PartiDeck class Battle Tender

PartiDeck class Battle Tender
Type: VTE Escort Tender
Category	ACS
Size	1,000 Tons
Hull Configuration	Box Hull
Streamlining	Partially Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–12
Engineering
Computer	Model/4/bis
Jump	J-2
Maneuver	3 G
Fuel Treatment	scoops, purifier
Armaments
Hardpoints	10
Offensive	6 triple pulse laser turrets
Accommodations
Staterooms	15
Personnel
Crew	29
Officers	3
Enlisted	26
High/Mid Passengers
Payload
Cargo	30 Tons
Fuel tank	193 Tons
Carried craft	repair drones, 4 PartiCards
Construction
Construction Time	28 Months
Origin	Third Imperium
Manufacturer	Zhunastu Shipbuilding
Year Operational	257
Price
Cost	MCr848.5
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	VTE-KP32
Universal Ship Profile	VTE-C1923P
Images
Blueprint	Yes
Illustration	No
Source
Also see	Escort Tender, PartiCard class Battle Rider
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Designer	Adrian Tymes
Era	Vargr Campaigns
Reference	Fan: Adrian Tymes
Designed with Mongoose Traveller High Guard rules, but portable to other versions

The PartiDeck class Battle Tender is a military battle tender that exists to ferry four PartiCard class Battle Riders. Although originally termed "battle tender", as of 1105 its small size gets it classified as an Escort Tender.

Description

The PartiDeck class Battle Tender is an early Third Imperium example of what has come to be called the "Escort Tender": a ship carrying a small number of bigcraft with which to conduct military operations, in this case eradication of pirate fleets and other collections of small ships. Often the targets will be too small for a true spinal weapon to properly deal with. A PartiDeck deploys four PartiCard class Battle Riders with long range particle beams to pick these targets off, usually from well beyond any hope of return fire other than missiles, which the PartiDeck's pulse lasers and sensor operator deal with. When no missiles are incoming, the PartiDeck may contribute its own pulse lasers to rapid demolition of the enemy.

It is quite common to have less than the officially recommended 12 gunners, whether some crew are cross-trained into that role or just doing without more than 6 since a PartiDeck rarely comes under fire. This leaves room to shuttle passengers, often VIPs or a small strike force. As any equipment the strike force carries must fit through the airlocks, most tales of a strike force carried this way have them riding grav bikes.

Image Repository

Not available at this time.

General Description & Deck Plans

1. Deck Plans for a PartiDeck and its PartiCard class Battle Riders.
   

Basic Ship Characteristics

Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage / Hull	Tonnage: 1000 tons (standard). 13500 cubic meters. Partially Streamlined Box Hull. Dimensions: Maximum: 21 meters long by 26 meters wide by 24 meters tall
2.	Crew	Crew: 1 Captain, 3 Pilots, 1 Astrogator, 4 Engineers, 2 Mechanics, 12 Gunners, 1 Administrator, 3 Sensor Operators, 2 Officers.
3.	Performance	Acceleration: 3-G maneuver drive installed. Jump: 2.
4.	Electronics	Model/4/bis ship computer.
5.	Hardpoints	10 hardpoints.
6.	Armament	6 pulse laser turrets.
7.	Defenses	None dedicated, though the lasers are often used for point defense.
8.	Craft	4 PartiCard class Battle Riders, custom-manufactured to work with the PartiDeck class. Vacc suits required for EVA (extra-vehicle activity), as the battle riders are not suited for most types of EVAs. Rescue Balls for crew escape usually carried.
9.	Fuel Treatment	It is typically equipped with a fuel purification plant and fuel scoops.
10.	Cost	MCr848.5 (no architect's fees, those having long since been paid). MCr763.65 in quantity. This includes a full complement of 4 PartiCard class Battle Riders.
11.	Construction Time	28 months standard, 19 in quantity.
12.	Remarks	Bringing the battle tender concept to subsector navies.

History & Background (Dossier)

Between the Julian War and the Vargr Campaigns, it became abundantly clear that there was a need for subsector navies consisting of "lesser" ships, not just battleships and their associated fleets optimised for taking out enemy capital ships. The PartiDeck was conceived of to fill that role.

While the result was very effective at destroying fleets of small ships, it was also rather expensive relative to comparable ships, and few subsectors routinely faced enough of a threat to warrant the expense. Further, this was one of the last independent projects of Zhunastu Shipbuilding before GSbAG purchased them; the first units were just going through shakedown cruises when the acquisition happened. As a result, it is estimated that at least 10 but less than 100 ships of this class were ever manufactured. Surviving units are mostly found serving peaceful subsectors away from the Imperial border, where there is at least one instance when a PartiDeck and its PartiCards were the entire subsector navy for a time, or in pocket empires. Being TL-12 - somewhat obsolete by 1105 military standards but at the level of many civilian ships - and possessing extensive self-maintenance capability has made it feasible to maintain what PartiDecks remain in use, with many spare parts routinely manufactured from common raw materials.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

Ship Interior Details: The ship is a 7-deck-tall box wrapped around a 5-deck-tall hangar. The sides of the hangar decks are mostly used for fuel storage and drives, leaving the top and bottom decks for crew habitation; interdeck access is provided by shafts that are most often traversed by lifts going straght from the top to the bottom deck or vice versa. The bottom deck is the primary engineering deck, with the power plant in the center and a workshop, outfitted to tool and furbish the repair drones, toward the rear. Staterooms, common areas, and the bridge account for most of the top deck.

The staterooms are unusual for being barracks-like, each room more like a suite featuring two private bunk spaces with overhead storage and fold-out chair and desk, along with a shared fresh. Although opinions are mixed about the utility of this approach, it does afford each crew member their own private space despite nominal double occupancy. The officer's quarters are much the same but with larger bed spaces. The captain's quarters have another large bed space, an office, and a larger fresher.

PartiDecks are most often named for concepts associated with playing cards and well-known playing card games, such as Hoyle, Spade, and Flush.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

1 Representative Escort-Tender (VTE) Classes

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

Type VTE Escort-Tender

C

• Confederate class Scout Station

References

This article has metadata.

This ship was designed using Mongoose 2nd ship design rules. Matthew Sprange. High Guard (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 8-22.

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: Adrian Tymes