RCS Ravenclaw (DD 4414) above the contested world of Piedra Labrada.
Exeter
Class: Destroyer
Operators: Commonwealth Royal Navy, Republican Navy
Mass: 606,027 tons
Cost: 3,118,152,890 talents
Engines:
Right Engine Rating (15,000)
Center Engine Rating (15,000)
Left Engine Rating (15,000)
Thrust: 5
Weapons:
Type (Location)
A Spinal Mount (F)
50 22.5/15 (L)
50 22.5/15 (L)
50 22.5/15 (R)
50 22.5/15 (R)
25 22.5/15 (F)
25 22.5/15 (A)
Type C Missile System (1 Shot at 100 Points)
Fighters: 24 at 300 tons (One Flight)
Small Craft: 5 at 1,000 tons
Cargo: 5,000 tons
Crew: 529
Passengers: 100
Marines: 100
Extras: Thrust Option, Anti-Grav Drives, Streamlining
Overview[]
The Exeter is a dependable and versatile design that reflects Commonwealth strategy of multi-role vessels and mobile defense. The Exeter has even been used as an independent raider. Though suitable for all manner of missions, it excels at service with battleship squadrons and at system-defense against raiders.
Capabilities[]
Designed in 6787 by the mammoth Bristol-Ducla Ship Works orbiting Fovontol in the Skuttarra Grand Dukedom, the Exeter is simultaneously a straightforward and successful military vessel and also an oddity, built as much by politicians as by naval engineers. Its successes have been trumpeted in the media, but none as much as the initial huzzah over the political implications of the Exeter's design.
The first departure from the naval theory of ships designed to be operated by any crew, the Exeter tailored certain stations to individual races. Though any race can serve in the command positions, many other tasks aboard the ship are suitable only for a particular race. This ensures the integration of crews aboard all Exeter Class destroyers. This political innovation and intrusion into the military sphere was crafted with care. The vessel's design does not lock some races into menial tasks and give others all the glamor positions. Far from it. Side-by-side weapons bays carry equipment designed for different races. This imparts a sense of camaraderie among the races and also encourages a measure of healthy competition.
The design also takes advantage of certain races' special skills and abilities. Some tasks require more than two arms. On previous ships, engineers designed the controls to perform several different tasks simultaneously to account for the fact that many crewmen have only two arms. This sometimes made the controls less precise than they could have been otherwise. That all changed with the Exeter. This class also has certain work stations for beings of a specific anatomical classification.
Because the Renegade Legion has a high percentage of Humans and Narams, the Exeter's design makes it less usable than in the Commonwealth Navy. There are some Exeters in Renegade Legion service, but in nowhere near the numbers as in Commonwealth squadrons. This destroyer has an excellent service record, and Bristol-Ducla devotes a large percentage of its production to the Exeter. Its head-on "M" profile spells murder for enemy vessels, and its bullet shape symbolizes the speed with which it delivers death and destruction.
Its sole weakness is its lack of a long-range weapon, but its design more than compensates for this. The Exeter has excellent mobility, which allows it to close and strike with its potent array of short-range weaponry before the enemy can react. Its large complement of fighters enhances this advantage. The Mocclatar 22.5/15 lasers are potent and almost service-free. An impressive Cootrush-Foster Type C missile system deals out significant damage for a destroyer, complementing the bay lasers well. Though of standard design on a destroyer, the turret system and Jawbreaker Type A spinal mount become more effective because of the Exeter's good maneuverability. Even the biggest spinal weapon is worthless if a ship can never bring it to bear. The Exeter can close with an enemy, fire its weapons with great effect, and maneuver for another pass while enemy vessels always seem a step late in response. Many TOG destroyer commanders have lost their commands when they could not explain their defeat at the hands of an enemy vessel with less firepower and shorter range. Other TOG commanders, those leading smaller vessels in raids into Commonwealth space, never returned after trying to outmaneuver and outrun an Exeter.
Deployment[]
The Exeter is everywhere along the Commonwealth-TOG battle lines. Its mobility and usefulness in multiple roles merely emphasize the destroyer's omnipresence. It is a rare Commonwealth battleship squadron that does not contain an Exeter. Many of these destroyers also serve with system-defense forces and with County Quick Response Forces. Morale aboard these vessels is high, and the experimental design concept that gave birth to the Exeter has been tried on other classes as well.
