Velok the Younger
When I Was A Young Warthog
Image Credit: I made dis, yo. http://varanin.deviantart.com/art/Connestoga-class-Heavy-Freighter-446745175
Intent: The biggest, ugliest bulk freighter on the market, suitable for all the things.
Development Thread: http://starwarsrp.net/topic/20589-operation-promised-land-rebel-alliance/ - Silk Holdings' owner and head designer embarks on a multiple-worlds campaign of planetary resettlement. Tempus Ardets and HALCYON space trains prove insufficient on their own; the need for a larger vessel is discussed more than once.
Manufacturer: Silk Holdings/EDY
Model: QQ-K41-N Bulk Transport
Affiliation: Open Market
Modularity: As with all ships this simple, major modifications are easy but may not be worth it. The largest modularity is in the cargo area. Simple prefabricated, stacked quarters can be used to make the cargo holds suitable for mass personnel transport. The cargo bay partitions can be removed in order to transport very large cargo.
Production: Minor
Material: Durasteel hull, transparisteel viewports
Description: Following the runaway success of the Tempus Ardet-class Bulk Freighter and its derivative models, Silk Holdings sent a new design to the major capital-grade shipyards of its most recent acquisition, Eshan Drive Yards, the maker of the Republic's largest command ship. The resulting vessel has been charitably described as a shipping crate a mile high. Its systems are very straightforward and easy to maintain: They comprise a series of two primary and three secondary engines, several immense cargo doors, and a stunningly slow hyperdrive. The Connestoga is unarmed and has only the most basic shielding. Additionally, its fuel costs are such that, in nearly all cases, only galactic governments or perhaps major syndicates can afford to operate it in the long term. Its cargo bay alone can fit over a dozen Tempus Ardet bulk freighters, at a conservative estimate, depending on configuration.
The greatest challenge for this vessel's operators is actually cleanliness. The detritus of a hundred worlds tends to accumulate in forgotten corners of the cargo bays. Thus, the crew includes a very large number of cleaning droids.
To save weight, unless outfitted for personnel transport, 95% of the ship's interior is kept depressurized. Exceptions include bridge, living quarters, engine room, and redundant access routes between these points.
This ship cannot land on a planetary surface. Most of its loading is done in low orbit, near a skyhook or a HALCYON space train, at a Lagrangian point, or in the atmosphere of a gas giant. A peculiarity of the grade of durasteel used in the exterior hull plating, and frequent exposure to gas giant atmospheres, generally produces an exterior layer of rust.
Just in case anyone mistook this for a pretty ship.
Classification: Bulk transport
Role: Bulk transport
Height: 1400m
Width: 800m
Length: 2000m
Power Core Generator/Reactor: Solar ionization reactor
Hyperdrive Rating: 4, backup 12
Minimum Crew: 12 (2 pilot/navigators, 4 droid maintenance techs, 8 engineers/mechanics) + 200 maintenance droids + 200 cargo droids
Optimal Crew: 45 + 200 maintenance droids + 200 cargo droids (+30,000 service and security droids if outfitted for personnel transit)
Armaments: None
Hangar: None
Non-Combative Attachments:
- Communications Array
- Escape Pods
- Basic Deflector Shield Generator
- Standard Life Support Systems
- Standard Navigational Systems
- Standard Sensor Array
- Tractor Beams
Passenger Capacity: 4 (standard), 50,000,000 (if outfitted for short-term mass transit)
Cargo Capacity: 1 billion cubic metres
An approximation based on the dimensions of this ship's three cargo containers yields a volume of 1,235,000,000m^3. An estimate of 1,000,000,000m^3 seems appropriate. At an optimum cruise ship per-person volume of 20 cubic metres (naval forces use 8.3m^3), the ship could theoretically hold the stated passenger capacity, if properly outfitted. As for lift/maneuver capacity in tonnage, unless neuranium is involved -- if it can fit in the hold, the Connestoga can move it.
Consumables: 6 months (crew of 20), 1 month (if outfitted for personnel transport)
Sublight Speed and Maneuverability: 9
at the Billion cubic meters, that's less than half of the ship's total volume.
