Mogami Type: Light Cruiser Introduction: 2725? Mass: 700,000 Sail Integrity: 4 Thrust: 4/6 Fuel: 10,000 tons Structural Integrity: 90 Armor: 1260 tons of standard armor (504, 84+9 per facing) Docking Collars: 0 Fighters: 36 Small Craft: 2 Crew: 300 Lifeboats: 15 Escape Pods: 0 Grav Decks: none Cargo: 36,000 Bay 1: Fighters (36) 6 doors Bay 2: Cargo (36,000) 2 doors Bay 3: Small Craft (2) 1 door Weapons: Fwd 8 Naval Laser 45s 5 Large Lasers FL/FR 15 Naval Laser 45s 5 Large Lasers LBS/ RBS 15 Naval Laser 45s 5 Large Lasers AL/AR 15 Naval Laser 45s 5 Large Lasers Aft 5 Large Lasers Overview: Though not particularly prevelant in the DCMS fleet during the days of the Star League or the succesion wars, the Mogami class light cruiser has nevertheless earned its own niche in history, simply because of its secrecy clouded past. There were actually at least five seperate Mogami classes. Officially, the Draconis Combine deployed only five Mogami class ships, the Mogami, Kuma, Asashio, Nadashio, and Natori. Historical records from the first succesion war, however, indicate that these five ships (each of which had significant structural differences from one another, indicating they were built at different yards) were actually the lead ships for a whole series of light cruiser. Just from confirmed sightings during the succession wars we know there were at least four Mogamis, three Nadashios, three Kumas, half a dozen Asashios, and two Natoris (the two Natoris in particular are confirmed because they both appeared at the battle of Cholame at the same time), despite claims by Takiro and later Minoru Kurita that they had only ever built five ships. The official date of the Mogami's launching was in mid 2755, barely two months after the star league council passed a resolution allowing the great houses to double the size of their private armies. However, careful study of records from the era do not support this assumption, and despite the official story being that all five ships were built at Chatham, there is no indication whatsoever that the Combine has ever built Mogami class ships there. Careful analysis of freighter traffic (specifically freighters carrying parts needed for warships) seems to indicate that construction of the Mogami and her sisters took place at at least five seperate shipyards as early as 2725, thirty years before their official entry into the DCA, and that at least forty ships of this type were constructed. The Mogami was therefore in essence an illeagle warship, built secretely in violation of star league edicts regarding the size of private house armies. This in itself is no big deal. EVERY great house did at least some stretching or outright breaking of the rules when it came to the strength of their private armies, especially when it became apparent that the league was crumbling. What makes the Mogami unique is the excessive lengths to which this secret was kept (to this day the Combine only admits to building eighteen Mogamis, and they maintain that none of them were built before 2755), and the fact that this ship was built specifically to fight the first succesion war. This conclusion becomes inescapable when one examines the Mogami closely. In the first case, the ship is dirt cheap. No lithium fusion battery, no docking collars, no fancy armor, not even a grav deck. The weaponry, a massed battery of nearly a hundred naval lasers and forty large lasers, provides reasonable firepower at the lowest posible price. In the second case, the ship requires very little in the way of logistical support. It carries ten thousand tons of fuel, along with enough supplies to keep operating for a year, and most important of all, does not require ammunition resupply. In the third case, the ship can be operated by pratically anyone. The control systems are extremely simple and reliable, meaning that an undertrained crew will be able to control their ship fairly well. If we take these three things into account, we end up with a relatively cheap ship that can be fueled once, staffed with green recruits, and sent off to battle. Thanks to its weaponry and armor protection, a Mogami might even be expected to last long enough for its replacement to be completed and a new crew trained. The ship is therefore ideal for the bloody ship killing fights that all out war in the inner sphere would entail. Despite this, even the Mogami would not last through the succession wars. Forty Mogamis were confirmed destroyed during the first and second succession wars (the Combine, of course, only admits to eighteen), and all five of the shipyards where they were built were destroyed. This would be the end of it, if not for persistent rumors that a sixth shipyard exists somewhere. These stories began just on the vague assumption that there might just be a hidden shipyard somewhere to build this secret warship, and have since snowballed into possibly the most holy of holy grails for some of the more fringe lostech prospectors. In many bars along the coreward edge of Combine space, you can find a lostech prospector who's willing to tell the whole story of the Kurama Shipyard (or Hie or Marat or another name used by one of the other hundred legends surounding this most likely none existant place). The original percieved purpose of the facility is hardly ever remembered anymore. The prospectors will tell you how the Combine was researching a new power system called the phase transistion engine, or how it was where an incredibly powerful energy weapon was being developed capable of destroying entire planets, or where dealings with a transdimensional alien race broke down, resulting in the first succesion war... The list is endless. A few prospectors might even believe there's a shipyard out there that used to build light cruisers. The evidence for all these theories is of course non existant, and ninety nine percent of them are utterly ridiculous anyway. Nevertheless, a significant number of prospectors have scoured the coreward edge of the Combine (why would it be there, specifically, anyway?) looking for something, even if it is just a purpose to their own pathetic lives. That being said, there is of course the posibility that there are additional Mogamis floating around somewhere. It is not known how many of this class were actually built, but the shear amount of time between 2725 (when the first one was believed to have been built) and the start of the first succesion war suggests that there was plentiful time to produce a large number of these ships, especially at five different shipyards. It is possible that a few of these ships were mothballed, waiting to be utilized, and just forgotten. Of course it is also possible that a sixth shipyard actually does exist. In both cases, there is no evidence to support either assumption.