Forrestal-class Heavy Destroyer

The Forrestal-class heavy destroyer is a Paxemese series of warships which was put into service after the fall of the Neu Corporate Republik. At just over seven hundred meters long, it is the third-largest airship in the Paxemese Navy, after the Cyrene-class Battlecruiser and Paxem-class Battlecarrier.

SLS Sepulcre

Design

Like many other warships built for the Paxemese Navy following the Great Corporate War, the Forrestal-class originated from late-war era Republik ship plans for a "interceptor-type heavy cruiser". This type of cruiser was designed for armament and speed, with its engine to total mass ratio being the highest of any Republik-era warship. The reason for this was to allow for the ship to intercept and destroy Oscdean cargo craft and their escorts on their way from the Sol Debris Field to Terra. Consequently, the Forrestal-class is among the fastest warships in the Paxemese fleet despite its huge size. This has permitted it to act in a "conflict first response role", with Forrestal-class warships being permanently on alert to respond to national security threats.

The ship is built in a "dagger-design" typical of Star Destroyers used by the Dark Angels, which permits for maximum frontal fire from the vessel's cannons. Consequently, the original vessel as planned by the NCR was particularly vulnerable to rear attacks - this was rectified by the Paxemese Navy by removing several of the gun batteries originally planned for the vessel and replacing them with vertical launch missile batteries.

Weapon Systems

The Forrestal-class is designed to serve in an anti-surface and anti-airship role, and has many different types of weapon systems which allow it to fulfill a variety of missions. The ship's main offensive weapons are its forty-two VLS (vertical launch system) batteries, each containing a 4x2 cell pattern. Each cell contains a single ASsM-10 "Basalt" anti-ship/surface missile or four AAM-500 "Backfire" anti-aircraft missiles, depending on their configuration. The ship also has 32 RBM anti-aircraft missile launchers lining the side alleys of the vessel and the superstructure.

In addition to its missile systems, the vessel also has eight turrets, each containing four 500mm Mark 50 railguns for surface bombardment and close-combat anti-ship warfare. Mounted on the side alleys of the vessel and the superstructure are a total of twenty 130mm multi-purpose Mark 55 cannons, used for anti-aircraft and anti-ship combat. Located on the ventral axis of the craft are two Type-9 plasma lances for surface glassing operators or pinpoint surface threat destruction.

Finally, the Forrestal-class has five multi-purpose Mark 12 launchers for ASSuT-10 "Kingfisher" torpedoes or ASuB depth charges mounted on the underside, for anti-ship and submarine warfare.