NationStates Jolt Archive

Background With the enormous export success of the Benatar class Trimaran heavy fleet carrier and its ability to serve as the linchpin for Sarzonia's Surface Combat Groups, combined with intelligence suggesting that allied nations are beginning to implement new superdreadnought classes that are intended more for line combat than for command and control and aircraft delivery, the need for a warship that combines the attributes of command and control centre, aircraft carrier, and battleship into one vessel has been questioned in the Incorporated Sarzonian Navy. The longstanding success of the Vigilant class command battleship and its predecessors led some in the ISN to question whether there was a need for a new warship to replace it, especially in light of the Adamant class as a large escorting battleship for line duty.

However, the need for a surface combatant to serve as the centrepiece of a fleet and be capable of being the lead warship of a battleline was not lost on the ISN, especially with the poor performance of most command battleships in line of battle warfare. Thus, the development of a separate class of warship, one to supercede many ISN designs before it, began. The result of this extensive development programme is the Templar class superdreadnought. The ship is named after the new elite combat units in the Incorporated Sarzonian Army, the Templars, and continues the evolution from the Vigilant to the proposed Heroic class command battleship. It is also the first and only ship actually designated a superdreadnought in the ISN in its history, although most of the Navy's top brass referred to the Vigilant thusly.

Armament With the new emphasis on being a pure combatant, the Portland Iron Works found itself in a quandary. It made an effort to decide between the 30 inch (762 mm) naval guns that the Vigilant fired, famous for their terminal performance against unfortunate prey, or the 25 inch (635 mm) Mark IV ETC naval guns that most ISN capital assets carry. Ultimately, the ease of logistics and improved range and accuracy of the 25 inch guns won the doctrinal battle, and the Templar is armed with five quadruple turrets of these 25 inch guns in A, B, C, X, and Y positions. Borrowing from the Vanguard II, which could be considered the grandfather of this design where the Vigilant might be its father, the Templar includes 10 launchers capable of firing IRBMs, giving the Templar the role of an arsenal any foe worth his salt should fear. Other weapons include 16 five inch (127 mm) dual purpose Mark IV ETC guns, 1,536 Mark 142 dual purpose VLS tubes capable of launching missiles as large as the Scourge or Scorcher missiles and capable of firing the Dragonfly long-range SAM, eight 1,000 mm torpedo tubes capable of firing the Broadsword ultralarge torpedo, 12 RAM launchers, 24 35 mm Rattlesnake CIWS suites (including the 35 mm Millennium Gun and the Yellow Jacket mini-SAM), and 12 35 mm supercavitating guns.

Protection The top priority for nearly any PIW-designed ship is ensuring survivability among the best of any ship in its class, and the Templar certainly fits the bill. It is protected with 1,300 mm-1,800 mm of an advanced armour composite consisting of titanium, vanadium, aluminum, amorphous steel, and ballistic ceramics. New to the design is a new triple-bottomed design with a reinforced keel with void spaces and a torpedo bulge that protects against large torpedo attacks. The titanium-aluminum alloyed honeycomb frame provides additional stability and security, and the ship also includes composite rods and KE-reducing ceramic plates to provide additional protection against kinetic attacks. In addition, the same NBC protection provided to ships like the Normandy has been added to the Templar to make it one of the hardest ships to take down on the high seas.

Crew/Aircraft Complement The Templar has been designed with as much automation as a ISN warship can be equipped with, giving it a crew complement of 12,100 plus an aircrew of 120 and a collection of 1,200 Naval Infantry. Unlike most other warships of this size, the Templar is not designed as a command battleship with large swaths of aircraft. Its layout of aircraft is limited to a modest 12 H-15 Dragon ASW helicopters or similar, giving the ship more room for its role as a combat ship.

Templar-class superdreadnought
Length: 998 m (oa); Beam: 238 m; Draught: 29.1 m
Displacement: 2.85 million tonnes fully laden
Armament: 5 x 4 635 mm Mark IV ETC guns in A, B, C, X, Y positions; 10 IRBM launchers port and starboard; 16 x 127 mm Mark IV DP ETC guns port and starboard; 16 x 96 cell Mark 142 VLS; 8 x 1,000 mm TT; 12 x RAM launchers; 24 x 35 mm Rattlesnake CIWS; 12 x 35 mm supercavitating guns
Protection: 1,300-1,800 mm NBC-protected advanced armour composite (titanium, vanadium, aluminum, amorphous steel, ballistic ceramics); triple-bottomed, reinforced keel with torpedo bulge and void spaces over a titanium-aluminum alloyed honeycomb frame. Composite rods and KE-reducing ceramic plates protect against KE attacks.
Complement: 12,100 plus 120 aircrew. 1,200 Naval Infantry.
Propulsion: 12 PebbleBed nuclear reactors; four internalised waterjets with sprint coils. 38 knots maximum.
Aircraft: Space for 8-12 H-15 Dragon ASW helicopters.
Electronics: Next Generation Theatre Combat Management System (TCMS), which includes redundant satellite imagery transceivers and processors, GPS transceivers, LIDAR and LADAR, target prioritisation and acquisition software, and millimetric wave radar; AN/SPS-73(V) SSR; AN/SPS-67; AN/SPY-3B MFR multi-function radar; Maritime Forward Looking Infrared System; Optical Surveillance System; Shipboard Command and Control System; AN/SQS 510(V) hull mounted sonar; AN/SLY-2 (V) electronics warfare suite
Decoys: AN/SLQ-49; AN/SLQ-25 Nixie; MK-53 Nulka DLS
Fire Control: MK-99 FCS missile fire control; MK-86 GFCS gun fire control; MK-116 mod 7 ACWSCS torpedo fire control
Fleet Defense System: MK-200 mod 2 FDS
Fleet Defense Control: MK-201 FDC
Price: $295 billion
Running Cost: $10 billion per year

To: Portland Iron Works
From: Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur,
Space Union Navy (SUN)
Subject: Order

We are pleased to announce of our interest in buying your newest creation as our next super dreadnaught. After a competition with the Neptune-Class Super Dreadnaught, the Space Union Navy went through an extremely tough selection process in which the Templar-Class was selected as the Space Union's new main super dreadnaught. We are placing an initial order of eight (8) Templar-Class Super Dreadnaughts at the price of $2.36 trillion ($2,360,000,000,000) with the option of another eight (8) after this production run is complete. We understand that this will take a considerable amount of time but we are willing to wait. Thank You for yet another great design from the engineers and designers in Portland Iron Work.

Signed,
Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur

OOC: So what if that extremely tough selection process was a coin toss. :p

[Secret IC transmission sent to Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur]

To: Chief-of-Military Manjit Kaur,
Space Union Navy (SUN)
From: Commodore Jamie Wilson (ISN-Ret.)
Acting Managing Director, Portland Iron Works
Subject: Confirmation of order

The Portland Iron Works is proud of its distinction as the primary supplier of warships to the storied Space Union navy and we are greatly honoured to make you our first customers for the new Templar class superdreadnought, the first ship to bear that distinction officially in the ISN. Your order for eight of this design is confirmed, of course, for the amount of $2.36 trillion. Work will begin immediately and we expect to have this order completed within 15 NS years (15 RL days), following the completion of sea trials.

We hope these new ships serve your navy well and we thank you for your confidence in the Portland Iron Works and for choosing us for your maritime needs!

To: Portland Iron Works
From: Ministery of External Affairs and War
Subject: Order

We, at the Atheistic Right Ministery of External Affairs and War, are interested in the Templar-class superdreadnought, and would like to place an order for 9 of these incredible vessels. For a total of 2.655 Trillion, however we ask to pay this off on an installment plan over 6 years with a payment of 442.5 Billion per year. We ask if these terms are acceptible.

We are also interested in submarines and Aircraft carriers, We would like to have a look at some Portland Iron Works classes of these ships

OOC:Are we talking about an actual Naval ship; or Naval like space naval? Because that ship with it's weapons and armor would SEVERELY excess it's displacement for it's size and sink like a rock in water. Do you have ANY idea how innaccurate, big, and unreasonable the size of the ships main guns are? I mean you have to think reasonably about a ships gun and bore size. With guns like that you'll be missing every single shot over 10 miles. Also; for the weight of the weapon's them selves would weigh about 150+ tonnes each! =/

OOC: Hell with it, Sarzonia, just add 8 more my order and double the payment. I'll send ya the money. :)

OOC:Are we talking about an actual Naval ship; or Naval like space naval? Because that ship with it's weapons and armor would SEVERELY excess it's displacement for it's size and sink like a rock in water. Do you have ANY idea how innaccurate, big, and unreasonable the size of the ships main guns are? I mean you have to think reasonably about a ships gun and bore size. With guns like that you'll be missing every single shot over 10 miles. Also; for the weight of the weapon's them selves would weigh about 150+ tonnes each! =/
OOC: This design was available for review at the NS Draftroom by players who have been playing this game for a long time and who have earned the respect of the NationStates community at large for their abilities as roleplayers and designers of military equipment for this game. None of the registered any complaints about the design.

The main guns are 25 inches each, which has been decided by a great majority of players to be a good upper limit for guns for the NS world. Remember, this is NOT real life.

OOC: I know that but you are STILL BOUND BY PHYSICS MY GOD! 25 inch guns would not only weigh a surreal amount; but would have retarded accuracy. Like I stated ANYTHING shot over 10 miles would miss. I could tell you how to correct that but; then we'd need an alliance; I still need to post my countries ship. =P Not quite as big as yours but is still a floating fortress. Oh and LIDAR AND LADAR are exactly the same, LIDAR is just the Army's incorrect use of the acronym by the way they pronounce it xD.

OOC: I know that but you are STILL BOUND BY PHYSICS MY GOD! 25 inch guns would not only weigh a surreal amount; but would have retarded accuracy. Like I stated ANYTHING shot over 10 miles would miss. I could tell you how to correct that but; then we'd need an alliance; I still need to post my countries ship. =P Not quite as big as yours but is still a floating fortress. Oh and LIDAR AND LADAR are exactly the same, LIDAR is just the Army's incorrect use of the acronym by the way they pronounce it xD.

Actually no your wrong, LIDAR is the correct form (if that argument is even plausible) because it came before the LADAR acronym.

OOC:Whoops, well you know what I meant. Wikipedia it; also would you mind if I used the way you incorperated honey-comb design into your armor and used it in my ship as well? I'd say stick with 16 inch guns; accurate and powerful; and put them on quad turrets.

OOC:Whoops, well you know what I meant. Wikipedia it; also would you mind if I used the way you incorperated honey-comb design into your armor and used it in my ship as well? I'd say stick with 16 inch guns; accurate and powerful; and put them on quad turrets.
Dude, this is NationStates. Real life designs are horrendously underpowered here, and the overwhelming majority of reputable players accept designs similar to this one. If you're starting some realism crusade, it's not going to get very far.

A honeycomb frame is just an engineering term for a type of hull backing. It's not my own design and I don't think anyone would object if you used it.

OOC: When I roleplayed companies on other RP communities/forums and somebody saw something relatively similar to what they used they bitch and moan for days and because I'm used to that I had to ask. xD; Well anyway as for your armor. Check out mine; it's much thinner and about as powerful if not more. Also; check out the way I precision guide my shells on my Doppleganger Class Battleship I'll let you copy and paste it as nobody I think on this community has used it yet.