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(TEF) HERAKLES A Command Cruiser (modless)

I am unable to update this blueprint, because the game ruined my original blueprint.

The Herakles A-class Command Cruiser is a large grid warship with strong armament, reinforced heavy armour plating, multiple hangar bays, interplanetary usage and jump-capability. This ship is fully vanilla and survival ready

Since I had the idea of creating my own faction in Space Engineers I wanted to build a flagship for the fleet of my faction. What are the characteristics of a flagship? Firepower, durability, lead ship of an assault or defensive tasks. I tried to build a ship which features all these characteristics, while still having the ability to fly in the atmosphere of a planet.
Because I changed a lot during the building process, I spend two hundred hours or more building this craft. It was the largest ship I have ever build, but there will be larger vessels in future uploads.

• Main Battery Turrets - The ship is equipped with two self-build turrets, each one features three 200mm rocket launchers and can be controlled by the AI or manually.
  
• Survival-ready (but not recommended)- Pressurized rooms, Airlock, Cargo- and Oxygen-Storage, fully conveyered.
  
• Anti-Missile Protection - The ship has additional light armour layers on the upper and lower hull and shutters at the windows, which can hold of the first missile hits effectively.
  
• Durable Armour - The ship is built with heavy armour reinforced with layers of light armour to reduce damage to the ships heavy armoured structure which greatly improves its survivability.
  
• Interplanetary Usage - The ship is able of flight and land in the atmosphere of a planet or a moon, to reach other planets quickly it has two jump drives installed.
  
• Repair System- Multiple repair welders at the primary turrets, the main thrusters and the main reactor further improves the ships ability of withstanding enemy fire while keeping its primary systems online.
  
• Hangar Bays - The ship has two small hangars at each side and one large at the back, allowing it to transport and maintain its own support crafts.
  
• Escape Pods - In case of an emergency the ship has six gravity launched escape pods, for safe evacuation of the crew.

The first ships of the TEF Navy were converted exploration and science vessels, because of the lack of resources the TEF was forced to concentrate their production capabilities on small vessels. The use of many small ships instead of a few large ones ruled the TEF´s naval strategies for many years but in 2239 when the pirate organization Black Sail was founded, the Ministry of Defence decided that only a combination of large and small ships can protect the colonies of the TEF.

Under the name Project 23 the TEF design bureau started the construction of these first large vessels for the TEF Navy in February 2239. Two years later the first one of these ships was finished and commissioned. Named after one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, this ship was armed to the teeth and as powerful as it was large. It became the flagship of the TEF Navy and fought successful in many fighting engagements against Black Sail Bases. The other ships of these class were finished in the years 2242 and 2243 because of limited resources only three of these mighty warships were build, one for each Planet colonized by the TEF.

The Herakles A is classified as command cruiser the role of this type of ship is to serve as the lead ship of a fleet, the one that coordinates assaults and defensive tasks, while be able to be used in frontline duties but also as second line support ship. For frontline fighting engagements the ship is equipped with powerful rocket armament against larger enemy vessels and effective Anti-Fighter weaponry able of wiping out every small attack craft, it also has durable armour and repair welders to improve the survivability of its primary systems. For the support tasks the ship has three hangars, for transporting its own support crafts and two refuelling platforms at the top and the lower hull.

The Herakles A features the strongest weapon systems of any TEF ship of this time it is armed with two 200mm rocket launchers at the bow, fifteen 154mm Gatling turrets, eight 200mm rocket turrets, multiple small calibre interior turrets serving as AMD (Anti-Missile Defence) turrets and two Meteor MK III turrets. These large grid turrets are armed with three 200mm rocket launchers, the turrets using Whip´s Turret AI Slaving Script and can be controlled by the AI or manually by controlling their designator turrets.

But a good warship not only has to deal damage, it also has to take damage, so Herakles armour layout consists out of multiple layers of heavy armour reinforced by light armour. For better protection of the ships weapon systems, the main turrets are built into the upper hull and are equipped with repair welders. Because the large hydrogen thrusters at the ships lower hull are a huge weak spot they are also equipped with repair welders to improve their survivability. To ensure that the main reactor stays online it also features a repair system.

The Herakles A operates only on hydrogen thrusters, because the designers wanted a maximum of usability in any environment while not wasting the limited space they had. Despite carrying around 7.533 tons of weight, she is still pretty manoeuvrable in her weight-class. The ship is strong enough to counter its own weight under 0.25G-conditions, allowing it to operate above non-atmospheric moon surfaces and planetary surfaces on 1.00G and above. The ship is very power efficient threw the use of hydrogen thrusters the ship can be powered by only one of its eight small reactors but it is normally operated with all small reactors and the main large reactor.

The ship has two spots from where it can be controlled, from the Observation Bridge at the Bow or from the CIC under the second main turret. The Observation Bridge is not well protected so it will be automatically sealed when the ship is on red alert, this is the reason why the ship is normally controlled by the CIC in a combat situation.

The Herakles has six gravity launched escape pods, these pods are built for fast evacuation of the ship’s crew, the pods are equipped with one artificial mass block with accelerates, with an artificial gravity value of 5.00G out of their launch tubes. This is only recommended when the ship is in open space, when the ship is in the gravity field of a planet it is better to turn the mass block off. Each Pod is equipped with a parachute module, S.O.S. beacon and manoeuvring thrusters.

I hope you like this ship and if you have constructive criticism
Write a comment.

Thanks to everyone who likes this ship I, hope you leave a like! If you don’t like it tell me why and I will try to improve it on this and future blueprints.
Many Thanks to my steam friends Doctor Budgie, Taidyr and The_Killerfisch for feedback and inspiration.

Thank you ASparoWitAGun for featuring my Herakles in your Inspiration Series on your youtube channel Sleepless Knights Studios, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtVGPVK_zDDqgKqLLi2-GjA