Consul class Provincial Trader

Consul class Provincial Trader
Type: ML Commercial Mercantile Ships
Size	400 Tons
Hull Configuration	[[{{{hull}}}]]
Tech Level	TL–9
Engineering
Computer
Jump	J-1
Maneuver	1 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	4
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	11
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	210 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
Price
Cost	MCr143.658 (base) MCr114.927 (discounted)
Source
Canon	Unpublished, fan design

TBD

Description (Specifications)

A generic class of civilian vessel, the Provincial Trader is a commercial transport typically encountered operating within clusters of stars within the Distant Fringe region. It is classified as a Merchant and is constructed as a conventional design. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled.

• The vessel is a TL 9 design.

Image Repository

A Consul class Provincial Trader.

Hull

The Provincial Trader is constructed using a 400-dTon hull built in a generally cone-shaped configuration. The hull is fully streamlined: the ship is equipped with fuel scoops.

• Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. Sections of the ship can be isolated in the event of an emergency.
• The hull includes internal grav plates and inertial compensators. All accessible sections of the hull have life support.

Engineering

The vessel mounts a DeVoss-type jump-1 drive, a maneuver-1 drive, and a power plant 1, giving performance of jump-1 and 1G acceleration. The ship has an agility rating of 0 and an emergency agility of 1. There is fuel tankage of 44 dTons, sufficient for one jump-1 and giving the power plant four weeks duration.

• The jump drive utilises a lanthanum hull grid.
• The jump drive is fitted with a jump governor.

Main Section

Adjacent to the bridge is a computer model/1. The vessel has a secure locker with a capacity of 3 dTons. There are 15 staterooms and 10 low berths, primarily used to transport livestock. Cargo capacity amounts to 210 dTons. Double occupancy is normal practice for all crew except the ship’s captain. 14 staterooms are available to paying passengers.

• The vessel is fitted with communications equipment and a sensor array.

Crew

The Provincial Trader requires requires 11 crew: 2x command, 1x engineering, 4x gunnery, and 2x service. The vessel carries 2x passenger stewards.

Weapons

The ship is fitted with 4 turrets. These are grouped into:

• one sandcaster battery, consisting of 2 linked triple turrets
• one beam laser battery, consisting of 1 triple turret
• one missile battery, consisting of 1 triple turret

Subcraft

The ship has a dedicated hanger able to house a vehicle of up to 4-dTons, though no subcraft or vehicles are provided.

Cost

The basic cost of the vessel is MCr143.658.

• The craft is a standard design. 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 their price to MCr114.927.

History / Background

The Provincial Trader is considered underpowered and suffers performance issues in a high gravity environment. It is a design that dates to the time of the Terran Confederation: elements of the design and construction indicate that the vessel has Vilani origins. 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.

See also: Ships of the Distant Fringe

Distant Fringe Vessels

The Distant Fringe is said to be a far spinward-rimward area inhabited by colonists and refugees originating on Terra. The region is extremely isolated, separated from the rest of Charted Space by vast, almost uncrossable rifts that were once broached by a system of calibration Points and the use of tankers. Those few academics within Charted Space who have found references to 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.

Vessels originating within the Distant Fringe are very rarely encountered outside of the 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.

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

• CT Book 5 "High Guard", GDW, 1980.
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science