by David Weber
Half again as massive as an Ad Astra, the Royal Wintons were nearly as large as the old Manticore-class superdreadnoughts and, by any objective standard, their combat ability was equal or better as well.
While nothing could compare to the glacial construction pace the Ad Astras had encountered, both the Royal Winton- and Samothrace-class superdreadnoughts suffered their share of “growing pains” as the Navy and civilian shipyards learned how to design a ship of the wall for series production. The class was broken into three distinct flights, each with a slightly different weapons fit, and even within a given flight no two hulls were exactly identical.
Gladiator-class dreadnought
Mass: 6,846,000 tons
Dimensions: 1284 × 186 × 173 m
Acceleration: 421.5 G (4.134 kps²)
80% Accel: 337.2 G (3.307 kps²)
Broadside: 22M, 18L, 24G, 1GL, 8ET, 18CM, 26PD
Chase: 6M, 4L, 6G, 6CM, 10PD
Number Built: 34
Service Life: 1868–1920
With King Roger’s shipbuilding and infrastructure initiatives and the experience in building the Royal Winton and Samothrace classes, the shipyards had worked out most of the initial problems involved in building wallers by the time work began on the Gladiators, and both Navy and civilian yards were ready to embark on true series production.
The Gladiator class was built as a brawler, designed with an intentionally light missile broadside. Instead, it was equipped with the heaviest beam armament that could be fitted into a hull of this size, including an extensive suite of energy torpedo launchers and later refitted with the newly developed grav lance, a weapon capable of disabling a target’s sidewall at extremely close range, in an early attempt to make a decisive wall engagement possible. The range limitation required a wall equipped with it to get close enough to actually use it, however, which (of course) meant that the primary effect of its introduction was simply to make fleet commanders across the galaxy even more cautious about close engagements.
The decision to greatly increase the Gladiator’s defenses, particularly the counter-missile launchers, proved prescient. The original rationale for the greatly increased area defense—even at the expense of the far more effective point defense clusters—was to allow the Gladiator to screen both itself and other units in the formation as they closed towards beam range. With the standoff attack range of the laser head (first deployed by the IAN in 1872 PD), the utility of the short-ranged point defense clusters was critically reduced almost literally overnight, and the Gladiator was one of the few older classes to weather the transition.
Overall, despite the lost missile broadside, the Gladiator was a solid design, and remained in service a couple of years past the more modern Majestic class due to its better survivability and passive defenses. Plans were drawn up to substantially refit the surviving units with sufficient defenses to remain in the wall of battle even in the era of pod-based combat. The cease-fire and transition to the Janacek Admiralty scuttled those plans, however, and only a few Gladiators remained in service when the war resumed.
Majestic-class dreadnought
Mass: 6,750,500 tons
Dimensions: 1278 × 185 × 173 m
Acceleration: 422.5 G (4.143 kps²)
80% Accel: 338 G (3.315 kps²)
Broadside: 28M, 18L, 20G, 24CM, 24PD
Chase: 8M, 6L, 4G, 8CM, 8PD
Number Built: 40
Service Life: 1896–1918 PD
Following her father’s death and the subsequent forcible annexation of the Trevor’s Star System (and terminus) by the People’s Republic of Haven, one of Queen Elizabeth’s first actions was to reaffirm her commitment to her father’s naval buildup, including a provision to more than double production of capital units within five years.
While the reasons behind the move to the Majestic class were many, the argument that the RMN could build a substantially less costly dreadnought class than the Gladiators was one of the primary drivers, and the class was sold to Parliament as having a per-platform cost seven percent less than a Gladiator. There were other factors in play, however, including the fact that the Navy had to shift government contracts away from electronics providers that were under investigation for fraud and malfeasance.
Speeding up construction of a dreadnought (at least a dreadnought as capable as the Gladiator) proved to be a challenge, but the experience was to stand the RMN in very good stead in its ever-expanding wartime building programs. Ironically, though, while the Majestic had the virtue of being less expensive on a per-unit basis, the increased missile magazine size meant that the deployed cost of a fully equipped and armed Majestic dreadnought was nearly equal to the “more expensive” Gladiator it supplanted.
For all of that, the Majestic was never an entirely satisfactory design. Slightly smaller than a Gladiator, its heavy missile broadside was only possible at the cost of close combat capability, and despite the increase in active defenses, it had a far more fragile hull than the Gladiator. This relative frailty, despite far more numerous missile tubes during a time when beam combat was falling out of favor, was one of the reasons the entire class was decommissioned before the older Gladiator.
Bellerophon-class dreadnought
Mass: 6,985,250 tons
Dimensions: 1293 × 187 × 175 m
Acceleration: 420.1 G (4.12 kps²)
80% Accel: 336.1 G (3.296 kps²)
Broadside: 33M, 15L, 18G, 24CM, 24PD
Chase: 7M, 2L, 3G, 8CM, 8PD
Number Built: 38
Service Life: 1900–1921
The Bellerophon-class dreadnought represents the pinnacle of Manticoran dreadnought design, incorporating lessons learned from all of the previous classes and the final prewar generation of RMN simulation data and doctrine. The Bellerophons were originally intended as inexpensive contemporaries of the Gryphon-class superdreadnoughts, to be built in larger numbers than the heavier ships and to support the SDs in battle. The originally projected building ratio for the two classes was reversed almost literally overnight once war began and the emergency construction programs reached their full potential, however. The class continued in construction at a slow rate for the first five years of the war, until the Navy’s funding and infrastructure allowed it to begin building exclusively SDs for its line of battle, at which time the Bellerophons were honorably retired and phased out of service.
Massing just under seven million tons, the Bellerophons were in every way equal or superior to any of the early Manticoran superdreadnought classes and could give even the Anduril class a run for its money, especially given the predominance of missile-only combat in the later phases of the war.
However, no matter how advanced it was, there is no question that the Bellerophon, like every other conventional capital ship in the Manticoran Navy, was designed to fight the last war. When even the most advanced prewar superdreadnought was rendered hopelessly obsolete by modern standards, the cost and manpower were clearly better spent on building larger, more powerful, and more survivable ships to replace them. The majority of this class lies in mothballs and could potentially be reactivated, but the possibility that any of them will see service again is remote.
Nouveau Paris-class dreadnought
Mass: 6,331,500 tons
Dimensions: 1251 × 181 × 169 m
Acceleration: 426.7 G (4.184 kps²)
80% Accel: 341.3 G (3.347 kps²)
Broadside: 32M, 10L, 10G, 18CM, 20PD
Chase: 8M, 4L, 4G, 10CM, 10PD
Number in Service: 5
Service Life: 1905–1917
Several Havenite ships of the wall were taken into service during the early war, including five dreadnoughts during the First Battle of Hancock. None of these ships saw frontline service, but four of them spent some time as rear area security operating with captured Havenite superdreadnoughts. All of these units were scrapped by the Janacek Admiralty during the interwar period.
SUPERDREADNOUGHTS (SD)
Superdrea
dnoughts, along with their pod-carrying brethren, are the largest warships in any star nation’s inventory. The classic prewar SD mounted a heavy missile broadside; had the sidewalls, antimissile defenses, and armor to shrug off most missile hits themselves; and served primarily as a platform for the massive beam weapons required for a decisive engagement at close range. For centuries, SDs have been the decisive units of the wall of battle, built to survive to reach beam range and then batter their opponent into wreckage at close range.
As the core units of the wall of battle, dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts are rarely deployed in less than divisional strength, and far more frequently they are moved around at the squadron level, complete with screen and support ships. Their true strength is in the concentrated fire a battle squadron can create, and the existence of even a single battle squadron automatically propels a naval force into one of the top two dozen or so navies in the galaxy.
The RMN accumulated a great deal of operational experience with their early Manticore-class superdreadnoughts before they began to add any more to the order of battle. However, they had not developed much combat experience when King Roger began the naval phase of his buildup in 1860 PD, and BuShips was forced to develop, build, test and refine designs at an ever-increasing rate, all without the benefit of any battle experience. At the peak of production, the RMN saw a new superdreadnought commissioned every month and a new class every four years, with advances leapfrogging entire classes due to the frantic production schedule.
While the design of these massive ships was in a state of flux for years, their doctrine also had been refined over years of training and simulations. The RMN knew what to do with the type even as they were constantly refining how they were designed and constructed. Not even the RMN, however, truly appreciated in 1905 how close to the end of its long reign the classic SD had come.
Manticore-class superdreadnought
Mass: 6,515,500 tons
Dimensions: 1263 × 183 × 171 m
Acceleration: 424.8 G (4.166 kps²)
80% Accel: 339.9 G (3.333 kps²)
Broadside: 22M, 18L, 24G, 8ET, 12CM, 24PD
Chase: 4M, 2L, 6G, 6CM, 12PD
Number Built: 3
Service Life: 1742–1905
The original design requirements for the Star Kingdom’s first superdreadnought called for a ship “fit to engage and defeat any ship of the wall now in commission or under construction,” and for their time, their design proved more than sufficient in that regard. With greatly improved active defenses and twice the graser broadside of the Ad Astra class, the Manticore class was a powerful, modern unit that compared favorably to even the most advanced Solarian design of the day.
HMS Manticore and her sister ships Sphinx and Gryphon were commissioned over a period of fifteen years, while their old battleship namesakes were redesignated HMS Thorson, Perseus and Bellerophon, respectively.
The trio was originally intended to form the core of a modernized capable wall of battle along with the Ad Astra-class dreadnoughts. The initial units rode the tail end of the wave of construction that followed the Battle of Carson, and a total of nine ships was originally planned.
HMS Manticore was scarcely a decade old when she first saw combat, during the rather misnamed “San Martin War.” Given that the war began and ended with a single battle, and an uneventful one at that, there was little to learn from the experience. Worse in some ways, the brief skirmish actually hampered additional efforts to secure funding, as victory had been achieved so easily and no navies in the region were viewed as a threat that warranted more than the three ships already in commission. Instead of the planned additional construction, the existing dreadnoughts and battleships underwent a modernization and service life extension program. The three ships of the Manticore class served as flagships for the two mixed battle squadrons of Home Fleet, with one in the yards for maintenance at any given time.
While an effective design for their time, the class was over 150 years old by the start of the First Havenite War. HMS Sphinx and Gryphon had already been decommissioned as their namesakes led new, modern classes, and while HMS Manticore had been refitted as a flagship and saw the opening salvos of the war, she was decommissioned in late 1905 and her name given to a brand new Gryphon-class hull.
Samothrace-class superdreadnought
Mass: 7,253,750 tons
Dimensions: 1309 × 190 × 177 m
Acceleration: 416.6 G (4.086 kps²)
80% Accel: 333.3 G (3.268 kps²)
Broadside: 28M, 22L, 18G, 6ET, 18CM, 26PD
Chase: 6M, 6L, 4G, 6CM, 8PD
Number Built: 7
Service Life: 1848–present
The Samothrace class was the second class of superdreadnoughts built by the Royal Manticoran Navy, and (not surprisingly, given that almost exactly a century separated the two classes) it was a marked improvement over the Manticore class. While the increased combat power was a decided advantage, the true reason for the construction of this class was, originally, to provide modern flagships for the two active battle squadrons of Home Fleet.
The plans called for a total of three hulls to be built to allow for regular maintenance cycles and still retain a division of superdreadnoughts in every squadron. However, the cost of these units, coupled with the actual and projected costs of the Royal Wintons, caused Parliament to cut funding, dropping the planned construction to a single hull.
However, the Navy had been steadily increasing the number of units below the wall for over a century since the discovery of the Matapan Terminus, with a major push by First Space Lord Frederick Truman in the preceding few years. With both Parliament and the senior uniformed officers of the Navy focusing on the commerce protection mission, the so-called “Gun Club” advocates were outnumbered and outvoted.
When King Roger began his buildup shortly after his coronation, one of the first actions he took was to renew construction of the two cancelled hulls, plus allocate funding for four more while the builder’s plans were finalized for the King William class. As one shellshocked member of the Opposition remarked following the King’s remarkable success in this initial foray: “The Admiralty asked for three, we offered one, and His Majesty compromised on seven.” It would not be the last armament battle that remarkable monarch would win.
In the late 1890s, the entire class was pulled from service and refitted extensively as command ships. Technological advances, even in the short time since their construction, allowed their defenses to be substantially upgraded while at the same time providing space for extensive command and control facilities. Many of these ships have seen wartime service as task force and fleet flagships, even after more modern classes had been placed in reserve, simply because of their command and control equipment.
King William-class superdreadnought
Mass: 7,170,750 tons
Dimensions: 1304 × 189 × 176 m
Acceleration: 417.7 G (4.096 kps²)
80% Accel: 334.2 G (3.277 kps²)
Broadside: 32M, 19L, 21G, 26CM, 28PD
Chase: 8M, 6L, 4G, 10CM, 10PD
Number Built: 25
Service Life: 1877–1919
The King William-class superdreadnought was the first ship of its type to reach series production, after nearly a decade of design work and lessons learned from work on the Royal Winton and Samothrace classes. It was also the first ship built from the keel out to carry the new Mk19 Capital Ship Missile, then in development as the RMN’s first laser head weapon, though not actually placed in service until several years after the first unit was commissioned.
Massing over seven million tons, the King William was designed to be a balanced combatant, giving equal weight to missile combat, beam combat, and defenses. The King William’s technological advances over the Manticore class resulted in a near fifty percent improvement in missile broadside strength, and the class established what was to become the standard Manticoran capital ship ammunition allocation of one round per minute per broadside launc
her for a sustained period of two hours, known as the “1-for-2” rule.
While the King Williams proved a very successful design, they experienced their own share of growing pains during the course of construction. After the first eight of the class were completed BuShips realized counter-missile batteries were going to have an even greater prominence in missile engagements than originally realized, as laser heads increased the standoff distance of incoming missiles and reduced the effectiveness of point defense. A half-dozen point defense clusters were accordingly removed from the defensive weapon decks and replaced with counter-missile launchers.
Later refits brought the entire class up to a more consistent standard, leaving most of the remaining difference merely cosmetic. While the King William was eventually supplanted by the Anduril and Victory classes as the frontline Manticoran superdreadnought, a number of the King Williams distinguished themselves over the course of the war.
Most of the surviving King Williams were sold to Alliance navies during the Janacek build-down, including a full squadron transferred to the Erewhon Navy shortly before the resumption of hostilities and their subsequent exit from the Alliance.
Anduril-class superdreadnought
Mass: 7,506,000 tons
Dimensions: 1324 × 192 × 179 m
Acceleration: 413.3 G (4.053 kps²)
80% Accel: 330.6 G (3.242 kps²)
Broadside: 29M, 22L, 24G, 1GL, 8ET, 24CM, 32PD
Chase: 6M, 7L, 6G, 8CM, 12PD
Number Built: 14
Service Life: 1889–1918
The Anduril class was one of the shorter-lived designs of Roger’s buildup, for two reasons. First, the older, cheaper Gladiator-class dreadnought had nearly the same capabilities for a considerably lower cost. Second, the Navy had come to the realization that missile combats were poised to become far more decisive than they had been at any time in the last two centuries, which moved the design trend towards more balanced combatants and away from brawlers like the Anduril.
