Fringian Frame Carrier

Frame Carrier
Type: TB Commercial Mercantile Ships
Size	90,000 Tons
Hull Configuration	[[{{{hull}}}]]
Tech Level	TL–11
Engineering
Computer
Jump	J-2
Maneuver	1 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	900
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	441
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	56,000 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	[[Distant Fringe]]
Price
Cost	MCr29,516.775 (base) MCr23,613.420 (discounted)
Source
Canon	Unpublished, fan design

Description / Specifications

A generic class of civilian vessel, the Frame Carrier is a very large commercial transport occasionally encountered along Star Lanes within the Distant Fringe region. It is classified as a Bulk Cargo Carrier and is constructed as a conventional design. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled.

• The vessel is a TL 11 design.
• Vessels of this type are occasionally employed in the Recovery Trade.

Hull

The Frame Carrier is constructed using a 90000 dTon hull built in a dispersed structure configuration: the hull is unstreamlined. The ship consists of two major sections: the main hull, containing all of the major components, and the load arms, a variable geometry structure made up of a framework that can be adjusted to fit around unusually shaped or very large cargoes, such as starships.

• Individual sections of the main hull are divided by bulkhead walls. Sections of the ship can be isolated in the event of an emergency.
• The hull includes internal grav plates and inertial compensators. All accessible sections of the hull have life support.

Engineering

The vessel mounts a DeVoss-type jump-2 drive, a maneuver-1 drive, and a power plant 2, giving performance of jump-2 and 1G acceleration. The ship has an agility rating of 0 and an emergency agility of 1. There is fuel tankage of 19800 dTons, sufficient for one jump-2 and giving the power plant four weeks duration.

• The engineering section has a main control room.
• The jump drive creates a jump bubble around the vessel.
• The jump drive is fitted with a jump governor.

Overburden

The Frame Carrier is capable of carrying "overburden" cargos: a payload of up to 66,000 dTons. The load must be fully contained within the jump bubble. The overburden payload increases the ship's displacement tonnage correspondingly – to up to 100,000 dTons – but reduces its performance to jump-1 and 0.5G acceleration.

• The major limiting factor on overburdening a vessel is the capability of the ship's model/5 computer. If the total displacement tonnage of the vessel is 100,000 dTons or more, the computer cannot perform the calculations necessary to initiate a jump transition.
• The practice of overburdening a ship places extreme stresses and strains on the internal equipment and dramatically increases the chances of a catastrophic failure.

Main Section

Adjacent to the bridge is a computer model/5: the vessel carries an additional backup computer model/5. There are 290 staterooms and 60 low berths, primarily used to transport livestock. Double occupancy accommodations are required for all except the command crew. 47 staterooms are available to paying passengers. Cargo capacity (contained within the load arms) amounts to 56000 dTons and is in vacuum.

• The vessel is fitted with communications equipment and a sensor suite.

Crew

The Frame Carrier requires 441 crew: 45x Command, 99x Engineering, 19x Gunnery, and 270x Service, of which 6 double up as flight crew for the subcraft as necessary. In addition, the vessel carries 6x passenger stewards and 2x medics.

Weapons

The ship is fitted with 180 turrets. These are grouped into:

• ten sandcaster batteries, each consisting of 10 linked triple turrets
• eight beam laser batteries, each consisting of 10 linked triple turrets.

There are 720 unused hardpoints and 720 dTons are set aside for fire control.

Subcraft

The ship carries five Lifeboats and a Ship’s Boat, each housed in a designated berthing position.

Cost

The basic cost of the vessel, complete with its complement of subcraft, is MCr29516.775.

• All the craft are standard designs. 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 their price to MCr23613.420.

History / Background

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

See also: Ships of the Distant Fringe

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References & Contributors / Sources

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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.

• CT Book 5 "High Guard", GDW, 1980.
• 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