Cameron (WarShip class)

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Cameron
Production information
Manufacturer	Daussault-Shimmon Enterprises of New Earth
Introduced	2668
Use	Battlecruiser
Tech Base	Star League
Cost	???
Technical specifications
Mass	859,000 tons
Length	839 meters
Sail Diameter
Fuel
Burn Rate
Safe Thrust
Top Thrust	???
Sail Integrity
KF Drive Integrity
LF Battery	No
Armament	*12 x Heavy NPPC 8 x AR10 Launchers 16 x NAC/25 10 x NL55
Armor	Ajax 7PK300 Ferro-Carbide
DropShip Capacity	2
Crew	287
Grav Decks	2, both 75 meter diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats	30 escape pods, 20 life boats
Heat Sinks	2,430 Double Heat Sinks
Structural Integrity
BV (1.0)	???
BV (2.0)	???

Description

Despite it's illustrious name, the Cameron Class Battlecruiser was a massive boondoggle, heavily flawed and a literal death trap for it's crews. The result of contradicting requirements of the SLDF seeking to fill the wide gap between the navy's battleships and its cruisers and a peacetime budget freeze imposing enerous cost restrictions on the defense forces, the small firm of Daussault-Shimmon Enterprises of New Earth beat out the other bidders for the contract, but when the first complete ships were launched in 2668, the Cameron obviously fell short of the sleek, powerful vessel promised by its designers.

While carrying an impressive weapon loadout, the Cameron could only match the acceleration of a battleship, due to the fact it was 50,000 tons over its design weight. Despite the flawed nature of the design, 40 of the ships were ordered, fear of public disapproval and yet further slashing the SLDF budget made the Star League Navy afraid to admit they'd made mistake. This was to have tragic results when the SLS Saint Joan and all hands were lost due to design flaws which an investigation revealed had been covered up by engineers at Daussault-Shimmon in order to save the contract. The remaining examples were relegated to transport duties.

Ironically being removed from frontline service allowed them to survive the Amaris-Kerensky Civil War despite the small number produced, the surviving examples continue in service in the modern era. Once the various flaws of the Cameron were corrected, both ComStar and the Clans have found the class to be a plodding but sturdy design which has proven to be an excellent mobile command center. Amusingly, not even the advanced technology available to the Clans have boosted the performance of the class to match the original design specifications.

Armament

While featuring lackluster speed, there was no complaints about the Cameron's weaponry, with four turrets housing the two Maelstrom AR-10 tubes, a capital class launcher that can fire missiles of any size, along with six other turrets carrying two Super Rand Heavy NPPCs, the largest particle projection cannon available. Combined with secondary armament of 16 Pontiac-25 Series NAC/25 autocannons, ten Tronel-55 NL55 naval lasers, and the ability to carry 16 fighters, these weapons give the ship a tremendous offensive capability.

Cargo

• Bay 1: 20 AeroSpace Fighters
• Bay 2: 2 Small Craft
• Bay 3: 177,640 tons cargo

Variants

While there is little difference between the Cameron Class vessels used by the SLDF and the Com Guards, save correcting it's flawed systems, like many vessels in the their toumans Clan Camerons have been retrofitted with Lithium-Fusion Battery systems.

Named Vessels

• SLS Saint Joan - The most infamous of the class, the Saint Joan was escorting convoys carrying personnel and supplies to SLDF units in the Rim Worlds Republic when it encountered six privateer vessels in November 2674. After it lost main power while attempting to defend its charges, the captain discovered that the ship's auxiliary power could not provide life support and fire the weapons at the same time, the now helpless ship destroyed within minutes.
• ISS Invisible Truth - Part of ComStar's 2nd Division and flagship of Task Force Serpent, the Invisible Truth survived the fighting on Huntress to become the flagship of the ComGuard 1st Fleet.

References

• Technical Readout: 2750 - pp 140-141
• Technical Readout: 3057 - pp 156-157
• Technical Readout: 3057 Revised