Leviathan Class Fleetship

The Terran Imperium’s Leviathan class fleetship is widely considered a prime example of the failures of the imperial system. As constructed, the ships were known for their wide variations in construction quality, basic design, and immense cost. The ships required far more resources to construct and maintain than any benefit ever derived from their design.      

Origins

Criticism of the Terran Imperium’s Leviathan Class Fleetship is levied more on the ship that was actually produced, rather than the ship as it was designed. As the design progressed on what would become known as the Second Generation Fleet, it became obvious to fleet planners that the Imperium had grown to the size where it required front line command centers to coordinate operations. As the Imperium was continuously growing, it was decided that a class of command ship would be preferable to fixed installations.   Originally conceived as a one kilometer long superdreadnaught with fighter support capabilities, the Leviathan was intended to serve in concert with the new Titan Class Dreadnaught, Obliterator Class Missile Cruiser, and Ark Royal Class Carrier classes. In this role, it would have acted as a fleet command and heavy support ship. Use as an active warship was initially seen as secondary to its primary purpose.      

Design Changes

Terran Emperor Claudius II infamously sabotaged the project by altering the size of the ship to four kilometers, and then insisted it still be constructed in the original six month timeframe listed in the proposal. The Terran Imperium did not at the time possess the technical ability to design or construct a ship of that scale. Indeed, the intended one kilometer version was at the upper limit of what was then feasible. Due to Imperial time constraints, the resulting ship was largely designed as it was built, creating numerous bottlenecks and critical design flaws. Chief among these was the design of the plasma engines.   Used on all Imperial ships of the time, plasma drives essentially inject plasma into a compression chamber, where the rapid expansion is directed to produce thrust. While not typically an issue on smaller ships, the simple scaling up of the design added an extremely complex series of plasma conduits to supply the vast amount required, and a compression chamber of immense size. Manufacturing defects of any sort within the compression chamber could result in a chamber breach, essentially creating a multi kiloton plasma bomb.   During later testing and wartime experience, it was found that any damage to the engines could cause a catastrophic failure. Especially concerning was that detonations of any sort within the thrust nozzle during acceleration could cause an overpressure of the compression chamber.   Due to construction issues related to the dramatic increase in scale, as well as the design flaws of the plasma drive, the Leviathan class ended up only being produced in limited numbers. While well over one thousand were laid down, only one tenth of those ever saw completion, and many of those were relegated to deep range patrol duty. The change in scale also resulted in the structural plan for the ship being hastily redesigned numerous times as construction was underway. This would result in there being no single set of plans for the class, with each being a custom construction. This lack of class defining plans would be carried through virtually all parts of the ship, resulting in no two Leviathan’s having the same performance characteristics.   The only commonality to the Leviathan class would be the crew compartment, which was itself an ad hoc solution to the unresolved drive system issues and scale changes. As the ship was suddenly far larger than any previous plan, the crew was isolated to a single compartment located towards the forward end of the ship. This was done to avoid having to pressurize the vast hull, and to provide the crew with a chance of surviving the detonation of the ship’s engines.      

Service

The Imperial fleet never developed a cohesive doctrine for the use of the Leviathan class. Most of their service would see them used as mobile command centers, fleet logistical support roles, or as temporary orbital defenses. The vast majority of Leviathan’s constructed were lost in the Monsos War, the handful that survived either being modified variants, or those which had simply been too far away to reach the war in time. In many cases the ships were simply left behind by their fleets, the commanding officers transferring to a Titan class dreadnaught and using that as their command ship.   At the Battle of Centauria on January 17, thirty Leviathan class fleetships were sent as the spearhead of the Imperial counterattack. Ten additional Leviathan’s would be lost in the Battle of Saturn on February 7, with twenty more lost at Abdera on February 16. In most cases there were no survivors from these ships lost and represented nearly fifty percent of all Leviathan’s of all types in service.   Following the ascension of Emperor Rauschning, the Leviathan program was completely cancelled and construction halted on the few that were still being built. Most of the surviving ships were simply placed in the Deep Reserve facility at Vlaka rather than go through the laborious process of decommissioning or scrapping them. By this point, the Imperial Fleet simply wanted the ships gone and off their registry.   Some of the modified Leviathan class ships would remain in service, such as Leviathan-1C, then acting as the flagship of the newly restored Mykentian Republic, as well as L-217 Bismarck and L-666 Lucifer, both in the service of the Remian Republic.      

Design Variants

 

Best of the Worst

In a desperate attempt to find a use for a ship that was not what they wanted or had any use for, the Imperial Admiralty secretly established a deep range shipyard to modify specially selected Leviathan’s.        

Super Leviathan

At an Admiralty meeting in 850, it was decided to construct a limited number of improved, heavy assault versions of the Leviathan that would later be known as the “Super Leviathan.” With improved engine layouts and design, as well as heavy armor and a focus on their role as a combat vessel, the Super Leviathan would prove significantly more successful than the standard Leviathan.   Of the thirty Leviathan’s still in Imperial service at the end of their career, twenty were Super Leviathan’s.      

Grand Leviathan

(See main article)      

Noteworthy Ships

 

1C – Leviathan

The third prototype of the Leviathan class, 1A and 1B having exploded during engine testing. L-1C was completed with dummy weapons aboard to save construction cost. The ship would be heavily reconstructed and used as the basis for the three “Grand Leviathan’s,” as well as several other variants. It would later serve as the flagship of the restored Mykentian Republic until the rediscovery of Dark Star, and then would see service in the First Enmalex War as a mobile logistical base for special operations raiding forces. L-1C would go on to lead the interwar "Leviathan Mission," mapping out and gathering detailed intelligence on Enmalex space.    

32 – Imperium

(See main article) Imperial diplomatic flagship.    

46 – Imperator

(See main article) Imperial fleet flagship.    

63 – Imperious

(See main article) Imperial pleasure ship.    

153 – Vulcan’s Forge

Redesigned for orbital bombardment, the ship was equipped with thirty downward facing heavy plasma cannon. Destroyed in the First Enmalex War.    

217 – Bismarck

Reconstructed as a heavy combat unit to test weapons layouts for the proposed Super Leviathan. Fleet command ship of Anthony Adex in the Monsos War.    

302 – Olympia

Reconstructed as a carrier. Destroyed in the First Enmalex War.    

422 – Odin

Reconstructed to carry the experimental “Hand of the Gods” superheavy plasma weapon. Destroyed in the First Enmalex War.    

666 – Lucifer

(See main article) Reconstructed as a heavy assault ship to penetrate orbital defenses. Later became the command ship of Sebastien von Ryland in the First Enmalex War.    

896 – Thor

Reconstructed to carry the experimental “Hand of the Gods” superheavy plasma weapon. Destroyed in the First Enmalex War.    

902 – Zeus

Reconstructed to carry the experimental “Hand of the Gods” superheavy plasma weapon. Destroyed in the First Enmalex War.    

967 – Chameleon

Reconstructed as a carrier.    

1021 – Marathon

Reconstructed as a landing ship for planetary assault    

1035 – Midway

Reconstructed as a carrier and used as the fleet flagship of Theodore Hood during the Monsos War.    

1079 – Thermopylae

Reconstructed as a mobile shipyard.