And A Desert Topping

Laurë Isilvieré-class battlecarrier

Builders:

• Ethring Iron and Steam Works
• Sukórya Graving & Drydocks
• Telírvess Naval Yards

Displacement: 61,620 long tons (standard)

Length: 268m (waterline); 276m (overall)
Beam: 36m
Draft: 12.2m

Propulsion:

• 4 x Empire Nucleonics, ICC “Neutron Storm” nucleonic boilers (PWR), driving
• 4 x 2 Blackstone Industries, ICC high-low pressure turbogenerators, powering
• 4 shafts x 2 Hammerforge Tool Company, ICC heavy-duty electric drive motors

Speed: 36 knots
Range: Unlimited (6 year refueling interval)

Complement: 1,768 officers and men (including air wing and flag)

Sensors:

• Artifice Armaments, ICC, ASR-40/2a air search radar
• Artifice Armaments, ICC, SSR-45 surface search radar
• Hydrodyne Group Mk. 38/1 passive area-awareness sonar
• Imperial Navy Mk. 45 Gun Director with 4 x fire control radar
• Scorched Earth Infosystems Variant 32 (Block II) electronic warfare suite
• Shimana Aerospace flight control and navigation system

Armament (Primary):

• 6 x 384mm superheavy mass driver, in two triple turrets
  (A & B both forward of primary superstructure; B superfiring from deck 01)
• 96 x VLS cells for Artifice Armaments, ICC MG-60 Sarissa long-range missiles
  (1 x 72 and 1 x 24 blocks of cells; supports multiple types; land-attack and/or AShM)

Armament (Secondary):

• 8 x 96mm Imperial Navy Type Nine dual-purpose heavy mass driver, in four twin turrets
  (surrounding the primary superstructure)
• 6 x Artifice Armaments, ICC Deathray rapid-firing point defense laser
• 16 x dedicated launchers for Artifice Armaments, ICC MG-34 Spar medium-range AShM
  (arranged 4 x 4)
• 16 x dedicated launchers for Artifice Armaments, ICC MA-98 Hawkeye medium-range SAM
  (arranged 4 x 4)

Aircraft:

• “V” dual flight deck aft, single elevator, 2 x electromagnetic catapults
• 12 x N5-5I Ripper multirole V/STOL attack aircraft
• 12 x Clockwork Souls, ICC NL-I40 Purity interceptor drones
• 12 x Clockwork Souls, ICC NL-R36 Spyglass reconnaissance drones

Armor:

• Belt: 12″ spinmetal
• Decks: 8″ spinmetal over machinery and magazines
• Turrets: 9″-18″ spinmetal
• Conning tower: 12″ spinmetal
• Secondary systems: 8″ heavy steel plate
• Elsewhere: 0.5″ heavy steel plate

The Laurë Isilvieré-class battlecarrier was a product of the post-Fourth Oceanic Dominance environment. While the Fourth had proven the supremacy of the BB/CV hybrid battle group over the battleship-centric doctrine of the Second and Third, the post-Dominance environment left the Admiralty confronting a single inescapable fact.

The hybrid battle group, while unparalleled in its strength and flexibility, was also unparalleled in its expense, both to construct and to operate. This was a matter of considerable concern, since the Admiralty was now required to exercise command over a considerably greater area of ocean than had previously been the case, and the events of the Third Dominance had demonstrated the vulnerability of a fleet in being.

While battlecarrier designs had generally been dismissed as inefficient (critics noting quite correctly that a direct medium-range combatant such as a battleship had mission requirements quite contrary to that of a indirect long-range combatant such as an aircraft carrier), studies suggested that combining the functions of the primary vessels of the hybrid battle group, along with a reduced number of escorts, could create a low-intensity battle group suitable for exercising sea control in secondary theaters, enabling the full hybrid battle groups to be reserved for more demanding missions. In this role, their inefficiency would be compensated for by their economy.

Thus the Laurë Isilvieré-class battlecarrier came to be, combining the forward turrets and missile loadout of the Invictus-class battleships with an aft-mounted flight deck and hangar based on those of an escort carrier. Operating in low-intensity battlegroups accompanied by a limited number of escorts (typically a single cruiser, a pair of destroyers, and a pair of attack submarines), they and their successors kept the Imperial Star flying over Eliéra’s oceans until the end of the Consolidation.

Ships of the Laurë Isilivieré-class are named after Imperial Hands, befitting their nature as agents competent in multiple roles.

(Notes for those paying attention:

This is about two generations removed from the Ulricik Bancrach-class destroyer and a little ahead of our state of the art, hence the coilguns and the laser CIWS. Various aspects of its design were inspired by the proposal for the Phase II refit for the Iowa-class battleships, which can give you a general idea of what a Laurë Isilivieré-class might look like – except that, being nuclear, they have no stacks. Also, they wear dazzle camo, because dazzle camo is cool.)