TEXAS (BLOCK II)
OverviewIn 2750, the SLDF issued a request for a proposal for a second Block of
Texas-class Battleships. Although by-and-large satisified with the Krester Ship Construction design and the 52 existing hulls, recently the class had come under fire by officers within the service for being undergunned. Especially in comparison to the younger (and far more numerous)
McKenna-class.
For years (decades), the SLDF had resisted changing the (relatively) low-price
Texas. But after 132 years in service (the first
Texas had entered the Fleet in 2618) and finding themselves in need of more hulls (especially hulls with a lower price tag, as the new
Luxor-class Heavy Cruisers were consuming a large proportion of the Naval budget), the SLDF was finally ready and willing to look at what a possible Block II model of the old
Texas might entail.
To say that the executives at KSC were surprised would be an understatement; after all, the
Texas-class production line had been closed since 2696 . . . 54 years! But the corporation was never one to turn down a potentially lucerative SLDF contract. The request called on Krester to submit a new design with enhanced firepower, even greater armor protection, and (most importantly) a reasonable cost (the SLDF set the cost ceiling for the new design at 9 billion Star League dollars).
The design and approval process took eight years to complete. However, in the spring of 2758, the SLDF approved Krester's submission and requested four vessels for field testing evaluations. One slip was cleared of all other SLDF and civilian orders and quickly converted to handle the
Texas (Block II). The first example of the class (SLS
Mississippi) emerged in 2761, followed by SLS
Alabama in 2763 and SLS
Massachusetts in 2765. The final example (SLS
Indiana) was scuttled in her dry-dock during the Amaris Coup in late December of 2766. Just over 64% complete at the time, her skeleton crew and Krester company employees detonated an ammunition-laden DropShip attached to the battleship's #2 docking bay in order to keep the powerful new ship design out of the hands of the Rim World forces. While the explosion did not completely destroy the vessel, it crippled her beyond the ability of the Rim Worlds engineers to repair. In 2772, the remaining hulk was finally dismantled for scrap.
CapabilitiesAt it's heart, the Block II
Texas remains a
Texas. Both ships mass 1,560,000 tons; both use three Rolls Royce
Kraken engines to generate a standard acceleration of 1.5-g's (emergency flank of 2.5-g's). Both ships use the same Central Computer Core (the Communal XXX designed by the Nirasaki Computers Collective) and electronics (Pathfinder 43CD comm-array and MORSAT targeting & tracking system). Each carries six docking collars as well.
But the devil is in the details. Krester reduced the massive 301,671 ton cargo bay of the original design to just 156,000 tons on the Block II (for a 10% cargo fraction). This massive savings allowed the ship-builder to replace the 1,782 tons of Panthex YM1 Lamellor Ferro-Carbide armor with 2,482 tons of Panthex YM2 Lamellor Ferro-Carbide . . . an increase in effective protection of more than 72%!
Fighter complement was reduced from 40 embarked ASF to 36 (two Air Groups of 18 fighters apiece) and the number of Small Craft was cut by four for a total of 12 carried. Accomodations and facilities were provided for a full-strength Marine Rifle Battalion (252 officers and men), along with quarters for 599 passengers (50 1st-class, 180 2nd-class, and 369 steerage) with life support, provisions, and water supplies in sufficient quantities to allowed the full crew and passenger of 1,500 to deploy for up to one year before requiring resupply.
Two hundred and fifty escape pods were fitted, giving enough emergency evacuation transport for the entire ship's complement, while the bay personnel assigned to the Flight Deck were provided with their own dedicated quarters and recreational facilities. The original three grav decks were removed and replaced with four larger versions: two 125-meter diameter and two 105-meter diameter, providing the ship's company with an increased ability to maintain good health and morale over long periods in zero-G conditions.
In response to many complaints (dating back over a century!), Krester expanded the onboard fuel-tankage by an order of magnitude. Not only able to support their attached DropShips, small craft, and fighters, the Block II
Texas now has enough onboard fuel storage to accelerate at 1-g for roughly a standard year before exhausting their supplies.
But it was the armament that suffered the greatest changes.
The nose and stern arcs (both of which had previously been completely unarmed) were each fitted with three Riptide Series 2 Barracuda Captial Missile Launchers (with 30 missiles per launcher for a total of 180 Barracuda's stored within the magazines) and a massive bay containing 17 Omicron-35 35cm Naval Lasers.
The broadsides and stern-quarters arcs retained their bays of twelve Naval Lasers . . . but each now consisted of six Omicron-45 45cm Naval Lasers and six Omicron-55 55cm Naval Lasers in a mixed battery. The Maelstrom AR-10 missile launchers have been removed (while naval officers appreciated the flexibility, the inability of the magazines aboard the
Texas-class to accomodate Killer Whale Capital Missiles and the shallow nature of those magazines proved frustrating to many) and replaced with four-launcher bays of Tsunami Series 3 White Shark Capital Missile Launchers (with 30 missiles per launcher, for a total onboard storage of 480 missiles). The stern-quarter quartet of Sunspot-3L Heavy Naval PPCs was retained . . . and duplicated on the broadsides arc.
The fore-quarters saw all of their weapons removed. Two Hurricane Series 4 Killer Whale Capital Missile Launchers replaced the older launchers . . . and the magazines were expanded to accomodate 30 missiles per launcher (for a total of 120 missiles). Although exact details of the magazine layout remain classified, it is believed that Krester included radiation-shielding that allows for the safe storage of nuclear warheads within the magazines. The twelve-gun laser battery and four-gun Heavy N-PPC battery of the broadsides and stern-quarters has also been replicated in the fore-quarters. Finally, the original Winchester-Boeing Class 40 Naval Autocannon have been removed and replaced with four of the newly designed and developed Winchester-Boeing Sharpshooter Heavy Naval Gauss Rifles (two per arc, each HNG with a 50 round magazine for a total storage of 200 shots).
To deal with the increased power and cooling requirements, an additional 2,775 tons of double-strength heat sinks has been fitted, along with auxiliary power generators and energy storage capacitors.
Gunner requirements increased from 78 to 160; however, improvements in automation and computer control allowed Krester to decrease the crew requirement from 507 to 266 and the number of officers from 117 to 91.
Final cost estimates came in at just over 8.6 billion Star League dollars: an increase of just 10.3% over the original
Texas cost of acquisition. This was deemed as acceptable in the eyes of the SLDF.
Combat HistoryAll three
Texas Block II vessels survived the fighting in the Periphery and participated in the long campaign to retake the Hegemony. SLS
Alabama was lost during the liberation of Nirasaki when a Rim ASF evaded all defensive fire and kamikazed her amidships . . . detonating a nuclear weapon on impact.
SLS
Mississippi was slated to join the Diversionary Force during the Liberation of Terra; the forlorn hope that was sent in to draw off the Caspers and allow the SLDF Fleet a chance to enter the system uncontested. However, unrepaired battle damage from a host of lesser battles caused a critical fault with the ship's K-F Drive just hours before the scheduled jump. SLS
Massachusetts was substituted and she, along with all of the other ships in the Diversionary Force, were lost with all hands.
The drive damage almost caused SLS
Mississippi to miss the Liberation of Terra altogether. However, she did arrive in time to join the SLDF Fleet providing fire support to the North America landings. In the aftermath of the Battle of Terra, this ship and her crew aided in reflief efforts across the Hegemony and would eventually follow General Kerensky on the Exodus.
Her final dispostion remains unknown; no ship within the Clan Touman matches her configuration and all inquiries as to her fate have been met with silence and hard stares.
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: Texas (Block II)
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2760
Vessel Type: WarShip
Rules: Level 2, Custom design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 1,560,000 tons
Hull: Galadin SYN
K-F Drive System: KF Tiger I
Length: 1,209 meters
Sail Diameter: 1,375 meters
Power Plant: Rolls Royce Kraken Standard
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Armor Type: Panthex YM2 Lamellor Ferro-carbide
Armament:
6 Riptide Series 2 Barracuda
34 Onicron-35 NL35
4 Hurricane Series 4 Killer Whale
36 Omicron-55 NL55
36 Omicron-45 NL45
24 Sunspot-3L Heavy NPPC
4 Winchester-Boeing Sharpshooter Heavy N-Gauss
16 Tsunami Series 3 White Shark
Manufacturer: Krester Ship Construction
Location: Terra
Communications System: Pathfinder 43CD
Targeting & Tracking System: MORSAT
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Class/Model/Name: Texas (Block II)
Mass: 1,560,000 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 280,800.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive: Compact (Integrity = 30) 705,900.00
Jump Sail (Detachable): (Integrity = 6) 108.00
Structural Integrity: 85 132,600.00
Total Heat Sinks: 6,600 Double 5,806.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 14,513.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 3,900.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (360 days supply) 2,700.00
Armor Type: Lamellor Ferro-carbide (2,536 total armor pts) 2,482.00
Capital Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 424
Fore-Left/Right: 424/424
Aft-Left/Right: 424/424
Aft: 416
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (36) with 6 doors 5,400.00
Bay 2: Small Craft (12) with 2 doors 2,400.00
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 2 doors 156,000.00
DropShip Capacity: 6 Docking Hardpoints 6,000.00
Grav Decks #1 - 2: (125-meter diameter) 200.00
Grav Decks #3 - 4: (105-meter diameter) 200.00
Escape Pods: 250 (7 tons each) 1,750.00
Crew and Passengers:
91 Officers (91 minimum) 910.00
266 Crew (266 minimum) 1,862.00
160 Gunners (160 minimum) 1,120.00
50 1st Class Passengers 500.00
180 2nd Class Passengers 1,260.00
369 Steerage Passengers 1,845.00
252 Marines 1,260.00
132 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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3 Barracuda(90 msls) Nose 6 6 6 6 30 2,970.00
17 NL35 Nose 60 60 60 -- 884 11,900.00
2 Killer Whale(60 msls) FL/R 8 8 8 8 80 6,600.00
6 NL55 FL/R 60 60 60 60 1020 13,200.00
6 NL45 840 10,800.00
4 Heavy NPPC FL/R 60 60 60 60 1800 24,000.00
2 Heavy N-Gauss(100 rounds)FL/R 60 60 60 60 72 28,100.00
4 White Shark(120 msls) L/RBS 12 12 12 12 120 10,560.00
6 NL55 L/RBS 60 60 60 60 1020 13,200.00
6 NL45 840 10,800.00
4 Heavy NPPC L/RBS 60 60 60 60 1800 24,000.00
4 White Shark(120 msls) AL/R 12 12 12 12 120 10,560.00
6 NL55 AL/R 60 60 60 60 1020 13,200.00
6 NL45 840 10,800.00
4 Heavy NPPC AL/R 60 60 60 60 1800 24,000.00
3 Barracuda(90 msls) Aft 6 6 6 6 30 2,970.00
17 NL35 Aft 60 60 60 -- 884 11,900.00
132 Bay Personnel Quarters 924.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 13,200 1,560,000.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 8,641,577,024 C-Bills
Battle Value: 219,079
Cost per BV: 39,445.03
Weapon Value: 142,165 (Ratio = .65)
Damage Factors: SRV = 9,498; MRV = 9,498; LRV = 7,498; ERV = 3,012
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 925,994
(154,022 Structure, 426,390 Life Support, 345,582 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 1,149,300 (124% of MPV)
BattleForce2: Not applicable
