SPECIFICATIONS


GOVERNMENT: LaGrange Colonial Republics
TYPE: Space Control Ship (1st Generation)
MODEL: Type-56 class Space Battleship
DATE INTRODUCED: 2156 AD  
LENGTH:  800 feet (283.84 meters)
WIDTH: 200 feet (60.96 meters)
HEIGHT: 125 feet (38.1 meters)
MATERIAL: Plastic-Steel Composite Alloy
POWER PLANT: 11x Belgarde Fusion Reactor BFR-4M
OUTPUT: 4,000,000 kilowatts (4000 megawatts) each, 44,000,000 kilowatts total (44,000 megawatts)
ARMOR TYPE: Plastic-steel Composite Alloy
ARMOR THICKNESS: 3 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 30,000 tons
CREW: 285 (30 operators [helm & navigation], 96 Gunners, 30 Technicians, 30 Electricians, 30 Engineers, 25 Officers, 19 Medical, 10 science, 20 security)

PROPULSION
            INTERPLANETARY:
           1x OTRAG EMD-30K
            SPEED: 7,600,000 MPH
            POWER REQUIRED: 30,000 megawatts

             PRIMARY:
             25x OTRAG NEE-200-M11 nuclear electric engines
             SPEED: 190 mph each (Delta-V of each vector: 1520 mph forward, 760 mph port/starboard/ventral/dorsal, 1520 mph reverse speed)
             FUEL: 120 minutes each engine (2 hours)

             AUXILLIARY:
             40x OTRAG NEE-200-M10 nuclear electric engines
             SPEED: 20.3 mph each (Delta-V of each vector: 162.2 mph forward, 121.65 mph port/starboard/ventral/dorsal, 162.2 mph reverse speed)
             FUEL: 206.4 minutes each engine (3.4 hours)

WEAPONS:
            ASSAULT:
            4x Renault Research FF-LC-80 dual 40-megawatt laser cannon turrets; Effective Range: 400 miles; Payload: unlimited; Rate of Fire: 1 dual blast per 10 seconds (6 dual blasts per minute) each turret

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             12x Bofors AC-S105 (105-millimeter) turrets; Effective Range: 6 miles; Payload: 150-round autoloading mechanical tray; ROF: up to 30 rounds per minute.

             BALLISTIC:
             8x Bohing STL-02-884; Missile Type: MHST-01 2000-pound SMART-guided space torpedo with 38.2-Kiloton yield nuclear warhead; Effective Range: 27 miles; Payload: 84 space torpedoes each; ROF: 1-84 torpedo each launcher every 2 seconds (up to 30 per minute).

ELECTRONICS:
             1x Radio Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
             1x Microwave radio Communications array with a 100 AU range.
             1x RADAR sensor array with a range of 200,000 miles.
             1x Tesla-Shauberger Gravitational Control Unit: Effect: provides both gravity within the vessel, antigravity for assisted take off, and g-force compensation for high-g flight.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:
              1x En Garde Inc.  EG-ES-15000, 15,000-kilowatt electrostatic armor generator; RANGE: 15 feet; Effect: provides an electric armor that nullifies explosive weapons, and greatly reduces projectile weapon damage.

CARGO BAY:
            1x 10,830 yd3 Bay holds 10 years of food and supplies for the crew (missions were rarely more than 3 years for this vessel).

DESCRIPTION:
            The first Space Control Ship constructed by men of Earth is the LaGrange Republics Type-56 Space Battleship. This vessel was a 55,000 ton cylindrical monster built in 2156 to fend off the United Nations Space Corps armada that was threatening to take control of the Earth Sphere and the LaGrange-Point colony space islands during the Great War of the 2150s. Thirty of these large combat vessels were constructed from 2156 to 2162. The Type-56 had four 80-megawatt laser cannons (8 cannons total), twelve 105mm autocannon turrets, and eight missile batteries that each held 84, 1000 lb, space torpedoes. All 672 torpedoes could be fired at once, giving this warship the nickname "Trebuchet" by her crews. The Type-56 was the first ship to use an electromagnetic drive system as its primary engine. The EMD was able to propel this ship at 76,000,000 mph (approximately .82 AU per hour). The ship had a primitive Tesla-Shauberger ring inside it that protected the crew in the command module from the g-forces of the engine's high speeds. Slowing the ship down required the craft to spin using its thermonuclear rockets to "pivot" to one side, or top/bottom. The eight thermonuclear rocket engines served as the vessel's auxiliary drives for use near a planet or moon and were mounted in a unique ball-socket that could turn up to 30 degrees in any direction. This allowed the rockets to be used to help turn the ship around to slow it down upon reaching its destination after using the EMD. The process was complicated and dangerous given that newer craft of the 2160s could perform such an operation in a fraction of the time the Type-56 took. Eight primary Liquid Tritium fuel tanks fed the rocket engines, and eight smaller secondary tanks (at the front of the ship) could be used for extended flight and/or in an emergency. As a battleship, the Type-56 was equipped with electrostatic armor. This shielding gave the warship adequate protection from craft of the 250s, but was all but useless against the Solar Empire warships of the 1st Interplanetary War era.
            The Type-56 didn't use any of the Prodono alien technology save for its Tesla-Shauberger gravitational control unit. The LaGrange battleship was the basis for the entire fleet of Ceres Regency spacecraft that came after it in the 2170s.  It was the last Terran spacecraft to be almost completely built using Earth technology of the 21st century.
            These craft served in the LaGrange Space Navy from 2156 to 2162 and were relegated to the home guards of LaGrange after the outbreak of the 1st Interplanetary War in 2170.  These ships did see combat during the war, and twenty-six of them were damaged beyond repair, four were completely destroyed.
            A variant of the the Type-56 was built in the 2160s, that ship was the Type-66 Heavy-Freighter that was used to transport supplies, personnel, and equipment from the Earth sphere to Tyche (a trip of 1.4 years one way). It was nearly identical to the Type-56 only it had a large sensor/RADAR array, cargo modules, and no weapons. During the 1st Interplanetary War, the Type-66 was the main cargo ship of the EFR that transported personnel, goods, supplies, and weapons to the front lines. All of the Type-66 Heavy-Freighters were retired from service after the 1st Interplanetary War ended.

NOTES: This ship was inspired by the Ultra-Probe from the 1970s TV show "Space 1999".