Type R class Subsidized Merchant

Type R class Subsidized Merchant
Canon publication starship design.
Type: MLS Subsidized Merchant
Size	400 Tons
Hull Configuration	[[{{{hull}}}]]
Tech Level	TL–10
Engineering
Computer	Model/1
Jump	J-1
Maneuver	1 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	2
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	5
Officers	3
Enlisted	2
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	200 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Third Imperium
Price
Cost	MCr101.03
Architect fee	MCrLoren Wiseman
Statistics
Source
Also see	Fat Trader
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Classic Traveller core ship design.

Subsidized Merchant (type R): Using a 400-ton hull, the subsidized merchant (nicknamed Fat Trader) is a trading vessel intended to meet the commercial needs of clusters of worlds.

• It is more commonly known as a Fat Trader.
• It is a civilian ship and a Subsidized Merchant.

Basic Ship Synopsis

R Subsidized Merchant. 400 tons. Jump-1. 1-G. 50 tons fuel. Model/1. 13 staterooms. 9 low. 2 hardpoints. Launch. 200 tons cargo. Streamlined. 5 crew. MCr101.03; 14 months.

Description (Specifications)

It has jump drive-C, maneuver drive-C, and power plant-C, giving performance of Jump-1 and 1-G acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 50 tons, supporting the power plant and allowing one jump-1. Adjacent to the bridge is a computer Model/1. There are thirteen staterooms and nine low berths.

No turrets or weaponry are installed, but there are two hardpoints and two tons are set aside for fire control. The ship has one 20-ton launch. Cargo capacity is 200.0 tons. The ship is streamlined.

The Fat Trader requires a crew of five: pilot, navigator, engineer, medic, and steward. The pilot also operates the launch; gunners may be added to the crew list as required. The ship costs MCr101.03 and typically takes fourteen months to build.

Subsidized Merchant (Type R): Constructed using the type 400 hull, the subsidized merchant is equipped with class C drives capable of producing Jump-1, 1-G acceleration, and Power plant-1. Fuel tankage is 50 tons, sufficient for one jump, plus some maneuver. Fuel scoops are integral with the hull, and a fuel purification plant allows use of unrefined fuel. The rather ordinary bridge is complemented with a Model/1 computer and two tons of fire control for the ship's two turrets. The ship has thirteen staterooms (five for the crew; eight for high or middle passengers); there are nine low berths. The crew consists of a captain/pilot, navigator, medic, steward, and engineer. There exists the potential for two gunners as crew members if weaponry is installed. The ship carries a 20-ton launch for passenger shuttling and minor errands; it is piloted by the navigator or an engineer. Cargo capacity is 200.0 tons.

The subsidized merchant costs MCr100.035, including discounts for volume production. This ship is a standard design, and there are no architect's fees.

Basic Ship Characteristics

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 craft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (thousands of tons) where necessary.

SUBSIDIZED MERCHANT

Basic Ship Characteristics

#.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage	Tonnage: 400 tons (standard). 5600 cubic meters. Dimensions: 46.5 meters long by 10 meters high by 15 meters wide. Wingspan: 32 meters.
2.	Crew	Crew: Five. Captain/pilot, navigator, medic, steward, and engineer. Gunners optional. Staterooms for each.
3.	Performance	Performance: 1G acceleration. Jump-1. Standard power plant.
4.	Electronics	Electronics: ModeI/1 computer with entertainment consoles, navigation screens, and automatic life safety interlocks.
5.	Hardpoints	4 hardpoints.
6.	Armament	No standard armament is equipped although the capacity for it exists.
7.	Defenses	No defensive equipment is equipped although the capacity for it exists.
8.	Craft	Ship's Boat: Launch mounted dorsally with integral lifeboat capability, the launch is also used for errands and transfers. Launch mounts for the boat are located on dorsal surface of merchant dismounts for errands and transfers. Maneuver Drives are mounted underneath the fuselage of the Ship’s Boat. Damgarrii class Passenger Launch
9.	Fuel Treatment	Fuel scoops are integral with the hull, and a fuel purification plant allows use of unrefined fuel.
10.	Cost	MCr101.03
11.	Construction Time	14 months.
12.	Comments	Capacity: 200.0 tons cargo (generally in standard modules), eight passengers. Nine low berths.

Ship Interior Details

Interior Details: The subsidized merchant is built on a two level plan. The lower deck contains a full access tunnel-type cargo area adapted to containerized cargo. Each cargo module (of 3.85 tons) can be positioned on the deck and removed through bow, rear, or side doors. The cargo-loading templates show the actual configurations which will pass through the various doors.

The lower level also contains the drives and fuel scoops for the ship's tanks. Fuel is contained in the wings and wing-tips. Small crawlways extend into the wings (locations 4 and 5) for access to the landing legs and for exiting beneath the wings. The upper level contains passenger and crew staterooms, the lounges, the bridge, and the galley. The rear portion of the upper level contains the ship's power plant and the low berths. The transverse bulkhead midway through the upper level is a pressure barrier designed to reduce losses in the event of a hull puncture.

The Type R subsidized merchant is streamlined and capable of landing on world surfaces. It generally does so to load and unload cargo. The ship has articulated landing gear, and once positioned for cargo, the ship can kneel, allowing a straight drive on and drive off with cargo. When the landing gear is fully extended, the ship has excellent ground clearance for takeoffs and for underbody maintenance.

Passenger loading is generally performed using the 20-ton ship's launch. The launch calls at the main starport or even at a local hotel's landing pads and picks up passengers booked for the flight. The ship itself is already in orbit, and the launch mates directly with the berth on the ship's dorsal surface. Passengers then board using the launch access hatch. The launch has provision for eight passengers in addition to the pilot. It can carry 9.0 tons of cargo. The launch can also serve as a life boat when necessary.

Variant Ship Models

The Type R class Subsidized Merchant is one of the most common starships found within Charted Space.

• Many variant classes exist of this type.

Variants: The low jump potential of the ship's drives has prompted the production of demountable fuel tanks for this ship. A modular 40-ton fuel tank can be installed in the cargo bay. Installation cuts off the rear doors and makes them unusable. Using these tanks, the ship can make a second one parsec jump with only a twenty hour delay. The delay is required because of standard safety checks required on the ship, and to allow pumping the fuel from the demountable tanks to the wing tanks. Fuel must be in the wing tanks for proper feed to the drives. Cargo capacity of the ship is reduced to 160.0 tons. The demountable tanks cost MCr.5. It is important to remember that these demountable tanks are not collapsible. When removed or not in use, they still take up 40 tons of space, and must be stored or warehoused in some manner.

History & Background (Dossier)

The Fat Trader is encountered nearly as often as the Free Trader and carries a larger cargo than many smaller ships. It is one of a number of smaller ships that form the backbone of the interstellar economy. Their flexibility can adjust to the rapidly changing variables of interstellar commerce.

The Type R is a venerated design that dates well back to the early TL-9 ]]Vilani Imperium]] and the ]]Ziru Sirka]]. As such, it has gone through a tremendous number of cosmetic and physical changes over the more than 1,000 years of its operation. Newer designs and models have made significant advances over the earliest TL-9 variants. The shape and exact form of the fuselage has changed little over this time leaving room for the repair of earlier, lower technology, and thus bulkier ship components. Some current ships have hulls that have been repaired and overhauled dozens upon dozens of time over the centuries with a mix of higher and lower technology components.

Class Costs & Revenues

Costs and Revenues: The monthly payments for a ship of this type amount to Cr416,812. Further expenses for crew, life support, maintenance, and berthing fees amount to Cr82,337 per month, assuming one jump every two weeks. Fuel is free for the skimming at most systems, but would add another Cr5000 per jump if it is required to be purchased. This type of merchant can gross approximately 0546,000 per month, assuming full passenger manifests and a full cargo bay for each jump. A ship owner who depended on full loads for every jump would soon be in trouble.

This ship, however, is a subsidized merchant. The government makes the monthly payments, and also takes 50% of gross receipts. The owner pays all expenses, and thus is responsible for paying the overhead of Cr82,337 per month. The owner also receives half of the gross of up to Cr546,000 per month. In fact, the ship could run at 35% of full load and still make a (small) profit.

The usual text of a subsidy agreement calls for the ship to service an agreed upon route for at least 70% of each year; for the remainder of the year, the ship can undertake charters or service routes to other worlds. In all cases, however, the subsidizing government is entitled to 50% of all receipts, before expenses are paid. In practice, however, the shipowner often resorts to smuggling in order to retain higher profits. Alternatively, the ship owner may sell cargo space to himself and ship speculative goods in that space rather than give up 50% of the profits on such transactions.

Class Naming Practice/s

Peculiarities: With such a design, no regular naming scheme for hulls has ever taken. Earlier Vilani designs were often named after Vilani flowers. Later Solomani editions were often named after characters and story elements from Greek Mythology. Third Imperium models are often named after planetary governors. The mix of names from foreign and domestic users can be bewilderingly diverse.

Selected Variant Classes

1. Type R class Subsidized Merchant AKA Fat Trader AKA Subsidized Merchant
   1. Akkigish class Subsidized Merchant
   2. Gyro Cadis class Subsidized Merchant
   3. March class Subsidized Merchant
2. Type R2 class Subsidized Merchant
   1. Athelstan class Merchant
   2. Khtukhao class Clan Transport
   3. Petty class Subsidized Merchant
3. Type RAX class Protected Merchant
4. Type RL class Subsidized Merchant
5. Type RL2 class Subsidized Merchant
6. Type RQ class Subsidized Merchant
7. Type RX class Merchant Trader

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article has metadata.

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), 19.
• Marc Miller. Starter Traveller (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), 11.
• Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, J. Andrew Keith, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. The Traveller Adventure (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), TBD.
• Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), TBD.
• Ian Stead, Paul Elliott. Type R Subsidised Merchant Operators Manual (Moon Toad Publishing, 2014), TBD.
• Martin Dougherty. Type-R Subsidised Merchant (Mongoose Publishing, 2015), TBD.
• EXTERNAL LINK: Type R2, RL, and RL2 Subsidized Merchants by Ken Pick
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science