Ark Royal class Carrier:
In the early days of the twenty first century the Royal Navy had to replace its three aging Invincible carriers with new ships. Studies as to the design of the new carrier had begun in the last years of the previous century, and many designs passed review. Some of the more notable designs were versions of a large Short Take Off and Vertical Landing design, although the final design was for a Conventional carrier, with catapults and arrester wires for landings. She was designed to carry a force of thirty planes, with an additional six ASW Merlin Helicopters and four radar and refueling planes. In wartime another ten planes could be carried. The first of the class was laid down in 2005, and she was commissioned in 2012. Her name was Ark Royal, like her famous namsake of WWII. Although the original plans had called for a two-ship class, Ark Royal would ultimately be joined by two sisterships, not one.
The Ark Royal Class were large and goodlooking ships, with plenty of space available. The Royal Navy had come to the conclusion that "Steel is Cheap", and had build the carriers in a size which meant that there would be plenty of room for extra aircraft and midlife upgrades. A wise descision, considering that at least one of the ships was to remain in service for more than twice her originally planned lifespan...
The design for the carrier was not as simple as was often envisioned in the
beginning of the design process. In order to have more commonality with
the U.S. and French carriers, the Royal Navy opted for a conventional carrier
design, with catapults and arrester gear, whereas the first designs had concentrated
upon a Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing design, which would have been both
smaller, simpler of construction, and would have cost less. Parts commonality and
the ability to host planes from all friendly carrier sailing countries ultimately
won the day.
The Ark Royal class ultimately became a roomy carrier, which displaced
more than 50,000 tons, and sported a angled flight deck for arrested landings.
Three electromagnetic catapults were used for launching planes, and there were three
inboard elevators to a huge hangar which ran for more than two-thirds of the ships length.
The hangar could house the entire standard airwing. Although the elevators cut
into the available deckspace, they were essential to giving the Ark Royal a stealth profile.
The island and hull were very smooth, and all flat surfaces were slightly angled.
Armament consisted of a
VLS system for self-defense, three SEA RAM short range missile launchers, and
four 30 mm cannons. The VLS was located in the aft portion of the island
, one of the RAM was located on top of the bridge, a second
one on a sponson on the starboard side of the island, and the last one on a sponson on
the aft port-side of the ship. The 30 mm cannons were located just underneath the flight deck,
two on each side. The carriers main weaponry consisted off course of its fourty plane strong airwing.
In later years a group of 115 marines with power armors was added to the ships complement, but none
of the ships of the class ever carried much more than that in troops.
In order to properly control its armament, the carrier also featured a extensive sensor suite.
This consisted of a Sampson Phased radar, a Marconi Air Search radar, and a active sonar.
for passive defense the ship carried a ECM suite, chaff launchers, and a towed torpedo decoy.
Propulsion was provided by four gas turbines which provided electricity for all of the ships systems, including four huge electrical motors which powered twin shafts. In order to keep costs down, the ship was only lightly armored. A comprehensive compartimentalization of the ship was used to allow it to survive major battle damage. Along with being floating air bases, these ships were designed to act as flagships and they have powerful command and control facilities. These ships use a large amount of automation and required much smaller crews than previous carrier designs.
After the second Falklands war, it was decided that the ships would undergo a MDC refit.
In the refit the ships recieved a moderate MDC armor, their electronics were refurbished,
and their gas turbines were replaced with Nuclear turbines.
During the battle with the PLAN off South Africa, the Ark Royal had used up her
Sea Ram missiles defending against incoming PLAN missiles and wasn't able to
reload in time to defend against another strike, and she was hit by two
missiles and severly damaged. After that, the Navy review board determined
the CVFs needed a backup CIWS system and thus two Goalkeepers were added to each ship during the refit.
Immediately after the refit the Ark royal would become a training carrier.
The finishing of the Temeraire had made her redundant, and another of those giants had
already been laid down. As the second of the Temeraires was completed, the Ark Royal was scrapped, and
the second of her class, the Hermes took over as training carrier. Ultimately
only the Furious, the last and newest of the Ark Royal class,
was to be saved from becoming razorblades.
In the form of training carrier the Furious served Great Brittain for another forty years, right up to the coming of the Rifts.
At that time she had only just arrived at Portsmouht, after having been recalled as a result of the
increasing tensions between several smaller but nuclear armed nations,
when a group of druids locked the entire naval base in a stasis that would not be broken
for a long time...
Model Type: CFV-01C
Vehicle Type: Ocean, Nuclear Aircraft Carrier
Crew: Ship's complement 700, Air Crew 500, and Flagship Staff
50 (when acting as a flagship)
Troops: 115 Marines
Robots, Power Armors, and Vehicles:
Power Armors:
| 115 | X-10A Predator Power Armors |
| 40 | Fighters, Fighter-Bombers, and Attack Aircraft. | |
| 4 | ERC (Airborne Radar) | |
| 6 | Westland Merlin HM 1 helicopters |
M.D.C. by location:
| [1] Electromagnetic Catapults (3): | 100 each | |
| [1] Arrester Cables (4): | 25 each | |
| [2] Inboard Elevators (3): | 400 each | |
| [3] Flight Deck: | 2,500 | |
| Hanger Doors (2): | 350 each | |
| Sea RAM CIWS (3): | 100 each | |
| 30 mm Goalkeeper CIWS (2): | 130 each | |
| 30 mm cannon (4): | 50 each | |
| MK-41 Tactical 32 cell VLS | 200 | |
| [4] Sampson Active Phased Array Radar System: | 500 | |
| [4] Marconi/Signaal S1850M Air/Surf. Search Radar: | 350 | |
| [5] Bridge / Command Tower: | 1,500 | |
| Outer Hull (per 40 ft area): | 50 | |
| [6] Main Body: | 7,000 |
Notes:
[1] If all three catapults are destroyed, non VTOL or STOL aircraft cannot be
launched. If Arrester Cables are destroyed, non VTOL or STOL aircraft cannot
land until arrester cables are replaced.
[2] If all three elevators are destroyed, no aircraft can be moved
from the hangers to the flight deck, meaning that they cannot be launched
unless already on the flight deck.
[3] If the flight deck is destroyed, only Helicopters and other VTOL
aircraft can be launched or land. VTOL aircraft are at -15% to piloting.
[4] Destroying both Sampson and S1850M Air Search System radar system
will eliminate the ship's long range air search ability but weapon systems
have backup fire control systems. Both air search systems are separate
so both systems are not likely to be disabled from a single hit.
[5] If command tower/bridge is destroyed, the Radars and most communication
will be lost. Ship can still be piloted from engineering with a -15% to
piloting rolls.
[6] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body destroys the ship's structural
integrity, causing it to sink. There are enough flotation devices and inflatable
life rafts to accommodate everyone aboard.
Speed:
On Water: 32 knots (36.8 mph / 59.3 kph)
Range: Effectively Unlimited (must refuel about every twenty
years). Ship carries six months of supplies and consumables on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 984 feet (300 meters) overall and 950 feet (285.1
meters) waterline
Draft: 37 feet (11.1 meters)
Width: 213 feet (65 meters) overall and 122.7 feet (36.8 meters)
waterline
Displacement: 46,000 tons standard and 53,000 tons fully loaded
Cargo: 4,500 tons of nonessential equipment and supplies. Each
enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms.
Ships officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ship's spaces
are taken up by extra ammo, armor, troops, weapons, and engines.
Power System: 4 Nuclear Turbines, average life span is 20 years
Market Cost: Not for Sale.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Special Systems:
The ship has all systems standard on a robot vehicle plus the following
special features:
Image copyrighted by BAE
By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ).
Copyright © 2000, Mischa. All rights reserved.
