Type 51 Gunboat
Introduction Date: 2305
Mass: 50,000 tons
Transit Drive: 12,000 tons
Thrust Capacity: 4/6
Fuel: 500 tons (5000 points, 9.77 tons per burn day)
Pumps: 10 tons
Structure: 2000 tons
Structural Integrity: 40
Jump Drive (primitive, 15 light years): 25,000 tons
Drive Integrity: 3
Jump Sail: 33 tons
Sail Integrity: 3
Control System: 125 tons
Crew: 12 officers, 55 men, 505 tons
Heatsinks: 354, 200 tons
Armor: 166 tons of primitive armor (17 points per facing)
Equipment:
6 Aerospace Fighter Bays, 900 tons
2 Small Craft Bays, 400 tons
8 Escape Pods, 56 tons
28 Marines, 140 tons
1,285 tons Cargo
Weapons:
4 White Shark Missile Tubes (fwd) 480 tons
6 Naval Laser 35s (2 fl/fr, 1 lbs/rbs) 4200 tons
Ammunition:
50 White Shark Missiles, 2000 tons
Overview:
Though the launching of the TAS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in naval warfare and design, it did not happen overnight. In fact, for many branches of the fleet, the pace of this new revolution was painfully slow. With the Dreadnought under production and a new light cruiser already slated to follow, the Alliance had a superb battle fleet, but its escort and picket squadrons were still forced to rely on Pre-Dreadnought vessels that were never really designed to fight in this new era of naval combat. With even the most optimistic estimates placing a new destroyer or corvette class vessel a decade away (due to production bottlenecks), Admiral McKenna ordered a stopgap design created to bridge the gap.
The first Type 51 Fleet Gunboat formally entered service a year later.
Capabilities:
To build the Type 51, designers started with the proven hull of the Foundation Harrison class light freighter, a small, short ranged vessel loved by its crews for its ruggedness, reliability, maneuverability, and relatively low price tag. To speed production, engineers custom designed a set of "drop in" modules that could be fitted in place in the existing cargo bays, greatly reducing the degree of redesign work necessary (this design technique would go on to inspire the modularity of such ships as the Vincent class corvette and Leopard class dropship). Though not truly modular in the modern sense, Entire sections could be lifted out in a shipyard (or blown apart in combat) without compromising the integrity of the rest of the hull, making repairs, maintenance, and damage control much easier.
What made the Type 51 stand out from its Pre-Dreadnought brethren was the extent to which it was optimized for ship to ship combat. It was a "pre-dreadnought for the Dreadnought era", a ship killer with virtually no facilities to transport or support the ground arm, and considering its minuscule size, it managed a considerable bite built around naval lasers and missiles, an armored hide that outclassed some of the Corvettes that would eventually replace it, and launch bays for a squadron of the new Star Dagger aerofighters just coming into service. Against most opponents of the time, this was entirely adequate.
The design's biggest weakness was the short range of its KF Drive. However, at the time of its introduction, this short range was still sufficient to keep up with most merchant traffic and conduct patrol operations within the Alliance, and the Hegemony which succeeded it.
Deployment:
Due to its low cost and the ease of construction, the Terran Alliance (and later Hegemony) was able to accumulate a large fleet of these vessels during the fifteen years it was in production. Though the Hegemony began slowly phasing the class out of service as new Vigilant class corvettes came online to replace it, the Type 51 continued to linger in front line service for several more decades, and in supporting rolls for a century after that, until the growing WarShip fleet, increased threat from neighboring powers, and the increased range of modern transport jumpships rendered the ship completely obsolete.
As the arms race provoked by the launching of the Dreadnought heated up, most of the powers of the Inner Sphere and Periphery would build their own versions of the Type 51. Some simply copied the basic concept of a small but heavily armed ship, others developed direct copies of the Type 51, with or without obtaining proper licenses from the Hegemony. Most of these gunboats would be retired or scrapped in the Inner Sphere before the start of the twenty sixth century, but they would linger on in the Periphery for quite a while after.
The Taurian Concordat was one of the most active users of the Type 51 (either purchased from the Hegemony or built under license as the Patriot class Sloop). These vessels saw heavy use during the earliest conflicts of the Concordat's history. Though very successful using hit and run tactics against the Federated Suns in several early skirmishes, their performance during the Rim War with the Capellan Confederation clearly demonstrated their age. This led the Concordat to begin retiring the class at the dawn of the 26th century. The majority would be scrapped, with their raw materials going to support construction of the new Concordat class Frigate. A few would have their jump cores removed and replaced with an inert keel for use as system defense craft over Taurus. The rest would have their weaponry and fighter bays removed and were sold to civilian interests as short range cargo haulers. During the Reunification War, these ships would be re-armed and set loose against the SLDF's rear areas and supply lines. These commerce raiders managed to be a nuisance to the SLDF, though they failed to do significant damage, as their limited strategic mobility greatly restricted their operations. Most would meet their ends at the hands of an SLDF Destroyer or Corvette squadron, though a few remain unaccounted for to this day.
The last known Type 51 was destroyed in the asteroid belts of Taurus in the last days of the Reunification War.
