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  1. The Expanse
  3. Lore

MCRN Donnager-class Battleship

The battleship is a type of capital Ship that is heavily armed and armored. Some battleships are referred to as dreadnoughts, such as the United Nations Navy's (UNN) third-generation battleships (including the Xerxes-class and Truman-class) which represent the third redesign since the buildup of the first conflict between Earth and Mars. The battleship designation can be applied to ships from any fleet including but not limited to those of the Martian Congressional Republic Navy (MCRN) and UNN. These ships can take a lot of punishment during battles.

Donnager-class

The Donnager-class battleship is a battleship class in service of the Martian Congressional Republic Navy (MCRN). Like all other MCRN ships, Donnager-class battleships are built at the MCRN Callisto shipyards. However, because of the significant importance and investment in designing and constructing each Donnager, they are incredibly difficult to mass produce, and only eight of them were ever constructed during the UN-MCR Cold War. As the battleship hull classification in the MCRN, the Donnager-class serves multiple roles throughout the Solar System, including fleet command and coordination, and infantry deployment craft. Ships of this line are among the largest warships ever built by humans, and the largest made by Mars, at a length of 475.5 meters and weight of 254,000+ tons, being propelled by four RT-10 'Kaminari' Epstein Drives.

The Donnager-class is capable of hosting a crew complement of 2086 personnel, including squads of Martian Marines and their elite Force Recon units, equipped with Goliath Powered Armor. Thanks to the ship's interior hangar bay, located near the aft of the huge vessel, ships of this line can host their own escort ships in six interior ship berths. Each berth can hold one Corvette-class light frigate or one Morrigan-class patrol destroyer. The battleship additionally hosts a number of Chariot-type dropships, repair skiffs and-depending on deployment-executive shuttlecraft.

Armaments

The most notable elements of the Donnager-class complements are its two dorsal VX-12 "Foehammer" Turreted Ultra-Heavy Railguns. At the time of the class' construction, these weapons were the highest-spec ship mounted railguns in the Solar System. The railguns are situated on large hardpoints. Thanks to the foresight of MCRN engineers, the Donnager-class hosts a total of four railgun hardpoints, capable of doubling the ship's railgun complement when upgrades to rail gun technology become available.

The Donnager-class' other main weapons are its six fore and eight aft rapid-reload missile launchers. Launchers are linked to fore and aft shared magazines of high-explosive (HE), heath, flechette, and nuclear warheads. For defense, the Donnager-class employs forty-four Nariman Dynamics 40mm PDCs, linked to the K-19 "Banisher" High-Accuracy Point Defense Targeting Computer, at the time, the most advanced target tracking system employed by the MCRN. Four PDCs are mounted on nacelles aft, eight on nacelles fore, two are placed between nacelles on ship's aft sides defending the hangar area. Three are mounted on each of the four corners of the ship's midsection where the railguns are mounted, and another four are placed near the bow of the vessel. Another two are placed between the railgun mountings and the Epstein drives for all four sides of the vessel.

Aside from its primary armaments, the Donnager-class serves as a capable command vessel in combat, with its ranging lasers and tactical systems helping to guide and coordinate the efforts of fleet elements against hostile ships or fleets. These battleships house a large maximum brig facility taking up multiple levels of the ships hull, near the docking bays for more convenient prisoner transfer, and equipped with automated security including bulletproof pressure doors and aesthetic gas dispensers. In the event that a Donnager-class battleship is boarded by hostiles, same as other military ship types, they are equipped with a 'Condition Zero' fail-safe protocol, which will scuttle the ship, ensuring the ship cannot fall into enemy hands while simultaneously eliminating the enemy forces on board.

Utilities

  • Sophisticated Medilab Facility

  • Sizable Cargo Bays

  • Heavy-Armored CIC (Combat Information Center)

  • Redundant CIC Facilities

  • Security Brig

  • Onboard MMC (Martian Marine Corps) Barracks and Armories

  • High Power Ranging Lasers

  • High Power Rangefinding Lasers

  • Sophisticated Fleetwide Communications Systems

Service History

The Donnager was conceptualized as the primary focus of the MCRN's fleet modernization program, with a look towards design future-proofing for years to come. To this end, the Donnager was developed in tandem with the Morrigan-class patrol destroyer patrol destroyer and Corvette-class light frigate, with the Donnager's internal storage bays capable of holding its escorts allowing the Donnager to project force. This program would produce eight Donnager-class vessels, whose production would use up a considerable portion of the Martian defense budget. All eight ships of the class were laid down and constructed at the MCRN Callisto shipyards.

During Operation Silent Wall, the lead ship of the class, under the leadership of Captain Theresa Yao, undertook a systematic campaign of pirate suppression in the Asteroid Belt, during which time the ship's many brigs would see use in transporting criminals back to Mars for sentencing. During the UN-MCR Cold War, eight ships of the class would be active in the system, with the Donnager serving as the MCRN flagship and lead element of the MCRN Jupiter Fleet alongside the Schiaparelli, Hotspur, and Firebrand. The MCRN Saturn fleet would be led by the MCRN Icaria Planum. All other Donnagers - the Harman Dae-Jung and Bellaire - were assigned to the MCRN Home fleet.

Following the destruction of the Canterbury by unknown actors, the MCRN Donnager would be assigned to answer the distress call by the hauler's survivors, upon which it was attacked by the same class of stealth ships that had destroyed the Canterbury. The ensuing battle would see the Donnager destroy several of the attacking vessels before being scuttled to prevent capture by the crew of the enemy vessels who had boarded it. This battle would mark the first instance of a Donnager being lost in combat. Following the Donnager's destruction, the Icaria Planum would take its place as the flagship of the MCRN.

Known ships

  1. MCRN Donnager: Scuttled after stealth ships damaged it and was boarded while investigating Scopuli distress call and Canterbury destruction.

  2. MCRN Bellaire: Assigned to MCRN Home Fleet.

  3. MCRN Hotspur: Assigned to MCRN Jupiter Fleet.

  4. MCRN Icaria Planum: Flagship of the MCRN Saturn fleet which became flagship of the MCRN after the Donnager's destruction.

  5. MCRN Harman Dae-Jung: Assigned to MCRN Home fleet.

  6. MCRN Firebrand: Assigned to MCRN Jupiter Fleet, MCRN Callisto shipyard defense.

  7. MCRN Schiaparelli: Flagship of MCRN Jupiter Fleet.

  8. MCRN Sagarmatha: Assigned to Home Fleet.