Freelance Traveller

designed by Stephen Tempest

The government of Vincennes has, for historical reasons, long preferred to rely on a mobile force of system defence boats rather than extensive fixed installations. With the recent development of more compact meson weaponry and power production technology, the Crown issued a requirement for an SDB in the 200-500 ton class that would be armed with a meson gun and meson communicator. Operating from beneath Vincennes' oceans, this vessel would offer the same capabilities as a fixed deep meson site, but with far greater survivability and strategic flexibility. The contract was won by Storm Industries' Turenne-class, and volume production of the SDB was begun in 1113. Note that to date, the Vincennien government has not licenced export of this vessel to any third party - although the Imperial Navy is believed to have expressed in interest in acquiring a squadron to defend the naval depot in the Deneb sector.

General Data

Displacement: 400 dtons
Length: 60.5 m
Price: MCr 258.77
Configuration: Slab SL
Mass: 4,003.37 tons (loaded)
Hull Armour: 120
Volume: 5600 m=B3
Target Size: S
Tech Level: 16

Engineering Data

Power Plant: 1561 MW fusion plant, 1 year duration
Manoeuvre Gs: 6G, C-G lifters
G-hours: 60

Electronics

Computer: 3 x TL-16 Mod Fb Computer (fibre optic)
Commo: 300,000 km radio, 1,000 AU maser, 3,000 km meson
Avionics: TL-10+ avionics, TL-16 TF avionics, navigation aids
Sensors: Passive EMS folding array, 210,000 km (7 range bands)
Active EMS 300,000 km (10 range bands)
TL-16 Densitometer, TL-16 Neutrino Sensor
Ladar, 240,000 km (8 range bands)
ECM/ECCM: EM Masking

Armament

Spinal Meson Gun, 1,500 MJ, ROF 50 (sufficient for -1 difficulty)
2 x Laser Turrets, 150 MJ, ROF 50 (sufficient for -1 difficulty)
2 x Missile Turrets (4 ready missiles plus 20 in cargo)

3 TL-16 MFDs (range 10, missile-capable)

Range	Short	Medium	Long	Extreme	Difficulty
Meson	3:194	6:91	12:46	24:23	-1
Laser	10:*	20:*	40:*	80:*	-1

* Laser turrets have penetration 1/10 and damage 31 in all range bands.
Missile turrets use Imperial-standard TL-15 missiles.

Accommodations

Life Support: extended
Crew: 14 (1 command, 7 engineering, 1 electronics, 1 manoeuvre, 4 gunnery)
Crew Accommodations: 1 x large, 7 x small staterooms (double occupancy except for Captain & Chief Engineer)
Cargo: 115 cu m (8.2 dtons) plus storage for 20 missiles.
Air locks: 2

Notes

Fuel purification machinery, 12 hours to refine 3,000 cu m. Appearance is (deliberately) very similar to the standard Dragon-class SDB found on thousands of Imperial worlds.