Razorthorn-class Battleship

Design: The Razorthorn-class is the latest in a long line of Terran battleships, and dates from the FY 3650 construction program which authorized the design of a new class of battleship which was to incorporate "The latest in Turret and Torpedo technology, an extensive cruising range, and the fastest possible speed." While previous Terran battleship designs had relied on fixed fore weapons and broadside batteries, recent breakthroughs have made it possible to mount battleship-sized weaponry in turret mounts. The Razorthorn-class has proven to be a highly adaptable platform, with numerous upgrades keeping them well-armed and easily capable of taking on any other known battleship class in the galaxy. However, their power plants have been taxed by the addition of newer sensor, weapon, and shield systems. While these additions have made the class much more effective and survivable, they have had the negative result of a drop in speed, which has made ships of this class the limiting factor in fleet operations.

Armament Notes: The turret armament of this class represents a revolutionary breakthrough in battleship armaments. It provides overwhelming firepower when fired in conjunction with one of the ship's other broadsides, and also provides a rear-fire capability that Terran ships have previously lacked. This breakthrough was costly, however, and reportedly took the lead contractor for the project, Galactic Reactive Weapons, more than a decade and billions of credits to perfect. Additionally, as this class is the first to make large-scale use of this technology, in the form of the Mk 6 All-Aspect Turret Array, numerous difficulties had to be ironed out before the system could be considered fully battle ready. Each one of the ship's 12 massive turrets are over 150 m long, and weigh 30,000 tons.

Operational: The first ship of the class, the CSS RAZORTHORN, was commissioned in 3658. Full production began in the early 3660s, to replace older ships which were rapidly wearing out. These battleships typically form the nucleus of a NTSC task force, and they have sufficient command and control facilities to allow for the coordination of a number of smaller ships. With the coming of the Terran War, an emergency program to construct new ships to replace combat losses began. Following that war, numerous ships were placed into reserve in order to reduce operating costs, as the operation of a ship the size of the Razorthorn is a considerable expense. This strategy appears to have been validated, as many of these ships have been reactivated to serve again. They are now being joined in service by newly constructed war emergency ships, which are being built to an only slightly modified design due to time constraints. With no successor immediately on the horizon, and an expected space frame life of approximately 50 years (which can be lengthened through extensive refitting on a case-by-case basis), the Razorthorn looks set to continue on in service for some time to come.

Andy "Ruckdog" Rucker