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Star Vessels Gallery 3: Miscellaneous Starships |
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Concept The "Star Vessels" universe is a fictional era centuries in the future where Humans have achieved a moderate level of star-faring technology with a noticeable variety of shapes for their spaceships. In the "Star Vessels" fictional environment, Human starships have been around for about 200 years. During that time, Humans have discovered only one other sentient species with star-faring technology, the Nyoshahl. The Nyoshahl have been exploring space for longer time than Humanity and are not pleased to run into another species with comparable technology.The "Star Vessels" setting one of my more romantic science fiction universes, especially in its use of whimsical spaceship hull forms. Other features that set this uiniverse apart from my other universes are smaller ship sizes, smaller crews supplemented by lots of robots, more colorful color schemes for the vessels, and almost all designs being landable on planetary surfaces. The major inspirations for the "Star Vessels" universe are spaceship illustrations from the late 1970's / early 1980's by Jim Burns, David Egge, Peter Elson, Chris Foss, Colin Hay, Paul Jacquays, Angus McKie, Chris Moore, and Tony Roberts. There is also a bit of the computer game "Homeworld" thrown in. Programs used to create the images for the "Star Vessels" project include Rhino, Corel Draw, Corel Photo-Paint, GIMP, and Inkscape. Star Tugger Forbearance The “Forbearance” class Star Tugger is the most common Human heavy tug currently in service. It can tow up to twelve large cargo containers unaided. That number can be increased up to forty-eight when warp-jump booster modules are employed. This second generation Tech Level 6 design has proven rugged and reliable. Date Entered Service : 469 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 105.7 meters Crew: 30 Passengers: 10 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.17 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 5.5 light years per day fully loaded Smallcraft Carried: 13 repair dronesPrimary Design Influence: The Newbold Revel Defense Force 1000-Series Dreadnought (c) 1983 by fellow speculative spaceship designer Graden Elliott
The “Useful” class Star Hauler is the most common Human medium cargo ship currently in service. It can tow two large cargo containers in addition to internally stowed freight. The main cargo bay can be accessed from both the front and rear of the vessel. A small complement of passengers can be accommodated along with the cargo. This stalwart second generation Tech Level 6 design has also been produced in survey ship and small hospital ship variants. Date Entered Service : 464 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 100.9 meters Crew: 40 Passengers: 20 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.19 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 5.9 light years per day fully loaded Smallcraft Carried: 2 cargo shuttles, 11 repair drones Primary Design Influence: Spaceship Murray Leinster from the Italian 1978 science fantasy film Star Crash Star Hauler Bounteous The “Bounteous” class Star Hauler is the most common Human large cargo ship currently in service. It can tow seven large cargo containers in addition to internally stowed freight. Cargo is stowed in two large cargo bays located the forward hull and two small cargo bays in the two lower connecting hulls. Passenger quarters are located in the upper connecting hull. Variants of this second generation Tech Level 6 design include an freighter with the forward hull extended all the way back to the engineering hull and large hospital ship. Date Entered Service : 466 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 200.5 meters Crew: 50 Passengers: 30 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.18 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 5.5 light years per day fully loaded Primary Design Influence: A model rocket design called the Trident from the 1970's Star Hauler Capacious The “Capacious” class Star Hauler is the most common Human container ship currently in service. It can tow up to twenty-eight large cargo containers (50 meters long, 20 meters wide, 20 meters high.) Smaller sized loose cargo is carried in holds located in the lower sections of the engineering hulls. As with most Human long-range freighters, the “Capacious” class accommodates a small complement of passengers. While capable of landing on planetary surfaces, “Capacious” class vessels normally carry a couple of cargo container shuttles to ferry containers to and from orbit. This saves wear and tear on the open space-frame that forms the bulk of this second generation Tech Level 6 design. Date Entered Service : 467 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 210.2 meters Crew: 60 Passengers: 40 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.15 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 5.0 light years per day fully loaded Smallcraft Carried: 2 personnel
shuttles, 2 cargo container shuttles, 14 repair drones Star Liner Benevolence The “Benevolence” class Star Liner is the largest and most luxurious Human passenger ship currently in service. This third generation Tech Level 6 design entered service just a few years ago and quickly became the most popular liner in use. The design includes a number of large interior spaces including a garden bay, a watersports bay, a live performance bay, and a virtual reality bay. An extra degree of safety is provided by the sizable deep space lifeboats. Date Entered Service : 494 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 225.5 meters Crew: 100 Passengers: 300 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.24 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 8.0 light years per day Smallcraft Carried: 4 touring shuttles,
16 large lifeboats, 12 repair drones Star Healer Mercy The “Mercy” class Star Healer is the most common Human hospital ship currently in service. This second generation Tech Level 6 design is unusual in that it is much taller than it is long or wide. The “Mercy” class was built specifically as a medical vessel rather than being a variant on a cargo ship. It is constantly being refitted as advances occur in Human medical technology. Date Entered Service : 470 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 150.5 meters Crew: 50 Passengers: 100 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.19 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 6.0 light years per day Smallcraft Carried: 8 ambulance
shuttles, 16 repair drones Star Miner Industrious The “Industrious” class Star Miner is the most massive Human starship currently in service. This titanic second generation Tech Level 6 design consists of three specialized mining modules attached to a central hull. The most common types of modules are gas-giant miner, asteroid miner, nebula miner, and plasma miner. Some examples of the “Industrious” class are outfitted with all three modules being the same type while others have a mix of types. Processed materials are loaded into cargo containers that dock along side the giant vessel. Containers awaiting transport are attached to the underside of the central hull. Most surviving “Industrious” class ships have been retrofitted with third generation Tech Level 6 propulsion systems. Date Entered Service : 475 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 175.0 meters Crew: 90 Passengers: 30 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.21 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 7.5 light years per day fully loaded Small Starships Carried: 3 “Adventurous” class Star Surveyors Smallcraft Carried: 7 survey drones, 14
repair drones Star Plunderer Partisan The “Partisan”class Star Plunderer is one of the few starship designs built specifically for pirate activities. Most other pirate vessels are either converted freighters or obsolete military ships obtained illegally. The “Partisan” class is the largest second generation Tech Level 6 custom-built pirate design yet encountered. Usually armed with vibration beam emitters and a sizable complement of armed drones, it can stand up to any Star Patroller but usually runs at the sight of a Star Defender. A few have been spotted using plasma bolt launchers but most pirate captains prefer not to lose the valuable cargo hold space they replace. One example has been reported to mount a Star Defender-grade energy beam. Many “Partisan”class vessels include advanced electronic countermeasures in addition to the the standard suite of sensors and navigational deflectors. Date First Encountered : 471 RE (Radiant Era) Length: 125.5 meters Crew: 35-60 Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.21 c Maximum Warp-Jump Performance: 6.0 light years per day Smallcraft
Carried: 4 survey drones, 4 repair drones, 14 patrol drones |