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| MASS:
149 NPV: 590 Classification: Strike Cruiser (CI) Crew: 78; 10 Officers, 68 Enlisted, plus up to 50 troops Crew Factor: 8 Hull Integrity: 32 (8/8/8/8) Armor: 8 Main Drive Thrust: 4 (29.8 TW) Drive Auto-Detection Range: 7.281 AU ∆V (Combat): 60.057 km/sec ∆V (Cruise): 1201.141 km/sec Fuel Points: 120 (2077 tons propellant) Propellant Tanks: 6 Fuel Points per Tank: 20 FTL: Yes (Long Jump – 10 parsec range) Auxiliary Systems: 6-MASS Hangar Bay; 4-MASS Troop Bay; 2-MASS Cargo Bay; 0.7 G Spin Habitat for 128 Combat Systems: 2x Fire Control Weapons: 4x Point Defense Battery; 2x Class-1 Battery (All Arcs); 2x Class-2 Battery (All Arcs); 1x Class-3 Battery (FP/F/FS); 6x Light Antiship Missiles |
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| The Decatur
Class owes much of its existence to the chaotic first half of the 24th
century, with the barriers to interstellar colonization low enough that
small private ventures were economically feasible. Most of these
settlers simply wished to be left alone to start new lives and new
civilizations away from the influence of the old Earth nations.
The reality for many of these colonies was that their isolation only
made them more attractive targets. Privateers and rogue space
force elements could call upon these worlds at their leisure and take
from them what they wished. Manchurian, Russian, and Jovian
rogues were the most common denomination, but there were just as many
'private' raiders, terrorists, and disaffected revolutionaries in deep
space. As many of these colonists were nominally U.S. citizens, the United States intervened on their behalf on several occasions between 2320 and 2350. Usually a frigate making a port of call was all that it took to convince the deep space raiders to move on, but as the Commerce War ground to a halt, more and more privateers were finding themselves out of work and unwelcome in civilized space. When the colony of Celestial Jaunt, founded by entertainment mogul Naven Kroot, was attacked by a militant faction of Nano-Utopians known as The Utopia League and its four hundred colonists made hostages in 2350, Kroot's family appealed to the U.S. State Department for help. Lacking substantial intelligence on the number of Utopians, their capabilities and intentions, and other vital information, the President decided to err on the side of excess and authorized the Assault Landing Ship U.S.S. Belleau Wood and the Cruiser U.S.S. Sacramento to go to Celestial Jaunt and launch a rescue effort. Upon reaching the system, the Sacramento was able to annihilate the Utopians' converted freighter with its antiship missiles and strand the remaining terrorists on the surface of Celestial Jaunt. Upon establishing orbit, the overwhelming force of 400 U.S. Marines with orbital artillery and interface fighter support smashed the approximately thirty remaining Utopians before they even realized what they were up against. The surface operation lasted only two hours and resulted in only a handful of hostages injured and none killed. The rescue was considered a great success in the media and the public, but criticism of its enormous expense and accusations of corruption and favortism at the State Department on behalf of the Dutch citizen Kroot family led to lingering scandals. In the wake of the Celestial Jaunt Incident, the Pentagon decided that it needed a new class of "Intervention" Cruisers to deal with future situations of this nature where a frigate might not be enough and a full Marine Extrasolar Expeditionary Unit too much. This new cruiser class would need to be able to carry a platoon of troops with landers and interface combat vehicles as well as a potent weapons suite to establish orbital superiority against likely threat spacecraft. Congressional approval for the project came in 2351, and the first ship of the new class, the U.S.S. Stephen Decatur, was commissioned in 2355. Rechristened as 'Strike Cruisers' rather than the original 'Intervention Cruiser' concept, the Decatur class can be considered in many respects to be an overgrown Patrol Frigate with Long Jump capability. The Decatur design was influenced by the Manchurian Jiangwei class Light Cruiser, which performs a very similar role. Six Decaturs have been authorized by the United States for construction, with Great Britain, Japan, Guangzhou, and Brazil purchasing licensing rights to the design for fitting out with their own electronics, drives, and weapon systems. |
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