Panther-class Escort Carrier

[Dawyn]

Panther-class Escort Carrier
Intent:​

To actually have something in the cruiser class (as defined by the Anaxes system) and to have a proper dedicated carrier, since there don’t seem to be any out there. I figure this will be good for smaller, independent factions to still pack a sizeable punch when it comes to space combat, if they are smart and careful, and for larger factions to use to supplement their forces (see suggested uses in the description below). It will also be good for those who like to do starfighter combat, as this could be an excellent base to stage them out of and conduct missions from.

Affiliation: Jedi

Ownership: N/A

Model: CVL-1

Dimensions:
525 meters, length

Class:
Escort Carrier (Cruiser by Anaxes)

Crew:
400 Minimum (144 pilots, 256 crew and support staff).
600 Maximum (144 pilots, 456 crew and support staff).

Troop Capacity:
50 Marines (in addition to the crew).

Armament:
8x Heavy Laser Cannons
6x Point Defense Laser Cannons

Shields:

Military Grade Shields (Particle and Ray).

Equipment:
Consumables for 1 year
Starfighter repair and refueling facilities
Enhanced sensors suite
Hyperwave comm array
Holonet Transciever
Fire Coordination Suite
Life Support
2x Backup reactors
Escape Pods
Air Fresheners.


Internal Security:
Blaster turrets.
Ray shields.
Motion & thermal scanners.
Reinforced blast doors.
Airtight bulkheads able to vent atmosphere at crucial checkpoints.

Complement:
Up to 144 Starfighters/bombers

SPEED:
65 MGLT

Hyperdrive Rating:
Class 1
Class 10 backup

Maneuverability:
Average, for its size.

Description:

With war raging across the galaxy, innovation is necessary to ensure victory. To that end, Gyndine Shipyards, in association with Kuat Drive Yards, is proud to introduce the Panther-Class Escort Carrier. Straddling the line between a fleet carrier and a smaller light carrier, the Panther is a dedicated space carrier that can strike both hard and fast on a budget. Carrying up to a full two wings of strikecraft* for a total of 144 starfighters or bombers and the necessary facilities to maintain them, it is a force to be reckoned with by both starfighter and capital ship commanders alike. Being lightly armored and comparatively lightly armed with only a few laser cannons and point defense guns, it focuses the vast majority of its power on its shields and engines to ensure a quick, maneuverable vessel that can race to the edge of an interdiction field or away from other larger ships of the line while still being fairly well protected against most mid-to-low level surprise attacks long enough to launch its complement and pull back.

Of course, it does have its weaknesses. Being a carrier entirely stripped of turbolasers, shuttles, and ground vehicles to allow as many strikecraft as possible, it is most certainly not equipped to go toe-to-toe with other capital ships in a close-range firefight or participate in boarding missions or a ground assault, due to its notable lack of heavy armament and comparatively light armor, though it can take fairly heavy beatings in short bursts thanks to its comparatively strong shielding. Wise naval commanders who value their lives will, on the tactical level, be sure to take advantage of its superior strikecraft range over its opponents turbolasers and guns by utilizing its speed to avoid close-range confrontations whenever possible, maneuvering to jump out of the system to let their strikecraft due their work and jump back in to retrieve, repair, and refuel them later, or placing them behind screening capital ships designed to absorb fire.

On the strategic level, the Panther fills several key roles for any faction’s navy. Their speed and complement makes them excellent standalone choices for convoy raiding and base strikes on lightly to moderately defended enemy targets and with proper planning and intelligence, devastating ambushes on ships in and above their class. They can also do well in the role of mobile system defense without the need to establish a more dedicated base-park one outside the system one wishes to defend, then call them in as necessary to overwhelm one’s opponent. Where the Panther really shines, however, is in its role in fleets of any size. One can make them the centerpiece of a smaller carrier task force with some corvettes or frigates exacting as screens for it to provide much needed additional firepower on a budget, or utilize them in a larger carrier force to bolster the defenses and complement of a larger, more bulkier carrier. More traditional space battlegroups formed of destroyers, cruisers, and dreadnaughts will find the extra strikecraft it provides a much-welcome addition to their arsenal, and can assist in shielding the carriers from direct fire. When it comes to the Panther-class, the stars are the limit for the intelligent naval commander.

The Panther is relatively cheap and easy to produce, thanks to its simplistic nature, light armament, and small crew size. It is thus the perfect choice for smaller groups and factions needing heavy firepower on a budget, or larger ones seeking to bolster their forces or those of their allies without straining their wallets or their manpower.
​

 

[Dawyn]

Just a few preliminary notes here for people to consider before commenting.

1. There aren’t really any other dedicated carriers (e.g. no turbolasers or heavy guns) that have been approved this timeline that I have seen, so I’m sort of flying blind in terms of stats here, so please don’t be too harsh on the first pass. I’m quite open to changing stats as needed/suggested. I am aware it is similar to the design I used last TL, but I did not want to stray too far from that as it was approved and there aren’t really any other dedicated carriers that have been approved this TL from my knowledge, so I wanted to play it safe to start out with.

2. The number of strikecraft may seem high for its size, but that is sort of the point. I did do extensive research on this topic last timeline and it was approved back then. I’m assuming the number would be okay for this timeline as I’m posting this, as I looked through the tech rules for ships and didn’t see any mention of reduced strikecraft capacity in terms of changes for this TL. If you want to see some reasoning for the number of strikecraft, see my older version of this carrier from back then. Of course, if you have suggestions or disagree with that reasoning, or wish to see me do updated reasoning for this TL, feel free to post it here.

 

[Darasuum]

Lol i have one waiting in faction apecific tech but that's it

 

[Andrewza]

First the Republic have a cruiser class ship. People all ways for get about it. It all so a bit light on crew for a carrier i would bump it up a lot arround the 1000 to 2000 level same with marriens 50 is just small many frigats carriet that many i say 1000 marriens that a battalion plus support all so it carriers rather small number of fightets since both the Republic and Sith destroyers carry more. I would make it 4 wings with 2 being fighters 1 bomber and 1 assault craft. Other wise there is no need for it if a destoyer can do its job better.

 

[Darasuum]

First the Republic have a cruiser class ship. People all ways for get about it. It all so a bit light on crew for a carrier i would bump it up a lot arround the 1000 to 2000 level same with marriens 50 is just small many frigats carriet that many i say 1000 marriens that a battalion plus support all so it carriers rather small number of fightets since both the Republic and Sith destroyers carry more. I would make it 4 wings with 2 being fighters 1 bomber and 1 assault craft. Other wise there is no need for it if a destoyer can do its job better.

Not necessarily true. It is cheaper to build a smaller ship, easier to maintain and to staff so having less than a star destroyer's compliment is fine.

I would boost the marine passanger capacity unless you want to specify if it is like a starfighter specific carrier or troop transport that would hold dropships and invasion parties.

 

[Andrewza]

Not necessarily true. It is cheaper to build a smaller ship, easier to maintain and to staff so having less than a star destroyer's compliment is fine.

I would boost the marine passanger capacity unless you want to specify if it is like a starfighter specific carrier or troop transport that would hold dropships and invasion parties.

What star destroyer? No one has any start destroyers only normal destroyers. It is worse than a ship smaller than it.

 

[Darasuum]

What star destroyer? No one has any start destroyers only normal destroyers. It is worse than a ship smaller than it.

The sith do. It's basically the sane as the republics cruisers but they call their's something else and the brotherhood call it star destroyer. The roles they both fill are the same as well if you look at both descriptions.

 

[Andrewza]

The sith do. It's basically the sane as the republics cruisers but they call their's something else and the brotherhood call it star destroyer. The roles they both fill are the same as well if you look at both descriptions.

What they call it and what the class is very different. The class is only destroyer.

 

[Darasuum]

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anaxes_War_College_System
says star destroyer...there is no such thing as just "destroyer" technically. they just mislabeled it in the write up. confusing a bit i know but they also call the Icarus a "star courier" making it sound like a small cargo ferrying vessel or messenger but it's technically a yacht. but that's all just syntax because when someone says "star destroyer" and someone else says "destroyer" they are saying the same thing. so a ship that is a destroyer can be called a star destroyer and vice versa.

 

[Andrewza]

You are right I was confused there lengths. Any case it the Pubs they call there's a star defender. All so the hammer heads are 300m long so they should be frigates not corvettes.

Still for the size and role the crew size is to small and marine size is to small. A ship like this would be able to handle a lot of passengers and some shuttles 2000 crew and 1000 to 2000 passengers. I mean 144 ships alone means a lot support staff.

 

[Darasuum]

Both depend on what it is "carrying" which i think could be more detailed but if its just star fighters there aren't a lot of marines needed. They would be there for security purposes or they are the pilots perhaps.

 

[Andrewza]

Both depend on what it is "carrying" which i think could be more detailed but if its just star fighters there aren't a lot of marines needed. They would be there for security purposes or they are the pilots perhaps.

Marines are all ways marines and even for security 50 is way to small for a ship of that size. And crew size does not matter all that much on what it is carrying. Fighters and bombers have large support staff

 

[Darasuum]

Marines are all ways marines and even for security 50 is way to small for a ship of that size. And crew size does not matter all that much on what it is carrying. Fighters and bombers have large support staff

marines have their own pilots and squadrons on amphibious assualt ships. the crew for starfighters vs the crew that works on the carrier is very vague atm with this write up in my opinion so that just needs some detail. i feel like we are filling up a ton of this page with these posts so i'll wait for @Kiser to respond with any edits or his own clarification and input before responding any further.

 

[Andrewza]

marines have their own pilots and squadrons on amphibious assualt ships. the crew for starfighters vs the crew that works on the carrier is very vague atm with this write up in my opinion so that just needs some detail. i feel like we are filling up a ton of this page with these posts so i'll wait for @Kiser to respond with any edits or his own clarification and input before responding any further.

While it is true that one can be a marine pilot when listing marine under ship crew one is talking about combat solders on board either for boarding and to defend against boarding's or there to land on planets. 50 is to small for all three jobs and the ship should in theory be able to do all three of them. The only other cruiser so far is the republic one and it can carry 2500 passengers, crew is only 650 but it only carries 10 shuttles not 144 fighters

 

[Dawyn]

1. It’s intended to be an escort carrier, not go up 1 v 1 vs Star Destroyers, more like 2 v 1 or 3 v 1, as they are cheaper to produce and crew than a full SD. They roughly have 1/3rd the capacity of what I imagine a proper fleet carrier would maintain @ roughly 1,500 meters. Light carriers and full fleet carriers (designs I’m working on) would be better able to 1 v 1 a full SD with accurate positioning, but they are larger and cost more to make and crew, although an intelligent naval commander could probably hold off an SD for a bit with a Panther if they positioned the ship well and deployed their starfighter complement correctly or hit it with an ambush while the SD was distracted or unprepared.

2. The carrier marines are NOT there to do land invasions or to board other ships. It’s a space fighter/bomber carrier, that does its specified job well, although I suppose it could launch ships in atmosphere too. The Panther can support other assault ships doing planetary invasions with its strikecraft complement, but it cannot launch them itself. It will also not be doing boarding. I may up the marine complement to better defend against being boarded, although it is heavily advised to not position the carrier close enough to a ship to allow that to easily happen (it's more of a hit and run vessel on its own, mostly launching its complement and staying out of range/jumping away once that is complete, and is intended to have screens in larger battles). When I do a light carrier or fleet carrier, I may open up the opportunity to do limited ground invasions and boarding, although again, that’s not really the role of a carrier on its own (maybe as part of a carrier task force though). If I design a more multipurpose vessel, I would definitely increase the marine complement.

3. As for the crew complement, mhmm, I may up that as well, but I’m thinking on waiting for Clayton or Breeso to clarify things a little bit more on that regard, as it was approved with its current complement/near it last TL, and it is intended to be cheaper and easier to crew, although I can see your point about starfighter maintenance. Maybe up the minimum crew to 400 and the max to 600? 144 pilots would leave 256 support staff (not including marines), 600 would leave 456 not including marines. I think it would be a good idea to specify the amount of marines vs support staff vs pilots though, so I'll make those edits.

Edit: Upped the minimum crew a bit and maximum a bit, waiting to hear back from Clayton and Breeso on whether or not it is a good size or should be smaller/larger.

@Darasuum @Andrewza Hope that helped clear some things up.

 

[Andrewza]

That crew is good for me now since droids are not counted as crew normally. And the ships own fire power is light.

I highly doubt the mariens will ever see combat. But 50 is small but the crew can join them in countering borders to.

 

[Dawyn]

Since I've been appointed Jedi AFL, I've decided to make this Jedi tech for now (I'll send it to Vos instead). @Vosrik, uh, maybe archive it? Not sure how that works, I'd still like it to be visible for him to copy/submit for approval that way.

 

[Breeso]

Since I've been appointed Jedi AFL, I've decided to make this Jedi tech for now (I'll send it to Vos instead). @Vosrik, uh, maybe archive it? Not sure how that works, I'd still like it to be visible for him to copy/submit for approval that way.

Yes, mastah. ARCHIVED