Devil Class Destroyer
The Devil class destroyer was Sumnia's second attempt at a warship, after their disastrous attempts at a high-manoeuvrability, short-range drone ships.
The second attempt at making a modern warship bore absolutely no resemblance to their previous attempts, having learned the hard way that they needed to rapidly change their concept of spatial warfare. The major change was the inclusion of crew, and subsequent increase in size for its accommodation. The second was alteration from two drag-engine to five rear-mounted push-engine and an inclusion of a central rather than bow-placed jump drive.
With the increase in required small-area volumes the whole design took on a more bulbous look from its tube-like predecessors and as such was considerably more stable during atmospheric entry. Originally planned to be armed with the Mark 2 Nuclear Torpedo, the Mark 3 was taken off the drawing board just as building began and she was quickly upgraded to accept the larger weapon, sacrificing the ventral hallway to make room for the increased weapon storage. Of these weapons the design envisaged 2 banks of 4 tubes in the nose, with a storage for another 16 weapons. In addition the fore and aft had between them 9 point defence gatling guns, although these would have done little to nothing against the enemy weapons it was intended to face. The Devil Class Destroyer has the distinction of being the first ship to have its jump drive powered by Korokian crystals, rather than purely off the nuclear generator. This gave it an incredible edge over enemy craft in jump-time setting a standard of 10 hours that would be kept by all subsequent Sumnian vessels thereafter. It lagged behind its opponents however in sublight engines. Its bow to stern rotation time was 50 seconds. Its armour was 2000 millimetres of layered ceramic composite, which could somewhat mitigate the blast of a nuclear weapon, but would be all but useless in a direct hit. Overall the Devil Class was an improvement by leaps and bounds over the previous Bota Class frigates, but lacked the speed, range, armour, or weaponry to successfully engage enemy warships of any class. It was a vital stepping stone for Sumnian military designers as they continued to learn. Three ships were completed named Mephistopheles I, II, and III. The Devil Class was superseded by the Hades Class Destroyers three years later, and upon their introduction the obsolete Mephistopheles destroyers were refitted as troop transports and later as heavy drop-craft for Heavy Infantry companies. Throughout their service they were heavily cannibalised and modified with newer torpedo tubes, laser point defence, and frequent replacement of the nuclear generator with a more efficient new version. The Devil Class only saw combat once, being fired upon by Dionian aircraft whilst landing on Xaksistri, receiving superficial damage. Post war the Mephistopheles I and II were decommissioned and left in a stable orbit of the uninhabited planet of Krios. Mephistopheles III is technically still on the roster of operational ships and is kept in operating condition in the Burlington Orbital Shipyard, where she is open to the public as a museum ship. On unification day she and a number of other ships perform an atmospheric skip as part of the celebrations.
With the increase in required small-area volumes the whole design took on a more bulbous look from its tube-like predecessors and as such was considerably more stable during atmospheric entry. Originally planned to be armed with the Mark 2 Nuclear Torpedo, the Mark 3 was taken off the drawing board just as building began and she was quickly upgraded to accept the larger weapon, sacrificing the ventral hallway to make room for the increased weapon storage. Of these weapons the design envisaged 2 banks of 4 tubes in the nose, with a storage for another 16 weapons. In addition the fore and aft had between them 9 point defence gatling guns, although these would have done little to nothing against the enemy weapons it was intended to face. The Devil Class Destroyer has the distinction of being the first ship to have its jump drive powered by Korokian crystals, rather than purely off the nuclear generator. This gave it an incredible edge over enemy craft in jump-time setting a standard of 10 hours that would be kept by all subsequent Sumnian vessels thereafter. It lagged behind its opponents however in sublight engines. Its bow to stern rotation time was 50 seconds. Its armour was 2000 millimetres of layered ceramic composite, which could somewhat mitigate the blast of a nuclear weapon, but would be all but useless in a direct hit. Overall the Devil Class was an improvement by leaps and bounds over the previous Bota Class frigates, but lacked the speed, range, armour, or weaponry to successfully engage enemy warships of any class. It was a vital stepping stone for Sumnian military designers as they continued to learn. Three ships were completed named Mephistopheles I, II, and III. The Devil Class was superseded by the Hades Class Destroyers three years later, and upon their introduction the obsolete Mephistopheles destroyers were refitted as troop transports and later as heavy drop-craft for Heavy Infantry companies. Throughout their service they were heavily cannibalised and modified with newer torpedo tubes, laser point defence, and frequent replacement of the nuclear generator with a more efficient new version. The Devil Class only saw combat once, being fired upon by Dionian aircraft whilst landing on Xaksistri, receiving superficial damage. Post war the Mephistopheles I and II were decommissioned and left in a stable orbit of the uninhabited planet of Krios. Mephistopheles III is technically still on the roster of operational ships and is kept in operating condition in the Burlington Orbital Shipyard, where she is open to the public as a museum ship. On unification day she and a number of other ships perform an atmospheric skip as part of the celebrations.
Power Generation
Mark 3 Nuclear Generator, Later upgraded to Mark 12
Propulsion
Nuclear assisted Hydrazine Rocket Motor
Weapons & Armament
24 Mark 3 Nuclear Torpedoes in 8 tubes
Later modified to carry 8 Torpedoes and 40 Aegis Exosuits
Later modified to carry 8 Torpedoes and 40 Aegis Exosuits
Armor and defense
2000mm of Ceramic Composite
9 Point Defence Gatling guns
9 Point Defence Gatling guns
Communication Tools & Systems
NITE-Fibre Mod 1
Later upgraded to UDD-Fibre Mod 1
Later upgraded to UDD-Fibre Mod 1
Sensors
Two VIS2 IFR3 systems bow stern capable of 2cDD/m
Later upgraded to VIS3 and IFR12 for 6cDD/m
Later upgraded to VIS3 and IFR12 for 6cDD/m
Additional & auxiliary systems
Fire control system 3
Hangars & docked vessels
In dropship configuration: 40 winch-deployed Aegis Exosuits or size equivalent
Nickname
Often mistakenly named Mephistopheles Class Destroyers
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Rarity
3 ships completed. 1 currently kept in operating condition
Beam
100m from fin to keel
Length
500m bow to stern
Height
100m from port to starboard
Weight
500,000 tonne displacement
Speed
Capable of max acceleration of 5G at emergency power
Complement / Crew
200 sailors
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