Assistance class Commercial Tender

Assistance class Commercial Tender
AAB Ship Reference File.
Type: TC Commercial Tender
Category	BCS
Size	3,500 Tons
Hull Configuration	Cone Hull
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–11
Engineering
Computer	Model/3
Jump	J-2
Maneuver	2 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	35
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	62
Officers	12
Enlisted	28 (+22 Technicians)
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	66.0 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Unknown
Year Operational	Unknown
End of Service	Still in active service
Price
Cost	MCr1,626.848 (base) MCr1,301.479 (qty)
Architect fee	MCrAde Stewart
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	TC.
Images
Blueprint	No
Illustration	Yes
Source
Also see	Tender
Canon	Published, fan design
Era	1105
Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using Book 5 High Guard

The Assistance class Commercial Tender is a large Industrial Vessel.

• It is a Civilian Ship and a Tender.
• It is a repair ship.
• The class is used as a rescue vessel.

Description (Specifications)

The Assistance class is a large repair ship. It provides commercial repair and maintenance services, typically in systems where the starport does not offer such facilities.

• The vessel is a TL-11 design.

These large ships may be encountered almost anywhere. Their outer skins frequently exhibit dents and dings resulting from poor maneuvering while vessels are docking and often have patches and repairs done by their own crews. Commercial tenders may serve an organisation, supporting its operational craft and providing them with maintenance in remote locations, or may operate as independent support vessels, offering on-the-spot maintenance, particularly in systems with starports that do not provide repair amenities. Military tenders will generally be accompanied by at least one escort vessel.

Image Repository

Assistance class Commercial Tender

Servant class Launch

General Description

The Assistance class is an auxiliary tender with performance of J-2 and 2-G acceleration. It is a relatively large, relatively slow ship, equipped with strong sandcaster defenses and laser turrets most commonly used in a point defense role. The design is fully streamlined, giving good atmospheric performance, allowing it to skim for fuel, and enabling it to perform surface landings.

The vessel is an unevenly shaped cone with an overall length of 102 meters, a mean diameter of 42 meters, and a volume of approximately 47,250 cubic meters. The ship has many pods, blisters, cowlings, recesses, housings, and protuberances over its surface. Despite this slightly irregular shape it is aerodynamic and may operate within planetary atmospheres.

Basic Ship Characteristics

Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. The small craft factor indicates the number of squadrons (...of ten subcraft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (...thousands of tons) where necessary.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage / Hull	The Assistance class Commercial Tender is constructed using a 3,500 dTon hull built in a generally conical configuration. The hull is fully streamlined, giving good atmospheric performance that is further enhanced by its onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. The hangars and cargo hold are accessible by large doors. There are x4 personnel airlocks. The two subcraft hangars and the cargo hold can be used as additional airlocks. The vessel has sturdy retractable legs, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	x62 personnel (x70 in military service). x8 command, x5 engineering, x8 gunnery, x4 flight, x11 service, and x4 stewards. x22 commercial technicians / maintenance staff (approximately one per 50 dTons of berthed vessel). The command crew consists of the Captain, the Executive Officer, an electronics officer (commo and sensor ops), two pilot/navigators, two hangar operations officers, and a medical officer. Each crew section has a senior officer. x8 marines serve aboard military vessels. Service crew requirements are not reduced by the presence of the marines. Accommodations There are 60 Staterooms. x37 staterooms are given over to crew quarters. x12 rooms are single occupancy and are used by the captain and senior personnel: x25 rooms are double occupancy. x23 Staterooms are available to high passengers: a full steward service is available. These are provided on a pro gratis basis to crews whose vessels are being worked on. x8 Marines use x4 rooms as double occupancy accommodations on vessels in military service: this reduces passenger accomodations to x19. There are x20 Low Berths. These are rarely used for passengers, instead being kept to provide emergency cryogenic facilities for badly injured individuals if the ship is conducting a rescue. Accessible areas of the hull are fitted with grav plates and inertial compensators and have full life support and environmental systems. There are internal monitoring and security systems throughout the vessel. Individual sections of the hull can be sealed off. There are multiple Emergency Lockers.
3.	Performance	The vessel mounts a Jump-2 drive, a Maneuver-2 drive, and a Power Plant-2, giving performance of Jump-2 and 2-G acceleration. The ship has an agility rating of 2. The internal fuel tankage is sufficient for one Jump-2 and gives the power plant 4 weeks duration. The engineering section has a main control room. Ladders, gantries and platforms give access to the machinery. The jump drive utilizes a hull grid. The jump drive is fitted with a jump governor.
4.	Electronics	Adjacent to the bridge is a Model/3 computer. A backup Model/3 is installed in engineering. There are multiple workstations and control points throughout the vessel. The vessel is fitted with communications equipment, a standard sensor array, and has an avionics suite. It has a transponder unit that can be deactivated on command.
5.	Hardpoints	x35 hardpoints. The listed weapons systems are typical for the class.
6.	Armament	The normal weapons fit-out for a Assistance class is: x15 triple Beam Laser turrets, forming three batteries each of 5 linked turrets
7.	Defenses	The hull is unarmored. x20 triple Sandcaster turrets, forming two batteries each of 10 linked turrets
8.	Craft	Commercial Hangers Internal commercial hanger space amounts to 1300 dTons. Vessels of less than 100 dTons require their displacement tonnage x1.3 in terms of space: the hangars can accommodate up to 1000 dTons of smallcraft. Vessels of 100 dTons or more require their displacement tonnage x1.1 in terms of space: the hangars can accommodate approximately 1200 dTons of starships or bigcraft. Vessels of greater than 400 dTons are generally unable to enter the hanger due to size restrictions. The Assistance is able to work on larger vessels that it is directly alongside of. Flight Section x2 10-dTon Servant class Launches. The two subcraft are housed in dedicated individual hangars: the hangars can be sealed. Each has a volume of 15 dTons.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 770 dTons. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is equipped with a fuel purification plant, capable of refining all onboard fuel (including commercial fuel tanks) in a few hours. The vessel has commercial / refuelling tankage of 500 dTons.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel is MCr1,622.366 Architects Fee: MCr16.224 If multiple examples of the design are ordered all vessels in the production run qualify for a 20% discount, which reduces the price per unit to MCr1,297.893 The price does not include the cost of the subcraft: x2 Servant class Launches cost MCr12.32 (discounts for a bulk order immediately apply, reducing the cost to MCr9.856). With its subcraft, a discounted Assistance class costs MCr1,307.749
11.	Construction Time	137 as standard, 110 weeks in quantity. Build times can be reduced by mass production and the efficiencies such processes generate, by increased financing, and by allotting additional yard resources and facilities to the construction contract.
12.	Comments	Standard cargo capacity amounts to 4 dTons. The hold has independent life support and environmental systems. The hold can be sealed and isolated.

History & Background (Dossier)

The design is representative and large numbers of variants exist, particularly with regard to the installed weapons systems, the allotted onboard electronics, and the fit out of accommodations and internal spaces.

• Assistance class Tenders often pair with a Furnish class Tanker.
• These two vessels, working together, can temporarily provide some equivalence to Class A starport facilities on a frontier world.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

Vessel Peculiarities:
The design is capable of independent operations (it can provide its own fuel) and can transport incidental supplies in its hold.

The hangars are designed to conduct repair and maintenance on spacecraft and starships. They have conventional machine ships, cutting and welding gear, mechanical and gravitic lifting equipment, computer-assisted design and 3D printing facilities, stationary robotic manufacturing units able to construct complex specialist components, stocks of fluids and gases and consumables (such as 3D print base material, sealants, or abrasives), and a wide range of tools and specialist maintenance equipment.

• The hold is most commonly used to store parts, components, and fittings.
• Additional spare parts are typically stored in unused hangar space.

A number of examples of the class have been used as "base ships" by pirate groups.

Class Naming Practice/s:
Individual vessels are generally named by the organization that operates them. This is considered a serious affair and a ship with a frivolous name is considered "unlucky". Spacefarers tend to be superstitious and such vessels may find that they attract less commercial interest or are less favored for berthing slots, further adding to their unlucky reputation.

• Individual vessels are issued specific serial numbers and transponder codes.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Merchant Vessel - Tender:

• Type TC class Tender
  • Assistance class Commercial Tender

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article has metadata.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20-37. (Design Sequence Used)
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS