Constance class Launch

Constance class Launch
Distant Fringe vessel.
Type: UML Smallcraft
Category	Smallcraft
Size	50 Tons
Hull Configuration	Cone Hull
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–9
Engineering
Computer	Model/1
Jump	J-0
Maneuver	2 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	1
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	1
Officers	1
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	40.0 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
Year Operational	No information yet available.
End of Service	Still in active service.
Price
Cost	MCr18.850 (base) MCr15.080 (qty)
Architect fee	MCrAde Stewart
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	U-5A20
Images
Blueprint	No
Source
Also see	Utility Craft - Smallcraft
Canon	Published, fan design
Era	1105
Reference	Ade Alagoric Stewart
Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using Book 5 High Guard

The Constance class Launch is a noncombatant smallcraft.

• It is a Civilian Ship and an Auxiliary.
• Please also see AAB article: Ships of the Distant Fringe.

Description (Specifications)

The Launch is designed to transport passengers in a variety of circumstances. It uses the same basic hull as the Lifeboat. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled.

• The vessel is a TL-9 design.

Image Repository

1. A Constance class Launch.
   

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 craft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (thousands of tons) when necessary.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage / Hull	The Launch is constructed using a 50 dTon hull built in a generally cone-shaped configuration. The hull is fully streamlined and has airfoil surfaces, giving improved atmospheric performance that is further enhanced by its onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. The vessel has an airlock. The vessel has a sturdy retractable landing legs, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	Total Crew Complement: 1 x1 Pilot. If the vessel is carried as a subcraft, this individual serves as service crew aboard the parent vessel when not required for piloting duties. Accommodations There is 1 small stateroom. This serves as an office, galley or medical bay as necessary and contains a small fresher. Accessible areas of the hull are fitted with grav plates and inertial compensators. The vessel has full life support and environmental systems. There are internal monitoring and security systems throughout the vessel. Sections of the ship can be isolated in the event of an emergency. There are x3 small emergency lockers.
3.	Performance	The vessel mounts a Maneuver-2 drive and a Power Plant-2, giving performance of 2-G acceleration and producing 1 Energy Point. The ship has an agility rating of 2. The internal fuel tankage is sufficient to give the power plant approximately 4 weeks duration. The engineering section is controlled from the cockpit. Access to the machinery can be gained via a sealable hatch.
4.	Electronics	The cockpit contains x2 acceleration couches and control equipment. The vessel is fitted with a Model/1 Computer: no backup Computer is installed. The vessel is fitted with communications equipment, a basic sensor array, and has an Avionics suite. It has a transponder unit that can be deactivated on command.
5.	Hardpoints	x1 hardpoint. There is one unused hardpoint and 1 dTon is set aside for fire control.
6.	Armament	The Launch is unarmed.
7.	Defenses	The hull is unarmored. The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft	The vessel carries no subcraft.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 1 dTon. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is not equipped with fuel purification equipment.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel is MCr18.850. The ship is a standard design. Detailed architectural plans are widely available and no design fee is chargeable. If multiple examples of the design are ordered all of the ships in the production run qualify for a 20% discount, which reduces the price of each unit to MCr15.080.
11.	Construction Time	24 weeks (5.5 months) as standard. 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	Cargo capacity amounts to 40 dTons.

History & Background (Dossier)

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

Distant Fringe Vessels

The Distant Fringe is said to be a far spinward-rimward area inhabited by colonists and refugees originating on Terra. The region is extremely isolated, separated from the rest of Charted Space by vast, almost uncrossable rifts that were once broached by a system of calibration Points and the use of tankers. Those few academics within Charted Space who have found references to the Distant Fringe regard it as little more than a tall tale. Likewise, many of the inhabitants of the Distant Fringe believe the existence of Charted Space to be mythical.

Vessels originating within the Distant Fringe are very rarely encountered outside of the region. However, misjumps do occur and anomalies with bizarre spacetime and Jumpspace effects exist: as such, craft of this type are not entirely unknown within Charted Space.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

Different examples of the design are known by many different names but all have very similar performance characteristics and capabilities.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Civilian Ship - Smallcraft - Utility Craft - Launch: Civilian Ship- Smallcraft - Utility Craft:

1. Type UML class Launch
   1. Constance class Launch
   2. Damgarrii class Passenger Launch
   3. Generic Launch / Lifeboat
   4. Gillow class Launch
   5. Last Armada class Launch
   6. Rodgers class Skiff
   7. Stead class Modular Launch
   8. Venters class Launch

References & Contributors (Sources)

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This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

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)
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science