Samarkand (WarShip class)

This article is about the carrier design. For the first ship in its class, see Samarkand (Individual Samarkand-class WarShip).

Samarkand
Production information
Manufacturer	Draconis Combine
Introduced	2579
Production Year	2579
Use	Aerospace Carrier Troop Transport Orbit-to-Surface Fire Support Escort Ship
Tech Base	Inner Sphere
Technical specifications
Mass	350,000 tons
Length	501 meters
Sail Diameter	967 meters
Fuel	2,678 tons
Burn Rate	39.52
Safe Thrust	2 g
Top Thrust	3 g
Sail Integrity	3
KF Drive Integrity	8
LF Battery	No
Armament	1x Medium NPPC 2x Light NPPC 2x NAC/10 2x NL45 4x NL35 5x LRM 20 8x LRM 10 6x SRM 4 4x Large Laser 10x medium laser 38x Machine Gun
Armor	494 tons standard
DropShip Capacity	3
Crew	180 35 Officers 110 Enlisted 35 Gunners Marines: 30 Bay Personnel: 204
Grav Decks	2 (1 x 150 meters and 1 x 60 meters diameter)
Escape Pods/Life Boats	25/0
Heat Sinks	950 single
Structural Integrity	71
BV (2.0)	18,398

Description

The Samarkand-class Carrier was a second-generation Draconis Combine WarShip and the Draconis Combine's premier fighter carrier, first used at the dawn of the Star League era. Noted for its large fighter complement and escort qualities, they were considered good escort vessels. Still, they are noted for not being able to handle vessels larger than itself due to their light complement of capital weaponry in addition to their thin rear-facing armor and weapons.

The carrier was the idea of Draconis Combine Coordinator Hehiro Kurita, who quickly put the ships into production for the inevitable conflict with Periphery powers. Hehiro's orders for the creation of the carriers boosted the economies of several worlds and four ships of the class were launched between 2579 and 2585. These ships served well during the Reunification War, and only one was lost during fighting in the Outworlds Campaign. An economic boom followed the Reunification War, during which the three surviving ships were assigned to the colonization efforts of the Combine. These ships were used to ferry supplies, equipment, and other supplies which led them to become symbols of this prosperous age. In about 2619, one of the class's first actions in their new role was to escort Coordinator Sanethia Kurita to the new national capital of Luthien.

In 2668, during the reign of Coordinator Urizen II, an improved Block II version of the class was produced.

A large quantity of the class was produced which was utilized by the Star League Defense Force as escorts. These ships were used as part of the liberation of Terra from the tyrant Stefan Amaris and his Rim Worlds Republican Army, and most of these ships were destroyed during Operation LIBERATION. Three Samarkand vessels are known to have participated in General Alexander Kerensky's Operation EXODUS: the SLS Beijing, the CDS Deal Breaker, and CSA Yorktown.

The surviving units in the Combine's naval service were stationed on the border with the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns. Often misused as the vanguard of an assault or sacrificed to support a ground-based attack, nearly all these survivors were destroyed in the First and Second Succession Wars. Only a single survivor of the class exists in the Inner Sphere as of 3075, the DCS Togura which has been converted into an orbiting museum.

Armaments & Capabilities

Weaponry

The capital weaponry for a ship its size is considered to be light. In its front arc, it has a single medium naval PPC, with two Class 10 naval autocannons rounding out its front-side weapons. In its broadsides, it has only a single light naval PPC per arc, while its aft sides pair of Class 35 naval lasers. Protecting its aft arc, there is a pair of Class 45 naval lasers.

For its conventional weaponry: on its bow are five LRM-20 launchers, backed up by four medium lasers. On the ship's front sides, it has four LRM-10 launchers and three SRM 4 launchers providing close-up protection. On its broadsides, it has ten machine guns per broadside, providing last-ditch defense with 100 rounds per side. To its aft sides, the ship has a pair of large lasers and a pair of medium lasers together in a weapons bay per side. Backup in a separate weapons bay is six machine guns per side with 100 rounds of ammo. The aft section contains a pair of medium lasers and six machine guns protecting against conventional threats.

Cargo

Block I

• Bay 1: Aerospace Fighters (36), 4 doors
• Bay 2: Small Craft (12), 1 door
• Bay 3: Aerospace Fighters (36), 3 doors
• Bay 4: Cargo (46,757 tons), 5 doors

Block II

• Bay 1: Aerospace Fighters (36), 4 doors
• Bay 2: Small Craft (12), 1 door
• Bay 3: Aerospace Fighters (36), 3 doors
• Bay 4: Cargo (36,374 tons), 5 doors

See Also

• List of named Samarkand class WarShips.

Variants

Block II - The Block II was infused with new technologies that improved the ship's weaponry (with two Heavy NPPCs replacing the lighter versions and upsizing to NAC/20s) and armor (to 511 tons of Ferro-Carbide) over the original design. The number of heat sinks was nearly doubled to 1,700 and the space marine complement was increased to 100, while the cargo bay capacity was decreased by about 10,000 tons. BV (2.0) - 35,258

Notes

• It was believed that only four Block I Samarkands had been constructed.

“	No. Yorktown is unlikely to be a Block I Samarkand. TRO 3075 is pretty clear that the only Block Is were Samarkand, Benjamin, Dieron, and Alshain. No more Block Is appear to have been constructed, and all of the Samarkands built when production was restarted were Block IIs.	”
	— Catalyst Game Labs: Ask The Writers, 27 Mar 2013

However, that information was based on research released in 3075; it has since been confirmed that only two Block I Samarkands were in service in 2765: and that the Kagoshima was one of those ships.

“	There was only 2 Block Is in operation by 2765. The other two had been removed from service by the introduction of the Block IIs. So the DCS New Samarkand is a Blck II, while the DCS Samarkand was a Block I that was probably decomissioned during the Star League era.	”
	— Catalyst Game Labs: Ask The Writers, 05 Feb 2014

It was confirmed that in contrast to the information presented in Technical Readout: 3075, at least two additional Block Is were created - the Kagoshima and the DCS Irece:

“	All the Samarkands are flagships. The two Block Is (DCS Kagoshima and DCS Irece) are the flagships of the Pesht fleets, while the rest of the fleets have Block IIs.	”
	— Catalyst Game Labs: Ask The Writers, 05 Feb 2014

• No canon record sheet has been produced for the Samarkand, at the time of this writing.

Gallery

• 

  Original Samarkand from TRO:3075

Bibliography

• Handbook: House Kurita
• Tactics of Desperation (BattleCorps Scenario)
• Technical Readout: 3075
• The Wars of Reaving