Sword class

Name: Sword class Type: Heavy cruiser Affiliation: People's Republic of Haven Date Introduced: 1867 PD Preceded By: Champion class Succeeded By: Mars-A class Mass: 286,250 tons Length: 512 m Beam: 62 m Draught: 52 m Acceleration: 510.2 G Crew: 960 – 77 officers – 693 enlisted – 190 marines Power: 2 DR/7 type 4a fusion reactors Electronics: AG-12 gravitic detection array AR-15 phased radar array AL-6(c) lidar array SC-29(24/18) integrated fire control Armament: 18 LMF-5(c) missile tubes 2 L/130 anti-ship lasers 10 L/118 anti-ship lasers 18 LMC-8(g) counter missile tubes 22 P-16(5) laser clusters Magazines: 324 F17 impeller drive missile 360 C2 counter missiles 10 RD.12 recon drones 8 DQ.25 ECM decoys Auxiliary Craft: 2 Ouragan class pinnaces 3 Mercure class cutters

The Sword class was a class of heavy cruisers built and used by the People's Navy.

Class design

The design was originally proposed as a replacement for the Champion class in 1864 PD. It was just as missile heavy as the contemporary Bastogne class destroyer, but corrected some of that class' shortcomings by implementing a lighter broadside throw weight in favor of larger magazines.

The Sword class was also the only class of Havenite warship regularly equipped with the LMF-5(c) missile tube, designed for high speed loading. (JIR2)

History

Once in service, the Sword class proved to have serious problems due to its limited counter missile firing capabilities; a captain had to bring his ship in and destroy the enemy before the latter could overcome the ship's weak defenses. A number of refits were tested to overcome these flaws, the one on PNS Flamberge being considered the most successful. (JIR2)

The class was still in use at the start of the First Havenite-Manticoran War, but Haven began to phase it out in favor of the Mars class by 1911 PD. (HH7)

At the start of the Second Havenite-Manticoran War, this class was considered obsolete. (SI1)