Restricted Ship Dreadnaught-class Cruiser

[Star Wars Legacies]

DREADNAUGHT-CLASS CRUISER

AFFILIATION
Open market.

MANUFACTURER
Rendili StarDrive.

CLASS
Cruiser.

ROLE
Capital ship.

COMPOSITION
Doonium and transparisteel.

DIMENSIONS
Length - 600 meters.CREW
9,000-16,000.

PASSENGER CAPACITY
3,000.

CARGO CAPACITY
9 kilotons.

HANGAR CAPACITY

• 12x starfighter/light starbomber.
• 1x shuttle/light freighter.

CONSUMABLES
2 standard years.

SPEED/MANEUVERABILITY
The Dreadnaught-class cruiser has a top speed of 20 MGLT and has sluggish maneuvering characteristics.

ARMAMENT

• 20x quad medium laser turret.
• 10x quad light turbolaser casemate.
• 10x dual medium turbolaser casemate.
• 1x dual heavy ion cannon casemate.
• 1x tractor beam projector.

EQUIPMENT

• 1x class 4 hyperdrive.
• 1x navicomputer.
• 1x heavy deflector screen generator.
• 1x long-range sensor suite.
• 1x long-range communication suite.
• Many x docking ring with integrated docking tube.
• Many x escape pod.

DESCRIPTION​

The Dreadnaught-class cruiser is a capital warship once manufactured by Rendili StarDrive. At one time, the Dreadnaught was considered one of the most powerful capital ships in the Galaxy, a title it held for decades, until the outbreak of the Clone Wars and the advent of new, even more advanced designs from Rendili's competitors such as Kuat Drive Yards and Rothana Heavy Engineering. In spite of this, the Dreadnaught remains a formidable vessel in its own right, even over 200 years after its development.

The Dreadnaught, despite its cutting edge reputation at the time of its creation, is actually the end result of a long, illustrious lineage, dating back to the formidable capital cruisers fielded by the Mandalorian Crusaders in ancient times. These fearsome ships inspired engineers of the Republic, who built similar ships, with many elements of these proto-Dreadnaughts being refined and improved over millennia. The Dreadnaught, in a way, represents the penultimate development of Mandalorian shipbuilding culture, although it was not built by them.

In terms of specifications, the Dreadnaught has aged well in some categories, but poorly in others. The ship is formidably armed, even for its size, boasting 20 anti-starfighter quad laser turrets, 10 quad light turbolasers casemates, 10 dual medium turbolasers casemates, and pair of heavy ion cannons. The centuries have not been kind to the ship's mobility; while sluggish capital ships were the norm in the decades prior to the Clone Wars, the Dreadnaught's 20 MGLT does not allow it to keep up with most modern or even pre-modern warships. Starfighter capacity is also disappointing, only 12, with a single support craft in the form of a shuttle or other, similarly sized ship.

Notably, the Dreadnaught has an almost comically large crew for its size. Due to the technological limitations of its day, the ship required a minimum of 9,000 personnel, with a recommended number of 16,000. This enormous crew was considered unwieldy even when the Dreadnaught was new, and there have been various attempts to reduce it over the centuries. Notably, some time before the Clone Wars, the Republic Judiciary experimented with a fleet of Dreadnaughts which had been extensively modified with slave rigging, reducing their individual crew requirements to just over 2,000. Unfortunately, this scheme proved overly susceptible to remote hijacking, and the disappearance of the entire fleet - never to be seen again - led to the abandonment of the concept.

Dreadnaughts, despite their shortcomings, proved to be durable, reliable warships, and served through the Clone Wars and into the Imperial era. After the Empire's fall, many of those that survived were passed on to various planetary militias and sector defense fleets. Only small numbers persist in service today; attrition from the Clone Wars, Galactic Civil War and First Order-Resistance war accounted for some, but mainly, the high cost of crewing and maintaining these ancient ships has proved more than most operators can bear.

LEGALITY​

Restricted. Dreadnaught-class cruisers are classified as capital ships under Galactic law, and possess heavy weapons. As such, civilian owners will require extra licensing to operate one legally, and will receive increased scrutiny by authorities. Even then, they are ridiculously expensive to operate; only a relatively large faction or particularly wealthy government would be able to afford it without swiftly bankrupting themselves. An individual would stand no chance.

INTENT​

To create a standard cruiser.

RESTRICTIONS​

Dreadnaught-class cruisers are large capital ships with heavy weapons, and capital ships cannot be owned or operated by individual characters. A faction would be required to obtain and crew a ship of this size.