Stevid
29-05-2007, 21:58
This has been months in the making and there is a lot to read. Any minor or major errors you see with it please say so. Enjoy.
Type-131 Lemartes Class (DDG)
This is a huge innovation in Stevidian naval technology and self-defence procurement. As such this, vessel was born and is a contender to be one of the most powerful destroyers sailing the seas of the world today which is why the country has decided to inform the military powers of the world of this latest naval development.
The Lemartes Class guided missile destroyer is one of the newest innovations made by the Royal Navy in a bid to replace some of the older designs still employed by the current fleet. The Royal Navy’s destroyer force is impressively powerful but its ship classes’ ages varies massively, the Kingsley Class and the Derbyshire Class are all relatively new ships while in comparison the Manchester and Sheffield Classes of the Type-42 are dangerously old and require almost constant refits to keep them up-to-date with the world’s current technological naval standards. While the ship continue to produce these escorts, both old and new, they are building designs that are becoming more and more obsolete despite the refits and advances in technology. A current Stevidian Royal Navy Type-42 Manchester Class destroyer or a Type-23 Duke Class frigate can easily destroy the Arleigh Burke Class destroyer and ships of similar build. In the case of the Type-23, a recent refit allowed it to carry the Gothic Type-II ship-to-ship missile instead of the Harpoon missiles from its VLS compartment on the bow, this in addition to advancement in target locking and Radar guidance systems allows the Type-23 Duke Class to sink Super Dreadnoughts.
Even though the Navy has proved that its escort capability is one of the finest in the world it still severely lacks innovative designs and is still relying on Cold War era designs aside new ones to keep the escort fleet efficient. Not nearly as many new escort ships are being designed for the navy as were hoped, Supercapital ships, Super Dreadnoughts and Command Battleships are more popular with designs and symbolise raw power rather than subtle pride. However the University of Milton undertook a huge project involving all the students at the University that where studying courses in engineering, naval technology and theory and even arts and crafts to begin designing a ship for the Royal Navy. They came out with concept models, graphs, feasibility studies and even had members of BAE Systems come down and do a proper evaluation of the project. The students performed every stage that BAE performed when creating new ships and the engineering company were extremely impressed at what had been created, the name of the new destroyer was Lemartes and the write-ups and studies on the vessel impressed Stevid BAE Systems so much that once the project was finished they made a move to buy the designs from the students and university and get the rights to modify the designs as such to make them fully compatible with Royal Navy needs while granting Milton University with all the credit that was due for coming up with the initial designs.
The idea for the Lemartes Class DDG was refined slightly with military technology and weapons talked about in more detail and then the final concept model and designs were proposed to Parliament. Unfortunately the current escort fleet was extremely good at its job and so better reasons for building the Lemartes Class was needed other then “to make the fleet larger”. Writing off ships was the only real solution at this stage and so it was agreed that ALL Sheffield Classes were to be scrapped or sold off, all Manchester Classes that were over thirty years old were to be scrapped or sold off, Kinsley Classes older than twenty-five were to be scrapped or sold off and ALL Type-22 Broadswords were to be scrapped or sold. All to be replaced by the Lemartes Class which become the backbone of the Navy’s escort fleets. The idea was presented to Parliament once more which then agreed with the idea. The Lemartes Class was now approved.
Design & Construction
The boys and girls at Milton University had done their homework when they had created this ship and had gone to extreme detail with their work on the scale of the vessel. Everything from dimensions to the size of an ordinary Rating’s locker had been taken into account and designed in full. Most of the work had already been done and all that SBAES had to do was proof read to see whether or not mistakes had been made.
She was long and large by comparison to the Duke Class that was not to be replaced at so nearly six hundred feet she was by far longer than the Arleigh Burke Class, seventy-eight feet at beam and the draught at twenty-four point seven feet. She was a big ship as far as escort were concerned as was to be stocked with an abundance of weapons and a heavy propulsion system so she needed to be large to accommodate everything required. The super structure forms the most beautiful part of ship and the Lemartes delivers with success, the Royal Navy believes that a beautiful ship as well as being a deadly ship vastly improves morale with the crew. The Lemartes has a steeply sloping bridge which seems to be an elevated island as it extends up into the air be the rest of the superstructure continues about half way up leading to two funnels (like the Arleigh Burke), after the second funnel the superstructure lowers slightly forming the room for a large section of VLS cells before rising sharply again to make room for the proposed helicopter hanger. The flight deck for the helicopter marks the end of the ship. The main communications array and SAMPSON mast is positioned in between the bridge and the first funnel.
The main change with this design of ship is its new corridor system, the ship is not in the least bit complex inside and even a six year old child could navigate it on their own. There are seven main corridors within the ship, one in engineering, two a couple of levels above that, two more above that and then two more after that. Each are wide and able to take a lot of people at a time which seems to be a waste of space in naval terms, however the ship is large in the first place and a happy crew means better performance- keeping them in constantly cramped and irritating conditions would lower morale, crew performance and ship efficiency. The ship change over procedure from Condition Normal to Action Stations is quickened by nearly 30% which thus makes that ship combat ready almost seven minutes quicker than the average time on a Duke Class. The corridors have central main spiral stair cases or simple steep ones but both a wide and can take two way human traffic- these stair wells lead to their sister main corridors (apart from Main Engineering) and can be sealed shut both manually and automatically to prevent flooding. Four out of the six corridors have emergency lifts each end with small electrical generators to quickly transfer wounded crew members to sick bay or transfer crew members to a safer deck during evacuation.
It has been seen that sometime ships have to act as temporary hospitals and living quarters for people in areas of the world struck by natural disasters, sinking ships or war torn zones that need evacuating. The widened corridors make the Lemartes Class easier to live in but also allow refugees space to sit and sleep until a replacement ship is found. The makes this guided missile destroyer more than capable of handling any humanitarian crisis with ease and without worry of overloading the ship or making it inhospitable to live and work in.
To improve navigation within the ship further colour schemes for each main corridor have been introduce that hasn’t been done before on a Royal Navy ship. Each main corridor on interior maps is colour coded and this designation is reflected in the corridor itself with a strip of coloured paint on the wall right next to the floor. The corridors are given a colour depending on which deck they are on- working upwards from Main Engineering Corridor which is Orange, Living Quarters Corridors I and II are Green, Main Deck Corridors I and II are Purple, and Command and Control Deck Main Corridors I and II are colour coded Red. It is a simple scheme but helps crew members new to the ship navigate far more easily and allows them to learn the layout of the ship far more quickly. Main stairwells that connect these corridors together are given letters and the lifts the also connect them are numbered, at first glance it may seem confusing but after three days onboard it soon becomes common knowledge and the crews adapt extremely well to it.
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Main Engineering – ORANGE
As the title suggests, main engineering is where the engines are, major electric power systems are and where the engineers generally dwell while the boat is at sea. This is where the ship comes alive and ii is also the most dangerous, not only because of the equipment used down there or because the engines are so big and dangerous but because it is below the water line in most instances and the enemy can use torpedoes to breach the waterline, cause flooding in the engine room and force the ship to shut down and evacuate if the damage and flooding is extensive. For this reason the designers included a reinforced keel and a torpedo bulge to maximise survivability but also flood gates are placed through engineering to separate flooding compartments and try and contain flooding if it ever occurs. Automatic water pumping systems activate in the event of flooding and these are tested regularly by damage control team specialists on Command and Control Deck.
All the back-up generators (spare a few) are in main engineering too, power failures can happen throughout the ship and the generators can be used to provide additional power to internal sectors the require an added boost or to areas that have lost power all together. There is one small generator that is directly linked to the Command Room where combat is coordinated from; this generator is protected in the confines of main engineering and is only switched on when power to the Command Room fails. Unless an evacuation order is given, power will be constantly sent to this room so as allow the ship to continue battle by firing weapons or laser designating targets for sister ships no matter the state of the ship.
Living Quarters– GREEN
These decks are where the crew sleep, eat, socialise and in many case work. Not all the crew live here but most do live on the decks surrounding the main corridor. It is here where the mess hall is, the lounge, the games room and shop is. Green reflects the happy and friendly mentality the crew are usually in when on the deck with the main corridor. The mess hall is large and seeing as the ship can perform humanitarian roles it seemed more than simply logical to have the mess hall large. Inside are tables and chairs for 30% of the crew since most will not have a change in shifts at the same time, around the walls are vending machines for those who want a little more to eat and drink. Adjacent to the mess hall is of course the kitchen that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for every month of every year unless it is sitting at anchor in a friendly port- sometimes even then it operates. It is there to cook food and prepare side meals, it cooks for the Officers Mess several decks above and is also where the head chef briefs the other cooks what is on the menu. A place of friendliness and always has a good rapport with the crew seeing as the feed the ship and keep it going in a metaphorical sense.
Almost next door is the laundry room and after that are the living quarters. However towards the front of the ship is the games room where the crew sit and read magazines, play table football, table tennis, bowling, pinball or whatever facilities the ship provides for the crew; almost next door to that is the lounge with sofas, large screen plasma television with digital channels and a bar are present. The bar does sell alcohol (on par with Navy regulations) after nine o’clock at night and it is a place where many of the crew like to relax after a hard day’s work. It is a place, like the mess hall, for the crew to unwind and talk to each other, for relationships to grow and for many it is probably where they can become part of a seaborne family. It is crucial for morale that a lounge be present on board and while the designs put the combat effectiveness of the ship first, the crew are considered part of that effectiveness and so their comfort, well being and morale have to be taken into account- a decent and expensive lounge helps morale go a long way.
Main Deck– PURPLE
This deck is almost always going to be the busiest as it leads to the outside world. This is where the crew gain access to the deck outside and is import for the Royal Marines in particular. At amidships the entrance to the main corridor leads straight the corridor and back out the other side creating a “cross junction” in the middle of ship on that deck. This allows greater access to both side of the ship in an emergency so Royal Marines can instantly get from port to starboard depending on where a threat is presenting itself, also in terms of an evacuation it is efficient at getting members of the crew out on both sides or one side depending on whether the ship is listing or not. Since the main corridors are supposed to take a lot of people it is easy to move between port and starboard without chaos ensuing. Supplies due for the decks below (the canteen or the lounge or the engine room) come through here and so the corridors are wider still to allow the free movement of materials to multiple destinations on the ship.
It is also on this level that the Electronic Warfare suites can be accessed as well as the damage control operations area, the internal communications switchboard rooms and the power distribution centre- all crucial to maintaining the ship; fire control teams gather here first before talking a major blaze above or below deck. It is also the level where the guest quarters are present, Admirals staying over get the main guest suite while other passengers such as ambassadors, journalists and/or camera crews get other smaller suites but well away from the bustle down below in the crew quarters.
Purple deck, towards the aft of the ship at least, houses the main entrance into the helicopter hanger bay. The hanger bay is large and has room for a single Augusta Merlin ASW helicopter as well as a mountain of attachable equipment for the helicopter which includes depth charges and torpedoes. The main reason why the corridor is so wide has been mentioned but it doubles up again for the Royal Marines who can now run at speed through the ship the landing platform, board the helicopter and take off. All the designs of this deck and its two main corridors all take into account crew and ship’s combat efficiency when klaxons sound.
Command and Control Deck– Red
Probably the most import set of decks in the whole ship- the C&C deck is where the nerve centres of the ship are and it is from these rooms and consoles that the ship fights and wins battles. These rooms include the heavy duty Electronic Warfare suites (both ECM and ECCM), the bridge, the Command or Operations Room which is where the battle is controlled and monitored, the NAVSAT and External Communications control rooms which talk to the AWACS and Defiler Class C&C cruisers where present as well as keeping in touch with the flagship and the Admiralty back home and finally the CELLDAR receiver array control room.
The EW suites are extremely important and work of CELLDAR and SAMPSON radar and detection frequency bands as well as producing other disruptive frequency waves to confuse enemy radar, CIWS and hamper their own ECM/ECCM jamming. The Royal Navy prides itself on its jamming equipment that has proven to be superior in many combat theatres across the globe and has so far managed to win several naval and air battles in conjunction with the Hanover Class EW vessels. It is here where the status of EW missiles are monitored and regulated before and after launch, all data on the missiles and the effectiveness of the ECM/ECCM missile countermeasures is fed through to the control room where a warfare officer receives it and then reports to the captain.
The bridge is pretty essential and while most of the ship is automated the helm is one of the most important positions when the ship is engaged in battle. The bridge (when the ship isn’t in combat) is the hub of the ship where course and general ship duties are coordinated. Ship-to-ship and internal communications when not in combat are performed here and so it is the primary hub of the ship, it’s destruction does not in anyway prevent the ship from fighting and winning a sea battle since the hardened protective shell that encompasses the operations room is where the nerve centre of the ship transfers to during combat. The bridge is used 95% of the time and is important because the majority of the commanding officers work in this area. Other aspects of the bridge include navigation and basic detection suites, surface, air and underwater radar consoles are present, GPS tracking and tactical navigation consoles are also present as well as a chest of draws that contain highly detailed maps of millions of regions of seas across the globe organised in importance. The port and starboard external balconies provide the Officers of the Watch 180° view of the sea at either sides of the vessel with mounted binoculars for searches and machine guns for quick defence.
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Armament
The armament of the Lemartes class is of the utmost importance and had been specified by designs to surpass the inferior armaments of the vessel which it would be replacing. This destroyer would be loaded with whatever weaponry would be deemed appropriate for it to hold including some experimental weapons that had not fully entered service yet. The Lemartes Class was to become the test bed for some of the more innovative weapons in the Stevidian arsenal while still holding onto most of the conventional weapons that destroyers hold.
The most imposing of the weapons that the Lemartes has in its arsenal is the 4.5” cannon with stealthy features. As an escort vessel it would be rare for the ship to employ this weapon often but in the cases of small task forces or stand alone anti-piracy missions the cannon comes into its own. These sorts of missions do not require large guns to achieve their goals and so anything between 4.5” and 6” was the recommended gun size for this vessel; to cut down on costs that where already very high for a ship of this class the 4.5” cannon was opted for instead of the other possible sizes. Gun only comes into its own in the above mentioned situations and so the 4.5” seemed to be a good choice in either case and when dealing with humanitarian crises, a large gun would give the locals the wrong impression on why the ship was there. AA small gun and a beautiful ship flying the colours of Stevid would for than enough to give the beleaguered locals hope. The reasons behind the choosing of the 4.5” gun were not only economical and tactical but also psychological. Only a single mounting was allowed and its placement echoed tradition and commonsense by having on the bow in front of the of the VLS cells nearest the superstructure. It was single barrelled with the munitions bay underneath retrofitted with the most efficient auto loading system the manufacturers could get there hands on. With additional crew training and intense drilling, an estimated twenty to twenty-five shells could be fired a minute providing a lethal stream of shells that could easily devastate any lightly defended beach of port city.
The least conventional weapon that the Lemartes is home to is the rare laser. Laser has been employed as a weapon by many allies and adversaries of Stevid- most recently being the Merkar Republic which had submarines that used it as an anti-missile point-defence weapon that had incredible accuracy and efficiency as a CIWS weapon. Laser weaponry was not an unknown concept to the Royal Navy or the Stevidian military on a whole but the power required to operate them was substantial and only some of the lager vessels in the Navy had the electrical capacity to power these things. However laser development was continuous despite the capability there for the Royal Navy to use, the MoD had decided that a perfected laser design would be need first before funding was granted to have them deployed on ships, also a suitable small scale nuclear would need to be developed to power the lasers on their own. The reactor would have to be small, no bigger than a small bedroom, and produce enough output to power the lasers by themselves- testing showed that lasers that leeched off the main power supply of the ship would cause a major drain and lag of ship power for the lasers to operate properly. This meant that system response times and effectiveness would be dramatically reduced to a state that would leave the ship vulnerable. A stable stand alone power supply would was needed to power the lasers 100% without draining the rest of the ship of power (this small reactor will be mentioned in the “Propulsion” section).
Once the reactor was obtained, the MoD turned its sights to the companies developing the laser CIWS gun. So far history had shown Stevid that the lasers employed by most nations was just a focused beam of intensely heated light that fired at the target. The light did not dissipate and it was just a continuous beam. The MoD saw this as a waste of time and energy and demanded that the laser be far more efficient than the “beam” model while being more powerful. Months of hard labour and millions of pounds later led to the pulse laser that acted like an ordinary CIWS cannon but a slower rate of fire. Instead of a single beam being projected at the target, the energy was conserved and stored within the emitter before being fired at the target in a short burst of intense blue light. The process would be repeated until the target was destroyed. This was tested and the result was small rays of light flashing out of the emitter before a single target was destroyed after two shots. The focused laser being fired in short burst was not only powerful but energy efficient, the tests showed it could fire up to seventy rounds before the energy was completely depleted and had to stop and recharge. It was an impressive sight to see and a radical step forward in CIWS technology, especially in Stevid, but it was hugely expensive and the Lemartes was only granted two mounts of “CILS”- one on Starboard and one at Port. They were in similar size to the ILMS cannons that the Stevidian ships used so there was no space particularly taken up. Also the fact that there were only two mounts meant that the nuclear reactor delivering power to these weapons was not being over used and so the lasers could, in theory, fire up to one hundred “rounds” before having to stop and recharge. Initial sea trials would either prove or disprove the theory.
Other countermeasures that the Lemartes Class possesses are the conventional CIWS/ILMS cannons. Greater in number than the CILS cannons, the ILMS cannons work in the same manner as any other CIWS mount in any modern navy. The ILMS gun uses IR scanning, uplinks to the ship’s own radar as well as the mount’s own detection capabilities to search for targets inbound to the ship or within its firing radius, it then tags the target with its own unique identifying code and so even when the target avoids detection and then remerges the ILMS cannon still sees it and never “forgets” it until the target is destroyed. The IR identification system is also so accurate that the cannon can be pre-programmed or ordered to shoot at specific parts of an enemy aircraft thus gaining either instant neutralisation or an instant kill. The cannons are extremely effective and conventional Goalkeeper and Phalanx cannons are now well and in the past and no longer used in the navy- replaced now by ILMS guns. 35-45mm eight-barrelled mounts are traditional in the Royal Navy now and the Lemartes is no exception as it mounts six 35mm ILMS cannons- two port, two starboard, one bow and one aft providing all round protection for the ship and for surrounding ships.
The destroyer also mounts fourteen 40mm manned/automated quad barrelled heavy machineguns for extra point defence capability. These guns can be manned so that crew members can take down missiles or defend the ship from nearby craft or offer support to a Royal Marine boarding party when anti-piracy or terrorism is involved. In the case of missile defence, the ship’s AI military computer can take control of the guns to make easier and more accurate kills on airborne targets that if they were manned. The mounts for these guns are five port and starboard, two bow and aft.
The missile armament is where this ship shines the most; it has a 40-cell vertical launch system on the foredeck behind the deck gun and a 32-cell vertical launch system towards the aft of the ship next to the smoke stacks. It is a multi-role destroy in all sense of the word but its primary duty is as an escort ship and so focuses more on the anti-air front than anti-ship. The forward VLS system is a multi missile one and is able to take any sort of missile in any combination however its primary use is for SAMs, 30 of the 40 cells are usually armed to surface to air missiles while the other ten are ASW missiles, however the helicopter is used primarily for ASW duties but the ship itself can attack enemy underwater target directly if necessary. The aft cells are all ship-to-ship cells and are designed only to hold the Gothic Type II anti-ship missile.
Following the lessons learned from the Sledgehammer missiles (both types I and II) the MoD proposed a missile that work along the same effects but would be fine tuned to such a degree that accuracy would be placed above speed. The result was the Gothic Type I missile that was supposed to be placed on the XF-24 Scorpion multi-role fighters that would act as the Navy’s primary strike role. So successful were these missiles at defeating the heavily armed shipping of Kanami and Aqua Anu during the First Hanover Conflict that the Gothic Type II was developed for use on the naval ships themselves. Again they proved more than effective in the Second Hanover Conflict- testing on heavy armour showed that the Gothic Type I and II were more than powerful enough to take down large Super Dreadnoughts and capital ships. Using CELLDAR receiver technology, GPS tracking and IR identifying, the Gothic missiles would not just drop indiscriminately on top of the target but would target key parts of the ship. With smaller ships this was irrelevant because the raw power behind these missiles could sink the ships out right, but when it came to SDNs the missile could target the bridge or cannons for deep penetration. In the case of cannons, the resulting explosion could detonate the munitions stores and destroy half the ship in one go. Like the Sledgehammer, the Gothic missile could fly high into the sky and drop down right on top of the ship avoiding almost all CIWS fire, but this would only be used to cause massive deep penetration damage- the Gothic missiles could be set to sea skimming alone which sacrificed speed for accuracy and allows the Gothic missile to hit between the joins where turret and hull meet on a battleship… almost guaranteeing a kill. The aft VLS cell of the Lemartes are armed with these missiles and additional stores of these deadly things are kept in the missile stores well below deck.
Amidships on both the port and starboard sides are the torpedo launchers. Six tubes totalling twelve overall are mounted on the Lemartes Class and were only granted a placement on the ship when the designers reviewed the ship’s anti-submarine abilities and multi-role effectiveness as an escort. The tubes were dutifully mounted on the ship and are highly automated when targeting, firing and reloading- human supervision is of course necessary to prevent accidents but the tubes are completely independent and only require target acquisition assistance and orders to fire from the operations room. In the grand scheme of modern naval combat of today it is unlikely that the torpedoes will ever be used but the fact that they are there adds to the ship’s combat effectiveness, general status as a multi-role ship and it is a symbol of the true potential of ship’s deadliness and show exactly what it can do if the occasion calls for it.
Propulsion Systems
The Type-131 Lemartes Class destroyer is a conventionally powered vessel even though she does have a small nuclear reactor onboard. Her main propulsion and power supply comes from four general electric Harland & Winchester ltd. VM-8900 Gas-Turbine engines delivering just over 120,000shp allowing the Lemartes class to kick up speeds of 30-35knts at flank and can achieve 6,300 nautical miles at 20knts. This is the main power supply to the ship, delivers power to two shafts, powers the general electrical systems of the ship (includes lights and computers) as well providing the central heating system on board. Excess heat produced by the generators and smokestacks are not wasted and the infrared heat radiation is collected distributed around the ship. This idea was not only compiled to help keep the crew comfortable but also as part of the ship’s defence mechanism. Containing the IR signature heat gives off, especially around the smokestacks, makes the ship even more visible to the enemy scanning for heat signatures- infrared suppresses are fitted to the external heat vents on the ship, this includes the smokestacks and the smoke vents around the VLS cells.
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Curtesy of Wikipedia-minor colour alteration
While this main engine is fairly unremarkable to any other engine that one might find in your ordinary destroyer (likewise with the electrical back-up generator), its other power supply is much more interesting. The destroyer is not designated on being a nuclear vessel but does have a reactor on board. This thing powers the two CILS mounts on the ship, if the lasers where to draw on power from the primary power supply there would be a major drain in energy to fire only a few shots before consuming more energy than before to recharge. A general systems analysis showed that if both laser turrets were in full use and were drawing on power from the main supply, almost 95.3% of the ship’s total energy would needed be keep the guns firing- the ship on a whole only estimated 3% effective in combat after tests were completed. The obvious solution would be to remove the laser point-defence system but the tests on the weapons themselves showed they were incredibly potent at shooting down aircraft at a phenomenal rate- every hit almost guaranteed a kill and were well worth the time, money and the ship’s energy. The other simple solution was to give the lasers their own unlimited power supply, the amount of energy they required was vast and only nuclear technology was feasible to implement. Experiment third energy and atomic energy resources were considered but nuclear energy was the cheapest, most reliable and it’s many years pf service made it extremely safe. A small reactor was designed from scratch and was directly hooked up to the laser defence system, this reactor alone would power the lasers and the controls needed to operate them from the operations rooms- in theory if the ship is damaged to such a degree that the main power is down but this reactor has survived, the laser mounts can continue to provide heavy AA defence with manned machine guns providing additional support until the ship is repaired or has been successfully evacuated.
It is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of gas or fuel oil in a stream of compressed air. It has an upstream air compressor radial or axial flow mechanically coupled to a downstream turbine and a combustion chamber in between. Energy is released when compressed air is mixed with fuel and ignited in the combustor. The resulting gases are directed over the turbine's blades, spinning the turbine, and, mechanically, powering the compressor. Finally, the gases are passed through a nozzle, generating additional thrust by accelerating the hot exhaust gases by expansion back to atmospheric pressure. Energy is extracted in the form of shaft power, compressed air and thrust, in any combination.
Aircraft:
Fulfilling its role of a multi-role escort destroyer even further, the Lemartes Class does have its own helicopter, notably the King Arthur ASW helicopter. While the Westland Augusta Lynx is still heavily used in the Stevidian Royal Navy, the newly designed King Arthur was to be the helicopter of choice for this Destroyer. It was designed especially for this new destroyer jointly with SBAE and an avionics company in Rubet Island and has greater potential as an ASW helicopter and thus can carry more torpedoes and depth charges; it also has increased space for passengers and is of greater benefit to the destroyer if its aircraft can take just over twelve Royal Marines.
The hanger has been adapted to take more than one helicopter but only a single Arthur can fit inside the ship, it can in theory take two Lynx helicopters instead of the single Arthur however this increase in weight would also mean a mass increase in the consumption of aviation fuel by the helicopters. One large and cheap helicopter which is also more efficient in combat is exactly what the designers, Navy and MoD wanted- the Arthur was selected as the pros outweighed the cons of the Lynx by a huge margin.
The King Arthur performs the basic ASW patrols that all good escort destroyers and frigates perform, to safeguard the capital ships from underwater threats. The Merlin also allows the Lemartes Class increased sonar range and capabilities, in addition to the towed array the destroyer has, the Merlin can drop sonar buoys far out at sea to gather underwater data from a particular region of sea and then transmit the data back to the mother ship.
General Specifications for the King Arthur ASW Helicopter
Crew: 4
Capacity:
40 Seated Royal Marines or other passengers or
55 Standing Royal Marines or other passengers or
18 Stretchers plus Medical Officers
Length: 36.12 metres
Rotor Diameter: 27.53 metres
Height: 8.5 metres
Empty Weight: 11,250kg
Maximum Take-off Weight: 15,350kg
Powerplant: 3× Rolls-Royce RTM322-01 turboshafts, 2,312 shp (1,725 kW) each
Maximum Speed: 210mph
Range: 790 nautical miles
Ceiling Height:[b] 15,000ft
[b]Armament:
2x general purpose 40mm heavy machine guns (port side and starboard side)
2x Gothic Type I Anti-Ship Missiles; 4x Sonar Homing Torpedoes (additional rockets and depth charges can be mounted but weight restrictions limit the aircraft to a set amount of weaponry)
There is a lineart image but it is basically a longer version of the Merlin
Electronics:
The Lemartes combines almost all the features of up-to-date and extremely effective underwater, air and search sonar and radar arrays. It incorporates most of the electrical detection equipment found on Stevidian Command Battleships apart from the rather large CELLDAR emitters. The Lemartes Class is replacing a lot of destroyers and a few frigates and so must be able to outclass almost all of them in combat and with electrical equipment and so she is armed with the latest and most efficient arrays the Navy can afford.
As is commonplace for all ships in the Royal Navy the somewhat but extremely decent and reliable Plessey Type 996(I) 3D air/surface search radar array. Still used on the aging Type-42 Manchester and Sheffield Class boats, it has proven extremely good at detecting ordinary shipping and most military vessels that are not protected by stealth features- it fails on most accounts to detect stealth boats and planes in their actual form but does pick-up readings that are always followed with more powerful sweeps from the more advanced radar suites and domes. SPY2, SPY3 and SAMPSON radars are all present within the main mast were most of the detection equipment is stored. SPY2 and SPY3 provide additional support to the Plessey Type 996(I) radar while the SAMPSON radar achieves unprecedented accuracy for ILMS and CILS guns as well has brilliant above water search capabilities and can track almost anything at any speed and allow for the guns to shoot down the target. As for surface targets it can pick up and successfully identify around 78% of all stealth boats around the planet seeing as the technology is the same but some of the more advanced methods of hiding ships and planes continue to deceive this particular array.
CELLDAR is the pride and joy of the Navy’s detection arsenal. A radar that focuses on airborne and surface movement for detection rather than radar cross signatures, it picks up nearly everything classed as stealth or “stealthy”. This thing can easily detect B2 Spirits and F-22a Raptors as well as most stealth aircraft and ships of this age and technological development. The capital ships of the Royal Navy contain the emitters that produce the radar waves and detection waves to seek out any flying or sailing object, onboard them too are receivers and likewise with every other ship in the Navy. These receivers are tuned into the capital ships’ own detection suites and receive exactly the same radar information as they do and use it to target and shoot at enemy units, planes and ships. It is a very effective system, so effective that the coast of Stevid and inland features are dotted with emitters and receivers right across the country to provide excellent air cover detection. The Lemartes Class benefits from this technology but only when there is an emitter in range, when it comes to stand alone missions the need for CELLDAR is usually negligible anyway but the receivers can still be used if an allied AWACS equipped with a CELLDAR emitter is in the vicinity.
Other electrical systems include: Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation; AN/SPS-73(V) SSR; AN/SPS-67; AN/SPY-3B MFR multi-function radar; two Marconi Type 911 fire Control radar systems, Ferranti/Thompson Sintra Type 2050 bow-mounted sonar; AN/SPG-51D Missile Director Radar; AN/SPG-62 Fire Control Radar; FORCEnet; Global Command and Control System - Maritime (GCCS-M)
AN/USQ-119E(V); AN/SPQ-12(V) Radar Displays and Distribution System (RADDS); NAVMACS; FLEETSATCOM.
Most are self-explanatory but there is a greater emphasis on task force cooperation and reliance on each for non-redundant data, targets not being fired at by multiple ships unless it is necessary to combine firepower. Systems like FORCEnet, GCCS-M and FLEETSATCOM allow all ships to converse with each other, share combined data on targets so as all ships can keep in the loop and receive orders from the flagship simultaneously. It also allows for live 3D tactic feeds to provide damage control information on allied ships so one knows which ship need more immediate attention than another. In the long run during an intense sea campaign these system can improve the survivability of the task force by a significant percentage and can even mean the difference between victory or defeat in naval combat. The fact that the Royal Navy is like a family of ships that intimately know each other so well that that can protect each other better than other fleets and can understand the particular needs of any given vessel when in the heat of battle.
General Specifications of the Type-131 Lemartes Class (DDG)
Dimensions: Length: 600ft; Beam: 78ft; Draught: 24.7ft
Displacement: 12,384 tons fully laden
Armament:
1x SBAE Systems 4.5” Mk IV ETC Cannon
1x 40-Cell VLS missile block (ASW and AAW)
1x 32-Cell VLS missile block (ASuW)
2x High energy CILS laser system (AAW)
6x eight-barrelled mounts 35mm ILMS/CIWS cannons (AAW)
14x Quad-barrelled mounts 40mm manned cannons (ASuW and AAW)
2x six-tube 120mm Oxygen Torpedo Launchers (ASuW and ASW)
Propulsion: 4x Harland & Winchester ltd. VM-8900 Gas-Turbine engines delivering 120,000shp of power to two shafts
Electronics:
SPY2 Radar; SPY3 Radar; SAMPSON Radar; CELLDAR (Receiver Only); Plessey Type 996(I) 3D air/surface search/ Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation; AN/SPS-73(V) SSR; AN/SPS-67; AN/SPY-3B MFR multi-function radar; two Marconi Type 911 fire Control radar systems, Ferranti/Thompson Sintra Type 2050 bow-mounted sonar; AN/SPG-51D Missile Director Radar; AN/SPG-62 Fire Control Radar; FORCEnet; Global Command and Control System - Maritime (GCCS-M)
AN/USQ-119E(V); AN/SPQ-12(V) Radar Displays and Distribution System (RADDS); NAVMACS; FLEETSATCOM
Aircraft: 1x Stevid BAE Systems King Arthur ASW Helicopter
Range: 6,300nm at 20knts (Maximum Speed of 30-35knts)
Crew Complement: 486 + Officers + Royal Marines
Cost: 1.8 Billion USD
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Type-131 Lemartes Class (DDG)
This is a huge innovation in Stevidian naval technology and self-defence procurement. As such this, vessel was born and is a contender to be one of the most powerful destroyers sailing the seas of the world today which is why the country has decided to inform the military powers of the world of this latest naval development.
The Lemartes Class guided missile destroyer is one of the newest innovations made by the Royal Navy in a bid to replace some of the older designs still employed by the current fleet. The Royal Navy’s destroyer force is impressively powerful but its ship classes’ ages varies massively, the Kingsley Class and the Derbyshire Class are all relatively new ships while in comparison the Manchester and Sheffield Classes of the Type-42 are dangerously old and require almost constant refits to keep them up-to-date with the world’s current technological naval standards. While the ship continue to produce these escorts, both old and new, they are building designs that are becoming more and more obsolete despite the refits and advances in technology. A current Stevidian Royal Navy Type-42 Manchester Class destroyer or a Type-23 Duke Class frigate can easily destroy the Arleigh Burke Class destroyer and ships of similar build. In the case of the Type-23, a recent refit allowed it to carry the Gothic Type-II ship-to-ship missile instead of the Harpoon missiles from its VLS compartment on the bow, this in addition to advancement in target locking and Radar guidance systems allows the Type-23 Duke Class to sink Super Dreadnoughts.
Even though the Navy has proved that its escort capability is one of the finest in the world it still severely lacks innovative designs and is still relying on Cold War era designs aside new ones to keep the escort fleet efficient. Not nearly as many new escort ships are being designed for the navy as were hoped, Supercapital ships, Super Dreadnoughts and Command Battleships are more popular with designs and symbolise raw power rather than subtle pride. However the University of Milton undertook a huge project involving all the students at the University that where studying courses in engineering, naval technology and theory and even arts and crafts to begin designing a ship for the Royal Navy. They came out with concept models, graphs, feasibility studies and even had members of BAE Systems come down and do a proper evaluation of the project. The students performed every stage that BAE performed when creating new ships and the engineering company were extremely impressed at what had been created, the name of the new destroyer was Lemartes and the write-ups and studies on the vessel impressed Stevid BAE Systems so much that once the project was finished they made a move to buy the designs from the students and university and get the rights to modify the designs as such to make them fully compatible with Royal Navy needs while granting Milton University with all the credit that was due for coming up with the initial designs.
The idea for the Lemartes Class DDG was refined slightly with military technology and weapons talked about in more detail and then the final concept model and designs were proposed to Parliament. Unfortunately the current escort fleet was extremely good at its job and so better reasons for building the Lemartes Class was needed other then “to make the fleet larger”. Writing off ships was the only real solution at this stage and so it was agreed that ALL Sheffield Classes were to be scrapped or sold off, all Manchester Classes that were over thirty years old were to be scrapped or sold off, Kinsley Classes older than twenty-five were to be scrapped or sold off and ALL Type-22 Broadswords were to be scrapped or sold. All to be replaced by the Lemartes Class which become the backbone of the Navy’s escort fleets. The idea was presented to Parliament once more which then agreed with the idea. The Lemartes Class was now approved.
Design & Construction
The boys and girls at Milton University had done their homework when they had created this ship and had gone to extreme detail with their work on the scale of the vessel. Everything from dimensions to the size of an ordinary Rating’s locker had been taken into account and designed in full. Most of the work had already been done and all that SBAES had to do was proof read to see whether or not mistakes had been made.
She was long and large by comparison to the Duke Class that was not to be replaced at so nearly six hundred feet she was by far longer than the Arleigh Burke Class, seventy-eight feet at beam and the draught at twenty-four point seven feet. She was a big ship as far as escort were concerned as was to be stocked with an abundance of weapons and a heavy propulsion system so she needed to be large to accommodate everything required. The super structure forms the most beautiful part of ship and the Lemartes delivers with success, the Royal Navy believes that a beautiful ship as well as being a deadly ship vastly improves morale with the crew. The Lemartes has a steeply sloping bridge which seems to be an elevated island as it extends up into the air be the rest of the superstructure continues about half way up leading to two funnels (like the Arleigh Burke), after the second funnel the superstructure lowers slightly forming the room for a large section of VLS cells before rising sharply again to make room for the proposed helicopter hanger. The flight deck for the helicopter marks the end of the ship. The main communications array and SAMPSON mast is positioned in between the bridge and the first funnel.
The main change with this design of ship is its new corridor system, the ship is not in the least bit complex inside and even a six year old child could navigate it on their own. There are seven main corridors within the ship, one in engineering, two a couple of levels above that, two more above that and then two more after that. Each are wide and able to take a lot of people at a time which seems to be a waste of space in naval terms, however the ship is large in the first place and a happy crew means better performance- keeping them in constantly cramped and irritating conditions would lower morale, crew performance and ship efficiency. The ship change over procedure from Condition Normal to Action Stations is quickened by nearly 30% which thus makes that ship combat ready almost seven minutes quicker than the average time on a Duke Class. The corridors have central main spiral stair cases or simple steep ones but both a wide and can take two way human traffic- these stair wells lead to their sister main corridors (apart from Main Engineering) and can be sealed shut both manually and automatically to prevent flooding. Four out of the six corridors have emergency lifts each end with small electrical generators to quickly transfer wounded crew members to sick bay or transfer crew members to a safer deck during evacuation.
It has been seen that sometime ships have to act as temporary hospitals and living quarters for people in areas of the world struck by natural disasters, sinking ships or war torn zones that need evacuating. The widened corridors make the Lemartes Class easier to live in but also allow refugees space to sit and sleep until a replacement ship is found. The makes this guided missile destroyer more than capable of handling any humanitarian crisis with ease and without worry of overloading the ship or making it inhospitable to live and work in.
To improve navigation within the ship further colour schemes for each main corridor have been introduce that hasn’t been done before on a Royal Navy ship. Each main corridor on interior maps is colour coded and this designation is reflected in the corridor itself with a strip of coloured paint on the wall right next to the floor. The corridors are given a colour depending on which deck they are on- working upwards from Main Engineering Corridor which is Orange, Living Quarters Corridors I and II are Green, Main Deck Corridors I and II are Purple, and Command and Control Deck Main Corridors I and II are colour coded Red. It is a simple scheme but helps crew members new to the ship navigate far more easily and allows them to learn the layout of the ship far more quickly. Main stairwells that connect these corridors together are given letters and the lifts the also connect them are numbered, at first glance it may seem confusing but after three days onboard it soon becomes common knowledge and the crews adapt extremely well to it.
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Main Engineering – ORANGE
As the title suggests, main engineering is where the engines are, major electric power systems are and where the engineers generally dwell while the boat is at sea. This is where the ship comes alive and ii is also the most dangerous, not only because of the equipment used down there or because the engines are so big and dangerous but because it is below the water line in most instances and the enemy can use torpedoes to breach the waterline, cause flooding in the engine room and force the ship to shut down and evacuate if the damage and flooding is extensive. For this reason the designers included a reinforced keel and a torpedo bulge to maximise survivability but also flood gates are placed through engineering to separate flooding compartments and try and contain flooding if it ever occurs. Automatic water pumping systems activate in the event of flooding and these are tested regularly by damage control team specialists on Command and Control Deck.
All the back-up generators (spare a few) are in main engineering too, power failures can happen throughout the ship and the generators can be used to provide additional power to internal sectors the require an added boost or to areas that have lost power all together. There is one small generator that is directly linked to the Command Room where combat is coordinated from; this generator is protected in the confines of main engineering and is only switched on when power to the Command Room fails. Unless an evacuation order is given, power will be constantly sent to this room so as allow the ship to continue battle by firing weapons or laser designating targets for sister ships no matter the state of the ship.
Living Quarters– GREEN
These decks are where the crew sleep, eat, socialise and in many case work. Not all the crew live here but most do live on the decks surrounding the main corridor. It is here where the mess hall is, the lounge, the games room and shop is. Green reflects the happy and friendly mentality the crew are usually in when on the deck with the main corridor. The mess hall is large and seeing as the ship can perform humanitarian roles it seemed more than simply logical to have the mess hall large. Inside are tables and chairs for 30% of the crew since most will not have a change in shifts at the same time, around the walls are vending machines for those who want a little more to eat and drink. Adjacent to the mess hall is of course the kitchen that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for every month of every year unless it is sitting at anchor in a friendly port- sometimes even then it operates. It is there to cook food and prepare side meals, it cooks for the Officers Mess several decks above and is also where the head chef briefs the other cooks what is on the menu. A place of friendliness and always has a good rapport with the crew seeing as the feed the ship and keep it going in a metaphorical sense.
Almost next door is the laundry room and after that are the living quarters. However towards the front of the ship is the games room where the crew sit and read magazines, play table football, table tennis, bowling, pinball or whatever facilities the ship provides for the crew; almost next door to that is the lounge with sofas, large screen plasma television with digital channels and a bar are present. The bar does sell alcohol (on par with Navy regulations) after nine o’clock at night and it is a place where many of the crew like to relax after a hard day’s work. It is a place, like the mess hall, for the crew to unwind and talk to each other, for relationships to grow and for many it is probably where they can become part of a seaborne family. It is crucial for morale that a lounge be present on board and while the designs put the combat effectiveness of the ship first, the crew are considered part of that effectiveness and so their comfort, well being and morale have to be taken into account- a decent and expensive lounge helps morale go a long way.
Main Deck– PURPLE
This deck is almost always going to be the busiest as it leads to the outside world. This is where the crew gain access to the deck outside and is import for the Royal Marines in particular. At amidships the entrance to the main corridor leads straight the corridor and back out the other side creating a “cross junction” in the middle of ship on that deck. This allows greater access to both side of the ship in an emergency so Royal Marines can instantly get from port to starboard depending on where a threat is presenting itself, also in terms of an evacuation it is efficient at getting members of the crew out on both sides or one side depending on whether the ship is listing or not. Since the main corridors are supposed to take a lot of people it is easy to move between port and starboard without chaos ensuing. Supplies due for the decks below (the canteen or the lounge or the engine room) come through here and so the corridors are wider still to allow the free movement of materials to multiple destinations on the ship.
It is also on this level that the Electronic Warfare suites can be accessed as well as the damage control operations area, the internal communications switchboard rooms and the power distribution centre- all crucial to maintaining the ship; fire control teams gather here first before talking a major blaze above or below deck. It is also the level where the guest quarters are present, Admirals staying over get the main guest suite while other passengers such as ambassadors, journalists and/or camera crews get other smaller suites but well away from the bustle down below in the crew quarters.
Purple deck, towards the aft of the ship at least, houses the main entrance into the helicopter hanger bay. The hanger bay is large and has room for a single Augusta Merlin ASW helicopter as well as a mountain of attachable equipment for the helicopter which includes depth charges and torpedoes. The main reason why the corridor is so wide has been mentioned but it doubles up again for the Royal Marines who can now run at speed through the ship the landing platform, board the helicopter and take off. All the designs of this deck and its two main corridors all take into account crew and ship’s combat efficiency when klaxons sound.
Command and Control Deck– Red
Probably the most import set of decks in the whole ship- the C&C deck is where the nerve centres of the ship are and it is from these rooms and consoles that the ship fights and wins battles. These rooms include the heavy duty Electronic Warfare suites (both ECM and ECCM), the bridge, the Command or Operations Room which is where the battle is controlled and monitored, the NAVSAT and External Communications control rooms which talk to the AWACS and Defiler Class C&C cruisers where present as well as keeping in touch with the flagship and the Admiralty back home and finally the CELLDAR receiver array control room.
The EW suites are extremely important and work of CELLDAR and SAMPSON radar and detection frequency bands as well as producing other disruptive frequency waves to confuse enemy radar, CIWS and hamper their own ECM/ECCM jamming. The Royal Navy prides itself on its jamming equipment that has proven to be superior in many combat theatres across the globe and has so far managed to win several naval and air battles in conjunction with the Hanover Class EW vessels. It is here where the status of EW missiles are monitored and regulated before and after launch, all data on the missiles and the effectiveness of the ECM/ECCM missile countermeasures is fed through to the control room where a warfare officer receives it and then reports to the captain.
The bridge is pretty essential and while most of the ship is automated the helm is one of the most important positions when the ship is engaged in battle. The bridge (when the ship isn’t in combat) is the hub of the ship where course and general ship duties are coordinated. Ship-to-ship and internal communications when not in combat are performed here and so it is the primary hub of the ship, it’s destruction does not in anyway prevent the ship from fighting and winning a sea battle since the hardened protective shell that encompasses the operations room is where the nerve centre of the ship transfers to during combat. The bridge is used 95% of the time and is important because the majority of the commanding officers work in this area. Other aspects of the bridge include navigation and basic detection suites, surface, air and underwater radar consoles are present, GPS tracking and tactical navigation consoles are also present as well as a chest of draws that contain highly detailed maps of millions of regions of seas across the globe organised in importance. The port and starboard external balconies provide the Officers of the Watch 180° view of the sea at either sides of the vessel with mounted binoculars for searches and machine guns for quick defence.
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Armament
The armament of the Lemartes class is of the utmost importance and had been specified by designs to surpass the inferior armaments of the vessel which it would be replacing. This destroyer would be loaded with whatever weaponry would be deemed appropriate for it to hold including some experimental weapons that had not fully entered service yet. The Lemartes Class was to become the test bed for some of the more innovative weapons in the Stevidian arsenal while still holding onto most of the conventional weapons that destroyers hold.
The most imposing of the weapons that the Lemartes has in its arsenal is the 4.5” cannon with stealthy features. As an escort vessel it would be rare for the ship to employ this weapon often but in the cases of small task forces or stand alone anti-piracy missions the cannon comes into its own. These sorts of missions do not require large guns to achieve their goals and so anything between 4.5” and 6” was the recommended gun size for this vessel; to cut down on costs that where already very high for a ship of this class the 4.5” cannon was opted for instead of the other possible sizes. Gun only comes into its own in the above mentioned situations and so the 4.5” seemed to be a good choice in either case and when dealing with humanitarian crises, a large gun would give the locals the wrong impression on why the ship was there. AA small gun and a beautiful ship flying the colours of Stevid would for than enough to give the beleaguered locals hope. The reasons behind the choosing of the 4.5” gun were not only economical and tactical but also psychological. Only a single mounting was allowed and its placement echoed tradition and commonsense by having on the bow in front of the of the VLS cells nearest the superstructure. It was single barrelled with the munitions bay underneath retrofitted with the most efficient auto loading system the manufacturers could get there hands on. With additional crew training and intense drilling, an estimated twenty to twenty-five shells could be fired a minute providing a lethal stream of shells that could easily devastate any lightly defended beach of port city.
The least conventional weapon that the Lemartes is home to is the rare laser. Laser has been employed as a weapon by many allies and adversaries of Stevid- most recently being the Merkar Republic which had submarines that used it as an anti-missile point-defence weapon that had incredible accuracy and efficiency as a CIWS weapon. Laser weaponry was not an unknown concept to the Royal Navy or the Stevidian military on a whole but the power required to operate them was substantial and only some of the lager vessels in the Navy had the electrical capacity to power these things. However laser development was continuous despite the capability there for the Royal Navy to use, the MoD had decided that a perfected laser design would be need first before funding was granted to have them deployed on ships, also a suitable small scale nuclear would need to be developed to power the lasers on their own. The reactor would have to be small, no bigger than a small bedroom, and produce enough output to power the lasers by themselves- testing showed that lasers that leeched off the main power supply of the ship would cause a major drain and lag of ship power for the lasers to operate properly. This meant that system response times and effectiveness would be dramatically reduced to a state that would leave the ship vulnerable. A stable stand alone power supply would was needed to power the lasers 100% without draining the rest of the ship of power (this small reactor will be mentioned in the “Propulsion” section).
Once the reactor was obtained, the MoD turned its sights to the companies developing the laser CIWS gun. So far history had shown Stevid that the lasers employed by most nations was just a focused beam of intensely heated light that fired at the target. The light did not dissipate and it was just a continuous beam. The MoD saw this as a waste of time and energy and demanded that the laser be far more efficient than the “beam” model while being more powerful. Months of hard labour and millions of pounds later led to the pulse laser that acted like an ordinary CIWS cannon but a slower rate of fire. Instead of a single beam being projected at the target, the energy was conserved and stored within the emitter before being fired at the target in a short burst of intense blue light. The process would be repeated until the target was destroyed. This was tested and the result was small rays of light flashing out of the emitter before a single target was destroyed after two shots. The focused laser being fired in short burst was not only powerful but energy efficient, the tests showed it could fire up to seventy rounds before the energy was completely depleted and had to stop and recharge. It was an impressive sight to see and a radical step forward in CIWS technology, especially in Stevid, but it was hugely expensive and the Lemartes was only granted two mounts of “CILS”- one on Starboard and one at Port. They were in similar size to the ILMS cannons that the Stevidian ships used so there was no space particularly taken up. Also the fact that there were only two mounts meant that the nuclear reactor delivering power to these weapons was not being over used and so the lasers could, in theory, fire up to one hundred “rounds” before having to stop and recharge. Initial sea trials would either prove or disprove the theory.
Other countermeasures that the Lemartes Class possesses are the conventional CIWS/ILMS cannons. Greater in number than the CILS cannons, the ILMS cannons work in the same manner as any other CIWS mount in any modern navy. The ILMS gun uses IR scanning, uplinks to the ship’s own radar as well as the mount’s own detection capabilities to search for targets inbound to the ship or within its firing radius, it then tags the target with its own unique identifying code and so even when the target avoids detection and then remerges the ILMS cannon still sees it and never “forgets” it until the target is destroyed. The IR identification system is also so accurate that the cannon can be pre-programmed or ordered to shoot at specific parts of an enemy aircraft thus gaining either instant neutralisation or an instant kill. The cannons are extremely effective and conventional Goalkeeper and Phalanx cannons are now well and in the past and no longer used in the navy- replaced now by ILMS guns. 35-45mm eight-barrelled mounts are traditional in the Royal Navy now and the Lemartes is no exception as it mounts six 35mm ILMS cannons- two port, two starboard, one bow and one aft providing all round protection for the ship and for surrounding ships.
The destroyer also mounts fourteen 40mm manned/automated quad barrelled heavy machineguns for extra point defence capability. These guns can be manned so that crew members can take down missiles or defend the ship from nearby craft or offer support to a Royal Marine boarding party when anti-piracy or terrorism is involved. In the case of missile defence, the ship’s AI military computer can take control of the guns to make easier and more accurate kills on airborne targets that if they were manned. The mounts for these guns are five port and starboard, two bow and aft.
The missile armament is where this ship shines the most; it has a 40-cell vertical launch system on the foredeck behind the deck gun and a 32-cell vertical launch system towards the aft of the ship next to the smoke stacks. It is a multi-role destroy in all sense of the word but its primary duty is as an escort ship and so focuses more on the anti-air front than anti-ship. The forward VLS system is a multi missile one and is able to take any sort of missile in any combination however its primary use is for SAMs, 30 of the 40 cells are usually armed to surface to air missiles while the other ten are ASW missiles, however the helicopter is used primarily for ASW duties but the ship itself can attack enemy underwater target directly if necessary. The aft cells are all ship-to-ship cells and are designed only to hold the Gothic Type II anti-ship missile.
Following the lessons learned from the Sledgehammer missiles (both types I and II) the MoD proposed a missile that work along the same effects but would be fine tuned to such a degree that accuracy would be placed above speed. The result was the Gothic Type I missile that was supposed to be placed on the XF-24 Scorpion multi-role fighters that would act as the Navy’s primary strike role. So successful were these missiles at defeating the heavily armed shipping of Kanami and Aqua Anu during the First Hanover Conflict that the Gothic Type II was developed for use on the naval ships themselves. Again they proved more than effective in the Second Hanover Conflict- testing on heavy armour showed that the Gothic Type I and II were more than powerful enough to take down large Super Dreadnoughts and capital ships. Using CELLDAR receiver technology, GPS tracking and IR identifying, the Gothic missiles would not just drop indiscriminately on top of the target but would target key parts of the ship. With smaller ships this was irrelevant because the raw power behind these missiles could sink the ships out right, but when it came to SDNs the missile could target the bridge or cannons for deep penetration. In the case of cannons, the resulting explosion could detonate the munitions stores and destroy half the ship in one go. Like the Sledgehammer, the Gothic missile could fly high into the sky and drop down right on top of the ship avoiding almost all CIWS fire, but this would only be used to cause massive deep penetration damage- the Gothic missiles could be set to sea skimming alone which sacrificed speed for accuracy and allows the Gothic missile to hit between the joins where turret and hull meet on a battleship… almost guaranteeing a kill. The aft VLS cell of the Lemartes are armed with these missiles and additional stores of these deadly things are kept in the missile stores well below deck.
Amidships on both the port and starboard sides are the torpedo launchers. Six tubes totalling twelve overall are mounted on the Lemartes Class and were only granted a placement on the ship when the designers reviewed the ship’s anti-submarine abilities and multi-role effectiveness as an escort. The tubes were dutifully mounted on the ship and are highly automated when targeting, firing and reloading- human supervision is of course necessary to prevent accidents but the tubes are completely independent and only require target acquisition assistance and orders to fire from the operations room. In the grand scheme of modern naval combat of today it is unlikely that the torpedoes will ever be used but the fact that they are there adds to the ship’s combat effectiveness, general status as a multi-role ship and it is a symbol of the true potential of ship’s deadliness and show exactly what it can do if the occasion calls for it.
Propulsion Systems
The Type-131 Lemartes Class destroyer is a conventionally powered vessel even though she does have a small nuclear reactor onboard. Her main propulsion and power supply comes from four general electric Harland & Winchester ltd. VM-8900 Gas-Turbine engines delivering just over 120,000shp allowing the Lemartes class to kick up speeds of 30-35knts at flank and can achieve 6,300 nautical miles at 20knts. This is the main power supply to the ship, delivers power to two shafts, powers the general electrical systems of the ship (includes lights and computers) as well providing the central heating system on board. Excess heat produced by the generators and smokestacks are not wasted and the infrared heat radiation is collected distributed around the ship. This idea was not only compiled to help keep the crew comfortable but also as part of the ship’s defence mechanism. Containing the IR signature heat gives off, especially around the smokestacks, makes the ship even more visible to the enemy scanning for heat signatures- infrared suppresses are fitted to the external heat vents on the ship, this includes the smokestacks and the smoke vents around the VLS cells.
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Curtesy of Wikipedia-minor colour alteration
While this main engine is fairly unremarkable to any other engine that one might find in your ordinary destroyer (likewise with the electrical back-up generator), its other power supply is much more interesting. The destroyer is not designated on being a nuclear vessel but does have a reactor on board. This thing powers the two CILS mounts on the ship, if the lasers where to draw on power from the primary power supply there would be a major drain in energy to fire only a few shots before consuming more energy than before to recharge. A general systems analysis showed that if both laser turrets were in full use and were drawing on power from the main supply, almost 95.3% of the ship’s total energy would needed be keep the guns firing- the ship on a whole only estimated 3% effective in combat after tests were completed. The obvious solution would be to remove the laser point-defence system but the tests on the weapons themselves showed they were incredibly potent at shooting down aircraft at a phenomenal rate- every hit almost guaranteed a kill and were well worth the time, money and the ship’s energy. The other simple solution was to give the lasers their own unlimited power supply, the amount of energy they required was vast and only nuclear technology was feasible to implement. Experiment third energy and atomic energy resources were considered but nuclear energy was the cheapest, most reliable and it’s many years pf service made it extremely safe. A small reactor was designed from scratch and was directly hooked up to the laser defence system, this reactor alone would power the lasers and the controls needed to operate them from the operations rooms- in theory if the ship is damaged to such a degree that the main power is down but this reactor has survived, the laser mounts can continue to provide heavy AA defence with manned machine guns providing additional support until the ship is repaired or has been successfully evacuated.
It is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of gas or fuel oil in a stream of compressed air. It has an upstream air compressor radial or axial flow mechanically coupled to a downstream turbine and a combustion chamber in between. Energy is released when compressed air is mixed with fuel and ignited in the combustor. The resulting gases are directed over the turbine's blades, spinning the turbine, and, mechanically, powering the compressor. Finally, the gases are passed through a nozzle, generating additional thrust by accelerating the hot exhaust gases by expansion back to atmospheric pressure. Energy is extracted in the form of shaft power, compressed air and thrust, in any combination.
Aircraft:
Fulfilling its role of a multi-role escort destroyer even further, the Lemartes Class does have its own helicopter, notably the King Arthur ASW helicopter. While the Westland Augusta Lynx is still heavily used in the Stevidian Royal Navy, the newly designed King Arthur was to be the helicopter of choice for this Destroyer. It was designed especially for this new destroyer jointly with SBAE and an avionics company in Rubet Island and has greater potential as an ASW helicopter and thus can carry more torpedoes and depth charges; it also has increased space for passengers and is of greater benefit to the destroyer if its aircraft can take just over twelve Royal Marines.
The hanger has been adapted to take more than one helicopter but only a single Arthur can fit inside the ship, it can in theory take two Lynx helicopters instead of the single Arthur however this increase in weight would also mean a mass increase in the consumption of aviation fuel by the helicopters. One large and cheap helicopter which is also more efficient in combat is exactly what the designers, Navy and MoD wanted- the Arthur was selected as the pros outweighed the cons of the Lynx by a huge margin.
The King Arthur performs the basic ASW patrols that all good escort destroyers and frigates perform, to safeguard the capital ships from underwater threats. The Merlin also allows the Lemartes Class increased sonar range and capabilities, in addition to the towed array the destroyer has, the Merlin can drop sonar buoys far out at sea to gather underwater data from a particular region of sea and then transmit the data back to the mother ship.
General Specifications for the King Arthur ASW Helicopter
Crew: 4
Capacity:
40 Seated Royal Marines or other passengers or
55 Standing Royal Marines or other passengers or
18 Stretchers plus Medical Officers
Length: 36.12 metres
Rotor Diameter: 27.53 metres
Height: 8.5 metres
Empty Weight: 11,250kg
Maximum Take-off Weight: 15,350kg
Powerplant: 3× Rolls-Royce RTM322-01 turboshafts, 2,312 shp (1,725 kW) each
Maximum Speed: 210mph
Range: 790 nautical miles
Ceiling Height:[b] 15,000ft
[b]Armament:
2x general purpose 40mm heavy machine guns (port side and starboard side)
2x Gothic Type I Anti-Ship Missiles; 4x Sonar Homing Torpedoes (additional rockets and depth charges can be mounted but weight restrictions limit the aircraft to a set amount of weaponry)
There is a lineart image but it is basically a longer version of the Merlin
Electronics:
The Lemartes combines almost all the features of up-to-date and extremely effective underwater, air and search sonar and radar arrays. It incorporates most of the electrical detection equipment found on Stevidian Command Battleships apart from the rather large CELLDAR emitters. The Lemartes Class is replacing a lot of destroyers and a few frigates and so must be able to outclass almost all of them in combat and with electrical equipment and so she is armed with the latest and most efficient arrays the Navy can afford.
As is commonplace for all ships in the Royal Navy the somewhat but extremely decent and reliable Plessey Type 996(I) 3D air/surface search radar array. Still used on the aging Type-42 Manchester and Sheffield Class boats, it has proven extremely good at detecting ordinary shipping and most military vessels that are not protected by stealth features- it fails on most accounts to detect stealth boats and planes in their actual form but does pick-up readings that are always followed with more powerful sweeps from the more advanced radar suites and domes. SPY2, SPY3 and SAMPSON radars are all present within the main mast were most of the detection equipment is stored. SPY2 and SPY3 provide additional support to the Plessey Type 996(I) radar while the SAMPSON radar achieves unprecedented accuracy for ILMS and CILS guns as well has brilliant above water search capabilities and can track almost anything at any speed and allow for the guns to shoot down the target. As for surface targets it can pick up and successfully identify around 78% of all stealth boats around the planet seeing as the technology is the same but some of the more advanced methods of hiding ships and planes continue to deceive this particular array.
CELLDAR is the pride and joy of the Navy’s detection arsenal. A radar that focuses on airborne and surface movement for detection rather than radar cross signatures, it picks up nearly everything classed as stealth or “stealthy”. This thing can easily detect B2 Spirits and F-22a Raptors as well as most stealth aircraft and ships of this age and technological development. The capital ships of the Royal Navy contain the emitters that produce the radar waves and detection waves to seek out any flying or sailing object, onboard them too are receivers and likewise with every other ship in the Navy. These receivers are tuned into the capital ships’ own detection suites and receive exactly the same radar information as they do and use it to target and shoot at enemy units, planes and ships. It is a very effective system, so effective that the coast of Stevid and inland features are dotted with emitters and receivers right across the country to provide excellent air cover detection. The Lemartes Class benefits from this technology but only when there is an emitter in range, when it comes to stand alone missions the need for CELLDAR is usually negligible anyway but the receivers can still be used if an allied AWACS equipped with a CELLDAR emitter is in the vicinity.
Other electrical systems include: Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation; AN/SPS-73(V) SSR; AN/SPS-67; AN/SPY-3B MFR multi-function radar; two Marconi Type 911 fire Control radar systems, Ferranti/Thompson Sintra Type 2050 bow-mounted sonar; AN/SPG-51D Missile Director Radar; AN/SPG-62 Fire Control Radar; FORCEnet; Global Command and Control System - Maritime (GCCS-M)
AN/USQ-119E(V); AN/SPQ-12(V) Radar Displays and Distribution System (RADDS); NAVMACS; FLEETSATCOM.
Most are self-explanatory but there is a greater emphasis on task force cooperation and reliance on each for non-redundant data, targets not being fired at by multiple ships unless it is necessary to combine firepower. Systems like FORCEnet, GCCS-M and FLEETSATCOM allow all ships to converse with each other, share combined data on targets so as all ships can keep in the loop and receive orders from the flagship simultaneously. It also allows for live 3D tactic feeds to provide damage control information on allied ships so one knows which ship need more immediate attention than another. In the long run during an intense sea campaign these system can improve the survivability of the task force by a significant percentage and can even mean the difference between victory or defeat in naval combat. The fact that the Royal Navy is like a family of ships that intimately know each other so well that that can protect each other better than other fleets and can understand the particular needs of any given vessel when in the heat of battle.
General Specifications of the Type-131 Lemartes Class (DDG)
Dimensions: Length: 600ft; Beam: 78ft; Draught: 24.7ft
Displacement: 12,384 tons fully laden
Armament:
1x SBAE Systems 4.5” Mk IV ETC Cannon
1x 40-Cell VLS missile block (ASW and AAW)
1x 32-Cell VLS missile block (ASuW)
2x High energy CILS laser system (AAW)
6x eight-barrelled mounts 35mm ILMS/CIWS cannons (AAW)
14x Quad-barrelled mounts 40mm manned cannons (ASuW and AAW)
2x six-tube 120mm Oxygen Torpedo Launchers (ASuW and ASW)
Propulsion: 4x Harland & Winchester ltd. VM-8900 Gas-Turbine engines delivering 120,000shp of power to two shafts
Electronics:
SPY2 Radar; SPY3 Radar; SAMPSON Radar; CELLDAR (Receiver Only); Plessey Type 996(I) 3D air/surface search/ Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation; AN/SPS-73(V) SSR; AN/SPS-67; AN/SPY-3B MFR multi-function radar; two Marconi Type 911 fire Control radar systems, Ferranti/Thompson Sintra Type 2050 bow-mounted sonar; AN/SPG-51D Missile Director Radar; AN/SPG-62 Fire Control Radar; FORCEnet; Global Command and Control System - Maritime (GCCS-M)
AN/USQ-119E(V); AN/SPQ-12(V) Radar Displays and Distribution System (RADDS); NAVMACS; FLEETSATCOM
Aircraft: 1x Stevid BAE Systems King Arthur ASW Helicopter
Range: 6,300nm at 20knts (Maximum Speed of 30-35knts)
Crew Complement: 486 + Officers + Royal Marines
Cost: 1.8 Billion USD
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