Wallenstein-class Line Cruiser
| Wallenstein Class Line Cruiser | |
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| Class Overview | |
| Class name: | Wallenstein-class Line Cruiser |
| Namesake: | Military Commanders and Leaders |
| Builders: | Deimos Steel Works, Enlis Drive Yards, and others |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Line Cruiser |
| Displacement: | 118,700 tonnes |
| Length: | 410m |
| Beam: | 51m |
| Height: | 90 m (Superstructure) 200 m (Masts) |
| Complement: | 1,185 |
| Power Generation: | P-a7c HP Kaur-Pena Reactor |
| Propulsion: | 2x D-a7c Impellers |
| Maximum FTL Speed: | 30.6 Kempes |
| Sensors Systems: | 2x KW/SY-12D Sleipnir Ominsensor Domes 3x Mk V Argus Fire Control Sensors 10x Mk XXI Panoptes Sensor Drones |
| Electronic Warfare Systems: | 4x KW/SL-10C Loki Panspectrum EW Arrays 8x Flight 5C 'Dixie' Decoys |
| Armament (Wallenstein): | 6x 20 cm SK/27 Kadwell Macrocannons (3x2) 14x Mk IX 40 kg DP Reinhold Gun (14x1) 38x 8.8 cm FlaK-80 (19x2) 3x 8 cell Point Defence Missile Launchers |
| Armament (Kutuzov): | 30x L/40 Torpedo Tubs (10x3) 12x Mk IX 40 kg DP Reinhold Gun (12x1) 42x 8.8 cm FlaK-80 (21x2) 2x 8 cell Point Defence Missile Launchers |
| Armament (Marlborough): | 8x Mk IX 40 kg DP Reinhold Guns (8x1) 30x 8.8 cm Flak-80 (15x2) 3x 8 cell Point Defence Missile Launchers |
| Shielding: | Mk XI Priwen Ravelin Array |
| Armor: | Hull: 50 cm Citadel: 200 cm Turret: 210 cm Barbette: 225 cm |
| Small Craft carried: | N/A |
The Wallenstein class Line Cruiser and its various subclasses are one of the most common warships in the Imperial & Federal Navy, and one of the most commonly seen symbols of Imperial naval power. The Wallenstein is named for Generallissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein, a famous commander of Imperial Forces during the Great War of Imperial Unification, and vessels in the class are named for military leaders and commanders of note in the history of Old Terra and the Imperial and Federal Union.
As a line cruiser, the Wallenstein is intended to fulfill a multitude of roles within the Imperial & Federal Navy, ranging from escorting capital ships, supporting light fleet elements, independent scouting and patrol, raiding merchant shipping and lines of communication, and many more, even serving as a ship of the wall in more remote areas of Imperial & Federal space, where capital ships are unavailable for deployment. As such, the vessel has been mounted with a wide array of weapons, defences, and sensors to allow the vessel to fulfill its large mission mandate. The Wallenstein's base hull has also been of great use, capable of modification to fill many niche roles, such as a torpedo or electronic warfare cruiser.
Development
The Wallenstein was designed from the keel up to fulfill the line cruiser role withing the Imperial & Federal Navy, and this mission statement created a series of limitations and capability demands for the hull from the very beginning. The vessel was meant to be multirole, capable of escorting larger vessels, engaging in independent scouting or raiding operations, and forming the core of light squadrons. These mission requirements required the vessel to mount a significant armament capable of engaging enemy light and medium combatants for the purpouses of both escort and combat duties, while also possessing the range and autonomy in order to operate independently, along with the sensor capability and speed required for scouting and raiding activities. The necessary need to compromise resulted in several compromises so as to keep the vessel at the size and tonnage of a line cruiser. Normally, this would require the vessel to sacrifice its hull integrity and armor in order to maintain its tonnage, however the Wallenstein was developed with an extremely comparmentalised and reinforced structure, meaning that while it lacks pure thickness of armour, the vessel will hold together better than most under continued bombardment.
In order to meet the power requirements of her weapons, sensors, and engines, the Wallenstein was equipped with a high pressure reactor, rather than the low pressure reactors standard in vessels of her size. Ordinarily, a high pressure reactor would require several funnels to allow excess pressure to be vented off continuously to avoid the risk of a reactor burst. However, the Wallenstein did not have room for a funnel installation, and is forced to make do with extra emergency vents, venting in high intensity bursts. This results in the Wallenstein's reactor running very 'hot' when compared to other Imperial & Federal vessels.
Operational Record
Characteristics
Power Generation and Propulsion
The heart of the Wallenstein class line cruiser is a P-a7c HP Kaur-Pena Reactor reactor. As the vessel has extensive power demands from its sensors, weapons, and ravelins, the P-a7C runs at pressures considered unusually high for a vessel of cruiser size, which has required additional strengthening of the reactor body and the surrounding hull. Usually, this would also include a funnel to bleed off excess phlogiston, but the space constraints of the Wallenstein forced her designers to rely on the standard vents used for cooler, low pressure reactors. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the reactor and its necessary strengthening against bursting has created extreme limitations on the weaponry and other systems that can be mounted in aft of the vessel, resulting in an unfortunate 'gap' in the vessel's point defense around its aft areas. When combined with the Kaur-Pena reactor's hot, high pressure operating characteristics, the Wallenstein has gained a reputation for having a temperamental reactor system, prone to overload when damaged, despite such an overload only occurring once in the class's history.
The P-a7C feeds drive energy directly into the vessel's twin D-a7c impellers, which provide sublight thrust for the Wallenstein. Power for the rest of the ship is transferred from the reactor into high energy capacitors and power lines for distribution to weapons, sensors, and ravelins. The primary ravelins, battery, and sensors all have their own dedicated capacitors, so that they can continue to function even upon loss of direct power connection for some time. For FTL travel, the Wallenstein mounts a Class 7 Transition Drive. The Class 7 drive enable the vessel to keep up with most other light elements of the fleet.
Weapons
All Wallenstein class vessels, regardless of flight, mount three distinct batteries of weapons in order to adequately complete their mission. Limitation on the hull size and--necessarily--the power of the reactor allocated to weapons prevented the installation of full size capital ship weapons, but the Wallenstein remains well armed for a cruiser sized vessel. The vessels primary battery consists of six 20 cm Kadwell Macrocannons, mounted in three twin turrets, one dorsal (A turret), two ventral (X and Y turret). These cannons are capable of driving a 20 cm shell at a significant fraction of light speed utilising a combination of coilgun and more conventional forms of propulsion. As with all Imperial mass drivers, they are capable of firing multiple forms of ammunition, ranging from simple direct impact kinetic energy shells, Casaba nuclear shaped charge shells, general nuclear shells, or petard shells. The primary limitation on the mass driver is, of course, its relatively low speed, as beyond a certain range, ships equipped with FTL sensors will likely be able to maneuver out of the way of any shell before impact. In order to counteract this, and extend the potential engagement range of the Wallenstein, the ship's main fire control is intended to use all three turrets together to create a wider area of damage, increasing the chance of scoring a hit at range against most enemies. However, in case the main fire control system is damaged or otherwise knocked out, each turret mounts its own--less capable, but still effective--fire control system.
The supplemental battery consists of fourteen Mk IX 40 kilogram Dual Purpouse (DP) Reinhold Guns, each mounted in a single mount (Odd mounts on port, even on starboard) that line the vessel's broadside as well as flanking the superstructure. Each mount lacks its own dedicated fire control system, but do mount a manual sight, that allows them to engage hostilities that close with the vessel.
The point defense battery of the Wallenstein line cruiser consists of thirty eight 8.8 cm FlaK-80s, mounted in nineteen twin mounts, and three eight cell point defence missile (PDM) missile pods. These weapons provide all round coverage of the vessel, and are intended to defend the vessel against both hostile small craft and other munitions. The FlaK-80s fire a hyper explosive charge that creates a rapidly expanding 'sphere' of shrapnel that is intended to destroy targets via physical impact, while the missiles are fitted with small thermonuclear warheads, intended to destroy entire formation of small craft or missiles in a single stroke. Each missile turret is fitted with its own automated fire control sensor system, but the FlaK guns are slaved to the ships central fire control system in order to allow each turret to operate in synchronisation with the others to create a proper point defense screen.
Defenses
Like all Imperial vessels, the Wallenstein class mounts a three tiered defensive system. The first tier is the active defense system, consisting of its point defenses and electronic warfare systems. The second and third tiers are the passive systems, with the second tier being the ravelin array and the third the vessel's armour. As with all Imperial vessels, the Wallenstein 's ravelin emitters are concentrated in the bow antennae array, which then flow backwards over the hull, covering all approaches, before weakening around the engines. The nature of imperial ravelin systems and the interference caused by the engine exhaust necessarily creates a weakpoint in the rear of the vessel, but such can not be avoided, given the limitations of Imperial ravelin technology. The focus on speed and autonomy has, necessarily, resulted in the amount of power dedicated to the ravelin emitter arrays being considered slightly below average from what might be expected by a vessel of the Wallenstein 's mass, but such compromises were deemed necessary in order to preserve the vessel's capability for independent operation
The final level of defense is the vessel's armour. The Wallenstein follows a new trend in Imperial ship building by breaking away from the All or Nothing armour scheme, to include a relatively thin layer of 'hull' armour that encompasses the entirety of the ship and its superstructure, along with heavy armor on the barbettes of the secondary battery. However, most armour is still concentrated around the 'citadel' that encompasses the vessel's reactor, command and control facilities, primary weapons systems, and magazines. New developments in metallurgy have allowed the same thickness of armour to be more effective than previous types, especially in later flights of the Wallenstein class.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare
The very nature of the line cruiser as a vessel meant to act independently of the main fleet has resulted in a focus on its sensor systems, so that it can adequately scout for the fleet and provide additional escort to the main body in an actual war zone. The Wallenstein mounts one of the most sensitive and impressive sensor systems developed to date for a warship, the KW/SY-12D 'Sleipnir' Omnisensor system, mounted in two domes at the top of a ventral and dorsal mast. These sensor domes mount a full spectrum of sensors including active and passive lidar, radar, gravimetric, and FTL systems combined into one system, that combines its feed into one easy to interpret display. The Sleipnir array is designed to provide the Wallenstein with fully up to date information with regards to its environment at all times. In addition, the Wallenstein is fitted for the launch of twenty Mk XXI Panoptes sensor drones. Each drone is fitted with a short range omnisensor array, and can be directed independently of the vessel. These drones allow for a more flexible sensor grid, that is capable of providing a more complete picture of any combat environment, which can become the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield. For purposes of centralised fire control, three Mk V Argus systems are mounted, each of which receives a direct feed from the vessel's main Omnisensor array, sensor drones, as well as the sensor systems of other vessels, in order to create the most effective fire solution for entire squadrons at a time. By mounting three Mk V Argus FCSs, the Wallenstein is able to actively coordinate the activities of a small squadron of vessels for prolonged engagements.
In terms of electronic warfare, the Wallenstein mounts the KW/SL-10C Loki Panspectrum electronic warfare array. The Panspectrum EW Array, much like the omnisensor, mounts a selection of jammers, blinders, and other items designed to blind and interfere with hostile sensors and communications on every wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. The exact functioning of the Loki array remains classified, but what is known is that the system is capable of both passive 'detection' of active sensor arrays, and of active interference with these systems. It should be noted that the Loki array is not a stealth or cloaking system, capable of masking the presence of the vessel, but merely interfering with sensors and communications in order to provide advantage in a combat situation. In addition, the Wallenstein features deployment capabilities for Dixie decoys, each of which are programmed to mimic the signature of the ship to most sensor systems, and can be used to draw off hostile fire, or confuse enemies until more positive identification can be made.
Kutuzov Class
The Kutuzov is a torpedo cruiser, and trades away the vessel's mass driver battery for two four tube heavy torpedo launchers--one dorsal and ventral--with the interior of the vessel redesigned to accept the large scale magazines and reloading systems required by Imperial torpedoes. The fire control system of the Kutuzov has also been recalibrated to better accommodate torpedo engagement, as opposed to standard gunnery. The Kutuzov class retains its supplemental and point defense batteries, but the loss of the mass drivers has allowed more power to be directed to the ravelin array, providing the class with exceptionally strong ravelin systems. However, the class is--nonetheless--seen as a 'glass cannon' within the fleet, as the necessary configuration of the torpedo magazines necessarily leaves them outside of the vessel's armoured citadel, making them very vulnerable to damage. When combined with the volatility of Imperial torpedoes, the danger exists that an attack which penetrates the hull armour will detonate the main torpedo magazine and destroy the ship. The Kutuzov is normally used as a long range vessel within fleets, intended to use its larger and longer ranged torpedo fire to support the close range attack runs made by destroyers and light cruisers.
Marlborough Class
The Marlborough class electronic warfare cruiser, and sacrifices the cruiser's mass driver turrets, along with six of its lasbolt cannons in order to mount the KW/SY-15A Heimdall Omnisensor system, and the KW/SL-15A Hermes Panspectrum Electronic Warfare System. Both of these systems are among the most powerful available to the fleet, and can outclass the electronic warfare systems of an AI supported dreadnought in power and capability. In order to successfully utilise both systems, the computer systems of the Marlborough required a total overhaul, along with provision for the mounting of a shipboard AI, a feature usually only seen on capital ships. In addition to its sensor and electronic warfare abilities, the Marlborough possesses extraordinarily powerful communication systems that are capable of burning through most forms of jamming. The power demands of the new electronics systems have rendered the Marlborough's weapons systems mostly for show, as attempts to direct power to weapons would negatively impact the functioning of its electronic warfare, communication, and sensor systems. Although almost equal in price to a full squadron of Wallenstein class line cruisers, the Marlborough class is widely used as a support vessel for the fleet, facilitating communication and general electronic warfare.