The Servicemen class starship is a quickly designed derivative of the Statesmen designed to fill a logistics role within ISOC's interstellar forces. It removes much of the weapon systems of the ship, and replaces them with additional cargo space that still fits within the space reserved for the weapon turrets inside of the ship's SLE geometry. The end goal is a starship that can support interstellar operations, allowing ISOC to surge their capabilities within a star system.
Overview
Name: Servicemen Class (mk3)
Operators: American Union
Manufacturer:
Length: 350 Meters
Diameter (Radiators): 80 Meters
Diameter (Main Body): 40 Meters
Crew:
Propulsion: x6 ULA Mark 17 Fusion Drive
Max Acceleration: 1.15g
Range: ~1 month before requiring resupply
Sensors:
Armament:
Cargo:
Electronic Warfare: MK 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator
Support Craft:
Operators: American Union
Manufacturer:
Union Launch Alliance (ULA): Hull / Drive system
Jovian Propulsion Labs (JPL): Sensor Systems
Stellar Arms (SA): Weapon Systems
Length: 350 Meters
Diameter (Radiators): 80 Meters
Diameter (Main Body): 40 Meters
Crew:
100 Ship Crew
50 Crew for support craft
Propulsion: x6 ULA Mark 17 Fusion Drive
Max Acceleration: 1.15g
Range: ~1 month before requiring resupply
Sensors:
JPL Block 12 Optical/Thermal Sensor Systems
JPL Block 3 Ship Radar
Armament:
x8 UG-301 2.5mm point defense coilguns
Cargo:
x410 Standard Size Cargo Containers
Electronic Warfare: MK 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator
Support Craft:
Superluminal Communications Satellites
Small Inspection Probes
History
With the decommissioning of the supply ships produced in the Hawking System as retaliation for New Cambridge's stance on defending the Adlets, ISOC was left without much variety in its fleet when the New Years Revolution came, crippling their ability to respond to the newly created Provisional Fleet which was now stocked with support ships that ISOC had originally decommissioned. As the war in Atlantica progressed, Statesmen class ships that were being upgraded to the new Eldar Statesmen standard were instead repurposed for cargo transport.
See: Statesmen Class Program
See: Statesmen Class Program
Ships of Note
Layout
The Servicemen has a similar layout to the Statesmen, with no major changes to the internal geometry. Much of the internal structure for supporting gunnery operations remains, even if equipment like the weapons and loading systems have been removed to free up weight and space within the ship for additional storage. The ship itself also retains the newer, conventional stack style layout of the Elder Statesmen.
Armor
The Servicemen is a relatively well armored ship that has greater armor protection than what would normally be expected for a long duration, long range, mission ship but still far less than some of the extremely heavy ships designed strictly for direct combat. Though it has the same single-bay-door hanger configuration of the Eldar Statesmen so that armor can be better concentrated around the hanger section, the increased armor over the missile launch systems has been deleted to make space for more cargo with the anticipation that the ship would not be entering into major combat.
Anti-Flash layer
Coating nearly every surface is an extremely thin anti-flash layer made up of a highly heat resistant layer of tungsten carbide and an undercoating of industrial diamond. This is intended to provide a high amount of protection against high instantaneous heat flashes from nuclear weapons.
Anti-Laser Layer
A layer of graphite impregnated aerogel is used throughout the ship for protection against laser attacks. Originally a small amount of the aerogel was used throughout the ship and on some sensitive components. After the Union defeat at Reiss in the beginning of 2320 largely due to the extensive use of laser weapons a much greater amount of the material was added to the ship. Two meters of the material was layered on top of the exterior surfaces of the ship, and additional material was injected into any extra space inside of the ship to provide better protection against penetrating laser strikes.
Upper armored plate
When in combat, it is expected that the Statesmen will try and orient the ‘top’ of the ship towards the enemy. This provides the greatest level of protection to the crew and puts the heaviest armor plates between the enemy and the crew. This upper level plate is nearly meter thick at its widest area, and is made from a composite of industrial diamond, Osmium, and Carbon.
Observation deck Spaced Armor
After the disastrous loss of the AUS Jerry Brown in 2320 due to laser strikes coming in through the armored windows of the ship, an extensive overhaul of the interior sections was carried out. Critical rooms were moved further into the ship, and the rooms near the exterior of the ship like the observation and recreational areas toward the front. Additional armor and armored shutters were added on the interior facing sides of these rooms. This would allow the ships to evacuate the rooms and seal them off during combat to use them as extra spaced armor.
Osmium and Amorphous Carbon internal layers with spall lining.
Much of the interior of the ship’s structural components and interior walls are made with layers of sandwiched Osmium, Amorphous Carbon, and internal spall liners to provide a level of protection in depth when the ship is struck by incoming attacks that get through the exterior.
Artificial Gravity Systems
The Servicemen uses a Magnetic Assembly derived anti-gravity system for a combination of FTL drive, creature comfort, defense, and inertial dampening.
The system itself generates an anti-gravity field that can push things away from the ship. These generators are located just ‘under’ the main armored plate of the ship. This allows the field being generated to create an earthly 0.8g of gravity for the crew by pushing them ‘down’ into the floor while also pushing away objects coming at the ship (though this is usually lowered to save power on long duration missions).
Additional generators are also placed throughout the ship to help maintain proper orientation when moving about, and to help establish the superluminal effects of the ship’s FTL system.
CIC
The ship’s primary CIC is located on a tower that extends out from an area just above the primary reaction mass tanks. This area has enough workstations to support 20 people, a central Ops table to track weapon usage and deployment. Behind the Ops table are 3d displays and plotting tools for Navigation across from a table with 3d displays pertaining to ship readiness and repair status.
The rather spacious bridge is designed to allow for operation of the starship as well as conducting operations with a task force spread across multiple star systems.
Cryo Chambers
To further the mission duration of the Servicemen without needing to carry additional supplies, a large cryo-sleep bay is included to house the ship's marine compliment in suspended animation until they are ready to be deployed. ISOC marines are generally 'unhappy' about being put on ice for the duration of their missions though many are quite happy they are still getting paid for time while in sleep.
Living Areas
Despite having a crew complement of 1400, the servicemen is fairly spacious, with enough room for officers and crew to have their own small rooms. Though the enlisted marines are expected to share a barracks, they are at least allowed their own bunks which eliminates the need for hot-racking.
The ship has everything it needs to support a small city including ample supply stores, eating areas, a commissary, mail room, gyms, and lounges.
Armaments
The Servicemen is only minimally armed compared to the original Statesmen that it is derived from, and carries only the minimum of defensive systems.
UG-301 2.5mm 'Sandblaster' Point Defense Coilguns
The Primary weapon system for dealing with threats close to the ship is the UG-301 coilgun. The circular bank of coil guns near the front of the ship fire unguided, relatively fast, metal slugs with a high rate of fire. The small projectiles are well suited for destroying targets such as missiles and can chew through even heavy starship armor at close range very quickly. Due to the unguided nature of the weapons they are not very suitable for attacking targets on long range.
For more see: UG-301
Mk 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator
The Mk 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator is an Electronic Warfare Support system originally designed for naval ships that operated in and around civilian shipping lanes on Earth. It was hardened for use in space after the loss of the AUS Lord Palmerson in 2320 to Cyber-Attack so that Statesmen class ships could be refit with new Electronic Warfare systems as fast as possible.
The system itself was originally designed for short range electronic attack, primarily to jam short range communication systems such as civilian wifi, cellular, and other data networks. The original intended use was for frigates near the coast to be able to safely overtake commercial shipping. While this makes the system somewhat useless in the extreme range combat of space, it does make the system suitable for suppressing communications on starships that are about to be boarded. More importantly, it allows a ship to suppress and control the civilian grade equipment that might be brought onboard by the ship’s own crew. This helps maintain electronic security inside of the ship during operations.
The various sensor panels and wide-band emitters are installed near the ship's CIC tower.
Life Support
The Statesmen uses a ECLSS type life support system developed by the Union Launch Alliance that has remained largely unchanged outside of incremental improvements over the last 40 years. This allows the ship to provide a comfortable atmosphere full of breathable air at a full 1 atmosphere of pressure. The ship's Oxygen Generation system and Carbon Dioxide Remove Assembly are fully capable of supporting up to 400 people, providing an ample safe space for supporting the crew in case of loss of functionality or the need to store extra people for transport.
The Servicemen also has a grey-water treatment system capable of supporting 300 people almost indefinitely. This system is mostly off the shelf technology distributed through the Union Launch Alliance and is intended to provide usable fresh water for the crew with minimal upkeep or resupply.
Food and other material goods are supplied through the ship's cargo bay. While enough stores can be held for several months of operation, resupply is still required for extreme long-duration missions.
The Servicemen also has a grey-water treatment system capable of supporting 300 people almost indefinitely. This system is mostly off the shelf technology distributed through the Union Launch Alliance and is intended to provide usable fresh water for the crew with minimal upkeep or resupply.
Food and other material goods are supplied through the ship's cargo bay. While enough stores can be held for several months of operation, resupply is still required for extreme long-duration missions.