Treader class Free Trader

Treader class Free Trader

Type: AF Far Trader
Category	ACS
Size	200 Tons
Hull Configuration	Cone Hull
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–11
Engineering
Computer	Model/2
Jump	J-2
Maneuver	1 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	1
Accommodations
Staterooms	6
Low Berths	10
Personnel
Crew	6
Officers	2
Enlisted	4
High/Mid Passengers	2
Low Passengers	10
Payload
Cargo	80 Tons
Fuel tank	Tons
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
Price
Cost	MCr104.7
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	AF-BS21
Universal Ship Profile	AF–2221220–040000–00002–0
Images
Blueprint	No
Illustration	Yes
Source
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Designer	Ade Stewart
Design System	High Guard
Era	1105
Reference	Unpublished Fan Design

The Treader class Free Trader is a small civilian mercantile starship.

Please also see: Ships of the Distant Fringe

Description[edit]

The Treader-class is a merchant vessel commonly encountered within the Distant Fringe region. It is classified as a Transport and is constructed as a conventional design. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled. Some believe that it was a further development of an ancient Solomani design.

The vessel is a TL–11 design.

Image Repository[edit]

A Treader class Free Trader.

Basic Ship Characteristics[edit]

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. ^[1]

**Basic Ship Characteristics** ^[2]
#.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage / Hull	The Free Trader is constructed using a 200 dTon hull built in a conical configuration. The hull is streamlined and has airfoil surfaces, giving good atmospheric performance that is reliant on its onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. There are x2 personnel airlocks. The cargo hold is accessed by doors and has a loading ramp. The vessel has sturdy retractable legs, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	Total Crew Complement: x6 x2 Command, x1 Engineering, x2 Gunnery, and x1 Service. Accommodations There are x6 Staterooms. x4 Staterooms are given over to crew quarters. The officers receive individual cabins: other quarters are double occupancy. x2 Staterooms are available to passengers: no steward service is available. There are x10 Low Berths, primarily used for transporting livestock. 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. Sections of the ship can be isolated in the event of an emergency. There are multiple Emergency Lockers.
3.	Performance / Engineering	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 4 Energy Points. The ship has an agility rating 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: the vessel does not have a backup computer. There are multiple workstations and control points throughout the vessel. The vessel is fitted with communications equipment, a basic sensor array, and has an Avionics suite. It has a transponder unit that can be deactivated on command.
5.	Hardpoints	x2 hardpoints. 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 Treader is: x1 triple Missile turret, firing as an independent battery. Each missile rack mounts x3 standard Anti-Shipping Missiles.
7.	Defenses	The hull is unarmored. x1 triple Sandcaster turret, firing as an independent battery. The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft / Subcraft	The vessel carries no subcraft.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 44 dTons. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is not equipped with fuel purification equipment.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel is MCr104.700. 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 MCr83.760.
11.	Construction Time	44 weeks (9 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 80 dTons. The cargo hold can be subdivided into sections using removable partition walls. It has independent life support and environmental systems. It can be sealed and isolated. There is a 1 dTon secure locker.

History & Background[edit]

The Distant Fringe is said to be a far spinward-rimward area inhabited by colonists and refugees originating on Terra and separated by vast, almost uncrossable rifts that were once broached by a massive system of calibration points. Those few academics within Charted Space who have heard of 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.^[3]

These vessels are very rarely encountered outside of the Distant Fringe 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.^[4]

The Treader class shares a basic hull pattern with the Wanderer class Luxury Yacht. The design 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.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities[edit]

A number of companies manufacture ships equivalent to the Treader 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[edit]

54 Representative Far Trader (AF) Classes[edit]

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

Type AF Far Trader

A

B

C

E

F

G

H

I

Independent Hauler class Far Trader

J

K

Khershwan class Trader

L

Lanthium Petal class Speculative Trader

M

N

P

R

Regni Yards Type A class Free Trader

S

T

U

Unholy Exile class Trader

W

Wulf class Free Trader

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

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 Far Future Enterprises 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

↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.
↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.
↑ An unpublished factoid written by Maksim-Smelchak
↑ An unpublished factoid written by Maksim-Smelchak

[1] Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.

[2] Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.

[3] An unpublished factoid written by Maksim-Smelchak

[4] An unpublished factoid written by Maksim-Smelchak

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]