When examining the “history” of 2300AD combat starship
design there are turning points. One of the most significant is the development
of starship fusion power and the deployment on the Ypres class (batch 1 Battle class) in 2259. Until this point
everyone has been limited to fission reactors or turbine/ solar sail
arrangements. The fusion reactor delivers twice the power to mass ratio of
fission and requires fewer crew – it is (apparently) fully fuelled for decades
and does not need reactor core changes like fission. It’s a much better
technology.
Note this won’t examine low-end escort ships or fighters.
In 2259 the French have a monopoly on it. The question is
how did these advances change their shipbuilding schemes.
Let’s consider the pre-2259 warships available. The French
we know built 50 MW fission powered, ca. 5-6,000 ton “destroyers” (destructeurs)
and 160 MW fissioned powered “cruisers” (croiseur)
of ca. 15-16,000 tons. The new fusion powered frigate (frégate) with their 150 MW fusion drives and ca. 10,000
tons are intermediates between these two ships – capable of possibly replacing
both and doing the job better.
However, fusion reactors are expensive
and supply is limited. If the French want to keep building numbers of hulls
then perhaps it’s best to drop the “cruiser” for the new frigates, and if
necessary keep building the destroyers.
Thus in the 2260’s the French stopped
building large fission powered cruisers and built smaller fusion powered
frigates with more capability. The first batch of five “battles” are the Ypres and in 2300-2301 these vessels are
reaching the end of their lives, with only Ypres
and Foudroyant remaining in French
hands (the former is likely retired and sold off after the “Lone Wolf” incursion).
The French continued building 150 MW frigates with a second batch (at least) of
Battles (Castiglione and Austerlitz are deployed on the French
Arm in summer 2301), and the Tonnant
and Imperieuse (best translations
being Thundering and Irresistible) follow different naming conventions to the
Aconits at Aurore (Kersaint, Duperre and Vauqueiin are named after wet naval officers, Aconit is from the British Aconite,
as in a British built Flower-class corvette manned by the Free French in WW1
and hence preserved).
Eventually fusion will become more
available. The French Paladin class destroyers
(sold off, including 3 to Ukraine as Kiev
class) are roughly contemporary to the Ypres,
as is Constellation class cruiser
(sold off as Konstantin to Ukraine). No
further cruisers were built but destroyer production continued with an upgraded
version of the Paladin (Héros class) being built in
parallel to the Austerlitz class.
What was the Maréchal we
must ask? I suggest that she was a version with a 150 MW fusion reactor built
in the early 2270’s.
With fusion reactors becoming more
available the French adopt the idea of a double sized frigate or grande frégate (“big ship” in
English). Hence the Amiral class (of
which Suffren is the lead ship of
batch 1) making a huge leap in capability. Within five years of finishing the
lead 300 MW frigate the French make another plunge to the “triple frigate” with
the Statesman class (Richelieu being the lead ship).
Here it seems the French had need of
hulls and couldn’t switch entirely over to the triple frigate – double frigate
production continued apace with a second batch of Statesmans laid down during the CAW. The French government may have
built a glut of these vessels as war production as at least 11 “cruisers” (i.e.
double frigates) and probably 12-15 were built (assuming no CAW or WoGR losses,
which is reasonable as neither could match them). If the French LD one per year
from 2278 with 3 year build times then the program terminates in the early to
mid-2290’s. We likely have say 3 Suffrens (pre-CAW programs, one sold to Japan
and two killed at Tithonus), 3 Suffren II’s (Commissioned during the CAW) and then
war lessons will cause lessons to be incorporated, along with advanced
technologies (advanced composite hulls for example, a major leap akin to moving
from simple steel to facehardened Krupp). Previously I’ve used the RN BC
program as a guide and suggested 4 Tigre
class (war program) as a solid 300 MW big frigate using full NM tech. Then a
pair of Résolutions which parallel
advances made with the Statemans.
After this have the French go slightly crazy after observing the American
Kennedy program and building a trio of superfast but unarmoured 300 MW frigates
(Gloire class) in the early 2290’s
(WoGR emergency program), before deciding to concentrate entirely on “triple
frigates”.
Meanwhile, the destroyer program is
churning out 150MW solid combat ships designed only for fighting in batches of
six – 6 Soldat class, then 6 Patrie class and finally the Paris class of which 3 are in Commission
in 2301 and 3 building. The next class with be Arcturus class.
The “superfrigate” by 2301 is building
the third batch of five rather than three (the 3x 300 MW vessels that would
have been built are instead an extra 2x 450 MW vessels), with 5 in service in
summer 2301 (six built and Commissioned, one heavily damaged and effectively
lost).
Reactor
Production
This suggestion requires a major
expansion of French fusion reactor production in the mid to late 2270’s. This
is likely when production gets commercialised, and I suggest that the French
reactor production didn’t expand fast enough and so with the coming of the CAW
the French shared the technology with the major industrial concerns in allied
states (like Trilon in America) and contracted for a lot of reactor sets.
Frigate
Program |
Destroyer
Program |
150 MW
Reactor equivs | |
2300-2305
|
5x new
450 MW vessels |
Arcturus class
|
21
|
2295-2300
|
5x new
450 MW vessels |
Paris class (6)
|
21
|
2290-2295
|
3x Gloire (300MW),
3x Richelieu (415 or 450 MW) |
Patrie class (6)
|
21
|
2285-2900
|
Tigre (4) and
Resolution (2) |
Soldat class (6)
|
18
|
2280-2285
|
Suffren (6)
|
Marechel (6)
|
18 (9
per 5 yrs) |
2275-2280
|
|||
2270-2275
|
Tonnant (5)
|
Hero (6)
|
5
|
2265-2270
|
Austerlitz (5)
|
5
|
|
2260-2275
|
Ypres (5)
|
Paladin (6)
|
5
|
