The last of my thoughts on the Taurian Fleet, pre-Reunification Wars is the Samantha Calderon class Battleship. What's that you say? The Taurians don't get Battleships? Rubbish! House Liao has battleships, Davion has battleships, Marik has battleships, but the SECOND LARGEST NAVAL POWER IN THE UNIVERSE doesn't? Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me. Anyway, here she is, so enjoy.
Class/Model/Name: Samantha Calderon
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2552
Vessel Type: WarShip
Rules: Level 2, Custom design
Mass: 1,100,000 tons
Inner Sphere / 2552: Chandler Supreme 1100
K-F Drive System: KF Millennium Engineering 498
Length: 960 meters
Sail Diameter: 1,241 meters
Power Plant: GE-Westinghouse KVC-198 Standard
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Armor Type: Jessup Composites 1241/a Improved Ferro-aluminum
Armament:
12 High Energy System Pulsar Medium NPPC
11 Martin Gordan Blinder NL45
8 Martin Gordan Burner NL55
27 Jankowski Mk III NAC/25
32 Aurora Missiliers Deathscap LRM 15
32 Hyades Weapons Consortium Retaliation Autocannon/10
40 Martin Gordan Stiletto Small Laser
4 Norman Raytheon Javelin Barracuda
4 Norman Raytheon Harpoon White Shark
4 Norman Raytheon Tomahawk Killer Whale
Manufacturer: Chandler Shipwrights
Location: New Columbia
Communications System: Wintershaven Comm Mark 41
Targeting & Tracking System: Berringer Systems SPZ-27f Phased Array
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Class/Model/Name: Samantha Calderon
Mass: 1,100,000 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: Standard 198,000.00
K-F Hyperdrive: Compact (Integrity = 22) 497,750.00
Jump Sail: (Integrity = 5) 85.00
Structural Integrity: 90 99,000.00
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Heat Sinks: 5,841 Single 5,167.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 14,228.00
Bridge & Controls: 2,750.00
Fire Control Computers: 10,212.00
Food & Water: (360 days supply) 1,512.00
Armor Factor: 1,241 Improved Ferro-aluminum 1,978.00
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Armor Value
(Capital Scale)
Fore: 210
Fore Left / Right: 210 / 210
Aft Left / Right: 210 / 210
Aft: 191
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Equipment & Options:
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (16) with 4 doors 2,400.00
Small Craft (2) 400.00
Bay 2: Fighters (16) with 4 doors 2,400.00
Small Craft (2) 400.00
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 4 doors 55,182.00
DropShip Capacity: 4 Docking Hardpoints 4,000
Grav Decks:
Grav Decks #1 - 4: (135-meter diameter) 400
Escape Pods: 140 (7 tons each) 980
Crew and Passengers:
61 Officers (61 minimum) 0.00
204 Crew (204 minimum) 0.00
88 Gunners (88 minimum) 0.00
50 1st Class Passengers 0.00
213 2nd Class Passengers 0.00
90 Marines 0.00
50 Flag Staff 0.00
84 Bay Personnel 0.00
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Weapons & Equipment: Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
2 Medium NPPC Nose 18 18 18 18 270 3,600.00
2 NL45 Nose 15 15 15 15 140 1,800.00
1 NL55 85 1,100.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) Nose 50 50 50 -- 170 6,060.00
4 LRM 15(200 rounds) Nose 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 20 53.00
4 Autocannon/10(200 rounds) Nose 4(40) 4(40) -- -- 12 68.00
5 Small Laser Nose 2(15) -- -- -- 5 2.50
1 Medium NPPC FL/R 9 9 9 9 270 3,600.00
1 NL45 FL/R 10 10 10 10 140 1,800.00
1 NL55 170 2,200.00
1 Barracuda(30 msls) FL/R 2 2 2 2 20 1,980.00
1 White Shark(30 msls) FL/R 3 3 3 3 30 2,640.00
1 Killer Whale(30 msls) FL/R 4 4 4 4 40 3,300.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) FL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) FL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
4 LRM 15(200 rounds) FL/R 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 40 106.00
4 Autocannon/10(200 rounds) FL/R 4(40) 4(40) -- -- 24 136.00
5 Small Laser FL/R 2(15) -- -- -- 10 5.00
2 Medium NPPC L/RBS 18 18 18 18 540 7,200.00
2 NL45 L/RBS 15 15 15 15 280 3,600.00
1 NL55 170 2,200.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) L/RBS 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) L/RBS 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
4 LRM 15(200 rounds) L/RBS 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 40 106.00
4 Autocannon/10(200 rounds) L/RBS 4(40) 4(40) -- -- 24 136.00
5 Small Laser L/RBS 2(15) -- -- -- 10 5.00
1 Medium NPPC AL/R 9 9 9 9 270 3,600.00
1 NL45 AL/R 10 10 10 10 140 1,800.00
1 NL55 170 2,200.00
1 Barracuda(30 msls) AL/R 2 2 2 2 20 1,980.00
1 White Shark(30 msls) AL/R 3 3 3 3 30 2,640.00
1 Killer Whale(30 msls) AL/R 4 4 4 4 40 3,300.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) AL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) AL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
4 LRM 15(200 rounds) AL/R 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 40 106.00
4 Autocannon/10(200 rounds) AL/R 4(40) 4(40) -- -- 24 136.00
5 Small Laser AL/R 2(15) -- -- -- 10 5.00
2 Medium NPPC Aft 18 18 18 18 270 3,600.00
1 NL45 Aft 10 10 10 10 70 900.00
1 NL55 85 1,100.00
1 NAC/25(50 rounds) Aft 25 25 25 -- 85 3,030.00
4 LRM 15(200 rounds) Aft 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 20 53.00
4 Autocannon/10(200 rounds) Aft 4(40) 4(40) -- -- 12 68.00
5 Small Laser Aft 2(15) -- -- -- 5 2.50
1 Lot Spare Parts (5.00%) 55,000.00
84 Bay Personnel Quarters 588.00
1 Flag Bridge 2,750.00
TOTALS: 5,841 1,100,000.00
Tons Left: .00
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Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 6,100,965,024 C-Bills
Battle Value: 229,541
Cost per BV: 26,578.98
Weapon Value: 99,145 (Ratio = .43)
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 9,039; MRDmg = 8,810; LRDmg = 6,686; ERDmg = 2,583
Maintenance Point Value: MPV = 704,497 (115,130 Structure, 289,775 Life Support, 299,592 Weapons)
Support Points: SP = 783,450 (111% of MPV)
BattleForce2: (Not applicable)
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
Overview:
On November 6, 2570, the hull for the first battleship ever produced by the Taurian Concordat was laid down in a ceremony full of fanfare at the Chandler Shipwrights Prometheus Shipyard orbiting New Columbia, deep in the interior of the Hyades Cluster. Protector Caterina Calderon attended, and in a 43-minute speech broadcast throughout the Cluster (eventually reaching every world in the Concordat and beyond; it was in fact viewed with concern on Terra itself sometime later) marked the event with words that would ring across the Periphery.
"It is in hope that through peace will events guide us here in the Concordat. But hope is, by itself, nothing more than a flimsy, unsteady bulwark against the aggression of others; who blinded by ambition seek dominion over all free men and women. I tell you, follow citizens, that this ship, and her sister ships to come, and others like them that even now lie upon the drawing boards of great companies such as this one, across the width and breadth of our Concordat, will serve as our shield, an adamant shield, so that our hope may flourish in peace and prosperity. And should our efforts at peace be for naught, then we take as our motto the ancient worlds, 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death'."
"For more than three centuries have we dwelt here, in this home that we, through our labors and our joys and our sorrows, have carved out from pristine wilderness never before touched by human hands. We left behind the wars and the corruption that has plagued the Inner Sphere since its very beginnings, from the dark tyranny of the Terran Alliance to the feudalistic warlords that govern it today. And yet, even to this day, they pursue us, seeking our allegiance to their way of life, to their form of government. Director General Ian Cameron has told us of his grand vision for a Star League that encompasses all humanity within its grasp; to this we say no. We left you behind us and seek to have nothing more to do with you. GO! Leave these worlds in peace, we have said to the Camerons and the Davions and the Liaos, and yet, still they persist."
"Still, they seek to bring a free people underneath their heel, trod down under their boot. And when honeyed words fail to assuage us of their self-righteous truth, instead they turn to threats and warnings of consequences dire and unfortunate. They threaten us all with war. They threaten us all with becoming their slaves should we not kneel before their altar of One Humanity United."
"And this shall our answer be, to the men and women who seek dominion over us. We shall chart our own course, here in the deepness of space, where we see the light shed by Old Earth's sun more than seven centuries ago, as if it were newly lit. NO. This far shall you go and no further. We will not submit meekly; we will not surrender our liberty; we will not go silent into the night at your command. We offer this unto you, the men and women of the Old Worlds of the Hegemony who still have conscience; we are not your enemies. We are your brothers and your sisters, yet we will not give up our independence to share with you your yoke. Leave us in peace, and peace shall you also have. We shall go our way, and you yours, and in the fullness of time our children and our children's children will see who was right."
"But if men of conscience and with the understanding of the fire of liberty that has been kindled in this far place cannot avert what is to come, then know this all who would be our conquerors. We shall fight for each inch of our sacred soil. We shall demand a price greater than any you have yet paid. We shall not submit, nor shall we yield; and you shall have your war until you can stomach it no further."
"On January 23rd, 2253, Samantha Calderon set foot on Taurus. She had braved the many dangers of not only space, but of the evil, vile men who territories she had to lead her people through to freedom. She founded our colony here, among the glowing cocoon of our Nebula. And that first colony gave birth to ten, and then fifty, and now nearly one hundred worlds that follow her path. She showed us the way, and she protected us in our infancy from those who would have stolen your freedom that she gave so much to ensure would be our gift."
"There is no more fitting name for this mighty ship that will serve as our symbol of independence, our own Protector in deed as well as in name. None that could stand as a greater beacon to our determination and our conviction. Therefore, I, Caterina Calderon, Protector by the Grace of God of the Taurian Homeworlds, and the Taurian Concordat, do hereby christen thee the Taurian Concordat Ship Samantha Calderon! Long may this Samantha serve and protect us as ably as did her namesake. And let her stand as a warning to those who seek to bring threat of death and destruction unto her people; we are neither helpless nor do we need your protection, threaten us at your own peril."
However, this effort, the first (public) attempt by any periphery power to build a true battleship was plagued by problems throughout the construction of the Calderon class. None of the Concordat's shipbuilders had any experience with such a large vessel, and none had ever even attempted to design a compact Kearny-Fuchida Drive Core massing nearly half a million tons. Four separate redesigns of the drive derailed the original construction schedule until finally a stable core was achieved. Gremlins seemed to infest the shipyards, delaying the project time and again, but finally, on December 7, 2574, ten months after her original scheduled completion date, TCS Samantha Calderon was launched and commissioned into service. The follow-on vessels were no less complicated to construct, and over the next twenty-two years, until the surrender in 2596, only eleven more ships of this class were completed.
Many officers and men of the TCN, as superstitious an organization as any that existed, fully expected that the Calderon-class ships would prove themselves as unworkable and a waste of money and effort. Yet from the moment that TCS Samantha Calderon left the shipyards under her own power, she showed no sign of her difficult and complicated birth. During the long years of the War, the Saucy Sam (a nickname bestowed on the ship by her crew) became regarded as a good luck charm. Participating in ten major naval engagements, plus the grinding and bloody five year campaign of attrition in Flannagan's Nebula, this ship was often damaged, sometimes severely, but she was never lost. The repair docks held her seven times over the course of her short, but illustrious career, but she soon gained a reputation for having the lowest crew casualties of any ship in the Taurian Fleet. She became infamous among the Star League and Davion Navies as well, as she was often forced to retire, but never before destroying more than four times her own tonnage.
When word of the surrender arrived at the dry dock housing Saucy Sam (for the eighth time!) on September 22, 2596, the station commander (Admiral Erik Crane) directed that rather than be seized as a Star League prize, the Taurian flagship, along with all of the other incomplete and damage ships in dock would instead be scuttled with nuclear demolition charges, depriving the Star League of their claim upon her.
Capabilities:
Designed to serve as a true man o' war, the Samantha Calderons borrowed from every lesson that the Taurian Concordat Navy had learned in hundreds of border skirmishes over the centuries. Massing 1.1 million tons, these dreadnoughts were nonetheless capable of achieving an acceleration of 2.5-g's and mounted nearly two thousand tons of improved ferro-aluminum armor plating. This combination of armor protection and speed were nearly unheard of during this era, with only the newest Atreus and Farragut class ships able to keep pace. Not even the Farragut with its advanced ferro-carbide armor carried as much sheer protection, however.
Although classified as a battleship, the Calderons mounted just four docking collars, making them appear to be weak in transport capacity. However, these ships were not design as transports. In the truest Taurian tradition, the Calderons were meant to serve as fighting men o' war. In normal operations, four of the newly developed Harbinger class Escort DropShips would be assigned to each Calderon, with another four aboard each of their escorting Concordat-class Frigates. The Harbingers would provide heavy close-support firepower during combat operations.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: NO HARBINGER CLASS VESSEL SURVIVED THE REUNIFICATION WAR. STAR LEAGUE RECORDS SUGGEST IT WAS A HEAVILY ARMED AND ARMORED CRAFT MASSING BETWEEN 5000 AND 6000 TONS, EQUIPPED WITH ONE OR TWO CAPITAL MISSILE LAUNCHERS AND A LARGE BATTERY OF CONVENTIONAL ARMAMENT, AS WELL AS LAYERS OF FERRO-ALUMINUM ARMOR. STAR LEAGUE TROOPS OCCUPAYING THE CONCORDAT AFTER THE WAR UTTERLY DESTROYED ALL FACILITIES THAT PRODUCED THESE DEADLY SHIPS, ALONG WITH ALL KNOWN RECORDS AND SCHEMATICS. SOME HISTORIANS IN OUR ORDER BELIEVE THAT THE CALDERON/HARBINGER PAIRING WAS INSPIRED BY THE CONGRESS/PENTAGON GROUPS, THOUGH THIS IS STILL SPECULATIVE.]
Thirty-two aerospace fighters (a reinforced air corps of four air divisions) were embarked in two separate launch bays to port and starboard, along with four small craft. Launch/recovery bay doors were able to handle any existing fighter, plus small craft massing up to 200 tons, and the Calderons had the ability to launch or recover up to sixteen fighters or shuttles simultaneously. A full company of elite zero-g Marines was also stationed aboard each of Calderons as part of their ship's company. These Marines not provided ship-board security, but conducted boarding operations, often supplemented by naval officers and ratings with training in close combat.
Each Calderon included a dedicated flag bridge with fifty officers and men assigned to the staff. Designed as flagships from the very start of the blueprinting, nearly every Calderon that entered service had a flag officer assigned to that command. However, if a flag staff was not stationed aboard, these quarters were converted into additional passenger space.
Four 135-meter diameter grav decks were included in the ship to provide ample space for the 840 personnel a Calderon class could accommodate at full load. Supplies, including food, water, other consumables, and life support, were allocated in sufficient quantities to allow for deployments of up to a standard year before requiring resupply. Fifty-five thousand tons of spare parts was stored aboard ship, along with ample space for up to fifty-five thousand one hundred eighty-two tons of general cargo. Although small in comparison to contemporary Inner Sphere vessels, these holds (plus the ample fuel tankage of more than fourteen thousand tons) still represented a sizable fraction of the ship's total volume, and more than served the needs of the Taurian Concordat Navy.
A tremendous variety of armament was support aboard these ships. The fore-quarters and stern-quarters carried matched sets of weapons, consisting of a Norman Raytheon Javelin capital missile launcher for Barracuda missiles (30 missiles), a Norman Raytheon Harpoon capital missile launcher for White Shark missiles (30 missiles), a Norman Raytheon Tomahawk capital missile launcher for Killer Whale missiles (30 missiles), a single High Energy Systems Pulsar Medium Naval PPC, two Martin Gordan Blinder Class 45 Naval Lasers, a Martin Gordan Burner Class 55 Naval Laser, four Jankowski Mark III Class 25 Naval Autocannons (50 shots each), four Aurora Missiliers Deathscap LRM-15 launchers (50 shots each), four Hyades Weapons Consortium Retaliation Class 10 Autocannons (50 shots each), and five Martin Gordan Stiletto Small Lasers.
The broadsides arcs carried two Pulsars, two Blinders, one Burner, four Mark IIIs (50 shots each), four Deathscaps (50 shots each), four Retaliations (50 shots each), and five Stilettos. The nose mounted a nearly identical armament, losing just two of the big Jankowski Naval Autocannons, while the stern lost three of the Mark IIIs and one Blinder. Unlike earlier Taurian WarShips, the Calderons were equipped with modern ammunition transfer systems that allowed the ship's crew to rapidly and safely move munitions from one magazine to another, even in the middle of battle. Furthermore, the design team made allowances for sufficient heat sinks, exchangers, power amplifiers, and auxiliary power generators to fire this impressive armament virtually nonstop.
In closing, the Calderon class vessels were excellent ships and would be formidable opponents even today. However, their late introduction during the Reunification War and the lack of sufficient numbers throughout the conflict could not in and of itself alter the fate of the Taurian Concordat. Had full-scale production of this class begun even twenty years earlier, thus allowing for twenty or perhaps thirty of these leviathans to be available at the start of hostilities, history could well have been rewritten.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: THE WRITER OF THE ABOVE PASSAGE WAS A FORMER CITIZEN OF THE CONCORDAT BEFORE HIS INDUCTION INTO COMSTAR. HE HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED FOR A RE-EDUCATION SESSION WITH ROM TO REMOVE ANY PARTISAN LEANINGS THAT HE MAY STILL POSSESS. BLESSED BE BLAKE!]
Notable Vessels & Crews:
Samantha Calderon, Patrick Flannagan, Sigur Fonn, Ian MacLeod, Henri Montour, Frank Norman, Althea O'Connor, Tracy Ashton Pendleton, Olivia Santiago, Heather Scott, Robert St. John, Victor Taurens (plus 4 incomplete vessels)
Deployment:
The Taurian Concordat Navy designed the Calderon class Battleships to be deployed in specifically organized Task Groups, using the most advanced ships in their fleet. Each Battle Group of the Taurian Navy was to consist of two Calderons, escorted by a pair of Concordat class Light Cruisers (frigates in Inner Sphere terms), and two Resolution class Fleet Destroyers. Each Battle Group would be able to put one hundred and twelve aerospace fighters into space, along with sixteen Harbinger class Escort DropShips.
In addition to the WarShips of the Battle Group itself, two Wildcat class Escort Destroyers (corvettes) would provide close escort to a pair of St. Helens class Fleet Replenishment Vessels in the attached support flotilla. The support flotilla was not intended to participate in combat operations, but was instead intended as a means to allow the Battle Group to continue a high tempo of operations while in the field.
In reality, however, due to the pressing needs of the war, these Battle Groups never materialized. Only TCS Samantha Calderon every had the proper configuration of ships assigned to her Battle Group. Other ships of the class were provided with whatever vessels were available at the time they deployed, and as ships were destroyed over the course of the war, not even the Saucy Sam could replace her escorts quickly enough.
The TCN responded to this by unorthodox methods, at least by prewar standards. Exemplifying this is the Second Battle of Montour in 2587. TCS Samantha Calderon and TCS Tracy Ashton Pendleton had suffered serious damage, including the loss of all escorting WarShips just two months earlier at 3rd Diefenbaker. In fact, each ship had suffered enough damage that the Star League reported both vessels as destroyed, leaving them to believe that the Concordat had no remaining battleships in the sector. But, upon meeting up with their support flotilla, Admiral Helen Vickers aboard the Saucy Sam was surprised to encounter the Calderon class ships TCS Sigur Fonn and TCS Robert St. John, along with two Resolution class Destroyers, two ancient Warlock class Destroyer Escorts, and four fleet replenishment vessels.
TCN Intelligence had gathered information that General Forlough would soon be assembling his III Corps and the Davion Auxiliary Corps at Montour before launching a new series of attacks. High Command instructed Admiral Vickers and Admiral Singh (aboard the St. John) to stop his force at all costs. The four St. Helen's class FRVs present managed to repair the worst of the damage, restock all magazines, and provide a full load of aerospace fighters, pilots, and escorting Harbingers for the four Battleships before they departed on course for the Hyades, escorted by the pair of Warlocks.
Admiral Vickers took command and brought the reinforced Battle Group (very nearly a fleet in and of itself) into the Montour system, arriving ahead of Montour and the Davions. She deployed a surveillance network of satellites and hid her ships, their systems powered down in the shadow of a small moon orbiting Montour, and then she waited.
Two days later, the Star League transports and Davion transports arrived and began to converge in orbit. The Taurian vessels powered up and charged around the moon, suddenly appearing on the flank of the two formations. Surprise was completely on the Taurian side as the sudden appearance of no less than four Calderons sent many of their opponents into shock. This allowed the TCN to get the vital first shot off, and a volley of nuclear tipped missiles plunged into the SLDF and Davion transports, not the heavily protected WarShips. Two Star League divisions died in a single instant, along with a third part of the Davion Auxiliary. But the SLDF and Davion naval contingents, untouched by the barrage, rapidly came about and began to exchange fire. Outnumbered six-to-one, the Taurians pressed their initial advantage and closed, the Calderon's allowing themselves to become surrounded into order to savage the lighter ships of the escorting Fleet. But the losses were not one-sided, for the SLDF had two Farragut-class and two Monsoon-class battleships of their own, and the Davion contingent included three older Golden Lions. Despite the loss of seventeen WarShips (and thirty two transports), the crucible soon became too hot for the Taurians.
TCS Sigur Fonn was the first to go, as the concentrated fire of a Golden Lion, an Aegis, and two Congress class vessels pounded her from stem to stern; but she took the Davion battleship and one of the Monsoons down with her. The St. John was locked in death duel with one of the two Farraguts, and then both ships vanished in the searing flash of a premature detonation of one of her nuclear warheads, taking the gallant Admiral Singh and nearly a thousand Taurian spacers with her.
Realizing it was past time to withdraw, Admiral Vickers passed the order to retreat, but instead, TCS Revenge altered course into the teeth of the enemy fire. A second later, Reprisal followed her lead, and then the thirteen surviving Harbingers and all of the aerospace fighters followed suit.
Crewmen aboard the Saucy Sam reported that Vickers wept as Commander Oliver Harris aboard Revenge informed the flag that the survival of her two ships was more important to the war effort than the rest of the Battle Group combined, and he would cover their retreat. Tears streaming from her eyes, Vickers gave the order for Terrible Tracy and Saucy Sam to withdraw at maximum acceleration as Harris led the charge on the SLDF battleline.
Reprisal was blasted apart, but she took an Aegis with her, and then Revenge was gone as well. But the two destroyers had provided enough cover that Harbingers were in range for kamikaze runs: and each carried a nuclear demolition charge armed to detonate on impact. Seven managed to break through the defensive fire, and when the flashes died away, only one Farragut remained amid the scattered debris, surrounded by a few dozen lesser ships. Although the two Taurian battleships managed to evade all pursuit and successfully withdrew, the losses incurred had been severe to say the least. It was the last offensive strike of the TCN during the War.
