Anchor Ships
"...and i assure you: With this type of ship, you will have absolute control over not only the sea, but the skies as well."Anchor ships are a newly invented type of sea-borne vehicle who's main purpose is to allow the landing and take-off of winged-ship from its deck.-An Arbitian engineer pitching his idea to the Baron Council
Description
General exterior appearance
Anchor ships are large boats, wide and long enough to support up to three small Winged ships on their deck. To accommodate the presence of such large vehicles, these ships are very large, some of the largest ships ever made in fact, at around 160 metres long and a third as large. Twin chimneys, stand side by side at the back of the ship, and the upper deck is located just in front, leaving most of the deck space to be used to store Winged ship.General interior appearance
In the back of the ship are located 2 Wobbler Engines, which powers a pair of propellers that act as the main form of propulsion for the ship. Coal storage is located nearby, while the front section of the haul is occupied by other storage, such as food and water, or by the crew's quarters.Construction
Since ships of this size that are constructed out of wood would be more prone to structural failures, and too weak to support the weight of a winged ship above it, Anchor ships are instead made primarily out of metal, leaving only the deck and masts to still be made of wood.Propulsion
Anchor ships do not predominantly use wind power in order to sail, but instead use steam power, in the form of steam powered propellers, activated by two Wobbler Engines. This method of propulsion was chosen for two reasons. The most important is the lack of space on the deck for sails to be hoisted, since most of that space is used by the docked Winged ship The second reason is because the anchor ship itself is heavy thanks to its large size and metal haul. The Winged ship sitting on top of it also adds considerable weight to the vehicle, making the use of sail propulsion even less viable.
Hangars & docked vessels
Current Anchor ships are built to accommodate one Cargo or large Passenger Winged Ship, or up to three military type winged ship, depending on their size.
Nickname
Airship carriers
Manufacturer
Creation Date
Built between 364 to 369
Current location
Price
Very, very expensive to build and maintain. Not for sale.
Rarity
3 Anchor ships exist in the word. Only one is currently in service.
Related Technologies
History
The use of metal for ship building had been pioneered by the Rumalians around a century earlier with their Koch ships, who use their metal cladded prows to slice through icy waters. Since then, the technology has slowly spread to other navies on the continent, including Arba's. In fact, it would be them who would come up with this new vehicle. Its invention filled a growing need for Winged ships to participate in naval battles, alongside regular ships. This is because more and more ships used by Arba's enemies now have metal platting, making them much harder to sink by conventional means. Milkfire has proven itself to still be a potent weapon against them, yet it can only be easily delivered to its target by air. Thus, Winged ships have to be used, but most military type winged ships are too heavy to fly for long distances, meaning they have to be brought to the battle itself. Thus, the Anchor ship was born.
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