12, led by the Hunter UNS Orion, was one such fleet that was involved in the evacuation of Aurelius. The Orion alone managed to bring 40,000 civilians to Charlemagne.
The Hunter plays a critical role in the Sol Union's force projection. About the only job they are unsuited for is piracy suppression. They are too unwieldy and demand so many resources that their presence in any sector is immediately advertised. In fact, the enormous complement aboard these carriers (including ship's crew, marines, landing forces, technicians, engineers, ordinancemen, aircrew, flight deck crew, and dozens of other specialties) is such that the Union Navy's traditionally strict rules about inter-service and inter-ship co-mingling are noticeably relaxed aboard Hunter-class carriers, making them a very popular posting in the Navy.