Lumenic aircraft carrier Savio III
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Savio III |
| Builders: | Vangsness Verft |
| Operators: |
 Luminerra |
| In service: | 1990-Present |
| Building: | 0 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Cancelled: | 0 |
| Active: | 0 |
| Retired: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft_cruiser |
| Displacement: | 45,560 tonnes |
| Length: | 270 meters |
| Beam: | 31.2 meters |
| Draught: | 10 meters |
| Propulsion: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 4x Calland og Wolden CWM-18 15 MW Gas turbines 4x 3.5 MW diesel generators 2x 7 MW electric motors 2x shafts |
| Speed: | 26 knots |
| Range: | 20,000 km at 14 knots |
| Complement: | 1550 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 24-30 aircraft/helicopters |
The NA Savio III is a large Lumenic aviation cruiser designed and built in the late 1980s by Vangsness Verft in Trinovantum during the later stages of the Omandan Continental War. As befitting of its designation, the Savio III carries both an air wing and a significant and varied on-board armament. Savio III, as commissioned, was the largest ship to ever serve in the Lumenic Armada by both size and displacement, being significantly longer and slightly heavier than the Capriotti-class battleships of the 1940s. It would act as the flagship of the Lumenic Armada during the last years of the Omandan Continental War, participating primarily in sea patrols west of the mainland. Because of its position in the more strategically important Boreal Ocean, it would miss the final battle of the war at Otdalennyy Island. Post war, it continues to serve as the primary flagship of the Lumenic Armada.
Development
Development of what would become the Savio III began in around 1969, after several Lumenic and Notreceauen encounters with novel Soviet armed aircraft carriers. These ships, eventually identified as being members of the Krasnostav class, were capable not just of launching aircraft but engaging surface and air combatants directly via their own on-board missile and gun armaments. This made engaging battlegroups led by a Krasnostav class ship a daunting prospect, even when covered by friendly aircraft. The Lumenic admiralty found this concept of armed aircraft carriers appealing, and several design studies were implemented to respond to the Krasnostav class. Proposals were drafted for new ships in line with this concept, but these ideas were shelved in favor of more conventional shipbuilding after the Soviet navy inflicted catastrophic casualties on the allied combined fleet.
After the Licanan intervention in the Omand War challenged the Soviet’s naval supremacy, the demand for Lumenic replacement shipbuilding slowly reduced as Luminerra was now building ships at a rate faster than they were losing them. As this favorable situation stabilized, the plans for the creation of a large aviation cruiser were revisited and updated in the early 1980s to account for advancements in weaponry and tactics over the course of the Omand war. Advancements in missile technology have made these weapons more effective and compact compared to when the initial proposals for the ship were drafted. Similarly, advances in gun mounting and autoloader technology reduced the need for multiple large-caliber gun batteries on a single ship. The Lumenic admiralty debated as the proper way to utilize these advancements, with two camps forming; the first intended to use these advancements to reduce the size of the proposed ships without compromising its capabilities compared to the older initial proposals, the second camp wished to maintain the large displacement while using the more modern weapons to increase its relatively capabilities compared to the initial proposals.
It would eventually be decided that a larger, more capable ship was the preferable option. Plans centering around a 40,000-50,000 tonne vessel were drafted in line with the original dimension and displacement specifications. With the aforementioned advancements in cannon technologies, the number of large-caliber guns was reduced from 9 to 2, both of the 203mm caliber as per previous Lumenic heavy cruisers. Despite the significant reduction in the number of guns, the increased rate of fire per gun (with the new guns being required to have a minimum of 10 rounds per minute per barrel) resulted in only a minor decrease in shell-weight downrange in engagements longer than a minute. The reduced footprint of the gun armament could then be used to mount new missile systems, most notably a Licanan spec vertical missile-launching system, and expanded aviation facilities. The Savio III would be the first Lumenic vessel to possess this system, with even the concurrently designed Civezza class air-defense destroyers continuing to use box and arm launchers for their missile armaments.
As the Savio III progressed from a concept to a proper design, a problem became apparent. Many of Luminerra’s high tonnage shipyards and docks had been damaged over the course of the Soviet invasion of Luminerra and the subsequent Licanan intervention. While Luminerra was no longer losing ships at a faster rate than they could build them, the focus of the Lumenic Armada had been on making lighter destroyer and frigate-class ships for rapid replenishment, with many of these ships being under 5000 tonnes of displacement. Over the many years since the original proposal for the armed aircraft carrier was laid out, Luminerra had lost much of its capacity to build large displacement ships. However, as combat moved away from Luminerra’s borders, the need for higher-displacement vessels capable of more extended operations became more pressing. In order to rectify these problems Luminerra turned to the allied state of Trinovantum, specifically the Vangsness corporation which possessed extensive shipyard facilities and experience in building warships of this size. With the concurrent Fifth Ostlander-Trinovantan War on the verge of coming to a close, the Vangsness corporation welcomed the business. A deal was struck, with the Vangsness corporation building the hull of the ship and providing the propulsion before sending the ship to Luminerra to have its armament fitted. Engineers and specifications were sent to Trinovantum to collaborate on a modified design to incorporate the new propulsion systems, with the design being finalized in early 1981.
Design
General Characteristics
As designed, the Savio III is the largest ship ever commissioned for the Lumenic navy by both dimensions and displacement. At 270 meters in length, the ship is over 30 meters longer than the Capriotti class battleships and is just 12 meters shorter than the Trinovantan Ukuelig class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. At 45,560 tonnes of displacement, the Savio III dwarfed almost every ship in the Lumenic Armada at the time of its commissioning, which mostly consisted of low-displacement destroyers and frigates. Even in the modern Lumenic Armada, the ship is 15,000 tonnes larger than the two Varzi-class Landing helicopter docks, which are the next largest ships in the fleet. The Savio III has a relatively modest beam of 31.2 meters and sits at a draught of 10 meters when fully loaded.
The Savio III sports a complement of 1550 men, which includes the command staff and air group. As designed, the ship was intended to operate as a support vessel and thus lacked extensive command and control facilities. However, as the ship was pressed into the flagship role by the Lumenic Armada, these capabilities were gradually added to the vessel over the course of its service. After the end of the Omand Continental War the ship was refitted to add a dedicated command and control suite instead of the ad-hoc systems used during the war, turning the Savio III into a proper flagship for the rebuilt Lumenic Armada.
Armament
The Savio III was intended from the onset to possess a diverse and comprehensive armament capable of effectively engaging surface, air and undersea targets. As completed, the on-board armament of the Savio III was the equivalent of any other navy’s cruisers. A large component of the Savio III’s armament is the multi-function vertical missile-launching system. This system consists of two 32-cell launch platforms embedded in the hull forward and aft of the flight deck. These launchers are constructed to the same specifications as Licanan VLS missile systems, which are capable of launching anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and long-range cruise missiles. In service, these launchers primarily carry the Licanan GVA-120 anti-aircraft missile for long-range air defense. This missile system is capable of engaging targets at ranges in excess of 350 km, double that of the GVA-71 missiles used by the Civezza class for long-range anti-aircraft defense. For medium-range anti-ship capabilities, the Savio III carries a single bow-facing four-cell box launcher for the Lumenic Pellicano anti-ship missile. As it was expected that the ship’s on-board airwing will be tasked to long and medium range anti-shipping duties, this modest anti-ship missile armament was considered to be acceptable by the Lumenic admiralty.
The principal gun-armament for the Savio III is two CN.203/87 automatically loaded 203mm cannons mounted in a single turret forward of the flight deck. With its large caliber high-explosive shells, these guns pose a credible threat to seagoing vessels, land targets, and low flying aircraft or munitions. This turret is capable of elevating the guns between -5 to 45 degrees, with elevation laying done at up to 20 degrees per second. At maximum elevation, the guns have a range of over 30 kilometers. The electrically powered turret motors are capable of rotating the entire turret at a rate of 30 degrees per second, which allows the turret to train from full port to full starboard in a little under 11 seconds. The breach-mounted autoloader can load the guns in 5-6 seconds and functions at any elevation angle. Each gun is fed from a 50 round ready drum, with a magazine underneath the turret containing an additional 300 rounds of ammunition. The guns are capable of firing a standard HCHE explosive shell or a specially designed laser guided projectile. These laser guided shells were designed to support marine incursions with accurate fire against hardened point targets, such as bunkers or heavily armored vehicles. When used in optimal conditions, these shells had a sub-meter circular error probability and a reliability of over 90%. In practice, it was found that adverse weather conditions (clouds, heavy rainfall, etc) could cause significant negative effects on the guidance system.
The secondary gun armament consists of a battery of six 76mm CAN.76/88 automatic cannons mounted in six compact turrets. These turrets are arrayed with three forward of the island on the starboard, two on a lowered deck aft of the flight deck, and one on a lowered platform on the port-side of the ship. This arrangement allows for a port-side broadside of 5 guns and a starboard broadside of 4 guns. These guns, derived from the older CAN.76/64, are capable of an improved 120 rounds per minute rate of fire. Each turret carries 85 rounds of proximity fused high-explosive shells ready to fire with minimal deck penetration. The compact turrets can elevate through -15 to 85 degrees at a rate of 35 degrees per second. The turrets are capable of rotating at a rate of 60 degrees per second. These fast traverse and elevation rates allow for the guns to track fast-moving targets and rapidly switch between multiple threats. This dispersed battery provides short-range anti-aircraft, anti-missile and light anti-ship capabilities.
Propulsion
Propulsion for the Savio III is provided by a combination of marine turbines and diesel engines. The marine turbines are connected to the propeller shafts via a series of clutched gearboxes, while the diesel engines make use of an electric transmission and induction motors as per a diesel-electric drive. The same kind of propulsion system had also been selected to power the concurrently designed and built X class frigates. This system was chosen over the COGOG system preferred by Trinovantan ship-builders for reasons of efficiency. A combination of sprint and cruising turbines would have resulted in a more compact and lighter propulsion arrangement, but Luminerra’s requirement for long-range propulsion demanded the use of more efficient diesel engines. An electric drive for the diesel engines was chosen both for efficiency and simplicity. The use of electric motors greatly simplified the propulsion arrangement by minimizing the number of gearboxes needed to transfer power to the shaft.
Sensors and Systems
Comprehensive capabilities as a result of highly general mission profile
Aircraft
Carries internal hanger with space for between 24-30 VTOL aircraft or helicopters, depending on airwing configuration. Intended to be carried with a mix of Harriers and Lumenic service helicopters, as well as new model Lumenic supersonic VTOL air superiority fighter.
Gilberti-Ottaviano CV.88 Astore
Service History
Construction begins in late 1982, delayed until after the formal end of the Fifth Ostlander Trinovantum War. Ship Laid down in 1983, launched three years later in 1986. Mini shakedown cruise to work out kinks in propulsion. Transferred to Luminerra in 1987 for final fittings. Final construction was completed in 1988. 1-2 years of shakedown, depending on how much trouble the ship’s final form gives Luminerra, enters service in 1989 or 1990.
>be kinda funny if some Soviet sub took a shot at it while it was headed to Lummieland
See Also
Potentially omit unless we make an article about the kiev/krasnostav aviation cruisers