by David Weber
First and foremost, GSN destroyers scout for a deployed battle fleet both while in hyper transit and in normal space. The new doctrine calls for a substantially larger scouting force, spread across multiple hyper sub-bands to maximize sensor performance. This increase in demand, combined with the relative ease in incorporating Manticoran technology in the smaller shipyards and a need for small-ship command billets to train the first generation of capital ship commanding officers (COs), explains the rapid initial buildup in destroyer numbers in the early days of the Alliance.
Second, and closely associated with the scouting mission, is the antiscouting mission. GSN destroyers engage light enemy scouting units as they are found, both to support their own scouting mission and to prevent enemy scouting.
Finally, once the main enemy formation is located and its composition determined, GSN doctrine calls for the destroyer force to fall back to the main body of the fleet and integrate itself into the wall of battle, augmenting the battle fleet with its sensor and antimissile capabilities.
Ararat-class destroyer (pre-Alliance)
Mass: 62,500 tons
Dimensions: 341 × 40 × 23 m
Acceleration: 526.6 G (5.164 kps²)
80% Accel: 421.2 G (4.131 kps²)
Broadside: 3M, 2L, 2CM, 2AC
Chase: 1L, 1PD
Number Built: 1
Service Life: 1874–1903
GNS Ararat was the oldest ship in Grayson service at the time of the battles of the final Grayson-Masadan War. As the first vessel built from the keel up to take advantage of the locally developed inertial compensator, Ararat could in many ways be considered the first modern GSN warship.
Like all of the pre-Alliance warships, Ararat mounted few broadside missile launchers, with even fewer chemical-burning counter-missiles for area defense. On the broadsides she still mounted autocannon for the point defense role but had recently been refitted with crude, but longer-ranged laser clusters to cover her vulnerable hammerheads. Ararat was destroyed with all hands during the Masadan War.
Zion-class destroyer (pre-Alliance)
Mass: 65,250 tons
Dimensions: 346 × 41 × 24 m
Acceleration: 525.5 G (5.154 kps²)
80% Accel: 420.4 G (4.123 kps²)
Broadside: 4M, 2L, 2CM, 3AC
Chase: 1L, 2AC
Number Built: 3
Service Life: 1879–1905
The Zion class was designed as a follow-on class to GNS Ararat. The most significant change was to add a fourth broadside missile launcher. Unfortunately, the lack of room for additional missile storage reduced the number of salvoes per launcher from eight to six. Defenses include dual gravitically driven point defense autocannon as chasers and an additional autocannon on the broadsides. These autocannon were imported ex-Solarian weapons. Grayson industry was as yet unable to construct such weapons, but the GSN was able to acquire them from Solarian reclamation yards as the SLN converted to laser clusters in more recent construction. Although the autocannon were more volume intensive than the cruder, electromagnetically driven Grayson weapons, they required much less volume and a lower energy budget than laser clusters would have, while their higher rate of fire and muzzle velocity remained more than adequate for dealing with then state-of-the-art Masadan shipkillers.
The class was scheduled to receive the same defensive upgrades as Ararat, but the onset of the final Masadan War disrupted those plans. GNS Saul, the only member of the class to survive the War, was decommissioned in 1905 PD after the first wave of the Alliance Technological Exchange Program ships arrived. Her survival in combat was directly attributed in official reports to an increased volume of defensive antimissile firepower and the dramatic improvement that her autocannon represented over the older electromagnetic guns on Ararat.
Jacob-class destroyer
(for specification, see RMN Noblesse-class DD)
Number Purchased: 7
Service Life: 1903–1921
These are former RMN Noblesse-class destroyers that were shipped to the GSN instead of being scrapped. Initially outdated by RMN standards, their electronics were upgraded before delivery. Complete fits of modern point defense weapons alone made them far superior to any pre-Alliance Grayson-built destroyer.
By the middle of the first war with Haven, they were mostly relegated to training duty or System Defense Command. Few of them saw action, though some were assigned as convoy escorts. They were modernized again in late 1911 with upgraded sensors and electronic warfare (EW) systems. However, given that the youngest was over seventy T-years old when they entered Grayson service, their impellers and compensators in particular were difficult to maintain. Preferring to spend scarce maintenance resources on more modern units, the GSN retired the Jacob class with a sense of relief as the first of the Paul class were commissioned.
Joseph-class destroyer
(for specification, see RMN Chanson-class DD)
Number Purchased: 3
Service Life: 1903–present
As part of the Technological Exchange Program offered by the Star Kingdom of Manticore that gave them the retired Nobelesse-class destroyers, three brand new Flight IV Chanson-class destroyers were sold to Grayson between 1903 and 1904 PD. Renamed the Joseph class when they entered Grayson service, these destroyers joined with the seven older Jacob-class destroyers as the early modern units of the GSN before the first locally built destroyer was commissioned in late 1905.
While GNS Joseph was lost in one of the early battles of the war, her sisters, Manasseh and Ephraim, have served the Navy well in the intervening years. Though not as capable as the newer construction, they are well suited to the picket duties and other tasks to which they are assigned. Many serving GSN flag officers had their first taste of extended deep-space hyper operations onboard one of these ships.
Joshua-class destroyer
Mass: 79,250 tons
Dimensions: 369 x 44 x 25 m
Acceleration: 548.9 G (5.383 kps²)
80% Accel: 439.1 G (4.306 kps²)
Broadside: 3M, 3L, 5CM, 4PD
Chase: 2M, 1G, 2CM, 2PD
Number Built: 44
Service Life: 1905–present
The Joshua-class destroyer is the first ship of its type designed specifically with GSN doctrine as its guide. While the original inspiration was the Flight IV Chanson-class DD, the Office of Shipbuilding had its own ideas about warship design from the review of operational data received from the RMN. Somewhat to the consternation of their new allies, the Graysons made several significant changes to the Chanson design before putting it into production and still managed to complete the first unit over a year before their Manticoran advisers would have believed possible.
The GSN had already begun planning for its transition from a strictly system defense force to a force able to project power outside the Yeltsin’s Star system, and the Joshua-class plans reflected the first steps of the evolution of current Grayson doctrine for well-protected light units to provide layered defensive support as part of a screen for the wall of battle. Indeed, the GSN committed to the Joshua-class designs almost immediately after joining the Alliance, well before the completion of their first locally produced capital ship in 1908.
The Joshua-class destroyers were constructed at a time when Grayson designers and shipbuilders were still getting themselves up to speed with the technological changes the alliance brought to Grayson shipbuilding. Notionally they were built in two flights, with Flight II units carrying an additional point defense cluster in each broadside, more repair remotes, larger hydroponics bays, improved maintenance capability, and the myriad other upgrades experience had proved necessary to operate on remote stations with a wall of battle. In practice, the design was in a constant state of evolution as the Grayson engineers rapidly gained confidence. These constant changes made for some interesting times for Joshua-class crews. New hardware was frequently the only example of its type in GSN service and the only training to be had was in the simulation
s and technical manuals installed with the hardware. RMN and builder technical support staff did their best to be everywhere at once but these personnel have always been in short supply in Manticoran service. Any Joshua crew member has at least one story about how he caught himself up by “a few hundred years” with only the installed simulations and his own wits to help him.
The GSN never had enough of these hulls to go around, and even while almost every single one of them was assigned to a screening squadron, they were constantly stripped off for independent scouting duties. With the outbreak of the war and the emergency construction programs, the GSN laid down another two squadrons. As screening units, they were quite capable, though most of their additional defenses came at the cost of cruise endurance, offensive capability, and other factors valued in independent command. As good a “first effort” as seen in any navy, construction tapered off as the Paul class began coming out of the distributed yards.
Paul-class destroyer
(for specification, see RMN Roland-class DD)
Number Built: 17+
Service Life: 1921–present
The Paul of Tarsis-class destroyer (known in service as the Paul class) is similar in design and identical in mission to the Manticoran Roland-class DD. Built from the same base plans, the unique preferences of the GSN produced several subtle differences between the two classes. The most notable internal difference is the split berthing that the GSN has built into all of their new construction to accommodate mixed-gender crews. Most other changes are minor, reflecting differences in sensor and electronics between the two navies.
Operationally, the GSN expects to use these ships in much the same way the RMN uses the Rolands. They have the stowage for extended operations for deep-raid or commerce protection missions. This represents a change for Grayson destroyer doctrine, one made possible only by the tremendous increase in mass and volume of these units.
LIGHT CRUISERS (CL)
Modern GSN light cruisers are the direct descendants of the “cruiser” type of hyper-capable warship used by Grayson in its wars with Masada after the rediscovery of Yeltsin’s Star but before the Alliance with Manticore. The larger of the two GSN hyper-capable designs, these ships were the largest locally produced units before the Alliance and served as the centerpieces of GSN combat formations during the last Masadan War.
Post-Alliance Grayson light cruisers serve as strategic scouts, commerce raiders/protectors, and screening elements for the wall of battle. These roles are often filled by destroyers in other modern navies, but the Graysons, as is typical for them, elected to go their own way. In this case, their decision was that the light cruiser was the smallest vessel they would build for extended-duration, independent operations. For that reason, Grayson CLs typically have proportionally larger hydrogen bunkers, more onboard repair facilities, and greater supply storage than their smaller DD consorts, because DDs are designed to travel with, and gain support from, the wall of battle’s support train.
GSN light cruiser commands thus serve much the same role as battlecruiser commands in other services. As such, assignment to command a light cruiser is an indication to a GSN officer that he is being considered for higher positions.
Glory-class cruiser
Mass: 83,000 tons
Dimensions: 381 × 40 × 30 m
Acceleration: 519.9 G (5.098 kps²)
80% Accel: 415.9 G (4.078 kps²)
Broadside: 4M, 3L, 2CM, 3AC
Chase: 1M, 1L, 1AC
Number Built: 1
Service Life: 1869–1903
Referred to simply as a “cruiser” when commissioned, GNS Glory was the first power projection unit of what most consider the modern GSN. Boasting an inertial compensator of home-built design and a true broadside missile battery of first-generation impeller-drive shipkillers, she was the largest and most powerful ship in the Navy for over a decade.
By the standards of the rest of the galaxy, she was hopelessly antiquated even before she was launched, with short-ranged ship-killing contact nuclear missiles, rocket-propelled counter-missiles, autocannon point defense, and a myopic beam armament. However, by the standards of the war with Masada, she was a powerful ship, well suited for duty as the system defense flagship for Yeltsin’s Star and finally capable of true power projection into Endicott.
Damaged during the First Battle of Yeltsin’s Star, Glory was decommissioned shortly after the first of the Alliance Technological Exchange program ships began to arrive.
Austin Grayson-class cruiser
Mass: 91,750 tons
Dimensions: 394 × 41 × 32 m
Acceleration: 519.4 G (5.094 kps²)
80% Accel: 415.6 G (4.075 kps²)
Broadside: 5M, 3L, 3CM, 3AC
Chase: 1M, 1L, 1CM, 1AC
Number Built: 2
Service Life: 1880–1904
GNS Austin Grayson and GNS Covington comprised the remaining two indigenously built cruisers in service at the start of the Alliance. While both are listed as the same class, several minor differences appeared in layout and weapons fit between the two vessels, as each of the three light cruisers in GSN service was rotated through refits at least once during its operational lifetime. Weapons fit was similar to GNS Glory, and equally obsolete by the standards of the rest of the galaxy at the time.
Austin Grayson was the flagship of the GSN and was lost in the initial Masadan ambush at the First Battle of Yeltsin’s Star, while GNS Covington survived the battle only to be decommissioned by necessity along with Glory when the first modern units began to arrive from Manticore. Covington remains a museum ship in close orbit over Grayson at the time of this writing.
Matthias-class light cruiser
(for specification, see RMN Courageous-class CL)
Number Purchased: 9
Service Life: 1902–1921 PD
RMN Courageous-class light cruisers were presented to the GSN as part of the Technological Exchange Program on a similar basis to the Noblesse-class destroyers. Given the number of interoperable parts and the remaining stock of Mk50 shipkillers carried by both classes, there were plenty of spares to maintain them.
The Matthias class served the GSN well early in the war, when they were desperate for light units; but, like the Jacob-class destroyers, these were reassigned to the Polar Reaction Squadrons for System Defense Command by the time of Operation Buttercup. Three of the class were converted to interim early-warning system ships pending the completion of the GSN’s first large space surveillance platforms. All remaining units were placed in reserve by 1917 before complete decommissioning and materials reclamation in 1921.
David-class light cruiser
Mass: 130,500 tons
Dimensions: 443 x 46 x 35 m
Acceleration: 517.6 G (5.076 kps²)
80% Accel: 414.1 G (4.061 kps²)
Broadside: 6M, 5L, 6CM, 4PD
Chase: 2M, 1G, 3CM, 3PD
Number Built: 18
Service Life: 1904–present
The David class was the locally built variant of the Manticoran Apollo class, though benefiting from two decades of miniaturization advances and influenced by the Grayson’s stubborn refusal to uncritically accept any shipbuilding concepts even from its closest ally. Externally, the two classes are similar, though the Graysons replaced one broadside laser mount with a sixth missile tube and upgraded the chase energy mounts to grasers. Hull space constraints would not allow the total missile loadout to be increased, so each launcher dropped from twenty to sixteen missiles. The David-class light cruisers were much better armed than the Joshua class, but the defenses were not much better than those of the smaller ship. This fact was not lost on the critics of the platform, especially those who thought all small classes should be effective screening units first, with less emphasis given to other duties.
The David class, however, really shone operationally in the other independent duties to which the GSN would not assign destroyers. Its defenses were more than adequate for its primary roles of c
ommerce protection, commerce raiding, anti-piracy, and picket work; and its operational endurance was superior, even for a light cruiser. The GSN has worked the few units of the David class hard over their lifetimes. By 1921, almost every senior commander had spent a few years of his early career in command of one of these ships on one of Grayson’s few detached duty stations.
Glory-class light cruiser
(for specification, see RMN Valiant-class CL)
Number Purchased: 7
Service Life: 1906–present
The growth of the GSN’s wall of battle consumed more local shipyard production capacity than was predicted. This led to particular difficulties in procuring lighter units, as the new battle fleet would create a desperate need for strategic scouting. Over the course of two years, seven new Valiant-class light cruisers were purchased from Manticore. The Valiant was a powerful unit for its time, well suited for deep raids and strikes, part and parcel of the prewar doctrine of the RMN. Its heavy broadside and average defenses are not quite as well suited to the missions the GSN prefers for light units, but the ships have still been well received. All of the Glory-class ships still in service are currently serving in the Protector’s Own.
Neophyte-class light cruiser
Mass: 145,000 tons
Dimensions: 459 x 48 x 37 m
Acceleration: 516.9 G (5.069 kps²)