Cobra Class Close Escort

An excerpt from "Selling the Gazelle," by Sir Eneri Achter-Altermann, Imperial Navy, Retired. Published in the Holiday Annual issue of 1110 of the Proceedings of the Imperial Naval Institute. (Permission to repost this article on private websites is granted.)

So how did the Cobra-class of close escorts acquire a reputation for being mutiny prone?

In fact the crews of Cobra-class escorts were no more prone to mutinies than the crews of any other class of Imperial warship under normal conditions. But it was during the Imperial Civil War that a statistical blip occurred as a result of the sloppy manning practices in effect at the time.

When Admiral Plankwell unloaded his sidearm into Empress Jacqueline he not only disconnected the Imperial Navy from legitimate civil authority, he violently disrupted the bond of comradeship within the officer corps and enlisted ranks of the navy. If Plankwell -- an unwashed lout from the farthest frontier -- could by force of arms proclaim himself to be El Numero Uno, reasoned one would-be claimant to the throne, then anyone could. And anyone who could gather a battle fleet would do just that.

Prior to the assassination of Empress Jacqueline the Imperial Navy guarded the frontiers and kept the peace between the worlds, to be permitted to serve in the Navy was an honor and privilege granted to a select few. But when Plankwell planted his posterior upon the Iridium Throne he converted the various sector fleets, and the Core Fleet in particular, from being guardians of the empire to being in effect bands of pirates that any sufficiently warm body could join.

Sector Admirals seeking to plant their hindquarters on the throne would gather a fleet for an expedition to the core, and as a general rule would place personnel who are the most competent -- and certainly the most loyal to themselves -- aboard their flagships. The less powerful the unit being manned, the less loyal or competent the embarked crew. The loyalty and competence of close escort crews were often the last thing on the mind of the would-be rulers. To further aggravate matters, bureaucrats (usually ground based) would use the requisitioning of fleet units by would-be claimants as an opportunity to rid themselves of incompetents and other unwanted personnel.

All of this was in no way conducive to the creation of a sense of comradeship amongst the crews of Cobra-class escorts. Normally a military unit, from the infantry fire-team to the crew of a first line battleship, is also a social unit. But the crews of close escorts in the claimant fleets were little more space-going mobs. It should not have been a surprise to see a high rate of disorder aboard units of the Cobra-class. Nor should it have been a surprise if the captain of a Cobra decides to turn pirate, as many did during the Civil War.

The notable exception to the aforementioned misadventures in personnel management was the task force organized and led by Grand Admiral Alkhalikoi to put down what she called "The Great Mutiny," and restore civil authority over the Imperial Navy.

Whereas most escort captains in the claimant fleets were flakes and losers, Admiral Alkhalikoi hand picked the commanders of her close escorts and gave them license to head-hunt for their own crews.

The close of the Civil War and the restoration of rational personnel management practices (along with the hunting down of the remaining renegades) brought an end to the mutiny problem in the close escort units. However, the aforementioned statistical blip would become an issue when the time came for the Imperial Navy to replace the Cobra-class escort.

CE-13  COBRA   CE-4144452-300000-44003-0  MCr 334.92  400 tons
       batteries bearing         22  1               Crew=12
               batteries         22  1               TL=13
Passengers=0. Low=0. Cargo=4. Fuel=180. EP=17. Agility=1. Marines=0

Tonnage:        400 tons (standard), 5600 cubic meters.
Crew:           4 officers, 8 ratings
Performance:    Jump 4, 4-G, Power Plant 4, 17 EP, Agility 1.
Electronics:    Model/5 computer.
Hardpoints:     4 hardpoints.
Armament:       One twin fusion gun turret (factor 4x2),
                One triple missile turret (factor 3),
                Two triple beam laser turrets (factor 4x2).
Defenses:       Armored hull (factor 3)
Craft:          20-ton gig.
Fuel:           180 tons, on board scoops and purification plant.
Cost:           MCr 334.92 standard, MCr 267.936 in quantity.
Const. Time:    16 months individually, 11 months in quantity

Comments: Built by Ling Standard Products, the CE-13 Cobra class was designed to meet a specification for a revenue-collection/anti-piracy vessel which could also perform reconnaissance/courier duties with the main Imperial fleets. Each of the fusion guns in the two-ton double turret are fired separately by the Chief Gunner and thus are each counted as a separate battery. Cobra-class close escorts have a unfortunate reputation for crew mutinies, although some historians believe that this was due to special circumstances occurring during the Imperial Civil War.

Although a number of CE-13 Cobras have been transferred to private owners (such as Oberlindes Lines), units of this class continue to serve in backwater areas and client states of the Imperium.

Armed Gig (Imperial Data Package-TL13/14 design).

GG (IDP13/14)    EB-0106B21-000000-20000-0 MCr 27.65 20 tons
 Agility=6       one battery               Crew=1. TL=13/14
Passengers=7..Emergency Low Berths=3 (for 12). Cargo=2. Fuel=2.2. 

Tonnage:        20 tons (standard), 280 cubic meters.
Crew:           Pilot
Performance:    6-G, Power Plant , 2.2 EP, Agility 6.
Electronics:    Model/2 Computer.
Armament:       Beam laser (factor 2).
Defenses:       n/a
Fuel:           2.2 tons, on board scoops.
Cost:           MCr 27.65
Const. Time:    24 weeks individually, 19 weeks and 2 days in quantity

Comments: Standard unit designed by the Imperial Bureau of Naval Construction and adopted for use on the Cobra, Carronade, Gazelle, and Fiery classes of escorts.

 

Example

When the nations of the Omaha Pact came upon the smoking ruins of Moscow they decided to make an example that would be remembered through the ages.  The glassy ruins of the Kremlin were left intact.  The forces of the Omaha Pact proceeded to demolish every whole structure or fragment of a structure within one hundred miles, not kilometers, miles of the Kremlin. Every brick was separated and smashed into small pieces, and every scrap of wood was burned to ashes. Every tree was cut down and uprooted and with every other form of plant life was also burned to ashes. When this task completed all the ground within one hundred miles of the ruins of the Kremlin was sown with salt. 
While tourist groups are now brought across the Death Zone to view the ruins of the Kremlin, which remains as a monument to the evils of the Russian State, any unauthorized person, usually an ethnic Russian, found within the Death Zone is summarily executed and is covered with salt, lest the remains decay and renew the soil where he fell.

-- The History of the Omaha Pact, Joseph Douglas, University of Minnesota Press, 2150.

Fact

I once authored a Traveller fan fiction story titled Friends In High Places.  There was a transsexual character.

Of course Dana had undergone some modifications herself, but that was a choice she made as an adult. There were some things that should not be done to young children, regardless of the apparent benefits to their families.

On the other hand, the FS clan had no objections to hiring male-to-female transsexuals, unlike damned near every other ship owner operating in the Third Imperium.

 

Suggestion

For the Armed Forces the oath of enlistment should be this:

I, _____, do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Republic Of Freya against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the Republic Of Freya and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 

Motivator

 

A Special Day

It's the International Talk Like A Pirate Day!  (Or in Traveller, it's Talk Like An Ethically Challenged Merchant Day.)

And that means it's time for get in touch with your inner pirate.  (And who doesn't want to get in touch with their inner pirate?)  Once you've gotten in touch with your inner pirate, the job isn't over.  Remember to consult the Affirmations for your Inner Pirate:

Stuart Smalley's Daily Affirmations for the Inner Pirate

Monday:

"I'm going to rape and pillage today just for the heck of it because, gosh darn it, I deserve to have a good time."

Tuesday:

"I am not a fraud, a thief yes, but not a fraud."

Wednesday:

"I deserve all the loot and booty I can carry without feeling ashamed or being grandiose."

Thursday:

"I will express my feelings today. I will not hide them behind my eyepatch. My eyepatch is not a mask for my feelings, but rather a small swatch of leather that covers a hideous scar."

Friday:

"When I overtake that merchants vessel, I will not be playing those parent tapes in my head: "You wield a cutlass like a girl" . . . "Why can't you be more like Blackbeard's son?" . . . "Philosophy? What kind of major is that? It's useless!"

Saturday:

"Just because I indulge in wine and wenches does not mean I'm an alcoholic sex-addict like my father."

Sunday:

"If I must violently put down a mutiny today, it is not because I am a bad person or that I am not worthy of love; it is because my crew are a bunch of yellow-bellied, lily-livered sons-of-whores--and I am mean enough, ruthless enough, and dog gone it, people fear me."

transcribed by James R. Torrence.

Arrrrrr...

 

Repeat, Rinse

I once described on this blog how a Carthaginian Peace would look like with Russian Republic.

https://mopu.blogspot.com/2008/08/quote-of-day.html