Shelter-class Carrier

Shelter-class Carrier

"Now this is a carrier.."

- Leena Kii, Feliinyen Admiral

The  was a class of the new line of warships designed after the end of the Clone Wars, along with the Willpower-class Destroyer, the Palace-class Destroyer, the Liberator-class Battlecruiser, the Defiance-class Battleship, the Oasis-class Replenisher, the Type-40 cruiser, the Regal-class Sloop, and the Night Watcher-class Monitor.

Details
Based around the success of the Excel-class Escort Carrier, the Type-40 Base Ships would be designed around a 4-piece-ship principal, a forward section, a pair of class and mission specific units off to the sides and a thruster section to the rear. The Type-40 Base Ships would begin as only 2 models, the Shelter-class Carrier and the Oasis-class Replenisher.

The Shelter-class would share a common feature of the Type-40 Base Ships in the fact that the forward section was constructed as a separate ship and could detach to server as an escort ship or even as an escape barge for the crew of the Shelter Carrier. The class would sport a pair of over-sized hangar pods at her flanks capable of storing over a thousand craft as well as a large thruster unit to the aft, all the components of the ship would be held together by the a pair of flat circular pilons with 4 large connector hubs between each of the 4 sections of the ship, allowing for the ship to be able to easily disassemble in case repairs or replacements are necessary, additionally the 2 forward-most connector hubs are where the Type-40 Cruisers separate from. As the forward section was meant to separate, the aft thruster section houses a bridge as well, allowing for both parts of the ship to be able to function separately.

Production
The class would begin production mere weeks after the Empire's declaration of war against Feliingna as it was already past the research and development stage by the time of the declaration of war. The first few models would be built as a single, solid ship rather than a 4 piece arrangement, these first few ships would later be sold off to the growing Rebel Alliance along with similarly made Oasis-class Replenishers.

Usage
Used as a heavy carrier, the class would lend any fleet blessed with its presence a hefty amount of fighters and/or bombers, as well as assisting in planetary invasions by carrying a large complement of ground forces. The ship would also have a variant known as the Safe Shelter-class Hospital Ship, replacing the hangar pods for similarly sized hospital pods. The ship would see numerous engagements for its long service life, as well as receiving continual refits and upgrades as the years passed by, keeping it as one of the top of the line carriers in the galaxy, as well as making it the most potent carrier in its size class, only being outdone by considerably larger ships.

Obsolescence
Despite decades of use and abuse, the Shelter/Safe Shelter-class would go on to serve, still an integral part of feliinyen fleets and naval strategy.

Behind the scenes
This ship was created using the Lego Digital Designer.

This design was originally made to be a 2-dome Interdictor type ship, but would later be redesigned to be in essence a larger version of the Excel-class Escort Carrier.

The feature of it being 2 separate ships was inspired heavily by the Saucer separation feature of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D of the Star Trek Next Generations TV series.