Ship's Turret

A Ship's Turret is a weapons mounting built to be attached to a hardpoint on a ship.

• Fire control equipment is required if weaponry is to be installed. Each installed turret requires one ton of displacement committed for the installation of fire control equipment.
• It is a type of Ship Equipment

Library Data Referral Tree

Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:
Heavy Weaponry / Ship Weapons:

• Offensive Technologies
  • Naval Weaponry
    • Energy Weapons
    • Guided Weapons
    • Projectile Weapons
  • Weapon Mounts
    • Battery
    • Barbette
    • Bay
    • Hardpoint
    • Spinal Mounts
    • Turret
  • Weapon Types
    • DEW
    • GUW
    • KEW

Description (Specifications)

One turret may be attached to each hardpoint on the ship. When it is attached, one ton for fire control must be allocated. Turrets themselves are available in single, double, and triple mounts which will hold one, two, or three weapons respectively. Prices for turrets and weapons are indicated on the weapons and mounts table,

Turrets and weapons may be altered or retrofitted. For example, a single turret can have its pulse laser replaced by a beam laser when it becomes available; a single turret can be replaced by a triple turret when it becomes available. Weapons for installation in turrets include pulse and beam lasers, missile racks, and sandcasters.

Image Repository

1. LSP-Model-519-D Turret Fire Control Station.
   

Selected Turret Types

The most commonly used turrets within Charted Space include:

Ship Weapon Mounts

Equipment Type	Typical Cost (Cr)	Tonnage (Volume)	Remarks
Hardpoint	Cr100,000	None	Hardpoints are ubiquitous throughout Charted Space. One hardpoint is available per 100 tons of hull volume. They are the mounting points for turrets and other shipboard weapon systems. The tonnage volume of the turret consists of rotator gear, the weapon mounts, power transfer systems, computer linkages, control panels, a Master Fire Director, dedicated sensor arrays and commo systems, a fire control computer, additional ammunition and loading equipment as appropriate, a gunner's position, and emergency and damage control equipment.
Single Turret	Cr200,000	1.0 ton	The economy turret only holds one piece of equipment, but it is affordable and functional. It is mounted on a hardpoint.
Double Turret	Cr500,000	1.0 ton	Double turrets pack more firepower and require more power usage. It is mounted on a hardpoint.
Triple Turret	Cr1,000,000	1.0 ton	The triple turret is the most common high firepower turret in regular use. It is mounted on a hardpoint.

NOTE: Other turret types do exist, including larger mounts known as barbettes, weapon bays, and other variations. Vehicles often use customized turrets.

History & Background (Dossier)

Computer Controls: In almost all cases where the ship's computer can control a given ship function (such as life support), orders fed in at the central bridge computer take precedence over those fed in at local controls. Only if the computer is inoperative will a computer override be ineffective. Some ships have been known to be built with a different system set-up, but this arrangement is commonplace on most vessels within Charted Space.

Turrets are an exception to this and are usually "handed off" to gunners in order to better coordinate fire operations and take advantage of targets of opportunity. A Fire Control Computer is still required for effective operation, and independent control can be terminated by the ship's computer at any point.

Fire Control Limitations & Practice

A given turret may mount multiple types of weaponry, but the standard fire-control systems are only capable of catering for use of one weapon type at a time from a given turret. This makes it preferable for turrets to mount only one weapon type and this configuration is the norm on larger vessels.

Multiple turrets may be linked together to form batteries of a given weapon type. Particularly for beam weapons, this use allows the shots to be spread slightly to cater for the uncertainty of position of distant targets - making a single hit more likely but the damage inflicted by each hit is reduced because part of the salvo firepower is covering other targeting probabilities.

Turret Gunner/s

Gunner: One gunner per turret is required on a ship for maximal effectiveness. Armed small craft require a gunner in addition to the pilot. If there is more than one gunner, the most skilled is designated the chief gunner and typically draws 10% more pay.

Automated Fire

Some crews will allow a ship (with appropriate software) to engage targets automatically under certain circumstances. This is particularly true of point-defence engagement of incoming missiles. (See Gunner Program).

Pop-Up Turrets

Some vessels may recess their turrets into the ship so as to provide better aerodynamics or to hide the fact that the vessel has any turrets at all. Such turrets are known as "Pop-Up" turrets and are generally MCr 1 more expensive than their more normal equivalents.

References & Contributors (Sources)

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.

• Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 14-23.
• Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), TBD.
• Gareth Hanrahan, Dom Mooney. High Guard (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 111.
• Citation Missing - High Guard
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science