TDD-1
TDD-1
Tuatha de Danaan
Class: Assault landing submarine
Manufacture: #402 Severodvinsk Shipyard (hull only)
Home Port: Mithril West Pacific Ocean Battle Group Base, Merida Island
Total Length: 218 m
Total Width: 44 m excluding steerage
Standard Displacement: surface / 30,800 t submerged / 55,000 t fully loaded / 40,000 t
Maximum Operating Depth: 1200 ft
Crushing Depth: 1600 ft
Main Engine: 3 PS type Palladium Reactor
Propulsion Systems: Electric Drive, adjustable pitch screws, SCD (Super Conductive Drive)
Biaxial: 210,000 hp
Maximum Output: Conventional Propulsion only – 30 kt or 55560 km/h, Conventional Propulsion+EMFC – 40 kt or 74080 km/h, SCD+EMFC – 65 kt or 120380 km/h
Standard armament: 533 mm Torpedo Tube x6, Mk48Mod6ADCAP Torpedoes, “Ad Harpoon” Anti-ship Missiles, ADSLMM self-propelled mines, Multipurpose Vertical Missile Tube x10, SUBLARS or Submarine Launch Rocket System, “Tomahawk” Cruise Missiles, “MASROC” Anti-Submarine Missiles, Ballistic Missile Launcher x2 to name a few
Special notes: TAROS equipped, for Project 985 total length – 183 m, width – 36 m, estimated submerged displacement is 32,000 t
There is nothing more superior than a submarine transporting small squads of troops to operating areas. Mithril West Pacific Ocean Battle Group “Tuatha de Danaan” Flagship, the Pacific Fleet Amphibious Assault Landing Submarine is the first of its kind. It is Mithril’s largest, most powerful weapon, in commission for about a year. The cost to construct it was approximately 5 billion dollars. Its main engine is a Palladium Reactor. In spite of being a giant submarine, the likes of which has never been seen, it has high underwater maneuverability and navigational capacity thanks to the advanced propulsion systems Super Conductive Drive or SCD and ElectroMagnetic Fluidics Controller or EMFC. On board are approximately 250 personnel, including the ship’s company, the land troops and logistical groups such as the AS maintenance crew. Its systems are highly computerized with various equipment and instruments regulated by the central computer, the mother AI Dana. With the support of Dana in “Complete Automatic Mode,” it is even possible for one person to conduct limited maneuvers.
The idea of an assault landing submarine that could invade deep into enemy territory and launch a sneak attack with its payload of land troops has long been a target of research to make it practical. However, questions remained as to how such a thing could be realized due to the inherent limitation of how much payload a submarine could carry, the reduction in covertness of a large ship, and the bad cost-performance ratio of operating such a vessel. Still, put into use under Mithril, which possesses ample funds and technology and puts a premium on secrecy and operating through few people, that conclusion no longer holds true.
The TDD-1 was designed over several years by Teletha Testarossa, who as a Whispered is well-versed in the structure and operation of submarines, and “one other person.” Having attended such places as the Naval Underwater Warfare Center or NUWC since her early teens, it seems Tessa had noticed the possibilities that an assault landing submarine held from early on. The hull of the TDD-1 is Soviet’s super-submarine Project 985, which was abandoned halfway through construction and later procured in secrecy, Tessa and others carefully redesigned it, taking full advantage of Black Technology and the ship was reborn. The TDD-1, the most powerful and one and only assault landing submarine, was built on her application of theory of submarines.
The ship has a triangle hull design. The basic internal structure is similar to that of the Soviet’s Typhoon class nuclear submarine. However, the building material for the external hull was improved and because it was assumed the EMFC would suppress turbulence, the resulting shape greatly differs from its previous teardrop shape. The curved surfaces that this ship is composed of also have excellent stealth qualities when traveling on the surface.
The EMFC Smartskin on the hull’s surface is laid with an array of ElectroMagnetic Fluidics Controller which is commonly called “smart skin.” This uses a cluster of microminiaturized superconductive devices, which suppress the turbulence around the ship and reduces the water resistance. The principle behind how it works is based on Fleming’s left-hand rule (a rule that shows the direction of current, magnetic field and force). By using the propulsion system in conjunction with the EMFC, the TDD-1 can maintain silence while attaining extraordinary navigational performance. By increasing the output, it can also be used as a simple propulsion system. By generating vectors in various directions, the EMFC makes possible underwater maneuvers that where impossible for submarines in the past.
The TDD-1 controls the noise it produces with the EMFC and trying to detect that using ordinary methods is extremely difficult. There is a rumor going through parts of the US Navy that the TDD-1, which appears once in a while then vanishes like a ghost, is the ghost submarine ‘Toy Box.’ The structure to the rear of the ship that swells up like a ship’s bridge is commonly called the sail. This is where the mast of electronic warfare is stored, which contains such things as the ESM, ECS, radar and communication antennae that are used when traveling on the surface. The engine room is installed at the very rear of the ship. The normal propulsion system is the biaxial adjustable pitch screws. The screws are made of a dozen or so layers of memory metal and by changing their shape like living things, they improve efficiency and quietness. The streamlined covers also help to reduce cavitation noise. And for high-speed navigation the SCD is engaged. It electromagnetically accelerates the seawater taken in from the sides of the ship and uses that as propulsion. The large and small set of planes that look like the “fins” on a sea creature are composed of numerous layers of memory metal as well, they can freely change their shapes and can even change the surface area around the frame.
Briefing Room 1, used for pre-operational briefings is located on Deck 3 along with other facilities such as the infirmary. It was used as a prison to house the prisoners captured during the Berildaobu Island operation. There is a large screen installed on the wall. The mess hall for the use of junior members of the crew and soldiers like Sousuke is located on the 4th Deck where there is a concentration of living quarter facilities. The man in charge is Private First Class Hiroshi Kasuya. A shipboard passageway was constructed in consideration for safety during emergency situations – leading to this space reserved for the passageways being wide for a submarine. Crammed along the walls are pipes and fire hydrants.
The largest submarine in history, the TDD-1 is also endowed with powerful means to strike land targets. It is equipped with 10 Multipurpose Vertical Launch System or MCLS, with their vertical launch tubes arranged as if they pierce through the center of the ship, as well as two ballistic missile launchers. It can also strike a wide area target with Submarine Launch Rocket System or SUBLARS warheads. This is because a design for an arsenal ship (a powder magazine ship) that Admiral Borda advocated in the 80s was planned for implementation from the start. Control of the various armaments is conducted directly from the control room. The seats occupied by the control room personnel, who are all supremely capable, control the ship as Tessa’s hands and feet. The communal standard console interface uses touch sensitive panels. Control room personnel consist of a Communications Officer, Deck Officer, Propulsion Officer, Submarine Navigation Officer, centrally located Steersman, Navigational Officer, Weapons Officer, Combat Intel/Flight Control Officer and Electronic Warfare Officer.
The central control room installed on Deck 2 is a multipurpose facility that is equipped with controls as an aircraft carrier and combat command functionality as the battle group headquarters - in addition to functionality as the submarine’s control room. Various functions of the ship and the battle group are concentrated in this small room equipped with three large information screens. Multipurpose screens also line the walls to either side. The lights in the room are dimmed in order to increase the visibility of the monitors. The multipurpose chart table where navigational charts and such can be displayed is stored under the floor. On the sides are lights and below there is a scanner and a printer. During operations this room becomes headquarters from the land troops - it can literally be called the brain of the TDD-1, “the most powerful precision machine ever built by man.” Even among the ship’s crew, one must be qualified in order to enter this room. Fundamentally speaking, only high-ranking officers and control room personnel are allowed entry. The sonar room requires a quiet location, so it is located in a separate section behind the control room. Also, on Deck 3 directly below the control room is the classified section Lady Chapel, where the core of the central computer, the mother AI Dana, is located. In the Chapel, there is a Transfer And Response Omni-Sphere or TAROS bed and Tessa, who is a Whispered, can assimilate her senses with that of the ship from here.
The front of the ship functions as the “weapon” housing the hangar and weapons and ammunition storage. The rear half houses the control room, engine room, power reactor, and living quarters – concentrating on its functionality as a ship. In the middle, there is a sturdy bulkhead that separates the fore and aft parts of the ship and even if one side is utterly destroyed the other half can still function.
The flight deck that expands towards the front of the ship has a total length of 70 m. To the rear are 3 elevators of varying sizes that connect directly to the main hangar. There are two 50 m class steam catapults for fuel conservation and carrier based planes built to reach take off speed instantaneously. When the flight deck is exposed, the TDD-1 truly looks like an aircraft carrier. The four flight hatches are deployed by sliding them to either side. At the same time, the wave shield at the bow is raised.
Below the flight deck is the main hangar. This vast space that hardly seems like it could be aboard a submarine is set aside to carry the carrier-based craft. Super Harriers and Comanches are foremost to serve their control of the air and conduct reconnaissance, followed by the Pave Mares which carry the AS units. The standard complement of craft aboard the TDD-1 are four FAV-8 Super Harrier Short Take-Off and Landing fighters or STOL fighters, four RAH-66
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