Several militaries in the Three Galaxies have converted cargo ships to escort carriers. The concept first came into being during World War Two when ocean going cargo ships were converted into tiny carriers called "Escort Carriers." This has found its way into the Three Galaxies with star ships. Converted cargo ships are among the most common carriers operated within the Three Galaxies. In most cases, moderate sized vessels similar to the typical medium freighter are used. There are huge numbers of cargo ships operated within the Three Galaxies and the ships can often be purchased extremely cheaply. They have a reasonable amount of cargo space which make them easy to convert to escort carriers.
It costs to convert a merchant ship into an escort carrier only a fraction of what it would cost to construct a light carrier with a similar fighter compliment. Gryphons Claw herself is an escort carrier that is serving in the Free Worlds Council navy but is typical for an escort carrier and many other escort carriers have virtually the same statistics as the Gryphons Claw. Still, it should not be assumed that the Gryphon Claw represents a majority of escort carrier designs. Most of the variation in the design are in the shipboard weaponry although some ships are virtually unaltered from the original merchant design and only have their cargo hold converted to carry fighters and retain the original weapon systems and non-variable shield generators.
The Free Worlds Council navy operates several other escort carriers and they are an important component of their military. Each carrier os slightly different with one of the escort carriers operated by the Free Worlds Council was originally the HMS Ark Royal but was retired when replaced by a new light fleet carrier design. The Trans-Galactic Empire's intelligence services believe that it was given by New Coventry to the Free Worlds Council but New Coventry records show that the ship was sold for scrap.
While some Escort Carriers only have their cargo hold rebuilt to carry fighters, the Gryphon's Claw has been upgraded more extensively than that. Still, it shares many of the same weaknesses common to Escort Carriers. Its acceleration is less than most fleet carriers due to retaining the ship's original engines although particle and radiation shielding have been upgraded so the ship can reach upwards of sixty percent of light. Faster than light speed is also on the slow end compared to most military vessels. The ship is lightly armored as a merchant hull and has fairly weak defensive shields as well although unlike most merchant vessels, they are variable force fields.
Like most carriers, the weapons on the Gryphon's Claw are mostly defensive and are designed to protect the ship from incoming missiles and against fighters. Most weapons are light rail guns and energy weapons supported by medium range missile launchers and mini-missile launchers. The ship is not really expected to engage in battle itself. The ship is armed with a single heavy particle beam and three heavy laser cannons. These are enough to deal with a single frigate or other small ship attacking but not for any kind of fleet action. Most of the weapon systems carried on the carrier are salvaged from other vessels.
Like most Carriers, the Escort Carrier relies on its fighters as its main weaponry. The Gryphon's Claw can carry up to about fifty-six fighters total. Due to being purpose build, even most light carriers can carry a larger fighter compliment. As well, escort carriers with no upgrades to weapon system can often carry a few additional fighters. The Gryphons Claw's fighters are a much wider assortment then is normal for a carrier to have and the fighters include older Wolfen and Human Alliance fighters, some gotten under the table from the CAF, some stolen from the Kreeghor, and other that were purchased from Naruni Industries. Many of the fighters are older designs. Somehow the ship was able to acquire two Star Ghost fighters for the carrier. These along the with the long range Black Eagles are usually used for scouting. The mixture of different designs has received criticism from both inside and outside the Free Worlds Council Military because it is hard to form homogeneous fighter squadrons with such a mix of different designs.
Ship design uses modified starship speeds and weapon ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: CVER-128 Escort Carrier (Refitted)
Vehicle Type: Space, Escort Carrier (Converted Heavy Cargo Ship)
Crew: 508 Crew (ship can be run by 175 crew)
Troops: 200 Marines , 48 fighter pilots , and cam carry up 150
passenger.
Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors: This is the listing for the
Gryphons Claw, other escort carriers can have completely different fighter
or power armor compliments.
Power Armors:
| 10 | CAF Silver Hawk Power Armors | |
| 20 | Knock Off Silver Hawk Power Armors | |
| 20 | Kreeghor Warlord Mark 2 Combat Suits |
| 2 | Bushido Industries BIF-67 Katana Star fighters | |
| 6 | Consortium SF-69 Scorpion Star Interceptor | |
| 2 | Consortium SF-101I-LR Storm Eagle medium interceptor | |
| 6 | Human Alliance SF-6 Osprey Starfighters | |
| 6 | Human Alliance SF-9 Vixen Light Starfighter | |
| 12 | Kreeghor Flying Fang Interceptor | |
| 6 | Naruni NE-SF10 Broadsword Fighters | |
| 4 | Naruni FB-49 Fire Eater Fighters | |
| 4 | Wolfen PBI-22 Gladius Medium Starfighters (Old Model) | |
| 6 | Wolfen PBI-25 Falx Supina Light Starfighters (Old Model) | |
| 2 | Star Ghost Starfighters |
M.D.C. By Location:
| 40 cm Heavy Particle Beam Turret: | 1,000 | |
| 10 cm Medium High Intensity Laser Cannons (3): | 400 each | |
| 2.5 cm Triple Barrel Defense Laser Turrets (8): | 200 each | |
| GR-1000 Rail Gun Turrets (4) | 250 each | |
| Medium Range Missile Batteries (4): | 500 each | |
| Mini-Missile Launchers (4): | 100 each | |
| Hanger Bays (4): | 1,500 | |
| Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 120 | |
| Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 80 | |
| [1] Main Body: | 18,000 | |
| [2] Bridge: | 1,200 | |
| [3] Variable Force Field | 2,000 a side (12,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Carrier out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[2] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary
bridge. Even if the bridges is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be
at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the
ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (600 MDC) per melee
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.7 percent of light per melee. Ship has had the merchant
radiation and particle shields replaced with military shields.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 300 mph (483 kph),
can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric
flight
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship
to reach a maximum of 3 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
carries about one year worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 628 feet (191.4 meters)
Height: 145 feet (44.2 meters)
Width: 240 feet (73 meter)
Weight: 145,000 Tons (131,500 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 20 year life span. The
ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 40,000 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker
for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal
items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor,
troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: Including both the original cost of the cargo ship
and modifications, the ship costs 1.5 billion credits.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
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