CJvR
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Mauretania class Passenger Liner
« on: April 13, 2009, 04:14:22 PM » Quote Modify Remove
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We have often read about migration of billions in the IS yet there isn't a single ship class that could realisticly deal with such flows of people. The existing liners are way to small, more on the level of a modern passenger aircraft and not, IMPO, very suited for travel times of a few weeks. So here is a ship inspired by the old Atlantic passenger liners, and a variant to handle the post war mass exodus from the Hegemony.
MAURETANIA CLASS PASSENGERLINER
At the height of the StarLeague humanity was travelling the stars in vast numbers, unlike nowdays when most travellers are either military or freighter crews. back then ordinary people could travel in space on an amazing scale. To facilitate this volume of passenger traffic many yards built liners that were among the largest dropships ever constructed for the numeous shipping lines transporting people all over known space.
The Mauretania "SAVOY" class liners were among the most common passenger ships of that golden era. There were many variants of them, often custom designed for a specific route, but the Savoy was the "standard" version. Designed to carry 2800 passengers and 650 crew on journeys up to 50 days it could handle most lines and with re-supply even the long express routes to remote locations like Canopus in the Periphery. The decline in travel prior to the fall of the StarLeague drove many shipping lines out of business and the New Vandenberg revolt and Amaris coup all but killed them completly. Most of the luxurious liners were either requisitioned by the SLDF for the war effort or rebuilt by their owners for other uses. Many ships however were simply laid up waiting for better times that would never come. Some 68 additional ships from various defunct shipping lines were requisitioned by the SLDF for the Exodus in addition to the 91 Mauretanias already in SLDF service making the Mauretania the most common liner in the Exodus fleet.
When the SLDF finally defeated the Usurper and liberated the Terran Hegemony many hoped for a return to the peace and stability of the StarLeague era but it was not to be. For a short moment in time there was a migration of epic proportions from the war torn worlds of the Hegemony. Billions migrated in hope of better fortunes on other planets or in other nations. Some sensing where things were heading left in fear of the increasing belligerent great houses surrounding the ravaged Hegemony. The existing transport capacity was not able to deal with the demands and there was no time to build new ships, even if the yards had existed to build them in, so modifications of existing ships were made instead.
To transport this wave of people on the move the Mauretania "EVAC" configuration was developed by gutting the old luxury liners suites and cabins in favour of a huge number of military style barracks. A horrible ship to travel on with Spartan accommodations for both crew and passengers and a badly undersized life-support system with inadequate rescue facilities as well. It was said you could always smell when an EVAC transport had landed from the stench when they opened the doors. To even make it possible to lift that many passengers the ship had to rely on canned life-support and much waste was simply dumped overboard during the flight. Despite it's shortcomings millions of people started a new life in the cramped quarters of an EVAC Mauretania.
With the beginning of the war many of these liners were drafted by the various militaries as troop transports, hospital ships or other auxiliary functions. They suffered heavy losses during the war and even worse were the many ships lifting refugees off the battlefields of the Inner Sphere only to be destroyed in space. Not many of the Grand Old Liners survive outside the military but a few remain in civilian service travelling only the safest routes between core systems in the various nations.
Code:
MAURETANIA CLASS PASSENGERLINER
Type: Civilian Spheroid
Tech: Star League
Introduced: 2664
Mass: 45,000 tons
Dimensions
Length: 128.00 meters
Width: 128.00 meters
Height: 185.00 meters
Fuel: 400.00 tons (4000)
Tons/Burn-day: 7.71 tons
Safe Thrust: 3
Max Thrust: 5
Heatsinks: 118
Structural Integrity: 10
Armor: standard
Nose: 100 (10)
R/L Sides: 100 (10)
Aft: 100 (10)
Weapons:
Arc (Heat) Type Short Medium Long Xtreme
None.
"SAVOY configuration"
Cargo:
Bay 1: Cargo ( 5148.5 tons ) 2 Doors
Bay 2: Small Craft ( 10 ) 3 Doors
Escape Pods: 0
Life Boats: 500
Ship Crew:
6 Officers, 30 technical crew, 50 Bay crew
Service Crew:
60 Officers, 500 service crew
Passengers:
400 First Class, 1600 Second Class, 800 Third Class
Note:
Equipped with 36 tons of standard armor.
Require 17.5 tons of food / day
"EVAC configuration"
Cargo:
Bay 1: Cargo ( 17628.5 tons ) 2 Doors
Bay 2: Small Craft ( 10 ) 3 Doors
Bay 3: Infantry Barracks ( 1600 ) 4 Doors
Escape Pods: 0
Life Boats: 500
Ship Crew:
6 Officers, 30 technical crew, 50 Bay crew
Service Crew:
60 Officers, 500 service crew
Passengers:
44800 Bay Passengers
Note:
Equipped with 36 tons of standard armor.
Require 227.5 tons of food / day
« Last Edit: September 11, 2009, 10:13:07 AM by CJvR » Report to moderator 213.112.126.181
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Re: Mauretania class Passenger Liner
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2009, 05:11:49 PM » Quote
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Great concept and fluff. Thanks.
