Freshwater class Tanker

Freshwater class Tanker
Type: RG Tanker
Category	BCS
Size	5,000 Tons
Hull Configuration	Cone Hull
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–12
Engineering
Computer	Model/3
Jump	J-3
Maneuver	2 G
Fuel Treatment	Scoops, Purifier
Armaments
Hardpoints	50
Accommodations
Staterooms	30
Personnel
Crew	47
Officers	11
Enlisted	36
Pilots	4
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	30 Tons
Fuel tank	3,450 Tons
Carried craft	2 10t launches
Special features	40t hanger
Construction
Construction Time	27 Months
Origin	Third Imperium
Price
Cost	MCr3,081.162
Architect fee	MCr38.392
Statistics
Universal Ship Profile	RG-E232332-090000-60000-0
Images
Blueprint	No
Illustration	Yes
Source
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Designer	Ade Stewart
Design System	High Guard
Era	1105
Reference	Fan: Ade Stewart

The Freshwater class Tanker is a TL–12 Tanker.

• It is used by military forces and by commercial organizations.
• It has large internal fuel tanks and a fuel purification plant.
• Similar designs operate across Charted Space.

Description

The Freshwater class is a tanker vessel. It collects and refines hydrogen fuel and either transports it to a starport or provides it directly to another vessel.

These large and generally grubby ships may be encountered almost anywhere. Their outer skins become stained and darkened by trace chemicals while skimming gas giant atmospheres and they frequently exhibit dents and scrapes resulting from poor maneuvering while vessels are coming alongside to refuel. Commercial tankers may serve an organization, supporting its operational craft and providing them with refined fuel on demand, or may operate as independent gas traders, selling fuel directly from their tanks, particularly in systems with starports that do not provide local refuelling facilities. Military tankers will generally be accompanied by at least one escort vessel.

Image Repository

Freshwater class Tanker

Servant class Launch

General Description

The Freshwater class is an auxiliary tanker with performance of J-3 and 2-G acceleration. It is a relatively large, relatively slow ship, equipped with strong sandcaster defences and laser turrets most commonly used in a point defence 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 125 meters, a mean diameter of 42 meters, and a volume of approximately 67,500 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 Freshwater class Tanker is constructed using a 5,000 dTon hull built in a generally conical configuration. The hull is streamlined and has good atmospheric capability: its atmospheric handling characteristics are improved by its onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. The cargo hold is accessed by external doors. There are x5 personnel airlocks. The cargo hold can be used as an additional airlock. The vessel has sturdy retractable legs, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	x47 personnel (x53 in military service). x8 command, x11 engineering, x8 gunnery, x4 flight, x15 service. x1 medical. The command crew consists of the Captain, the Executive Officer, two electronics officers (commo and sensor ops), two pilot/navigators, and two fuel control officers. Each crew section has a senior officer. x6 marines serve aboard military vessels. Service crew requirements are not reduced by the presence of the marines. Accommodations There are x30 Staterooms. x27 Staterooms are given over to crew quarters. x8 rooms are single occupancy and are used by the captain and senior personnel: x19 other rooms are double occupancy. x3 Staterooms are available to paying middle passengers: no steward service is available. x6 Marines use these as double occupancy accommodations on vessels in military service: military vessels have no passenger capacity. 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-3 drive, a Maneuver-2 drive, and a fusion Power Plant-3, giving performance of Jump-3 and 2-G acceleration. The ship has an agility rating of 0 and an emergency agility of 2. The internal fuel tankage is sufficient for one Jump-3 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	x50 hardpoints. The listed weapons systems are typical for the class.
6.	Armament	The normal weapons fit-out for a Freshwater class is: x20 triple Beam Laser turrets, forming four batteries of 5 linked turrets.
7.	Defenses	The hull has no additional armor. x30 triple Sandcaster turrets, forming three batteries of 10 linked turrets. The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft	Flight Section: x2 10-dTon Servant class Launches. The subcraft are housed in a dedicated hangar: the hangar can be sealed and has a total volume of 40 dTons. 14 dTons of hangar space is unused, giving berthing space for up to 10 dTons of vessels.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 1650 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 1800 dTons. Fuel transfer is done via boom arms that extend from the hull. Vessels attach to these and draw fuel from the tanker's refuelling tanks. Up to four vessels can be refuelled simultaneously.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel is MCr3,839.132 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 MCr3,071.306 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 Freshwater class costs MCr3,081.162
11.	Construction Time	144 weeks as standard, 116 weeks in bulk. Architects Fee: MCr38.392 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 30 dTons. The hold has independent life support and environmental systems. The hold can be sealed and isolated.

History & Background (Dossier)

Freshwater class tankers are at best average tanker vessels. They rarely operate at their maximum jump capability, typically travelling only one or two parsecs to refuel at a convenient local fuel source, refining the gas they harvest and jumping with it to their destination, delivering or distributing it (retaining enough internal fuel for ongoing jump operations), and jumping back to a nearby fuel source to repeat the cycle.

F Class Vessels

The design is one of a related series collectively referred to as F Class vessels.

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

• Other F Class designs include the Furnish class and the Florence class.

Vessel Peculiarities

The Freshwater class, like all other example of the F Class, develops a characteristic judder during fuel skimming operations, when the main tanks reach 50% capacity and auxiliary pumping gear begins transferring fuel to secondary tanks. The refining plant and fuel pumping equipment are noisy. Engineering personnel wear ear protection and rely on personal communicators when working around them.

The boom arms that extend from the tankers hull and transfer fuel to adjacent ships are easily damaged. The vessel carries multiple spares and extra components.

• Boom arm repair is one of the most unpopular jobs on the ship.

The class was originally designed to have three launches and adequate hangar space was provided for them. These subcraft were intended to transport personnel while the parent vessel remained in orbit providing refuelling services, and to act as lifeboats in an emergency. The class was only ever issued with two launches as standard (likely as a result of corporate cutbacks and penny-pinching) resulting in inadequate escape facilities for the crew in the event of their needing to evacuate the vessel. Individual owners and captains may upgrade by purchasing an additional subcraft if desired, though more often the vacant hangar space is used as extra cargo storage.

Nomad Ports

Freshwater class Tankers may occasionally pair with an Assistance class Tender, a vessel equipped to carry out field maintenance and repairs on smaller craft. These two vessels, working together, can temporarily provide some equivalence to Class A starport facilities on a frontier world. Such outfits are usually escorted by one or more small warships, such as the Cerberus class Gunboat or the Phoebe class Armored Escort.

• The Nomad Port moves from system to system, usually working to an established itinerary.
• The arrival of a Nomad Port is often timed to coincide with a harvest or a local festival, when in-system traffic is likely to be higher.
• Well equipped private security forces are usually retained.

Rift Runners

Freshwater class vessels are capable of independent operations (they can provide their own fuel) and can transport incidental cargo or supplies in their small holds.

Rather than using their large fuel tanks to supply fuel, they are able to use them to make two consecutive Jump-3s via empty hexes. A number of examples of the class serve as "slow" Jump-6 couriers or long-range exploratory or survey ships.

• Such vessels generally have their onboard sensors upgraded to an advanced sensor array.

The term Rift Runner dates from the time of the Sylean Federation, when the highest technology level commonly encountered within Charted Space was TL–12.

• This level of technology allowed the routine use of up to Jump-3 drives.
• Traditionally, areas that couldn't be crossed by Jump-3-capable vessels were denoted as rift regions.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

38 Representative Tanker (RG) Classes

§ == ( Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information: ) == §

Civilian Ship - Freighter - Type RG Tanker

B

• Baleen class Heavy Tanker
• Bubble class Fuel Cutter

C

• Compassionate class Tanker

D

• Dromedary class Tanker/Replenishment Ship
• Duke class Jump Tanker

F

• Florence class Tanker
• Freshwater class Tanker
• Fuelbag class Fuel Depot Drone
• Furnish class Tanker

G

• Giant class Tanker

H

• Hong Cha class Tanker
• Hydrogen class Fleet Fuel Tanker

I

• Iadiadlsiz class Fleet Tanker

• Integrity class Tanker
• Ish'ka class Tanker

J

• Jolly Green Giant class Tanker

K

• KA25c Growler class Tanker
• Kandor class Tanker
• Kandor class Tanker
• Kleinnächster class Medium Tanker

L

• Last Armada class Frontier Tanker
• Last Armada class Fuel Shuttle
• Louis & Clark class Fuel Pinnace

M

• Monstrosity class Fleet Tanker

N

• Nimrod class Fuel Lighter

O

• Orowani Deep Space class Heavy Tanker

P

• Parthenopinnace Fuel Shuttle
• Provision class Medium Tanker

R

• Regent class Station Tanker
• River class Heavy Tanker

S

• S-92/3 class Fleet Tanker
• Sternplatz class Refueling Pinnace
• Sternplatz class Refueling Pinnace

T

• Tadpole class Fuel Shuttle
• Tango class Fleet Tanker
• Type 058A Fedko class Tanker

V

• Valdez class Fleet Tanker

Z

• Zheug class Fueling Shuttle

References

This article has metadata.

This ship was originally designed using one of the Classic Traveller ship design rules: Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 12-23. Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20-36.

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 Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Author: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS