Type UY class Private Smallcraft

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Type UY class Private Smallcraft
Wiki Navy.png
A common professional smallcraft
Type: UY Private Smallcraft
Category Smallcraft
Size 10 Tons
Hull Configuration Slab Hull
Streamlining Streamlined Hull
Tech Level TL–10
Engineering
Computer Model/5
Jump J-0
Maneuver 2 G
Armaments
Hardpoints 0
Accommodations
Staterooms 1
Personnel
Crew 1
High/Mid Passengers 0
Payload
Cargo 0.3 Tons
Fuel tank 0 Tons
Construction
Origin Vilani Hegemony
Manufacturer various
Year Operational Lost to history
End of Service None known or expected
Price
Cost MCr3.08. MCr2.772 in quantity.
Architect fee MCrAdrian Tymes
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile UY-1S20
Images
Blueprint Yes
Illustration No
Source
Also see Utility Craft
Canon Published, fan design
Era Consolidation Wars and beyond
Reference None
Designed with Mongoose Traveller High Guard rules, but portable to other versions.

The Type UY class Private Smallcraft is a Private Smallcraft.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

Most ship classes that are designated a "type" are extremely common. The Type UY Private Smallcraft - with dozens of local nicknames, spread over Charted Space - is an extreme demonstration of this, dating back to before the First Imperium. By some estimates, billions of this model have been produced over the ages. Of the major polities, only the Two Thousand Worlds do not use either this smallcraft or one virtually identical to it.

It is a basic live-and-work smallcraft, with its front half dedicated to whatever professional service its owner practices. Be it specialist manufacturing (often at a cottage industry level) or repair (in particular of stranded vehicles), consultations that are impractical or impossible to perform from afar, or any of a number of other trades, if there are customers willing to pay for the service to be brought to them, this smallcraft can do it. A grav vehicle could (and often does) do the same job cheaper, at the cost of being limited to one planet and taking longer to travel long distances across that planet; while a Type UY might not be as luxurious as a Yacht, being able to fly up to space any time and zoom on autopilot between distant points in a system is a kind of luxury. Indeed, many from low technology level worlds with no personal experience with gravitics, tend to be awed by their first trip aboard a Type UY if it is their first smallcraft ride.

The ship is self-flying (the software to do so accounting for almost 1/3 of the cost), normally only taking orders from its owner (especially when the owner is aboard the craft) and any traffic control the owner authorizes to give it commands. Electronic security has varied over the ages, usually far enough ahead of the era's electronic intrusion capabilities to make theft via hacking a nonissue, though there have been exceptions (notably during the Interstellar Wars due to the Terran Confederation edge with computers, the Long Night due to local complacency often encountering interstellar attackers who had not forgotten the Interstellar Wars' lessons, and the Collapse due to a repeat of local complacency as well as to Virus).

In theory, a weapon could be mounted along the dorsal surface - most likely missiles, given the lack of spare power. In practice, making this smallcraft armed usually defeats its primary utility, so very few operators arm it - or at least, keep it armed for long once they discover all the places they can no longer land. The exceptions are almost always serving Law Level 0 worlds, usually anarchies or war zones where everyone is expected to be armed. The ship's computer can handle firing, but not very well. Given these factors, when there is a weapon mounted, it is usually only for show - and most pirates who deal with this model of smallcraft know this, or have target libraries which tell them when consulted.

Image Repository[edit]

Not available at this time.

General Description & Deck Plans[edit]

  1. Deck Plans for this vessel.
    Type uy deckplans.png

Basic Ship Characteristics[edit]

Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. [1]

Basic Ship Characteristics [2]
No. Category Remarks
1. Tonnage / Hull Tonnage: 10 tons (standard). 140 cubic meters. Streamlined Slab Hull.
  • Dimensions: maximum 7.5 meters long by 6 meters wide by 3 meters tall.
2. Crew Crew: 1 Captain, performing whatever profession the ship is equipped for. No traditional crew aside from the software on the ship's computer.
3. Performance Acceleration: 2-G maneuver drive installed.
4. Electronics Model/5 ship's computer.
5. Hardpoints No hardpoints, 1 firmpoint, unused.
6. Armament None.
7. Defenses None.
8. Craft None (aside from itself). Vacc suits required for EVA (extra-vehicle activity). 1 Rescue Ball for crew escape normally carried.
9. Fuel Treatment It is not typically equipped with a fuel purification plant, but has fuel scoops.
10. Cost MCr3.08 (no architect's fees, those having been amortized long ago). MCr2.772 in quantity.
11. Construction Time 3 days standard, 2 in quantity.
12. Remarks A very common smallcraft that takes professional services to those who are unable to come to the services.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

It is not known when this smallcraft class came into being, but it was present at the beginning of the First Imperium, and logically would have had to be invented after the Vilani invented jump drive in -9235. Traditionally, creation of this class is ascribed to consolidation of prior efforts during the Vilani Hegemony, essentially picking a proven design and giving it the stamp of authority.

It was among the standard designs, thoroughly tested and proven, available to First Imperium citizens during the Interstellar Wars; there is more than one record of Terran Commonwealth raids "capturing" the design (likely unaware of duplicate efforts). The Second, Third, and Fourth Imperiums have made use of this class as is. Indeed, there are signs the UY mission code may have been created in part to give a standard name to this smallcraft class, after it had picked up multiple local names that caused slight confusion when attempting to discuss its use across the Third Imperium.

This design has seen use on most worlds with enough of a population, and a dispersed enough population (on a single world or multiple within a system), to sustain use and access to TL-10 or better facilities for maintenance. The variety of professions one of these has supported is longer than can be feasibly listed in this article. There are credible tales of well-preserved Type UYs, having been placed into storage over 1,000 years prior, being broken out of storage, lightly refurbished (primarily to account for linguistic drift), and put back into service with no further hassle. There is at least one specific case of a Type UY having survived the Long Night this way; once all its records were downloaded and its interior studied for all archaeological data that could be obtained, the smallcraft was restored to operational capacity and given to those who found it as a reward.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities[edit]

Ship Interior Details (Peculiarities): The small, functional interior is familiar to a number of spacers. Airlock on one side, leading to the shop or studio, which has another iris valve leading to the stateroom and systems in back. In case of trouble in space, the owner can retreat to and seal off the stateroom, then vent the forward section by opening both airlock doors (which requires overriding safeties; a Type UY's airlock is unusual in that this is possible at all). Living quarters consist of one stateroom for one or two people, a cargo locker, and little else. In many places, the iconic image of someone being "married to the job" is someone who sleeps most nights aboard one of these, especially when they have a spouse or family living somewhere else.

There is no bridge or cockpit. Although the stateroom has a backup terminal in case of emergency, under normal operation the owner never actually flies the craft, instead just telling it where to go and trusting the software to get it there. The software is programmed to contact and obey local traffic control by default, though this feature can be overridden (for instance, to ignore a pirate that is attempting to imitate a spaceport).

Class Naming Practice/s: Given the extreme length of time over which these craft have been manufactured, as well as the number of shipyards that have built them, there is no class-wide commonality of names for these craft. The most common naming schemes are either to name it after its current owner, or "UY" followed by a locally-unique registration number.

Selected Variant Types & Classes[edit]

Civilian Ship - Private Vessel - Utility Craft - Private Smallcraft:

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

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Mongoose New Traveller This ship was designed using Mongoose 2nd ship design rules.
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