The Rebel Faction

The New Order - Shinano class Fleet Support Carrier

Name: Shinano class Fleet Support Carrier

Designation: SFSCV

Mission Profile: Supporting Carrier, desgined to repair damaged starfighters, refuel and rearm all starfighters and shuttles, and provide munitions and some basic needs to capital warships via shuttle transport.

Profile Description: A long rectangular hangar, measuring about twelve hundred meters in length, and about eight hundred meters wide, and six hundred meters tall. Both ends of the hangar bay are square, and open, and there are four sponsons attached to each side of the hangar bay. These are each twelve hundred meters in length also, and are shaped one half of a cylinder, with the flat portion attached to the hangar. They are each about two hundred meters in width, six hundred meters in height.

Armaments: No weapons are mounted on the hangar poriton of the ship. Instead, the four sponsons mount the weapons for the ship. All of these weapons are for defensive purposes, as the ship is not intended to take on an offensive role, but still pack quite a punch. On each sponson arrayed into clusters are mounted ten turbolaser batters and five quad laser cannons. This means that the ship in total carries sixty medium weapons emplacements. Also, there are numerous tractor beams located at either end to help guide in starfighters to the docks. And there is a limited phalanx system installed, with eight small CIWS guns installed on each sponson.

Other Defenses: Hull has minimal armour on the hangar and sponsons, and it is approximatley thick enough to withstand medium weapons fire for ten minutes before failing. Shields are present, and are quite strong, being able to sustain heavy weapons fire for ten to fifteen minutes before failing.

Propulsion: On the sponsons mounted on the port and starboard side of the hangar bay each contain in their after quarter two KDY 2VDE Drive Engines, with one dedicated drive engine reactor core along with them, giving the ship a sublight speed of eight MGLT. Slow, sure, but this ship isn't built for purposes involving speed. Hyperdrive Rating is one point after lightspeed.

Hangar Capacity: The main hangar carries no facilites for permanent storage. The ship's permament complement consists of twenty four Cargo Containier Haulers and twelve TIE Defenders carried in a small hangar located in the forward portion of the bottom side sponson. The main hangar bay has two sections, a topside one and a bottom side one. The topside one is dedicated simply to resupply incoming starfighters. The bottom side one is for repairing damaged starfighters. The topside portion can resupply upwards of thirty six starfighters at one time, while the bottom side one can repair upwars of forty eight starfighters at one time. Also, in the forward section of the bottom repair section are eight modules dedicated for the loading/unloading of cargo containiers.

Description:

The Shinano class Fleet Support Carrier is designed as a rearward line repair and resupply vessel. For the main system of resupplying starfighters via the topside part of the hangar bay, the process is simple. First, it is all electronically done. The first step are for sensors and scanners to identify the type of incoming starfighter, in order to ready the facility for the types of weapons and fuel cells will be needed to be brought up from storage to resupply the said vessel. Then small tractor beams guide the said starfighter from aft of the ship into the hangar bay, and to it's assigned station. Magnetic clamps hold the starfighter in place while robotic arms, clampers, and other attachments go to work, removing empty torpedo magazines, laser cannon packs, engine fuel cells, expired solar panels, etc., and replacing them with full ones. Then, once the process is finished, the starfighter is propelled by magnetic launch tracks back out into space via the forward open end of the hangar bay. As for the bottom module part, the process is the same, except damaged starfighters are guided onto a platform, where the pilot is removed, and magentic cutters, slicers, and welders go to work. Depending on the degree of damage to a starfighter, and what parts are damaged, a starfighter may either be repair, or may be cannabalized for it's useful parts, and have the remaining junk compacted and placed below for transport to a smelter facility. The ship's cargo haulers can also haul loads of proton torpedoes and supplies to capital warships, and support ships that are too large to enter the hangar bay. The Shinano class carrier does have it's limited supply of parts, and the cargo haulers are used to unloaded bulk freighters, which deliver the cargo modules to the forward section of the bottom hangar bay, where they are quickly and efficently unloaded. Starfighter resupply times are in most cases depending on type a minute or less, while repair times vary, but at the most, in the case of cannibilzation, are over within five minutes.

As for the sponsons, the two to port and starboard are identical, each having engines and drives occupying the after quarter, with weapons taking up the middle quarter, and staff/crew facilites in the forward section. The top sponson has shield generators, sensors, communications devices, and the bridge built into it, along with it's complement of weapons. Finally, the bottom sponson contains supplies and munitions stores, along with it's own complement of weapons, and the small hangar bay forward. Overall the vessel is very ugly looking, and fits into the auxiliary role very well, although with it's weapons it would be classified as a warship.