Virtue class Light Freighter

Virtue class Light Freighter
Distant Fringe vessel.
Type: TB Transport
Size	1,500 Tons
Hull Configuration	[[Cone Hull]]
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–11
Engineering
Computer	Model/2
Jump	J-2
Maneuver	1 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	15
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	19
Officers	4
Enlisted	15
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	800 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
Price
Cost	MCr747.879 (base) MCr598.304 (qty)
Architect fee	MCrAde Stewart.
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	AM-AS12
Images
Blueprint	Yes.
Illustration	Yes
Source
Also see	Merchant Vessel
Canon	Published, fan design
Era	1105
Reference	Ade Stewart
Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using High Guard.

The Virtue class Light Freighter is a mercantile starship and a Merchant Vessel.

• It is a civilian ship and a Transport.
• Please also see: Ships of the Distant Fringe

Description (Specifications)

The Virtue class is a generic civilian vessel: it is a commercial transport commonly 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.

Image Repository

A sleek Virtue class Light Freighter.

General Description

The Virtue class is a streamlined flattened cone with a mean width of 26 meters, a mean height of 13 meters, and a length of around 92 meters. The hull is wider in some sections and narrower in others, it has large wings and the rear section has large machinery housings, giving the ship a total enclosed volume of approximately 20,250 cubic meters. There are three forward decks, a large forward cargo hold, three narrow central access decks, a large aft hold, and two rear engineering decks. The bridge, the accommodations and the hangar are located forward, while the cryogenic section and the secure locker are situated in the central access decks. The fuel tanks are contained within the wings and the stern.

A basic deck plan of the vessel indicating the general layout and positioning of major elements.

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) where necessary.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage	The Light Freighter is constructed using a 1500 dTon hull built in a generally conical configuration. The hull is streamlined and has good atmospheric capability: its atmospheric handling characteristics are heavily reliant on its onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. There are multiple personnel airlocks. The cargo holds are accessed by loading ramps. The vessel has sturdy retractable legs, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	Total Crew Complement: x19 x5 Command, x2 Engineering, x6 Gunnery, and x5 Service Crew, of which 1 doubles up as flight crew for the subcraft as required. In addition, the vessel carries x1 Steward. Accommodations There are x20 Staterooms. x12 Staterooms are given over to crew quarters. The captain receives an individual cabin: other quarters are double occupancy. Two Staterooms are set aside as a crew lounge, galley, and office space. x8 Staterooms are available to passengers. There are x40 Low Berths. They are tended by the vessel's Steward. Accessible areas of the hull are fitted with grav plates and inertial compensators and have full life support and environmental systems. There is a 4 dTon secure locker. 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 multiple Emergency Lockers.
3.	Performance	The vessel mounts a DeVoss-type Jump-2 drive, a Maneuver-1 drive and a Power Plant-2, giving performance of jump-2, 1-G acceleration and producing 30 Energy Points. The ship has an agility rating of 0 and an emergency agility of 1. 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.	Main Section / Electronics	Adjacent to the bridge is a Model/2 Computer: there is a backup Model/2 Computer. 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	x15 hardpoints. There is one unused hardpoint: 1 dTon is set aside for fire control. The listed battery groupings are considered standard for the class. Alternative battery groupings may be designated for specific routes.
6.	Armament / Weaponry	The normal weapons fit-out for a Virtue is: x8 triple Missile turrets, forming two batteries each of 4 linked turrets. Each missile rack mounts x3 standard Anti-Shipping Missiles.
7.	Defenses	The hull is unarmored. x6 triple Sandcaster turrets, forming three batteries each of 2 linked turrets The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft	Flight Section x1 40-dTon Songbird class Ship's Boat. The subcraft is housed in a dedicated hangar located in the bows, close to the crew accommodations: the hangar can be sealed and has a total volume of 52 dTons.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 330 dTons. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is not fitted with fuel purification equipment.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel, complete with a Ship’s Boat, is MCr747.879. Both 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 the price per unit to MCr598.304.
11.	Construction Time	123 weeks (31 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.	Remarks	Standard cargo capacity amounts to 800 dTons: this space is divided into a forward hold with a capacity of approximately 350 dTons and an aft hold with a capacity of approximately 450 dTons. Gantry walkways run around the interiors of the holds. The cargo holds can be subdivided into sections using removable partition walls. Each hold has independent life support and environmental systems. Each hold can be sealed and isolated.

History & Background (Dossier)

The Virtue class 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. While they have spacious holds and adequate accommodations, the class are considered underpowered and a number of vessels have suffered catastrophic failure while operating in high-gee environments.

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

A number of companies manufacture ships equivalent to the Virtue class. They vary in hull shape and internal layout but all share the same basic design and all have very similar capabilities and performance characteristics.

• Each variant class is named by the company that produces it: these organizations generally draw on traditional naming protocols. It is not uncommon for a historical class name to be reused.
• Individual vessels within a class are issued specific serial numbers and transponder codes but traditionally are named by their owners. This is considered a serious affair and a ship with a frivolous name is considered "unlucky".

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Merchant Vessel - Freighter:

• Type M class Light Freighter
  • Goliath class Provincial Freighter
  • Palatine class Merchant Trader
  • Sirocco class Merchant Freighter
  • Virtue class Light Freighter

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