The Waterloo class entered service during the mid Twenty Six Fifties and replaced the Manassas class cruisers which were in service at that time. The Waterloo class heavy cruisers served as the Confederation Fleet's primary heavy cruiser for the Twenty Six Fifties through most of the Twenty-Six Sixties. They were the largest Confederation Fleet's warships except carriers and the Gettysburg-class battlecruisers. During the Twenty-Six Sixties, all Waterloo-class cruisers were retrofitted with two Anti-Matter Guns in place of their Heavy Neutron batteries, and refitted with heavier shielding, more powerful point defense batteries, and extra armor.
Originally the Waterloo class heavy cruisers were only designed to carry sixteen In response to the Kilrathi's new Fralthra heavy cruisers entering service in the early Twenty Six Sixties, Confederation Fleet began configuring the Waterloos cruisers to serve as small carriers. Their hangar decks and storage capacity were increased to carry up to forty fighters, the same number carried by the Fralthra class heavy cruisers. Normal compliment is a heavy squadron of light fighters (actually 16 fighters), a standard squadron of medium fighters, eight heavy fighters which is considered to be a light squadron, and four heavy bombers. The cruiser/carrier hybrid was a bit of a compromise with the flight deck was vulnerable to open Kilrathi attack, but it got the job done. The main armament was not touched, which and many people still referred to the Waterloos as cruisers instead of light carriers.
Besides providing escort for the mainstay fleet carriers, Waterloo-class cruisers also serve as flagships for small task forces which do not involve the large carriers. Of course, the ships are equipped with small flag facilities to act as flagships. Unlike carriers, the heavy cruisers are not large enough to have an auxiliary bridge. Examples of missions include working paired up with another cruiser or with a supporting destroyer escort. During the Battle of Earth, the majority of Waterloo-class cruisers were either lost in action or demolished while still moored in Lunar dry dock. While the five remaining ships of the Waterloo class are considered to have been rendered obsolete by the new Tallahassee-class heavy cruiser and have been placed in reserve or on second line duties. It should be noted that all ships of the Waterloo class are christened after famous land battles. Other examples on names include San Jacinto, Bastille, Gettysburg, and Stalingrad.
Notes of game conversion:
Because of the nature of the Video Game / Novel series "Wing Commander" and the needs to put the starship into game mechanics, the starship has several modification compared to the Video Game and Novels. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The starship has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor starships. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: CA-74 Waterloo class Heavy Cruiser
Vehicle Type: Heavy Cruiser / Light Carrier
Crew: 350 (15 Officers, 18 Chief Petty Officers, and 317 Enlisted)
Troops / Passengers: 80 fighter pilots. Has flag facilities
for up to 40 additional personnel
Vehicles:
Fighter Compliment (Original Version):
| 8 | Light Starfighters (F-54 Epee Light Fighters / P-64 Ferret Patrol Fighters) | |
| 4 | Medium Starfighters (F-44 Rapier Medium Fighters) | |
| 4 | Heavy Starfighters (F-57 Sabre Heavy Fighters) |
| 16 | Light Starfighters (F-54 Epee Light Fighters / P-64 Ferret Patrol Fighters) | |
| 12 | Medium Starfighters (F-44 Rapier Medium Fighters) | |
| 8 | Heavy Starfighters (F-57 Sabre Heavy Fighters) | |
| 4 | Heavy Bombers (A-17 Broadsword Heavy Bombers) |
| 4 | General Purpose Shuttles |
M.D.C. By Location:
| Anti-Matter Guns (4): | 2,000 each | |
| Light Point Defense Laser Cannon mounts (6): | 100 each | |
| Light Point Defense Mass Drivers (9): | 120 each | |
| Cruise Missile Launchers (6): | 500 each | |
| Hanger Bay (1): | 2,800 each | |
| [1] Bridge: | 5,000 | |
| [2] Engineering section: | 6,400 | |
| Main Engines (2): | 3,200 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 15,500 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 6,000 per side (36,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] 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.
[2] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion
systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten
percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Destroyer out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,800 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 0.35 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The heavy cruiser carrier cannot operate
within an atmosphere. If the ship enters an atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: The heavy cruiser mounts a jump drive which is capable
of jumping instantly from a fixed point in a system to another fixed point
in a system. These points are weaknesses in the fabric of space and have
been mapped in most cases. Fuel is hydrogen which the heavy cruiser scoops
from space to fuel the jump engine.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
The cruiser has about two years worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 1650.26 feet (503 meters)
Height: 769.03 feet (221.2 meters) for hull and 799.9 feet (234.4
meters) including antenna
Width: 542.65 feet (165.4 meters)
Weight: 21,495.1 Tons (19,500 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally
only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 2,000 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: The Waterloo class heavy cruiser costs around 10.5
billion credits to manufacture. Fighter compliment cost approximately 2.1
billion credits.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin
Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Wing Commander copyright © Origin Productions]
By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Rifts Conversion Copyright © 2004 & 2006, Kitsune. All rights reserved.