Essex

Type: Destroyer
In Service: 2438
In Class: 200


Mass: 500,000
Sail Integrity: 4
Thrust: 3/5
Fuel: 2000
Structural Integrity: 80
Armor: 800 tons of standard armor: Fore and Aft 52+8, remainder 54+8

Docking Collars: 0
Fighters: 6
Small Craft: 4
Crew: 217
Lifeboats: 10
Escape Pods: 10
Grav Decks: 1 65 meter
Cargo: 51,714

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


Weapons
Heatsinks: 2322

Fwd:
3 Naval Autocannon 10s
	
FR/FL:
2 Naval Autocannon 10s
6 Naval Laser 35s
1 White Shark Launcher

LBS/RBS:
2 Naval Autocannon 10s
6 Naval Laser 35s

AR/AL:
6 Naval Laser 35s
2 White Shark Launchers

Aft:
1 Naval Autocannon 10


Ammunition:
900 rounds of Naval AC ammo
60 White Shark


Designer's Notes:

Thrust calculated as 4/6 rather than 3/5 to account for the age of the ship and the lesser technology of its engines. Therefore this craft would actually be about 30,000 tons underweight if built entirely by the rules.

Also, it should go without saying that this Essex should not be confused with the Essex we all know and... umm... know. This would be the original Essex, which was replaced by the Naga, which was in turn replaced by the current Essex.


Overview:

The first Terran Hegemony destroyer to bear the name Essex owes its existance in some part to the Vincent class corvette. At the time of the Vincent's introduction, the Hegemony's standard destroyer was the Lola, which was a fine ship and all. The problem was that the Lola was slightly smaller than the Vincent. Though the Lola was a superior combat vessel to the Vincent, the fact remained that the march of naval technology had left the little destroyer behind. With everybody deploying bigger and more robust ships, and with even their corvettes outmassing their existing destroyer fleet, the Hegemony decided it was time for a new ship. 

In the year 2438, Di Tron Heavy Industries (producers of the famed Aegis) unveiled the first Essex class destroyer.

Capabilities:

Okay, admittedly when all is said and done, the Essex wasn't really all that much of an improvement over the Lola, at least in terms of offensive firepower. The Essex carried the same main armament of a dozen PWB naval autocannons, though they were placed differently, giving the Essex the look of a pursuit craft rather than a broadside fighter. The Essex also had three times the naval lasers of the Lola's, though they are lower power and shorter range. This advantage in firepower, however, is partially lost to the Lola's greater missile battery. So, in the final analysis, the offensive capabilities of the Essex really weren't anything to write home about.

The ship's defenses however were a substantial improvement. The Essex had a remarkably strong hull and armor that (for its day) was quite impressive. Interestingly enough, this armor protection would prove to be superior not only to most of the ship's contemporaries in the various destroyer fleets, but also its replacement (the Naga) and the replacement for its replacement (the second Essex). This superior armor protection made up for any deficiencies in firepower.

The biggest stumbling block for the Essex was its propulsion system. Though able to drive the ship at a very respectable speed (for its day), the main engines were heavily maintenance intensive, and the various components seemed to wear out at a faster rate than those of other ships (with the notable exception of some Lolas, however that had to do with Lola captains runing their overpowered ships faster than they were meant to be run).

Deployment:

The Essex and her sisters served admirably through the Age of War, and were the SLDF's principle destroyer during the Reunification War, operating as picket ships and escorts for the fleet, in addition to commanding corvette squadrons. In 2645, after a bit more than 200 years of service, the SLDF made the decision to retire the class in favor of the new Naga class destroyer. Though there were a great many concerns about the somewhat quirky Naga, the plans to retire the class went through. Each of the great houses bought up about twenty of the sturdy old destroyers, and forty of the class were placed in mothballs. The rest, about sixty ships, were scraped or converted to cargo hulks.

When the Amaris Coup hit, Kerensky ordered all forty mothballed Essex class destroyers (fortunately mothballed outside of the Hegemony) back into service, redesignating them "E-boats" in order to avoid confusion with the current Essex class destroyers in his fleet. These ships fought all the way through the campaign to reconquer the Hegemony, though none would survive to make it to the final assault on Terra.

Those Essex class vessels active in the house fleets served well (though each House found it neccessary at one point or another to refit their ships with a more reliable propulsion system) all the way to the end. The noble old warships would become casualties of the First Succession War. The last of the original Essex class destroyers, the FWLS Diogenes, was felled by Capellan aerofighters while escorting the battlecruiser Sian during the last year of the First Succession War.