Designation: Tirolian Destroyer

Names and disposition:

• Limited fold-capable general-purpose warship.

Ship's Complement:

• Command Triumvirates: 30;
• Ship's Complement : circa 200;
• Clone Warriors : circa 600;
• Total : 850;
• Permanent life support capability: 5000 humanoids;
• Emergency life support capability: 10000 humanoids.

Dimensions:

• Length: 348 meters (main hull), 386 meters (over all).
• Width : 56 meters (main hull), 101 meters (over all).
• Height: 103 meters (main hull), 148 meters (over all).
• Mass : 140,000 tons.

Propulsion Systems:

• Gravitic Maneuvering Drives: The standard reaction engines installed in all Zentraedi and Earth ships have been omitted in favor of three gravitic maneuvering drives. These drives are smaller versions of the main sub-light drives and are mounted on the three axis of the ship. The use of these drives in unison will create the required thrust into any direction, thus eliminating the maneuvering problems present in the larger drive. These smaller drives are rated for a maximum acceleration of 1.8g. Also, the drives do not use reaction mass and can thus be operated indefinitely.
• Gravitic Displacement Drive for sublight travel: Local, monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion, powered by main protoculture reactors, accelerates vessel at 400-500 g, but the vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .001 C, though higher speeds can be achieved.
• Space Fold: A hyperspace system that catapults the vessel through space-time. The spacefold system is used for traveling from one system to another quickly. The strapped-down system used onboard the Destroyers was of the conformal type and limited to distances of about 100 parsecs (326 ly) per hyperspace fold-jump.
• Planetary Capability: The Destroyers can operate in an atmosphere, but are due to their size constrained to sub-sonic speeds. Planetfall is also possible, given a sufficiently large flat area with a bedrock underground or a body of water.

Endurance and mobility limits:

• Effectively limitless through fold and sublight drive systems. Protoculture reactors will function for 50-65 years, depending on the individual system's design age and the level of use it gets.

Weapon Systems:

• Reflex Cannon: An incredibly destructive particle beam with a range of over 300,000 km, mounted in the front of the vessel. The model used by the Destroyers utilizes the same technology as the mini-Reflex cannons mounted on the Tirolian gunships, and fires through the two lower cannon appendages, rather than requiring the ship to open up.
  The effects of this weapon against planets are equal to the heat and blast effects of the detonation of a fusion weapon of 1.5 megatons, if fired at full power. Note that at the time the Second Robotech War the energy levels in the Tirolian ships were so low that the cannon could no longer be fired by most ships, and in the ships that still could fire the cannon, the blast effect seldom exceeded 50 kilotons.
  If utilized against starships, the largest vessels can be destroyed with one salvo. The weapon can also be set to a wider dispersal. While not nearly as effective as a tight beam against warships, it is capable of clearing a wide area of fighters and other mecha.
• Main Particle Beams: These are the main anti-ship weapons, as the reflex cannon cannot be fired fast enough in fleet actions. There are four of these large cannons mounted in appendages on the bow, all firing in a forward arc. Another two are located aftwards to the sides, two slightly smaller ones are mounted in movable turrets to the front sides, and three of the smallest variant are mounted on the dorsal and ventral surfaces. Rate of fire for the largest cannons is two salvos per minute, and the smaller ones can fire a sustained salvo of ten seconds three times per minute. Range is a respectable 200,000 km. Typically, one discharge of one frontal cannon has a power of 1.5 terajoules, for a total forward (four cannons firing) salvo of 6.0 terajoules, the equivalent to 1.2 kilotons of TNT. The intermediate cannons can fire salvos of 0.75 terajoules (0.15 kilotons) and the smallest are limited to 0.3 terajoules (0.06 kilotons).
• AAA Lasers: All Destroyers mount over 120 of these weapons. They are designed to suppress attacking mecha, constructed with the Invid's suicidal ramming tactics in mind. 10 of these cannons are mounted on the bow, another ten are mounted on the stern, and 25 are divided over each of the dorsal, port, ventral and starboard hull surfaces. They can deliver 10 MJ of laser energy each and can fire every 1.5 seconds.

Defense Systems:

• Absorbative & ablative hull: The hull of each Destroyer is constructed with a mix of high-density metals, ceramics and other, classified materials. While not as effective as the more advanced Tirolian shield technologies, which the Destroyer is too small to carry, this armor does limit the destructive impact of energy and solids weapon systems to a certain extend.

Special Equipment of Note:

• Hyperspace communications
• Long-range laser and satellite relay communications
• Long-range radar
• Radar and communication dampeners
• Electronic warfare devices.

Mecha and Air Complement:

• Typical complements are given. If needed, these numbers can be increased.
• Bioroids: 200 to 250 units.
• Typically about 25 shuttles, recon drones and others.

Design Notes:

The Tirolian Destroyer was conceived to be a fast, heavily-armed vessel for fleet escort, patrol, and assault duties. Bristling with the most armament for her size of any ship ever built, this vessel was the core of the reduced fleets operated by Tirol after she downsized her own military after the creation of the Zentraedi.

In general hull shape, the Destroyers were shaped not unlike a snub-nosed version of the later REF's Garfish-class destroyer, without the hangar, gun turret, or engines. To the outboard edges of these ships' flat ventral surfaces, two sponson-like bulges were visible, running about a third of the vessel's length.

Four large sensor domes dominated the bow. Three of these were mounted in a vertical row in the bow, while the larger fourth dome was mounted on the edge of the upper deck and the prow. Flanking these sensors were the four booms of the main armament, sticking out from the ships much like the very early german air-to-air radars did in the Second World War. A fifth and sixth cannon appendage was mounted to the rear, while two smaller cannons were mounted in movable turrets between the bow and the sponsons. The AAA armament was usually hidden from view behind movable bulkheads.

Designed for naval engagements, the ships also carried a fair number of Bioroids and their sleds in five internal hangars; one near the upper deck and the other four near the lower hull.

There were no command towers on this design, the CIC and bridge being located near the core of the vessel, for maximum protection. Four large sensor booms, for local hyperspace sensors, were mounted at the rear, in a cruciform arrangement, rotated forty-five degrees from the ship's gravity-well attitude.

History:

As the Tirolians began to expand into space, they brought a military presence with them. To defend the early colony ships and to patrol the Interstellar Republic, the Tirolians developed a number of military vessel designs; the only two that stood the test of time were the Battleship and Destroyer. With the introduction of the Zentraedi, these designs were largely abandoned. However, centuries later, as the Empire began to collapse, several of the basic designs were revived, updated with the newest technologies, and sent to the shipyards for construction. Among them was the Destroyer.

The craft was a dedicated starship-killer spacecraft in a very small hull; in fact, the vessel was smaller than its closest Earth equivalent, the Tristar-class Light Cruiser. Each Mothership was assigned three battlegroups of nine Destroyers each, and several independent groups were built as well. In total, over 1100 of these ships were built by the Tirolian overlords. The design showed its mettle during the latter days of the Empire, when system after system fell to the Invid. Its best known battles, however, are those that took place in the solar system during the Second Robotech War. Over 160 Destroyers were transported with the large Tirolian Motherships to Earth, where they exacted a terrible toll on the Southern Cross and the relief expeditions sent by the REF. All of these ships were either destroyed during the war, or lost all power in the months after the its end. A few survivors of the class were found intact in the former Tirolian Empire, and ongoing research programs are trying to duplicate the design, or at least certain key technologies, for use in a new standard REF frigate, and the successors to the both the Tristar and Garfish classes.

See additional design notes.

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Copyright © 1997, 1995 Robert Morgenstern, Peter Walker, Pieter Thomassen
Last Updated: Thursday, April 2, 1998 12:46 PM