Bulldog Type: Corvette In class: 40 at its height In service: 2516 Mass: 200,000 Sail Integrity: 3 Thrust: 4/6 Fuel: 6000 tons Structural Integrity: 60 Armor: 240 tons of standard armor (29+6 fwd, 20+6 aft, 24+6 rest) Docking Collars: 0 Fighters: 48 Small Craft: 4 Crew: 112 Lifeboats: 0 Escape Pods: 10 Grav Decks: 1 65 meter Cargo: 5,222 Bay 1: Small Craft (4) 2 doors Bay 2: Cargo (5,222) 2 doors Bay 3: Fighters (48) 8 doors Other equipment none Weapons: Heatsinks: 620 (enough) Forward 4 Naval Autocannon 10s 2 Naval Laser 45s Fore Left/Fore Right 6 White Shark Launchers Aft Left/Aft Right 3 Naval Autocannon 10s Ammo 100 tons of Naval Autocannon ammo 120 White Shark Overview: When naval scholars talk about great ships, very rarely do warships of the Taurian Concordat recieve any recognition. Though some talk with fondness of the audacious Taurian raider David Porter, which ravaged convoys in the Federated Suns during the height of the periphery uprising, it is little more than a patchwork footnote in history. This idea, however, ignores the fact that the Taurians have a long history of naval brilliance, having scored some of the most impressive naval victories in history against opponents with vastly superior numbers and firepower. During the Reunification War in particular the Taurian fleet was able to tie the armadas of house Davion in knots, and these successes were due largely to well built warships like the Bulldog class Corvette, which opperated as a mainstay of the fleet during the height of the Reunification War. Capabilities: When the TDF called for a new corvette in the early 26th century, they seemed to ask for the impossible. They wanted a ship that could match full sized destroyers fielded by their larger neighbors, and at the same time still be small and cheap enough to be produced in large numbers in the Concordat's limited number of shipyards. Everyone agreed that this goal was unachievable. And they were right, but only just barely. Though destroyers like the Hegemony's Essex (not to be confused with the current Essex class destroyers, which would not be introduced for another two hundred years) and house Davion's Davion outclassed the new Taurian corvette, there were many more destroyers that could only just match its firepower and armor protection, and some that were inferior in one or even both categories, and there were simply no corvettes around that could compete with the newly christened Bulldog on anything approaching an equal footing. Taurian designers had produced a wonder of technology, simplicity, and raw firepower. Central to the ship's capability was an understanding of its primary role of a ship meant to defend the Concordat. Knowing full well that any wars that the Bulldog would fight would most likely be defensive, with the corvette never straying too far from its base, the designers were able to leave the ship with a very limited cargo capacity compared to its contemporaries, freeing up untold mass for a tremendous main battery of ten naval autocannons, which gives the ship a heavy punch. Supporting the main battery were several tubes for naval missiles and a pair of naval lasers mounted in the nose. This gave the ship an excellent capacity for extreme range shots, which the superbly trained gunners assigned to Taurian warships were able to take deadly advantage of. As a final force multiplier, hangar bays were included for numerous fightercraft, on the theory that large numbers of aerofighters would be easy to build than numerous warships. Despite this idea, it was very hard to keep the entire fleet of Bulldogs equipped with a fighter complement, but that didn't always seem to matter. Though a Bulldog carrying even a half load of fighters was rare in the extreme, the enemy didn't always know that, which meant that the Bulldog often seemed more threatening to her opponents than she actually was. In one notable engagement during the campaign known as Case Amber, a trio of Davion Iron Duke class battleships (which have always been deficient in fighter defenses) fled a battle zone rather than face off against a squadron of Bulldogs, fearing a massed fighter attack. Only later did the Davions learn that between them the six corvettes were carrying barely two dozen fighters. Finally and most importantly, even with a massive weapons load compared to its contemporaries, the Bulldog was still fast enough to outrun anything it could not defeat in a stand up fight. Also the reliability of its engines and its imense fuel bunkerage allowed for sustained runs as very high Gs, often allowing the Bulldog to outdistance even those few ships that were technically capable of outrunning it. Standard tactics for Bulldogs were to harrass larger opponents endlessly with quick strikes at long range and high velocity, though during the Reunification war the ships were frequently forced into stand up fights by the need to defend their worlds. Deployment: The Concordat was able to assemble forty Bulldogs in the years leading up to the Reunification war, and all forty ships fought valiantly during the war. Though official SLDF records state that all Bulldogs were destroyed during the war along with the rest of the Taurian fleet, there were persistent rumors and claims that at least half a dozen Bulldogs, along with several Defiant class corvettes, a few Independence class destroyers, and one of the Taurian's precious battleships suceeded in escaping the Concordat before the surrender and conducted a hard fought guerilla campaign for the next decade. Though the SLDF maintained that there was no truth to these claims, there are some indications that SLDF and Davion fleet units were heavily involved in what was called a "Pirate Hunting" opperation near Concordat space for years after the war, which tends to lend credence to the idea that perhaps some Taurian warships did escape. However, it is worth noting that even if the story is true, the fact is that none of these warships have since turned up, and if they were true freedom fighters it is doubtful that they would have stayed away this long, especially since the Concordat regained its independence long ago. If those ships are still out there, they are almost certainly unable to come home, so unless someone finds them, they will never be more than a rumor.