Children of the March

The Children of the March is a named ship of the Lightning class Frontier Cruiser also known as the Azhanti High Lightning class Frontier Cruiser.

Description (Specifications)

A Fleet intruder (later Frontier cruiser) of the Azhanti High Lightning type.

• Tail number 6355.
• Laid down 095-994.
• First flight 117-997.
• 60,000 tons and heavily armed.

History & Background (Dossier)

A fleet intruder (later frontier cruiser) of the Azhanti High Lightning -class. Tail number 6355. Laid down 095-994. First flight 117-997. 60,000 tons and heavily armed.

The Children of the March was unusual in this class of ships primarily for its method of financing. The boost to subsector economy created by the award of starship construction contracts is always important enough to make all areas of the Imperium vie for the privilege. At the time of the bidding invitations, the Solomani Rim War (990 to 1002) was burning on the other side of the Imperium; there was little chance that the Spinward Marches would receive a contract.

The Duke of Regina, speaking for the Marches, proposed that the Marches fund one additional ship from its own resources, on the condition that the Marches receive a contract to produce a portion of the total run. The school children of the worlds within the Marches contributed their lunch money, at a quarter credit each, for the ultimate funding of one ship, and it was named Children of the March in their honour.

At least, that is the story available to the casual reader. But that sort of activity is very cost-ineffective, and has a great potential for graft, or at least inattention. Instead, the sector government came up with the idea, and implemented it at the highest levels. Given a population of 783 billion in the Marches (under direct Imperial rule), children in school amount to about 10% of that population. Assuming a contribution of a quarter credit per student, the campaign could produce the sum of 19.575 billion credits.

The bureaucracy simply deducted this sum from funds budgeted to education; the responsibility for replenishment fell upon educational administrators, who could solicit donations from students (or others) for the shipbuilding campaign. Aside from the initial notification from the sector government, no further effort was necessary, no further credit transfers were needed, and the campaign was allowed to go on for however long was necessary. Reportedly, some backwater districts still collect for the "Starship Fund".

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.

• Classic Traveller Supplement 8 Library Data (A-M)
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science