Repulse Class Carrier

“The Repulse class carrier came at a critical time as our battles with the Uhlans proved we needed better ways to get our fighters into the battle. Many design modifications were tried prior which lead to the current fighter compliment on the Umbra class but none gave us the level of force projection needed. The response was simply to build a vessel able to support and transport the kind of fighter forces needed to win the war and thus the Repulse class was born. It seems almost comical to me now though, while the enemies we faced were busy building bigger starships ours were remaining the same size and making gains in combat integration and overall durability. One Saurian captured after a brief skirmish remarked that his people were convinced the battle was won because we brought more cruisers when in fact it was the volume of fighter forces deployed by our Repulse class cruisers that won the day even against much larger enemy warships.” – The First Prime, circa 2051

“I admit, the Repulse class is hideous when compared to the graceful lines of the umbra, sharps, corsair or even the utilitarian Strix classes. But despite this she has an overwhelming presence, and serves as the operational proof that military hardware isn’t supposed to be pretty, it’s supposed to do its job. The Uhlans, grasp this best and often refer to the Repulse class as ‘The Metal End” meaning it delivers to them swift death…our ensigns in respects refer to it as “the repulsive”. It figures an alien species would appreciate its efficiency before our own do.” – Martin Hildebrand, Naval Architect.

Capabilities

The repulse class has proven to be the most durable of all starship classes fielded by the SSC if only for its low loss rate when compared to other vessel classes. This survivability is due in part to the extensive armor scheme incorporated into the design as well as double-redundant shield emitter system for which each system utilizes a separate power supply and primary point of emissions. The effect is that simply the Repulse class is rather hard to damage at range forcing most foes to try and close. This effect is not without risks as Repulse class carriers travel in packs, and always have support. Furthering this defensive capability is the defensive abilities of the Repulse class itself. Clearly as a capital warship the Repulse class is durable but it’s armament is more focused towards warding off enemy fighters, bombers, missiles and torpedoes which makes it a critical anchor in any fleet. This is not to say the Repulse class lacks teeth as it has anti-warship weapons as it pears a respectable away of COIL energy weapons and a large number of torpedo launching systems for anti warship and small target use. Backing this up is the carriers reasonable speed, which allows it to change position as needed. The final and most important feature of the Repulse class is its impressive fighter load as a Repulse at maximum load can bear 3,281 Cymindis type fighter squadrons or about 2,625 standard non-carrier adapted fighters. The sheer fighter load alone makes a single Repulse a threat but a pack of them enough to alter a battle just by showing up. The one design issue with the carriers of this class is a lack of a stealth suite, which is somewhat alleviated by the addition of an electronic warfare suite. The difficulties of the “Ezra’s Wheel” device handing carrier operations has been the source of many a carrier captains disdain as the larger Umbra and Sharps class have no issues and both have the stealth suite. It is thought that the unique shape of the Repulse class interferes with the stealth field effect and barring that just the sheer number of craft handled. Time will tell if this issue is ever resolved. As a final note the most distinguishing feature of the design its hatchet-faced ramming bow. The entire armored front is designed of a single massively cast piece that by it self weighs 45,500 tons. The 'face' of the bow is cast as a massive single piece under exacting requirements and is replaced in set rotations of ten years barring heavy battle damage or other incidents that might diminish the protections granted by the armor plate. Additional armor is often added by captains to the armor plate as well as localized structural reinforcements to truely turn the bow of the Repulse class into a solid structure capable of cleaving through vessels many times larger with ease. The three slits int he front of the bow are remote observation ports that typically depicted in open position but often are closed. Generally these slits are used to steer in tight quarters and for rate combat occasions where precision ramming is needed.

Deployment

The repulse is quietly deployed wherever there is likely to be a major conflict, and so it’s captains witness the heaviest of battles and encounter more alien species then any other captains in the fleet.