The Truman-class dreadnought is the second largest battleship class in the United Nations Navy (UNN) that primarily serves as a flagship of UNN battlegroups.
Though smaller than its Martian counterpart at only 376 meters in length and not as sleek nor as sophisticated, the Truman-class is famed for its sturdiness and reliability and is one of the longest-serving vessels in the history of the UNN, having protected Earth's interests across the system for decades.
Characteristics
The Truman-class dreadnought is armed with 2 Farren-Pattern high-yield heavy railgun turrets, 9 autoloading torpedo bays that are compatible with a variety of warheads, and 42 Redfield Ballistics 40mm point defense cannons (PDCs) spread across the surface of the dreadnought for maximum defensive coverage. The effective targeting range of the Truman-class is shorter than that of most MCRN warships but its extensive PDC grid enables it to endure even the largest torpedo volleys, protecting the ship from harm while coordinating fleet movements or bringing her railguns to bear.
A pair of hangar bays and accompanying external docking clamps are located in the midsection of the Truman-class, where its complement of 6 L-Type UNN dropship skiffs, as well as a smaller number of short-range repair skiffs and reconnaissance drones are housed. Though the Truman-class is not quite large enough to carry corvettes in its internal hangars like the MCRN's Donnager-class battleships, its embarked dropships widen its mission profile to include Marine deployment and surface reconnaissance.
The class shows it's age in several ways, such as naked pipes and wires above corridors and constant electrical issues. The circular CIC of the class is however perhaps the most notable example of the ships age, as it makes use of computers operated with keyboards, switches and sticks rather than touchscreens and holographic interfaces as seen aboard MCRN ships and other more modern ships.
Facilities
The Truman-class dreadnought contains many various facilities within for a warship this size. Some of them include:
- Advanced Medical Facilities.
- Comfortable Living Quarters.
- Extensive Cargo Space.
- Dropship Loading and Repair Facilities.
- Standard Tightbeam Communications Systems.
History
 “We are not alone” — Spoilers for Caliban's War follow.
|
At the time of the Ganymede Incident, the Truman-class dreadnought had been in service with the UNN for decades and served as the flagships of high-ranking admirals, such as Admiral Augusto Nguyễn's UNN Agatha King and Admiral Souther's UNN Okimbo.
The Agatha King notably participated in the Io Campaign as part of a rogue element of the UN Navy commanded by Nguyễn where they engaged a MCRN fleet as well as the UNN's Jupiter Fleet under the command of Souther which included the Okimbo and two other Truman-class dreadnoughts. The Agatha King was later scuttled by the crew of the Rocinante after being inadvertantly struck by an out-of-control Protomolecule Hybrid Pod, leading to the Protomolecule infecting and killing most of her crew.
At the time of the war between Earth and Mars that broke out following the Ganymede Incident, the Truman-class dreadnought was one of the longest-serving vessels in the history of the UNN, having been protecting Earth's interests across the system for decades and serving as the immovable center of UNN battlegroups. The UNN Agatha King (T-DRN-32) served as the flagship of the UNN's Jupiter Fleet under the command of Admiral Souther until he was relieved of command by Fleet Admiral Augusto Nguyễn who ordered the dreadnought to for Io to retrieve Jules-Pierre Mao's Protomolecule hybrids.
When several UNN warships refused to obey Nguyễn's orders following a failed mutiny initiated by Souther against Nguyễn for waging an illegal war, the Fleet Admiral declared them deserters and destroyed one of the ships, the Jimenez, with a torpedo from the Agatha King which prompted other UNN ships loyal to Souther to fire on the Agatha King in retaliation. However, their torpedoes were shot down by the Agatha King's PDCs and the UNN dreadnought proceeded to destroy several more UNN warships in retribution. The Agatha King was later hulled by a hybrid pod that was hit by PDC fire from an MCRN warship over Io after Nguyễn initiated a mass launch from the moon's surface targeting Mars and the UNN dreadnought and her crew subsequently became infected by the Protomolecule. The Agatha King was later scuttled after an infected Cotyar Ghazi intentionally destabilized the ship's reactor.
The Thomas Prince entering the Ring.
Several months later, the Truman-class dreadnought UNN Thomas Prince (T-DRN-47) carried various religious clergy and artists including Annushka Volovodov into the Ring. The Thomas Prince was one of the ships in the Slow Zone to be suddenly stopped by the Ring Station, leading to serious casualties at the start of the Slow Zone Incident with Commander Kunis assuming command as the highest ranking officer amongst the surviving crew. After the crew of the Rocinante broadcast that all of the ships in the flotilla needed to shut down their fusion reactors to convince the Ring Station that humanity was not a threat and release their ships, the Thomas Prince was the first ship to do so under Kunis's orders at the insistence of Dr. Kolvoord. Afterwards the Thomas Prince returned to Earth's solar system through the Ring alongside the rest of the flotilla.
Following these events, the UNN Tripoli and another Truman-class ship were deployed to blockade the Sol Ring alongside other UNN and MCRN vessels to prevent unauthorized access to the Ring space and engaged a group Belter refugee ships when they attempted to run the blockade however several of the ships broke through the blockage and the Tripoli and the other Truman-class vessel gave chase with the Tripoli subsequently destroying one Belter ship and damaging the Barbapiccola with its PDCs when the vessels ignored orders to stop and accelerated towards the Ilus Ring. The Tripoli subsequently remained on station to guard the Sol Ring other next several months until a loss of communication with the Rocinante and RCE Edward Israel at Ilus coupled with recent attacks on Earther colony ships by Marco Inaros that the OPA failed to handle to the UN's liking prompted the UNN to deploy the Tripoli into the Ring space itself, causing tension with the OPA.Known Ships
| Designation | Photo | Appears | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNN Agatha King |  |
Caliban's War (Books) | UNN Fleet Command Flagship commanded by Admiral Nguyễn and taken to Jovian moon Io. |
| Season 3 (TV) | UNN Jupiter Fleet Flagship commanded by Admiral Souther and taken over by Admiral Nguyễn and sent to Jovian moon Io. | ||
| UNN Okimbo | Caliban's War (Books) | UNN Jupiter Fleet Flagship commanded by Admiral Souther over Jovian moon Io. | |
| UNN Thomas Prince |  |
Season 3 (TV) | Flagship of the UNN task force sent to investigate the Ring.
((The ship of this name in the books, unlike its show counterpart, is a Xerxes-class battleship)). |
| UNN Tripoli |  |
Season 4, Season 5 (TV) | Upgraded with 6 additional torpedo tubes and 4 more PDCs. Assigned to the Sol Ring to prevent unauthorized access with the UNN Montenegro and MCRN Sagarmatha. |
| UNN Montenegro | 
|
Season 5 (TV) | Assigned to protect Sol Ring along with the UNN Tripoli and MCRN Sagarmatha. |
Media
Trivia
- Dreadnought means fear nothing, and is most famously used in connection with John Arbuthnot Fisher, a British admiral. The term appears in Fisher's family motto: Fear God and Dread Nought - and was from there adopted as the name of HMS Dreadnought, a ship built under Fisher's direction to be more heavily armoured, more heavily armed, and faster than any preceding battleship. The term Dreadnought initially described the name ship and those built subsequent to her - and for a time Dreadnought was used interchangeably with the word battleship. HMS Dreadnought triggered an arms race that quickly lead to her being surpassed in armour, gun power, and speed. The design generation beyond HMS-Dreadnought were known as Super-Dreadnoughts. By the time Super-Dreadnoughts were surpassed the terms had become meaningless and common usage reverted to battleship.
- The Truman-class' shorter range makes it less of a dreadnought than it's counterpart, the Donnager-class.
- The Truman-class dreadnought is likely named after Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States and the only person as of the 21st century to have authorized the use of nuclear weapons in warfare.
References
Spacedock: 