Editing Express Boat

{{:Starship-Nav-Bar-Two-2019CE}}
[[Express Boat]] (a.k.a. [[X-boat]]) are rapid [[communication ship]]s which are designed to make optimum use of [[jump Drive|jump technology]] in communicating information within the {{Imperium}}. Because the Imperium is so large, ordinary communication must depend on ships traveling along established [[Trade Routes]], making {{WorldS|Regina|Spinward Marches|1710}} nearly four years out from the [[Imperial Core]]. 
* [[X-boat]]s transport [[X-mail]]. Many [[ship]]s are equipped with a [[Mail Vault]] for this purpose.
* Other kinds of [[Communication Vessel]]s and can be found at the article of the same name.
* The main difference between an [[Express Boat]] and a [[Courier Vessel]] is that express boats either can not, or are not usually intended to, approach a planet or highport but instead waits at the 100 diameter line for a tender to deliver fuel and transfer physical cargo, while couriers either dock at highports or land on planets like most ships.
* The [[Supraclass]] designation is also known as [[Ship Mission]], [[Ship Mission Code]], Mission, or [[Ship Hull Designation]]. 
* It is a [[starship]] [[supraclass]].
[[File: Technical Data.jpg|right]]

=== Library Data Referral Tree ===
Please refer to the following [[AAB]] [[Library Data]] for more information: <br>
'''[[Starship]]:'''
{{:Referral-Tree-Starship-User-Types}}
{{:Referral-Tree-Advanced-Ship-Classifications}}
{{:Referral-Tree-Basic-Ship-Classifications}}
{{:Referral-Tree-Ships-by-Function}}
{{:Referral-Tree-Speed-of-Travel}}

== Description ([[Specifications]]) ==
[[File:IISS-Logo-Traveller.gif|thumb|Logo of the IISS X-Boat Service.]]
As an X-boat arrives in a system, it beams its recorded data to the [[X-Boat Station|express station]], which then retransmits it to an X-boat standing by for a jump outsystem. 
* Time between jumps is almost always less than four hours and has been recorded at under seven minutes, making the speed of communication nearly the speed of jump (...since X-boats carry Jump-4 drives, speeds near four parsecs per week). 
* In practice, this speed is somewhat reduced by the fact that trade routes do not follow straight lines and that not all jumps are made at Jump-4. Nonetheless, the system achieves approximately Jump-2.6 per week.

=== Image Repository ===
# A typical [[Type XT class Express Boat Tender]] as represented through a crew sketch. <br> [[File: Xboat-Tender-Keith-Supp7 Pg11-15 13-Jan-2019a.jpg]]
# An image of a [[Xavier class Express Boat]]. <br> [[File: X-boat Ian-Stead 50865284 27-June-2019a.jpg|300px]]

=== Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine) ===
Xboats are Jump-4 ships with no [[maneuver drive]], crewed by single pilots. As an xboat arrives in a new [[system]], it beams its recorded data to the [[express boat station]], which then re-transmits it to an xboat standing by to jump outsystem. The first [[ship]] is then refuelled, possibly the pilot is replaced, and it awaits the arrival of the next incoming boat.

Time between jumps is almost always under 4 hours, and the record is under 7 minutes, making the speed of the communication nearly the speed of jump; 4 [[parsec]]s per week. In practice, this speed is somewhat reduced because xboat routes do not follow straight lines, and that not all jumps are made at Jump-4. Nonetheless, the system achieves approximately Jump-2.6 per week.

=== Supraclass Roles ===
''Express Boat''s typically serve the following roles:
# [[Communication Vessel]]
# [[Courier]]
# [[Express Boat]]
# [[Express Solar Sailor]]
# [[Interplanetary Express Boat]]
# [[VIP Transport]]

=== Supraclass Archtypes ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" 
!colspan="4"| X-class Supraclass Archtypes
|-
! Archtype
! Type Code
! TL Range
! Remarks
|-
| [[Express Boat]]
| XB
| TL:10-15
| None
|-
| [[Express Boat Tender]]
| XT
| TL:10-15
| None
|-
|}

== History & Background ([[Dossier]]) ==
The sheer size of the Imperium means that ordinary communications must depend on [[ship]]s travelling along the [[main]] [[trade route]]s, making [[Regina (world)|Regina (Regina / Spinward Marches 1910)]] nearly four years out from the Imperial [[Core Sector]]. 

The express boat (abbreviated X-boat) system, established originally in [[624]] and expanded to cover the entire Imperium by [[718]], cuts this communication time by nearly 75 percent. Selected locations along major [[trade route]]s are established as sites for [[X-Boat Station|express stations]], which are [[Space Station|orbital facilities]] which service and refuel the X-boats on their communications runs. Often an [[express boat tender]] serves as the station.

The Xboat System was established by [[Arbellatra]] in [[624]], and expanded to cover the entire Imperium by [[718]].

=== Selected Variant Types & Classes ===
''[[Paramilitary Vessel]] - [[Express Boat]]s:''
{{:Referral-Tree-Type-X-class-Express-Boat}}

''[[Paramilitary Vessel]] - [[Express Boat Tender]]s:''
{{:Referral-Tree-Type-XT-class-Express-Boat-Tender}}

=== Ship Summary List ===
Some of the most commonly used [[vessel]]s in this role or these roles include:
{{Ship summary list|name= Communications Vessel |tdes=X}}
{{Ship summary list|name= X-boat |tdes= XB }}
{{Ship summary list|name= X-boat Tender |tdes= XT}}
{{Ship summary list|name= Packet Boat |tdes= XU}}

== References & Contributors ([[Sources]]) ==
{{Intermediate}}
{{Secret}}
{{Sources
|S1= {{Ludography cite|name= The Kinunir|page=39}}
|S2= {{Ludography cite|name= Library Data (A-M)|page=26-27}}
|S3= {{Ludography cite|name= The Spinward Marches |page=TBD}}
|S4= {{Ludography cite|name= Twilight's Peak |page=TBD}}
|S5= {{Ludography cite|name= Imperial Encyclopedia |page=TBD}}
|S6= {{Ludography cite|name= The Traveller Book |page=TBD}}
|S7= {{Ludography cite|name= Lee's Guide to Interstellar Adventure|page=TBD}} 
|S8= {{Ludography cite|name= Scout Ships |page= TBD}}
|S9= {{Ludography cite|name= T5 Core Rules |page= TBD}}
|S10= EXTERNAL LINK: [http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/savage/1WorldOrder/Home-Rules/XBITS.html XBITS: Xboats in Tender System] by [[Admiral Savage]]
|S11= [[Traveller Wiki Editorial Team]]
|S12= Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology [[Maksim-Smelchak]] of the [[Ministry of Science]]
|S13= Author & Contributor: [[User:Atymes|Adrian Tymes]]
}}


[[Category: Ship Organization]]
[[Category: Ship type definitions]]
[[Category: Supraclass]]
{{LE|Communication}}