Ships of The Convention - Star Hauler
Designed and owned by S.D.A.Op (ship design and operation) consortium
Principal Construction Lead: Cavirza Yards
All varients TL 12
The Star Hauler began life as a commission from a group of minor powers operating under the Fairport Convention for an Independent freighter, with medium range. The aim was to create a class of vessels to conduct trade penetration missions into new market areas, but also to support regular shipping in areas of sparser planetary density, as well as ‘tramp steamer’ operation (ad hoc cargo commissions between worlds not necessarily on set routes). This called for a ship with a balance more to range than maximising cargo capacity, and an eye to periods of time spent operating independently. The commission was won by a design consortium (S.D.A.Op) led by the Cavirza Shipyards (Umbar, co-ord 0916) and the result was the Star Hauler - a vessel built with robustness, and a cargo ship with some features more common to expeditionary craft.
The vessel, in it’s original pattern (later designated as the ‘Trade Mission’ configuration), had a jump three range, reasonable manoeuvrability, a full compliment of weaponry, some defensive, and some offensive, as well as fuel scoops and two ship’s launches. Although component suppliers varied the key elements of the initial configuration were all sourced from major industrial concerned, all part of S.D.A.Op. The Cavirza Yards themselves co-ordinated the consortium, acted as the principal site for construction, and brought to bare their well known specialism in robust hull construction. Other major consortium stakeholders included IE (Interstellar Electromatics) and their subsidiary Vanguard Avionics, who provided computing, control, and automation, New Nova Corp providing power systems and manoeuvre drives, and Granovox leading on jump technology.
Although initial sales of the Star Hauler met exceptions, the need to meet a break even production target led to further changes to ship design. It became rapidly apparent that this vessel would be expensive to operate, and so varying automation options were introduced late in the design stage, in a bid to reduce required crew numbers and cut long term operating costs, alongside scrapping the planned design of a bespoke ship’s boat in favour of utilising standard small craft. Even once in operation, some operators rapidly replaced the jump 3 engines with jump 2, or even 1, with a consequent reduction of fuel, resulting in the ‘Light Lifter’ and ‘Space Lane’ configurations. General configuration coding centred around jump drive and internal fuel tankage, with other variations considered minor. Other optionality included LHyd tanks, additional automation, and complete removal of small craft. A star liner variant was considered, but never entered production - the essential nature of the vessel being a ‘freighter’, and modification required to turn it to passenger service being considered too significant to be economically viable.
At the heart of the many variations was the flawed initial concept - inspired by a brief moment in time, and quickly superseded. The rapid spread of bulk (OFC) carriers as the Scott’s Guild became predominant within central Convention worlds, and a change in trade penetration tactics (selling finished good to local traders, rather than attempting to force trade directly into a target market) essentially made the Trade Mission configuration largely redundant in a crowded market. However, the resilience of the basic hull, and efforts to simplify systems to reduce maintenance costs, meant that later versions of the vessel (and many older examples converted to other configurations) stayed in service in varying capacities long after production dwindled to a halt. The solidity of the space frame has leant the vessel to many non-standard conversions (hospital vessel, troop carrier, orbital ordinance platform, research vessel, rescue and recovery, fuel tender, mining re-supply and support), and many such ships stay in service, particularly with more distant non-convention worlds.
Basic Variants - Descriptors
Trade Mission:
The original design concept of the vessel led to the ‘Trade Mission’ pattern of layout - only 25% of the vessel’s volume dedicated to cargo carrying, rather than the c.50% that would be more usual for a freighter, but greater range, and with multiple small craft, the ability to scoop and refine fuel, and three turrets fitted as standard. Operated in the Umbar sub-sector, (particularly the ‘trans-gap worlds from Fabat to Amarze), as well as driving trade into bordering sub-sectors and beyond. Many such vessels were deployed by the Scott’s Guild, but pensioned off as approaches to trade expansion changed. Such ships were frequently sold off to owner operators or small consortia, many being refitted to conform to less ‘independent’ configurations that were already in production (the light lifter or space lane’s variants). Most of these refitted ships retained their original drives - drive machinery being too expensive to replace, the cargo being increased through loss of fuel tankage (cutting range/speed without freeing up tonnage through reduced drive mass). Others were sold off to local planetary or small confederation governments, or commercial concerns, and refitted for specialist roles (medical transports etc). A number do remain in service in the trade mission configuration, often focusing on high value cargo, but these are increasingly rare.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 3, 2G manoeuvre drive, 200 tons fuel, agility 3, fuel scoops and purification.
Avionics: Level 3 Computer, with fiberoptic backup. Turret link to navigations computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), Tripple Beam (USP 3), triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 4 Engineers, 3 gunners. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 7 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer, Assistant Chief Engineer and Gunner Officer, two engineer-gunners.
Accommodation: Although fitted with 10 staterooms for a full crew compliment, this rarely occurred in practice, leaving a stateroom per crew members and 3 used for offering middle passage. 4 cold berths.
Small Craft: Ships launch (ship’s fuel includes two refuels) and an air raft.
Cargo: 150 tons
Other features: 4 ton ship’s locker, 1 ton vault (can store up to 0.5 tones)
Notes: With minor variations, this represents the standard operating pattern of the trade mission configuration of the Star Hauler. In an emergency one engineer gunner can be released from turret service (the sand caster or missile), and this turret is taken over by the navigator, via the automation link to the navigation systems. In some variations the ships locker, vault, low berths and spare staterooms, small craft were stripped out or reduced to give marginal improvement in cargo carrying capacity (up to a maximum of an additional 51 tons). Three turrets and fuel purification could also be removed, but were both generally considered necessary for the ‘independent operations’ these vessels were called upon to conduct.
Light Lifter:
The relatively poor commercial performance of the trade mission configuration led to the rapid development of other variants. The Light Lifter, with reduced range but increased cargo capacity, answered the need for a small, robust vessel for shifting ad-hoc cargo on non-standard runs between developed worlds. With engines striped back, and some of the features designed to support ‘independent operations’ removed, this was the most economically viable of the three main variants.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 2, 2G manoeuvre drive, 134 tons fuel, agility 2, fuel scoops and purification.
Avionics: Level 2 Computer. Turret link to navigations computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 3 Engineers, 2 gunners. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 6 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer and two engineer-gunners.
Accommodation: Fitted with 10 staterooms like the trade mission configuration, this left a stateroom per crew members and 4 used for offering middle passage. 10 cold berths.
Small Craft: Ships launch (ship’s fuel includes two refuels) and an air raft.
Cargo: 257 tons
Other features: 2 ton ship’s locker.
Notes: With minor variations, this represents the standard operating pattern of the Light Lifter configuration of the Star Hauler. In an emergency one engineer gunner can be released from turret service (the sand caster or missile), and this turret is taken over by the navigator, via the automation link to the navigation systems. In some variations the ships locker, low berths and spare staterooms, and small craft were stripped out or reduced to give marginal improvement in cargo carrying capacity (up to a maximum of an additional 55 tons). Three turrets and fuel purification could also be removed, but were both generally considered necessary for the ‘ad-hoc operations’ these vessels were called upon to conduct.
Space Lanes:
The relatively poor commercial performance of the trade mission configuration led to the rapid development of other variants. The Space Lanes configuration, with greatly reduced range but greatly increased cargo capacity, created a small, robust vessel for short cargo runs, on established space lanes, within clusters of developed worlds. Although sound as a concept, this variant was competing in a crowded market, with many small freighter designs already fulfilling this role. This class of ship was largely eclipsed by the rise of Scott’s Guild bulk OFC movers (ships of over 1000 tons moving large cargos on established routes with an economy of scale that smaller ships found it hard to match), and the Space Lane’s variant was, whilst well designed, the least successful configuration of the Star Hauler.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 1, 1G manoeuvre drive, 72 tons fuel, agility 1. Fuel scoops (emergency use only, no purification plant).
Avionics: Level 1 Computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), OR triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 2 Engineers, 1 gunner. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 5 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer and an engineer-gunner.
Accommodation: Fitted with 9 staterooms. This left a stateroom per crew members and 4 used for offering middle passage. 10 cold berths.
Small Craft: Air raft.
Cargo: 400 tons
Other features: 1 ton ship’s locker.
Notes: This represents the standard operating pattern of the Light Lifter configuration of the Star Hauler. No common variations are known - the ship being largely optimised for fixed route running. Passenger accommodation was almost universally retained in this version, being a useful additional income stream in clustered worlds.
The Star Hauler began life as a commission from a group of minor powers operating under the Fairport Convention for an Independent freighter, with medium range. The aim was to create a class of vessels to conduct trade penetration missions into new market areas, but also to support regular shipping in areas of sparser planetary density, as well as ‘tramp steamer’ operation (ad hoc cargo commissions between worlds not necessarily on set routes). This called for a ship with a balance more to range than maximising cargo capacity, and an eye to periods of time spent operating independently. The commission was won by a design consortium (S.D.A.Op) led by the Cavirza Shipyards (Umbar, co-ord 0916) and the result was the Star Hauler - a vessel built with robustness, and a cargo ship with some features more common to expeditionary craft.
The vessel, in it’s original pattern (later designated as the ‘Trade Mission’ configuration), had a jump three range, reasonable manoeuvrability, a full compliment of weaponry, some defensive, and some offensive, as well as fuel scoops and two ship’s launches. Although component suppliers varied the key elements of the initial configuration were all sourced from major industrial concerned, all part of S.D.A.Op. The Cavirza Yards themselves co-ordinated the consortium, acted as the principal site for construction, and brought to bare their well known specialism in robust hull construction. Other major consortium stakeholders included IE (Interstellar Electromatics) and their subsidiary Vanguard Avionics, who provided computing, control, and automation, New Nova Corp providing power systems and manoeuvre drives, and Granovox leading on jump technology.
Although initial sales of the Star Hauler met exceptions, the need to meet a break even production target led to further changes to ship design. It became rapidly apparent that this vessel would be expensive to operate, and so varying automation options were introduced late in the design stage, in a bid to reduce required crew numbers and cut long term operating costs, alongside scrapping the planned design of a bespoke ship’s boat in favour of utilising standard small craft. Even once in operation, some operators rapidly replaced the jump 3 engines with jump 2, or even 1, with a consequent reduction of fuel, resulting in the ‘Light Lifter’ and ‘Space Lane’ configurations. General configuration coding centred around jump drive and internal fuel tankage, with other variations considered minor. Other optionality included LHyd tanks, additional automation, and complete removal of small craft. A star liner variant was considered, but never entered production - the essential nature of the vessel being a ‘freighter’, and modification required to turn it to passenger service being considered too significant to be economically viable.
At the heart of the many variations was the flawed initial concept - inspired by a brief moment in time, and quickly superseded. The rapid spread of bulk (OFC) carriers as the Scott’s Guild became predominant within central Convention worlds, and a change in trade penetration tactics (selling finished good to local traders, rather than attempting to force trade directly into a target market) essentially made the Trade Mission configuration largely redundant in a crowded market. However, the resilience of the basic hull, and efforts to simplify systems to reduce maintenance costs, meant that later versions of the vessel (and many older examples converted to other configurations) stayed in service in varying capacities long after production dwindled to a halt. The solidity of the space frame has leant the vessel to many non-standard conversions (hospital vessel, troop carrier, orbital ordinance platform, research vessel, rescue and recovery, fuel tender, mining re-supply and support), and many such ships stay in service, particularly with more distant non-convention worlds.
Basic Variants - Descriptors
Trade Mission:
The original design concept of the vessel led to the ‘Trade Mission’ pattern of layout - only 25% of the vessel’s volume dedicated to cargo carrying, rather than the c.50% that would be more usual for a freighter, but greater range, and with multiple small craft, the ability to scoop and refine fuel, and three turrets fitted as standard. Operated in the Umbar sub-sector, (particularly the ‘trans-gap worlds from Fabat to Amarze), as well as driving trade into bordering sub-sectors and beyond. Many such vessels were deployed by the Scott’s Guild, but pensioned off as approaches to trade expansion changed. Such ships were frequently sold off to owner operators or small consortia, many being refitted to conform to less ‘independent’ configurations that were already in production (the light lifter or space lane’s variants). Most of these refitted ships retained their original drives - drive machinery being too expensive to replace, the cargo being increased through loss of fuel tankage (cutting range/speed without freeing up tonnage through reduced drive mass). Others were sold off to local planetary or small confederation governments, or commercial concerns, and refitted for specialist roles (medical transports etc). A number do remain in service in the trade mission configuration, often focusing on high value cargo, but these are increasingly rare.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 3, 2G manoeuvre drive, 200 tons fuel, agility 3, fuel scoops and purification.
Avionics: Level 3 Computer, with fiberoptic backup. Turret link to navigations computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), Tripple Beam (USP 3), triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 4 Engineers, 3 gunners. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 7 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer, Assistant Chief Engineer and Gunner Officer, two engineer-gunners.
Accommodation: Although fitted with 10 staterooms for a full crew compliment, this rarely occurred in practice, leaving a stateroom per crew members and 3 used for offering middle passage. 4 cold berths.
Small Craft: Ships launch (ship’s fuel includes two refuels) and an air raft.
Cargo: 150 tons
Other features: 4 ton ship’s locker, 1 ton vault (can store up to 0.5 tones)
Notes: With minor variations, this represents the standard operating pattern of the trade mission configuration of the Star Hauler. In an emergency one engineer gunner can be released from turret service (the sand caster or missile), and this turret is taken over by the navigator, via the automation link to the navigation systems. In some variations the ships locker, vault, low berths and spare staterooms, small craft were stripped out or reduced to give marginal improvement in cargo carrying capacity (up to a maximum of an additional 51 tons). Three turrets and fuel purification could also be removed, but were both generally considered necessary for the ‘independent operations’ these vessels were called upon to conduct.
Light Lifter:
The relatively poor commercial performance of the trade mission configuration led to the rapid development of other variants. The Light Lifter, with reduced range but increased cargo capacity, answered the need for a small, robust vessel for shifting ad-hoc cargo on non-standard runs between developed worlds. With engines striped back, and some of the features designed to support ‘independent operations’ removed, this was the most economically viable of the three main variants.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 2, 2G manoeuvre drive, 134 tons fuel, agility 2, fuel scoops and purification.
Avionics: Level 2 Computer. Turret link to navigations computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 3 Engineers, 2 gunners. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 6 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer and two engineer-gunners.
Accommodation: Fitted with 10 staterooms like the trade mission configuration, this left a stateroom per crew members and 4 used for offering middle passage. 10 cold berths.
Small Craft: Ships launch (ship’s fuel includes two refuels) and an air raft.
Cargo: 257 tons
Other features: 2 ton ship’s locker.
Notes: With minor variations, this represents the standard operating pattern of the Light Lifter configuration of the Star Hauler. In an emergency one engineer gunner can be released from turret service (the sand caster or missile), and this turret is taken over by the navigator, via the automation link to the navigation systems. In some variations the ships locker, low berths and spare staterooms, and small craft were stripped out or reduced to give marginal improvement in cargo carrying capacity (up to a maximum of an additional 55 tons). Three turrets and fuel purification could also be removed, but were both generally considered necessary for the ‘ad-hoc operations’ these vessels were called upon to conduct.
Space Lanes:
The relatively poor commercial performance of the trade mission configuration led to the rapid development of other variants. The Space Lanes configuration, with greatly reduced range but greatly increased cargo capacity, created a small, robust vessel for short cargo runs, on established space lanes, within clusters of developed worlds. Although sound as a concept, this variant was competing in a crowded market, with many small freighter designs already fulfilling this role. This class of ship was largely eclipsed by the rise of Scott’s Guild bulk OFC movers (ships of over 1000 tons moving large cargos on established routes with an economy of scale that smaller ships found it hard to match), and the Space Lane’s variant was, whilst well designed, the least successful configuration of the Star Hauler.
Hull: Streamlined.
Drives and Fuel: Jump 1, 1G manoeuvre drive, 72 tons fuel, agility 1. Fuel scoops (emergency use only, no purification plant).
Avionics: Level 1 Computer.
Weapons/Defences: Tripple Missile Turret (USP 2), OR triple Sandcaster (USP 2), hull armour factor 1
Crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 2 Engineers, 1 gunner. However, operationally, the vessel was usually run with 5 crew: Pilot, Navigator, Medic, Chief Engineer and an engineer-gunner.
Accommodation: Fitted with 9 staterooms. This left a stateroom per crew members and 4 used for offering middle passage. 10 cold berths.
Small Craft: Air raft.
Cargo: 400 tons
Other features: 1 ton ship’s locker.
Notes: This represents the standard operating pattern of the Light Lifter configuration of the Star Hauler. No common variations are known - the ship being largely optimised for fixed route running. Passenger accommodation was almost universally retained in this version, being a useful additional income stream in clustered worlds.
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