Gudersnipe Ships
Contents
Gudersnipe Ships
Space is big. As in really really big. And the Gudersnipe Foundation needs a lot of ships. The School and Crimson Blade use the same starships.
Classifications and Roles
A ship is classified according to the line-leader for that model. E.G., the Saratoga is a Glorious Heritage-CLASS ship. Its role is as a Light Destroyer.
Starship Roles
Largest to smallest:
- Dreadnaught
- Battleship
- Battlecruiser
- Carrier
- Cruiser
- Destroyer
- Frigate
- Cutter
- Corvette
- Short-Range Bomber
- Mid-Range Bomber
- Long-Range Bomber
- Star Fighter
Most roles also have heavy, light, and medium variants.
See also: Ship Roles
Battlegroups
A standard Tactical Battle Group has 52 Ships, including:
- 2 Carriers
- 4 Battleships
- 8 Cruisers
- 8 Cutters
- 12 Destroyers
- 18 Corvettes
A standard Expediary Battle Group has 35 Ships, including:
- 1 Carrier
- 2 Battleships
- 4 Cruisers
- 8 Cutters
- 10 Destroyers
- 10 Corvettes
Alert Status System
Alert Status One: general status, maintained at all times while breathing. Standard eight hour shifts and rotation schedules apply.
Alert Status Two: something important is obviously going on and as a red blooded (or whatever color blood your species happens to employ) GS student you should try to keep this in mind. Standard shift and rotation schedules still apply.
Alert Status Three: attack and/or danger is immanent, all crewmembers are on twelve-on shifts with overlap or split six-on rotations.
Alert Status Four: combat preparations are underway or a battle has just been completed, all crewmen should be wearing pressure suits. Inactive personal remain in designated life-support shelters. Shift scheduling is at the discretion of department heads.
Alert Status Five: combat situation, General Quarters condition to be maintained AT ALL TIMES.
Hull Design
Or: why are Gudersnipe ships shaped suspiciously like boats? There are several reasons.
First of all, we are used to our current design for spacecraft because they are meant to travel through the atmosphere. Hence, most sci-fi artists basically start with airplanes and jet-fighters to produce their spaceship designs. Cool, swept-wing concepts that look great flying around in the atmosphere. Well, I do that too, sometimes, but the fact remains that spaceships don't need wings.
Secondly, on the very large scale (and the ships get to be miles long) space, or rather the inter-stellar medium, actually behaves a lot like water. This is the fallacy of the flying saucer: a cigar-shape is actually much more efficient at moving through space than a disk. So long, narrow ships are better.
The rounded underside of the hull also acts like a shield. The armor is thickest under that portion, so during an attack, the hull can be turned to angle the bottom section towards enemy fire.
Finally, within the story-world itself it is explained thusly: they are designed to land on water, where they will float around like sea-ships. There are no star-ports on planet surfaces designed to accommodate such large vessels and for the biggest capitol ships this is a one-way trip; but part of the emergency procedures. When it doubt: land on water. Even where the ships are forced into emergency landings, the hull absorbs a land-based impact much better than other designs.
Utopia Gregaria Shipyard
Gudersnipe's primary shipyard. Main article: Utopia Gregaria.
