Type: Sun Tzu Class Battleship In Service: 2616 Number in Service: 20 Mass: 1,100,000 tons KF Integrity: 22 Sail Integrity: 5 Thrust: 4/6 Fuel: 3000 SI: 120 Armor: 2600 tons Standard Armor ( Fore/Aft: 160 + 12 Sides: 180 + 12) Heatsinks: 7200 Docking Collars: 4 Fighters: 36 Small Craft: 4 Crew: 1027 (227 officers/ 800 enlisted) Lifeboats: 30 Escape Pods: 55 Grav Deck: 2 (50m, 75m) Cargo: 25,751 tons Bays: Bay 1: Fighters 6 Doors Bay 2: Small Craft 2 Doors Bay 3: Cargo Weapons: Forward: 10 NL/45 5 Large Lasers Fore Left/Right: 5 NL/45 2 NAC/35 5 Large Lasers LBS/RBS 10 NAC25 10 NL/45 Aft Left/Right: 5 NL/45 2 NAC/35 5 Large Lasers Aft: 10 NL/45 5 Large Lasers Ammo 600 Rounds NAC/25 Ammo 300 Rounds NAC/35 Ammo Refit Notes: The armor was upgraded to Ferro Aluminum Armor in 2742. New values are Fore/aft: 250 + 12 Sides: 265 + 12. Overview: The Sun Tzu Class Battleship was the Capellan Confederation's response to the Battleship Race of the early 27th Century. The Capellan Navy has always had one of the smallest Navies, they were even out numbered by the Taurian Confederation before the Reunification War, due to the limited resources available to the Confederation. As a result the Confederation fleet has traditionally focused on fast, well armored cruisers that could serve in a variety of roles. When the other great houses began building up their battleship fleets in the early 27th century, the Capellan Navy became concerned that they would fall even further behind the navies of the other great houses. To try and improve the state of their fleet, the Capellan Navy commissioned Asuncion Industries to develop a new battleship. The specifications called for a fast battleship with heavy armor and a strong broadside attack capability. After 4 years of design and evaluation, Asuncion presented the Sun Tzu Class Battleship the the Admirals of the Capellan Navy. While it was not the most power ship of the era (in part because Asuncion was limited to designs of no more then 1,150,000 tons) it was a good design that met the requirements of the Capellan Navy. Even so the Capellan Navy had a difficult time selling the design to Chancellor and it almost did not enter production. The Chancellor was reluctant to fund the new ship, as the Confederation Treasury did not have the funds to support the program after the economic collapse that followed the end of the Reunification War. It was only after the FWL began a massive buildup of Atreus Class Battleships that the Chancellor was persuaded to fund the construction of the Sun Tzu Battleships. Due to the limited funds only 20 ships were constructed and some of the more advanced (and expensive) technologies were omitted from the design, reducing their effectiveness. Construction was carried out at Asuncion's facilities orbiting Asuncion, with 1 ship being completed every 2 years. Capabilities: The Sun Tzu was one of the fastest battleships of it's era when it was built, only the SLDF's Texas could match it's speed. This allowed the Confederation commanders to use the battleship as a raider against enemy targets. In fact there were some naval experts who claimed the Sun Tzu was really a very large battlecruiser, based on it's speed and usage, rather then a battleship. Even so the Confederation continued to refer to the design as a Battleship. The Sun Tzu class is designed with a very durable structural framework. This allowed the engineers to fit 2600 tons of armor to the ship. The original specifications called for the use of Ferro-Aluminum armor, but this was replaced with standard armor to reduce the cost of the ships. Eventually the Ferro-Aluminum armor would be refit to the ships starting in 2742. The weapons load of the Sun Tzu is designed to provide heavy fire power to the ships broadsides. The main punch comes from 20 Class 25 Naval Autocannons supported by an array of Naval Lasers. The Class 35 Naval Autocannons are used to back up the main guns as well as to provide limited fire to the fore and aft areas. Fighter protection is provided by several batteries of large lasers, rather then the large missiles used by many other navies. This was another cost saving measure as the lasers would not need expensive ammunition. The Sun Tzu also carries 36 fighters to provide addition defensive and offensive capabilities. Typically the ships carried either light or medium fighters, capable of making fast attacks against enemy warships. One of the Sun Tzu's biggest weaknesses was the radar and computer systems. In order to reduce the cost of the ships, the original radars, fire control computers and navigation systems were very basic and had very poor performance. There were reports of weapons systems being unable to track fast moving targets, reduced detection ranges on radars and even false targets appearing on the targeting systems screens. It was not until the 2742, during the reign of Chancellor Warex Liao, that these systems would be replaced with more advanced and powerful systems. The refitted systems were a major improvement and all of the above problems disappeared once the new equipment was installed. This refit was done at the same time as the armor refit mentioned above. Deployment: The Sun Tzu Class was typically used in heavy Hunter Killer Squadrons consisting of several fast destroyers and cruisers. Capellan Navy strategy called for these squadrons to raid enemy supply facilities and shipping, thereby disrupting the enemies supply base and hopefully prevent the enemy from conducting offensive operations. The Confederation deployed 14 heavy Hunter Killer Squadrons at the start of the 1st Succession War. Of these 8 were deployed against the Federated Suns and 6 were deployed against the Free Worlds League. These squadrons were very successful at first, destroying a number of enemy shipyards, transport jumpships and supply facilities. As a result both the FWL and FS navies began deploying squadrons of warships to track down and destroy these squadrons, all of which were destroyed before the end of the first Succession War. The most successful of these squadrons was the one led by the CCS Von Clausewitz. This squadron eluded several Federated Suns cruiser groups and broke through the Federated Suns front lines in 2792. The squadron headed for Kathil, where they attacked the James McKenna Shipyards. The facility was defended by a dozen Triad cruisers which had only recently been returned to active duty. These Triad Cruisers engaged the Confederation Squadron (consisting of the CCS Von Clausewitz, 2 Sword Class Cruisers and 4 Chesterton Class Destroyers) in an effort to defend the facility. The Federated Suns cruisers eventually succeeded in driving off the Capellan raiders destroying a cruiser and 3 destroyers, while losing 7 cruisers (including the FCS Kestral which was badly damaged and rammed the CCS Epee a Sword Class Cruiser, destroying both ships). Even so the Capellans managed to inflict heavy damage on the facility, destroying the Warship Yards and severely damaging the jumpship yards. It would be many years before the facilities would be restored to operation. The CCS Von Clausewitz successfully escaped from the system. The ship was eventually destroyed during an attack on the Universal Air Shipyards at Delevan in 2804. The Sun Tzu class ships which were not part of the hunter killer squadrons were deployed as part of the Confederation's main fleet. These ships formed the backbone of the Capellan Fleet which fought the Free Worlds League in the early years of the 1st Succession War. The ships played a key role in the fleet that attacked New Delos in 2789. During the attack the ships used their heavy laser armament to orbitally bombard some of the largest cities on the planet. The Free Worlds League got a measure of revenge against the Confederation Fleet at the Battle of Calloway VI. Of the 6 Sun Tzu class ships in the battle only 1 managed to escape, the CCS Napoleon. The remaining 5 were destroyed during the battle by the FWL's Atreus Battleships and Sian Battlecruisers. The Napoleon continued to serve on the Capellan Front for several more years. The Napoleon was finally destroyed in 2806 during the third battle of Oriente, when Thaddeus Marik used a squadron of 4 Dido Class Frigates to ambush the Napoleon. The Didos maneuverability proved a match for that of the Napoleon. The battle raged for over 8 hours, with the Didos eventually destroying the Napoleon. Even so the Napoleon took out 3 Didos and severely damaged the fourth before it was destroyed.