Cloud Type

Type: Destroyer
In Service: 2540
In Class: 300

Mass: 500,000
Sail Integrity: 4
Thrust: 4/6
Fuel: 2000
Structural Integrity: 60
Armor: 600 tons of standard armor: 40+6 each facing

Docking Collars: 0
Fighters: 6
Small Craft: 4
Crew: 200
Lifeboats: 0
Escape Pods: 15
Grav Decks: 1 65 meter
Cargo: 56,130

Bay 1: 4 Small Craft, 1 door
Bay 2: 6 fighters, 2 doors
Bay 3: Cargo, 2 doors


Weapons
Heatsinks: 2934

Fwd:
10 Naval Laser 45s
2 White Shark tubes

FR/FL:
10 Naval Laser 45s
2 Autocannon 10s

LBS/RBS:
3 Naval Autocannon 10s

AR/AL:
3 Naval Autocannon 10s
2 Autocannon 10s

Aft:
6 Naval Laser 45s


Ammunition:
20 White Sharks
1200 rounds of Naval AC ammo
800 rounds of AC ammo


Overview:

The Cloud type destroyer was authorized by Siriwan Mcallister-Kurita during her regency, in order to provide a needed update to the Combine's long neglected destroyer fleet during the mid 26th century. The type was meant to replace the obsolete Skory and Bird class ships which had formed the bulk of the destroyer fleet until this point. 

The Cloud type would actually be composed of five classes, the Cloud, Moon, Kotlin, Kashin, and Thunder, each to be constructed in a seperate military district incorporating refinements to the basic design to better allow the district to support construction. In this way the Combine expected to be able to rapidly update their destroyer fleet to meet any potential threat. Though each class would use locally produced components, in practice the five classes were functionally identical in performance, and were generally just refered to as the Cloud Type. These ships, alongside the Wind class destroyers produced after the Reunification War became the standard destroyer of the Combine fleet throughout the star league era.

Capabilities:

The Cloud wasn't the best destroyer of her era. What she was was a solid warship capable of being produced in massive numbers. Her weaponry ballanced well against the Terran Hegemony's first Essex and Naga, and she handled as well as House Davion's namesake destroyer (though the Davion's massive bow guns were enough to give ANYBODY pause). She was also substantially cheaper to produce than the Lyran Valkyrie.

The Cloud was truly a no nonsense vessel meant to be simple to both build and opperate. Using simple, straightforward control systems and no exotic sensors or equipment, the ship was suitable for even the greenest crew, aspects that made it an excellent training ship in addition to being an exceptional escort. Often Kurita would combine the two roles, and it wasn't uncommon for Clouds on patrol to be manned by cadets who had yet to graduate from the accademy.

If there is any real flaw in the design, it is in its lack of anti fighter weapons. Eight autocannons in four turrets provide the bulk of the defenses, however these can often prove insufficient against fighters wielding long range missiles. A pair of naval missile tubes were mounted in the nose of the craft, but these have a limited arc of fire. In the end the ship will usually have to depend on its six fighters for defense.

Deployment:

The Cloud type was widely deployed throughout the Combine, with each of the five classes assigned to a seperate military district. For the most part the class wasn't much more than a workhorse class, and few ships gained anything resembling noteriety.

One dubious exception to this is the Moon class DCS Akizuki, which served as Leonard Kurita's personal ship when he ascended to the Throne in 2591. During the first two months of his reign, the ship ferried him from world to world in what could rightly be described as an interstellar orgy of the highest magnitude. It didn't take long for Lord Kurita's excesses to infect the crew either, and before too long spacers and station managers alike feared the appearance of the Akizuki in their area for the fear that some drunken or stoned helmsman would plow the ship into them (which happened at least once, though it was only a glancing blow off of a recharge station, and the helmsman wasn't drunk or stoned, he was engaged in... umm... deep consultation with the assistant helmswoman). Though order on the ship was restored as soon as Leonard Kurita has a "mysterious accident" and Sanethia Kurita replaced him, the stigma of being Leonard Kurita's personal pimp-mobile still hung over the ship for many years after, and even now she is better known for that than for her final valiant stand during the second succession war against the LCS Invincible.