History
In the midst of a long development cycle concerning the Novus Type the fledgling Cheros Developments company, a state-owned corporation of the equally fledgling Cheros Federation, needed to put something onto the market. Due to the large scope of the Novus Type being the exact reason for its long development it was decided to make something smaller, cheaper, but most importantly also needing a much shorter development cycle to propel them through the interim. After discussion as to what it should be, they decided to focus on a largely untouched market for light vessels adept for interior customs where larger vessels aren't as necessary and would take unneeded maintenance and smaller fighters would be too weak to handle a threat.
It began under the name of Light Vessel #1 and, as intended, had a short development cycle. Numerous issues were faced during it, most notably the lack of propulsion due to the weak engines being put onto it which, while relative to its size were large, failed to reach a high speed. Smaller issues was the balance between armour, firepower, and mobility, and its small size making it claustrophobic to work in for extended periods of time. Aside from the balance issue, they would go unsolved. An excuse was made for the lack of crew space, that being that it's meant to be a short-range customs vessel and as such is not necessarily meant to operate for extended periods of time, or at least not with the same crew, as it should be in-range with a station to switch out crews as needed. As for the problem of its speed, that would go unsolved as there was no way to increase it without jeopardizing the cheap and small aspect of the vessel. This issue brought up concerns that it blockade runners would be able to evade it too easily, but they were ignored in order to quicken its development.
The first vessel to be completed as dubbed the Daphne, and the project was renamed to the Daphe Type Light Patrol Craft following that. After testing with the vessel it was decided to start a production run of them. The only problem was that Cheros Developments didn't own any shipyards. In order to produce them, they reached a deal with Eegee Shipyards in order to start a short production run of them. After an initial production run of twenty vessels, which were sold to either planetary militaries or to the Eegee themselves, it gathered a reputation as a nimble but, for its size, a sturdy vessel with a respectable armament; the only consistent issue was its speed.
The 'Daphne' sitting by Cheros Asteroid in preparation for its first test flight
The Daphne was modified during the run with a new pair of engines being installed and the inside corners of the sideshields being trimmed, resulted in the Daphne Model A Type Light Patrol Craft. The engines were meant to alleviate the problem of its speed a bit, but it failed to give an increase to its speed. An even smaller production run of eight vessels would be made of this Type and several of the initial models modified to it which are referred to as Daphne Model A Converted Type Light Patrol Crafts.
The 'Daphne', in Model A fitting, performing a test flight in space.
The final model, the Daphne Model B Type Light Patrol Craft, would be introduced after further modification to the Daphne. This was done after a visit by a technical team apart of Cheros Developments to the Eegee Shipyards who, upon arriving, discovered that the initial model and Model A lacked a component of the ship. This was plating to the bottom of it meant to cover one of the thrusters. That was added along with the extending of the sideshields by 2 meters in the Model B. While this improved protection it also decreased its braking speed and acceleration. This is still under production by Eegee Shipyards and most prior models have been converted to it including all of the Model A. It has found its way into the service of private militaries and the Eegee Customs Service alike.
The 'Daphne', in Model B fitting, performing a test flight outside of Cheros Asteroid
The Daphne was retired from its use by Cheros Developments and transferred to the Cheros Naval Arm as a light patrol vessel after being painted in Cheros colours.
The 'Daphne' in Cheros colours
Technical
The Daphne Type, while having numerous models, retained the same dimensions throughout and the same sections. It's separated into the nose block, where the crew quarters, observation deck, armaments, communications, and radar are located; the engine block where the engines, thrusters, torpedoes launchers, inertial dampeners, and gyrostabilizers are located; and the sideshields where an additional inertial dampener-gyro array is located.
They all share a dimension of 47 by 35 by 22 meters (L-H-W) though share varying mass and volume, with the initial model having a mass of 216 tons and a volume of 7.38 km^3, the Model A having a reduced mass of 214 tons and a volume of 7.36 km^3, and the Model B having a mass of 235 tons and a volume of 7.79 km^3.
Access to the ship is provided by a 2.6-meter door meant for the loading of cargo, most notably torpedoes and other munitions, and a pair of 0.5-meter hatches meant for the loading of personnel, but in practice they often use the larger cargo door instead.
All models require a minimum crew of four to man the guns, with the rest of the seats usually being reserved for mechanics and a captain.
They all share a dimension of 47 by 35 by 22 meters (L-H-W) though share varying mass and volume, with the initial model having a mass of 216 tons and a volume of 7.38 km^3, the Model A having a reduced mass of 214 tons and a volume of 7.36 km^3, and the Model B having a mass of 235 tons and a volume of 7.79 km^3.
Access to the ship is provided by a 2.6-meter door meant for the loading of cargo, most notably torpedoes and other munitions, and a pair of 0.5-meter hatches meant for the loading of personnel, but in practice they often use the larger cargo door instead.
All models require a minimum crew of four to man the guns, with the rest of the seats usually being reserved for mechanics and a captain.
Armaments
While the armaments of the vessel are easily customizable, granted the weaponry fits within a space of 5 by 5 meters, it comes default with a pair of fixed chainguns mounted fore of the vessel. However, that's only its supplementary armament, its main firepower comes from the quadruple of torpedo launchers, mounted vertical, located in the engine block. None of these change through the models.
Propulsion
The propulsion varied between the initial model and the Model A/B. All models shared the same large engine block composed of a central 15-meter 5 by 5-meter engine surrounded by four 10-meter 5 by 5-meter engines, four 10-meter 7.5 by 2.5-engines, and four 10-meter 2.5 by 2.5-meter engines. They also share secondary engines located on the rear of the sideshields, being a pair of 1.3-meter 2 by 5-meter engines The difference came by the introduction of the Model A, and carried over to the Model B, with another pair of engines added to the rear of the gunshields being 1-meter 2.5 by 5-meter engines.
An unpainted Model B's engine arrangement
Directional thrust is provided by four 10 by 5-meter thrusters around the engine block while breaking thrust is provided by two 2.5 by 5-meter thrusters and two 5 by 10-meter thrusters located in front of the directional thrusters. Supplemental control for the yaw, pitch, roll, and braking force are provided by three combined inertia dampener-gyro arrays located between the nose and the engine block, and two behind the sideshields.
All of the models share a yaw, pitch, and roll of 4 rad/s, and a maximum speed of 134 m/s. The initial model had an acceleration of 222 m/s while the Model A improved it to 227 m/s. The braking force was also improved between the two models, going from 81.9 m/s on the initial model to 82.9 m/s on the Model A. The Model B, while improving the survivability, decreased the acceleration to 207 m/s and the braking force to 75.6 m/s while maintaining the extreme agility of the series. Their hyperdrive ability is identical aside from the Model B, sharing a scanning range of 14 sectors and a reach of 2.5 sectors, though while the others have a cooldown of 23 seconds the Model B has a cooldown of 23.1.
Durability
The Daphne Type isn't meant to perform in frontline combat but that doesn't mean it is unarmoured. It has an armoured nose, where its armaments and crew quarters at located at, where the thickness ranges from 2.5 meters at the front to 1 meter at the side. This is reinforced by an integrity field generator sandwiched between the frontal armour plate and the fixed guns. Protecting the engine block are two sideshields extending over the majority of it, protecting it somewhat from the front and much from the sides while leaving the top and rear exposed. It's 2 meters thick, and like the nose section is also reinforced by a integrity field generator. The protecting placed directly over the engine block is purposely poor to save on weight and resources.
Changes to the protection were added by the Model B. The sideshields were extended by 2 meters providing some protection over the front and top and a design error on part of Eegee Shipyards was corrected adding a bit of protection on the bottom of it.
Equipment
The ship is equipped with a pair of black boxes located between the engine block and the nose, ensuring the protection of them if the ship is destroyed. Radar is provided by a pair of dishes located atop and below the nose. Communication is provided by a pair of short-range and long-range antenna protruding from the front of it.
Production
The Daphne Type can be produced by any shipyard in the galaxy and, as intended, has a cheap production cost. This requires, going chronologically from initial to Model B:
- 696 credits, 40 iron units, and 413 titanium units;
- 712 credits, 40 iron units, and 429 titanium units;
- Or 740 credits, 40 iron units, and 455 titanium units.
