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Description
“The admiralty decided that it was better to keep the Gamblers in the navy far away from the crisp clean lines and formations of the main fleet by giving them an all or nothing posting to the Meroe Class. The engineer got hoisted on his petard when the Meroe crews proved more than capable and racked up more ship-to-ship kills than the rest of the fleet combined.”

Overview

The original Meroe class corvette was envisioned as a Sloop for two reasons, firstly the ship was small, with a displacement of 18,000 tons, and bearing only four decks one of which was a gunnery deck that housed six mark II AMPP torpedo launchers in fixed bow and stern positions. The production model of the Meroe would incorporate Mark III AMPP torpedo launchers in a limited traverse retractable turret. The vessel itself was the fastest in the fleet but also thinly armored and considered by the Commonwealth Admiralty to be “fairly expendable” thus it was common practice to assign “excessive risk-takers” to crew the Meroe class. In the early days Meroe crews were comprised of personnel with bad records, gamblers, rebels, low scorers, the undisciplined and even the occasional criminal applying to have their records expunged in exchange for six years of service. The result was a Torpedo-Sloop service corps with terrible discipline, but an unpredicted level of fighting spirit that was a slap in the face of the top brass. In 73 AE the first of the ‘painted’ Meroe class vessels showed up at a dockyard for repairs after a difficult patrol. The vessel flagged as CSS Rhone had taken a collection and paid an independent contractor to paint their hull pitch black and then proceeded to put silver reflective paint over every hull puncture they had received giving it a garish polka-dot sort of appearance.

The low admiralty was amused, the top brass was not so jovial about it, and the crew was ordered to return their ship back to its original colors and “cease and desist such flagrant ignorance to the procedural starship operations code.” This seemed settled but then more and more Meroe crews were completely ignoring the order and the little torpedo sloops showed up in increasingly insane color patterns some of which flat out mocked the high admiralty. The most well-known vessel for doing this was the CSS Danube which had their hull painted in just such a way to suggest Fleet Admiral Hill would relax a bit more if he took extra laxatives. Ironically because they depicted a common over-the-counter laxative product, during the court martial, the crew’s legal fees were covered by the very same company who viewed the entire trial as both hilarious and great advertising. The crew was cleared of charges and the political damage had been done, an allowance was made for crews on Meroe class vessels to customize their vessels and in ten years after around 85 AE, the annual color review became a national event. Meroe crews from each of the Commonwealth’s fleets compete for awards ranging from racing, to best paint job and most impressive hull modification. All competing ships have to be combat-ready to garrison standards since the ships used are often older hulls that are no longer considered front line capable. A few old retired Meroe Mk I hulls are kept by each fleet expressly for the event which has a considerable draw to civilians who find the competitions incredibly entertaining. Some have likened it to a mix of an air show, vehicle racing and a reality TV show where there might be a train wreck at any moment. The income from the vent keeps the event going and pays for veteran’s services.

Capabilities

The Meroe Mk II, has been re-engineered, it displaces 6,000 additional tons and is roughly twenty meters longer. Visually the Mark II is identical to the Mark I just larger. With the additional tonnage a number of the survivability issues have been fixed starting with additional structural reinforcement, more armored hull plating, and a increase in weapons tonnage. New HSSA sensors have been installed improving the ships ability to screen fleet formations and patrol the Commonwealth’s borders. The most significant change is the installation of four Mark IV AMPP torpedo launchers in the bow and a single Makr III AMPP torpedo launcher in the stern. Additionally a single DRAIL KO-5A Torpedo firing gun is mounted in a heavy non-retractable turret on the bow of the Meroe Mk II. The weapon is a unique approach to shield and armor penetration. The department of ordinance discerned that the Kuf-Onq type low-observability torpedoes were ineffective and found a way to combine the AMPP torpedo with the hyper acceleration of a DRAIL weapon making for an extreme velocity ballistic weapon that has a longer burn time and higher than average shield penetration for its weight at the cost of system bulk and a lower average damage. The heavy turret the weapon is installed in is not retractable but when not in use the gun is elevated to 90 degrees dorsal, and retracted into the turret. The purpose of the heavy turret is a counter balance for the fact that there is not enough internal space on the new Meroe to withdraw a turret fully into the hull. In terms of point defense 16 ATML QF/2’s protect the bow and 16 protect the stern, 24 protect the portside and 24 protect the starboard all of which are mounted in retractable turrets, making for a potent anti-fighter, missile, torpedo and small craft defensive layer. Lastly it should be noted that the Meroe Mk II has not lost any of its trademark speed.

Deployment (93 AE)

The Meroe Mark II is deployed with all fleets and operational units in the Commonwealth. It should be said that most of the Mark I hulls were transferred to the Coalition of Shattered Stars (40), to shore up their fleet as the vessels cramped conditions were noted to be quite acceptable for the Teruvians. A military analyst once joked that he wasn’t sure what might happen if the Teruvians decided to request to participate in the annual color review but that “It will be all over the social media like white on rice.”

Vessels of Note:

A. “Cairo’s Fury”
Sub-Lieutenant Giles T. Indrahar

Few would ever expect it, but Cairo’s Fury is named after a moment in Commonwealth history where the population of the colony ship CT Cairo joined by rebelling police forces drove out the Lavetier sponsored boarding parties in a bid to be allowed to make planet fall. This vessel has participated in a number of anti-piracy patrols and has fifteen kills to its record, it is only crew that claims the confirmed destruction of a Hulegu star base.

B. “Outbound Light”
Lieutenant Maxwell F. Dalton

Outbound light as of 92 AE has the distinction of having travelled the farthest distance from Commonwealth borders and having completed the most convoy patrols in the current Serian League conflict. The kill record of this vessel is eleven kills, two of which are Hulegu cruisers.

C. “Snaphaunce”
Lieutenant Helen J.T. Kinslaugher

The Snaphaunce is the lead ship of a all-Meroe Mk II battle group commonly called Kinslaughter’s Marauders. The group has all female Commanding Officers, and has racked up jointly thirty-one confirmed kills including one Hulegu Carrier and four Hulegu cruisers. Additionally at the battle of the black diamond the Marauders repelled a superior Serian force by using sensor shadows and deadly accurate fire to deceive the enemy into believing they faced twenty corvettes rather than six.

D. “Bayou Beast”
Lt. Commander Maxim F. Nightskye

The Bayou Beast is part of a raiding group commonly known as the Commonwealth cutthroats. Lead by Lt. Commander Nightskye, this group has been conducting counter raids against known Hulegu positions as well as COIN operations to break up known Sons of the Pale Sea hide outs and strong holds. The group jointly has achieved fifty combat kills, most of which are frigates and destroyers; their claim to fame is the verified destruction of an entire planetary fortress-complex using the shock waves of their vessels flying overhead in the atmosphere and dumb-launched torpedoes.

E. ‘Old 346’
Captain Miranda J. Singleton

Captain Singleton is the most decorated Meroe commander in the entire fleet. ‘Old 366’ has forty-three confirmed ship kills and three times that number in small craft and Star fighters. to its record which is the most of any single Meroe class vessel ever. Technically her vessel is neither a mark I or II because it has been wrecked and rebuilt so many times it doesn’t fit either’s specifications. Old 346 is best known for its long black pennant which on one side says 346 in roman numerals and on the other side has an image of the grim reaper charging into battle with his scythe leading the way. Because of the ships record Captain Singleton is ranked higher than any other Meroe commanding officer normally can be ranked, most are moved to a new frigate command at Lt. Commander. It is noted that Captain Singleton is a notorious gambler to the point that it’s rumored she’s ‘won’ so many paychecks playing other officers at high stakes games that she makes more than several admirals combined.

Description
“The admiralty decided that it was better to keep the Gamblers in the navy far away from the crisp clean lines and formations of the main fleet by giving them an all or nothing posting to the Meroe Class. The engineer got hoisted on his petard when the Meroe crews proved more than capable and racked up more ship-to-ship kills than the rest of the fleet combined.”

Overview

The original Meroe class corvette was envisioned as a Sloop for two reasons, firstly the ship was small, with a displacement of 18,000 tons, and bearing only four decks one of which was a gunnery deck that housed six mark II AMPP torpedo launchers in fixed bow and stern positions. The production model of the Meroe would incorporate Mark III AMPP torpedo launchers in a limited traverse retractable turret. The vessel itself was the fastest in the fleet but also thinly armored and considered by the Commonwealth Admiralty to be “fairly expendable” thus it was common practice to assign “excessive risk-takers” to crew the Meroe class. In the early days Meroe crews were comprised of personnel with bad records, gamblers, rebels, low scorers, the undisciplined and even the occasional criminal applying to have their records expunged in exchange for six years of service. The result was a Torpedo-Sloop service corps with terrible discipline, but an unpredicted level of fighting spirit that was a slap in the face of the top brass. In 73 AE the first of the ‘painted’ Meroe class vessels showed up at a dockyard for repairs after a difficult patrol. The vessel flagged as CSS Rhone had taken a collection and paid an independent contractor to paint their hull pitch black and then proceeded to put silver reflective paint over every hull puncture they had received giving it a garish polka-dot sort of appearance.

The low admiralty was amused, the top brass was not so jovial about it, and the crew was ordered to return their ship back to its original colors and “cease and desist such flagrant ignorance to the procedural starship operations code.” This seemed settled but then more and more Meroe crews were completely ignoring the order and the little torpedo sloops showed up in increasingly insane color patterns some of which flat out mocked the high admiralty. The most well-known vessel for doing this was the CSS Danube which had their hull painted in just such a way to suggest Fleet Admiral Hill would relax a bit more if he took extra laxatives. Ironically because they depicted a common over-the-counter laxative product, during the court martial, the crew’s legal fees were covered by the very same company who viewed the entire trial as both hilarious and great advertising. The crew was cleared of charges and the political damage had been done, an allowance was made for crews on Meroe class vessels to customize their vessels and in ten years after around 85 AE, the annual color review became a national event. Meroe crews from each of the Commonwealth’s fleets compete for awards ranging from racing, to best paint job and most impressive hull modification. All competing ships have to be combat-ready to garrison standards since the ships used are often older hulls that are no longer considered front line capable. A few old retired Meroe Mk I hulls are kept by each fleet expressly for the event which has a considerable draw to civilians who find the competitions incredibly entertaining. Some have likened it to a mix of an air show, vehicle racing and a reality TV show where there might be a train wreck at any moment. The income from the vent keeps the event going and pays for veteran’s services.

Capabilities

The Meroe Mk II, has been re-engineered, it displaces 6,000 additional tons and is roughly twenty meters longer. Visually the Mark II is identical to the Mark I just larger. With the additional tonnage a number of the survivability issues have been fixed starting with additional structural reinforcement, more armored hull plating, and a increase in weapons tonnage. New HSSA sensors have been installed improving the ships ability to screen fleet formations and patrol the Commonwealth’s borders. The most significant change is the installation of four Mark IV AMPP torpedo launchers in the bow and a single Makr III AMPP torpedo launcher in the stern. Additionally a single DRAIL KO-5A Torpedo firing gun is mounted in a heavy non-retractable turret on the bow of the Meroe Mk II. The weapon is a unique approach to shield and armor penetration. The department of ordinance discerned that the Kuf-Onq type low-observability torpedoes were ineffective and found a way to combine the AMPP torpedo with the hyper acceleration of a DRAIL weapon making for an extreme velocity ballistic weapon that has a longer burn time and higher than average shield penetration for its weight at the cost of system bulk and a lower average damage. The heavy turret the weapon is installed in is not retractable but when not in use the gun is elevated to 90 degrees dorsal, and retracted into the turret. The purpose of the heavy turret is a counter balance for the fact that there is not enough internal space on the new Meroe to withdraw a turret fully into the hull. In terms of point defense 16 ATML QF/2’s protect the bow and 16 protect the stern, 24 protect the portside and 24 protect the starboard all of which are mounted in retractable turrets, making for a potent anti-fighter, missile, torpedo and small craft defensive layer. Lastly it should be noted that the Meroe Mk II has not lost any of its trademark speed.

Deployment (93 AE)

The Meroe Mark II is deployed with all fleets and operational units in the Commonwealth. It should be said that most of the Mark I hulls were transferred to the Coalition of Shattered Stars (40), to shore up their fleet as the vessels cramped conditions were noted to be quite acceptable for the Teruvians. A military analyst once joked that he wasn’t sure what might happen if the Teruvians decided to request to participate in the annual color review but that “It will be all over the social media like white on rice.”

Vessels of Note:

A. “Cairo’s Fury”
Sub-Lieutenant Giles T. Indrahar

Few would ever expect it, but Cairo’s Fury is named after a moment in Commonwealth history where the population of the colony ship CT Cairo joined by rebelling police forces drove out the Lavetier sponsored boarding parties in a bid to be allowed to make planet fall. This vessel has participated in a number of anti-piracy patrols and has fifteen kills to its record, it is only crew that claims the confirmed destruction of a Hulegu star base.

B. “Outbound Light”
Lieutenant Maxwell F. Dalton

Outbound light as of 92 AE has the distinction of having travelled the farthest distance from Commonwealth borders and having completed the most convoy patrols in the current Serian League conflict. The kill record of this vessel is eleven kills, two of which are Hulegu cruisers.

C. “Snaphaunce”
Lieutenant Helen J.T. Kinslaugher

The Snaphaunce is the lead ship of a all-Meroe Mk II battle group commonly called Kinslaughter’s Marauders. The group has all female Commanding Officers, and has racked up jointly thirty-one confirmed kills including one Hulegu Carrier and four Hulegu cruisers. Additionally at the battle of the black diamond the Marauders repelled a superior Serian force by using sensor shadows and deadly accurate fire to deceive the enemy into believing they faced twenty corvettes rather than six.

D. “Bayou Beast”
Lt. Commander Maxim F. Nightskye

The Bayou Beast is part of a raiding group commonly known as the Commonwealth cutthroats. Lead by Lt. Commander Nightskye, this group has been conducting counter raids against known Hulegu positions as well as COIN operations to break up known Sons of the Pale Sea hide outs and strong holds. The group jointly has achieved fifty combat kills, most of which are frigates and destroyers; their claim to fame is the verified destruction of an entire planetary fortress-complex using the shock waves of their vessels flying overhead in the atmosphere and dumb-launched torpedoes.

E. ‘Old 346’
Captain Miranda J. Singleton

Captain Singleton is the most decorated Meroe commander in the entire fleet. ‘Old 366’ has forty-three confirmed ship kills and three times that number in small craft and Star fighters. to its record which is the most of any single Meroe class vessel ever. Technically her vessel is neither a mark I or II because it has been wrecked and rebuilt so many times it doesn’t fit either’s specifications. Old 346 is best known for its long black pennant which on one side says 346 in roman numerals and on the other side has an image of the grim reaper charging into battle with his scythe leading the way. Because of the ships record Captain Singleton is ranked higher than any other Meroe commanding officer normally can be ranked, most are moved to a new frigate command at Lt. Commander. It is noted that Captain Singleton is a notorious gambler to the point that it’s rumored she’s ‘won’ so many paychecks playing other officers at high stakes games that she makes more than several admirals combined.