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Designation:
Marathon Class Space Transport (STR)
Names and disposition:
- 1452 Total built
- 163 Destroyed Transient War 2057
- 6 Destroyed Varauta War 2064
- 1062 Destroyed 4th Robotech War 2063-2068
- 12 Missing
- 202 Scrapped
- 7 In Service 2070
Ship's complement:
- Ships' crew (57 men)
- Passengers (up to 650 men)
Dimensions:
|
Main Hull |
Drive/Cargo Housing |
- Length:
- Height:
- Width:
- Fuel Mass:
- Operational Mass (typical):
|
178.7 meters
34.7 meters
59.4 meters
30,000 metric tons
152,000 metric tons |
164.4 meters
56.0 meters
55.2 meters |
Propulsion systems:
- Main power system(1): RRD Mk4 anti-matter Reflex furnace.
The powerplant of the Marathon-class vessel can deliver up to 233 Terawatts
of power, and can operate for ninety minutes at maximum power before
overheat initiates autoshutdown.
- Maneuvering thrusters(8): Overtechnology MRT-03
Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with steerable nozzles forward and aft
halfway up the main hull.
- Reaction-mass thrusters (6): 3 Rolls Royce MRE-7
Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer in the rear of
the main hull and 1 more Rolls Royce RME-7 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thruster
with anti-matter energizer in the rear of the hangar . Because of the
relatively large number of reaction thrusters, no emergency thrusters are
mounted.
- Anti-gravity system (1): 4 Europa Drive Siren
anti-gravity pods.
- Sublight drive(1): Shizuma Drive GDD-4 local
monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion drive.
- Space fold (1): RRD Mk14 spacefold. This system is
conformal to the vessels surface. The problem with the vast majority of the
previous generation of fold systems was that the fold bubble weakened the
state of the structure to the extent that they needed a refit after only
five years of service. As such the RDF mandated the use of conformal systems
similar to the old Zentraedi systems which also allows for much higher
speeds.
- Planetary capabilities: The Marathon-class has
atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity
system. The hangar has sufficient structural strength for the ship to use it
as a landing foot. Note that the ground underneath should be as firm as
possible. The ship will float in an ocean, but the main access ports in the
hangar section will be submerged.
Endurance and mobility limits:
- The dry stores endurance is one month maximum; after that, the Marathon
needs to restock. Water stores are recycled almost totally. Due to their
frequent rendezvous with larger ships and planets, the Marathons are usually
well-stocked with fresh foods.
- At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 3.6
Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as
little as 70.5 Meganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower
power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
- At full power, the Marathon-class can achieve a maximum delta-v of 387 kps
at the cruising acceleration of 0.1G, a maximum delta-v of 76.2 kps at
the battle acceleration of 1.0G, and a delta-v of at most 20.9 kps at
the flank acceleration of 2.6G. At lower power levels, these ranges are
commensurately smaller.
- Sublight drive acceleration is 1000g, but the vessel's maneuverability is
reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible.
Typical cruising speed is .24c.
- The Mk14 fold systems are not designed to be used for folds of distances
greater than approximately 1 kiloparsec, for safety reasons. If longer
voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
- The maximum atmospheric speed is Mach 3, if an aerospike is deployed. If
the aerospike is not used, the ship is limited to subsonic speeds. The
maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems is limited only by the
maintenance requirements.
Weapon systems:
- Bofors PL-5 point defense turrets (4): Mounted on the
sides of the main hull, above the hangar, behind movable panels. These
standard RDF weapons can fire 48 MJ of particle energy twice times per
second at a range of up to 20 km.
Air group and mecha complement:
- None, although several replacement mecha can usually be found in the cargo
compartments or on racks mounted externally on the hull, and pilots can
often be found among the passengers.
Design notes:
The Marathon-class is a variant on the
Garfish-class
scout cruiser. Among the changes are the removal of all weapon systems, but
the addition of four point defense cannons, and the replacement of the original
(and inadequate) fold drive, the refitting of the troop and internal mecha holds
into passenger compartments, and the replacement of the bottom mounted
hangar/engine pod with a large cargo/fold drive pod. This pod, which is rather
larger than the hangar pod of the
Garfish class,
is the visually most striking feature of these ships.
The fold system installed in the lower pod takes up 33% of the available
space there. The system is, for reasons of stability, placed in the center of
the pod, with a large cargo bay both in front of and behind the fold drive.
While not as powerful as the system installed in the larger fold-capable
vessels, this small fold system is very reliable and still powerful enough to
carry five to ten large shuttles with the transport vessel through a fold jump.
History:
The Marathon-class fold transport was conceived at about the same time as the
Montgolfier-class tender. Since the
Montgolfier-class was to be deployed forward from the base stations, a ship
was necessary to shuttle between the factories and the tenders, carrying new
supplies and replacement mecha. In addition to these goods and mecha, there
would be a number of transfers involving replacement personnel and injured crew
to and from the base stations and the front lines. It would be extremely
inefficient to use the high-value tenders for this; similarly, ships-of-the-line
were needed on the line, and would be wasted on cargo hauling duties. Therefore,
the Marathon-class transports were designed and the shipyards on board
Space
Station Equality started a production run of these vessels.
The entire class was named after famous sporting events or running events of
the Olympic games. Blue Banner was the sole exception, being named
after the banner traditionally flown from the fastest ship so far to have
crossed the North Atlantic. The other events include endurance-, bicycle-,
sailing- and car-races, team competitions and also natural-ice long distance
skating.
After the war, the vessel was built in large numbers for the RDF as well as several
other militaries across the local group and to private companies as merchant
transports. Along with the new Orca-class
transport, the Marathon-class forms the backbone of the RDF Merchant Marine.
Return to Naval
Vessel Index
Robotech (R) is the property of Harmony Gold. This document is in no way
intended to infringe upon their rights.
Layout adapted from Robotech
Reference Guide
Original content by Pieter Thomassen
and Peter Walker
Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner
Copyright © 1998-2002 Jeffrey R. Spillner
Page Last Updated on January 21, 2002 @ 14:00 GMT