Post by Meteo Ascension on Aug 9, 2023 10:09:49 GMT -7
And unusual and dangerous mission profile,
the Combat Support Tender is designed to quickly close
with crippled vessels, secure them, and toe them from a
field of battle, even while under fire from enemy vessels.
CST’s can transport wounded crews, provide basic power
and life-support and even aggressively defend crippled
ships in the face overwhelming numbers. Most CST’s
are heavily armored, with redundant shield generators
to help maintain defense while under attack. CST’s are
also heavily armed with short range weapons en-mass,
capable of crippling even heavy cruisers at close range.
Both energy and physical grapples are available to help
secure and transport crippled starships.
The CST’s pays heavily for it survivability. Most
are extremely cramped, even by Romulan standards.
There are no crew recreation facilities, extremely crowded
quarters, no research or exploratory abilities, and almost
no secondary support ability. Few CST’s can operate far
from an outpost or base, and many must rely on other
vessels for support while traversing greater distances.
Like Dreadnoughts, CST’s are most often kept in-system
except in times of conflict. The short range weapons on
most CST’s are also a liability when faced with longer
range attacks. Once a vessels has been toed from the
battlefield, most CST’s can physically dock with the
crippled vessel, using special docking systems that allow
crews to transfer to and from a crippled vessel when
transporters and normal access is not available. In this
role, the few open spaces aboard CST’s are used as
staging areas with other support vessels, such as repair
tenders or medical frigates.
CST’s never operate alone, and are always
escorted by the secondary combat units in most fleets,
such as command ships, escorts and fleet monitors.
When a rescue is necessary, the entire unit will engage the
enemy, often providing too many targets to successfully
defend against. The CST’s will quickly secure the crippled
vessel and retreat before damage becomes too severe.
CST’s are very expensive to build, and have such a
specific mission profile, that few are fielded. CST’s have
also earned the nickname “morgue ships”, as they are
often used to store deceased crew members, saving vital
space aboard medical vessels.
Based on the smaller Rogue-Class, the USS Ironclad Battleship, a deliberate unique build, is more of an Assault Frigate than a typical Cruiser, deploying hundreds of troops either by Transporter or by Avatok-Class Assault Transport, it devastated numerous Jem'Hadar, Breen, Son'a and Borg targets, sometimes assisting the USS Camelot at Ptzue Colony, or the USS Venture and the 5th Fleet.
The WDS Lilla was an Auxiliary Cruiser completed in 2281, and used in a group of 33 ships to defend the Star Cluster, eventually travelling with a small battlegroup to retrieve two automated freighters in 2291, where it was destroyed by a catastrophic warp core breach.