Samnis-class heavy cruiser

Samnis-class heavy Cruiser

The Samnis-class heavy cruiser was a of the Golden Empire's Royal Navy.

Dimensions
870 meters long, the Samnis cruiser featured two weapon emplacement "wings" on each side similar to those found on the Firebird-class war cruiser, earning its nickname "the Super Firebird". Each "wing" projected 125 meters out from the main body of the cruiser, giving it a total width of 390 meters at its widest point. Including the "tail" shielding its engines and housing more weapons emplacements, it was 260 meters tall.

The two pairs of "wings" were staggering, with the aft pair higher than the fore pair, so both could fire simultaneously. In addition, turbolaser batteries located on them were also staggered (port to starboard and fore to aft) to allow them to track targets ahead or to the sides and still fire simultaneously past one another.

The ovaloid bridge was located on a conning tower located in roughly the middle of the ship and 100 meters about the main body. The two hangar bays were located on the ship's starboard side, aft of the forward "wing".

Armament
The Samnis-class carried 20 quad emplacements and 25 standard turbolasers. It had 10, several of which were mounted on the bridge to ward off fighter attacks there. Each of the two fore "wings" had eight launchers, six forward and two to the sides; the rear wings each had a pair of side-facing launchers, for a total of 20. Each launcher was armed with 15 concussion missiles.

In addition to its destructive weapons, the class also had 10 s.

Crew and complement
A Samnis cruiser commanded a crew of 4,400 officers and enlisted spacemen, aided by 375 gunners. It could carry four full squadrons of, as well as various ground and ship-to-ship assault craft.

Service
Though its size prohibited mass production in the early Golden Empire, the Samnis class was still favored for its balance between offensive power and support abilities. It did not carry the sheer firepower of the slightly larger Keltrayu-class heavy cruiser, but it could pack four times the fighters. Conventional wisdom had it that Keltrayu cruisers were betting at mowing through enemy capital ships, but Samnis cruisers were better all around. Full battle fleets usually had some of both ships.

When a Star Destroyer was not available, the Samnis class was considered an economical second choice for system invasion.