Back in 2004, in the fifth issue of Warp Rift , Chris French wrote an article in which he noted the absence of carrier ships of Escort class (which, in Rogue Trader terms, would be a combination of the Raider and Frigate classes). He went on to discuss the origin and purpose of real-world escort carriers, and how that would translate in the 41st millennium. At the end of the article, he presented some suggested rules for turning Escorts armed with torpedoes (such as Cobras, Infidels, and Nightshades) into miniature carriers, by adding five points to their cost and replacing the torpedo bays with a Strength 1 launch deck. Beyond that, I won't rehash what he said in his article, its available for free online. I will, however, present the ship hull I designed for Rogue Trader, inspired by his article.
Sparrow-class Carrier-Corvette
Dimensions: 1.6 km long, 0.3 km abeam at fins approx.
Mass: 6.2 megatonnes approx.
Crew: 22,00 crew, 6,000 pilots and support personnel, approx.
Accel: 4.3 gravities max sustainable acceleration.
Loathed by every level of the Imperial Navy hierarchy, the carrier-corvette class is none the less vital to Imperial operations. One of the few ships smaller than cruisers capable of holding and deploying attack craft, these vessels excel at convoy protection, where larger cruiser-class carriers are too valuable to be spared. Carrier-corvettes can be nominally assigned to the frigate class, and are often constructed from salvaged Sword-class escorts no longer capable of supporting their robust laser batteries at full strength. Instead, carrier-corvettes have layers of armor peeled away and internal hull space opened and honeycombed into massive attack craft storage vaults, maintenance chambers, launch tubes, and landing bays. Carrier-corvettes are much cheaper and easier to produce than cruiser-sized carriers, which makes up for the fact that they are fragile ships and virtually unarmed in comparison to other frigates and raiders. Naval officers often take being assigned to a carrier-corvette as a personal insult, as it invariably means they will be assigned to protect convoys of chartist cargo-haulers and kept to the rear of any battle, serving as little more than a staging platform for their attack craft. If there is one other duty at which carrier-corvettes excel, it is at supporting planetary assaults. Their storage vaults can just as easily be filled with Aeronautica as void-borne craft, and they are small enough to operate with agility in-atmosphere or even land on a planet's surface.
The Sparrow -class is a typical carrier-corvette, a frigate stripped down of weaponry, armor, and hull bracings to make room for gargantuan attack-craft bays, which also has impact on their maneuverability. Sparrows are known for their Lathe-style hanger bays, which yawn like open maws to the void. Neighboring vessels often describe the Sparrow's appearance as vulnerable, as though she possesses no protective skin of armor at all, and they can look down into the very bones and innards of the ship. This makes many critical of the Sparrow , even more so than of other carrier-corvettes, as one solid blow to the hangers could crack the ship in half. Cooler heads remark that carrier-corvettes are never intended to be involved in direct ship-to-ship combat in any case, and the unusual hanger design allows the Sparrow to stock and deploy more attack-craft making it a more efficient carrier, which is what it was designed for after all.
There is some appeal in carrier-corvettes for Rogue Traders; few enemies expect a ship so small to suddenly erupt with waves of harassing bombers and protective fighters, and fewer still are equipped to combat such obstacles. They are extremely valuable as support ships, a pair of such corvettes can cover entire convoys with interceptors on Combat Void Patrol, and still threaten attackers with squadrons of bombers. They're also dirt-cheap, at least in comparison to other carriers, and can be easily converted from the wreckage of other frigates. Still, their fragility and lack of firepower make many of the more adventurous and bloodthirsty Traders look elsewhere for their vessels, and the ship's hangers prevent the more mercantile captains from hauling much cargo.
Speed: 8; Maneuverability: +15; Detection: +10; Hull Integrity: 30; Armor: 16; Turret Rating: 1; Space: 35;
Ship Points: 38; Weapons Capacity: 1 Dorsal.
Carrier: The Sparrow-class carrier-corvette comes equipped with one Lathe-class Landing Bay Component, which may not be removed. The hull's space has already been reduced to account for this; however, when the ship is constructed, it must be able to provide one Power to the landing bay Component. Sparrows also have the option to take a Flight Command Bridge and/or Small Craft Repair Deck at their normal Space and Power cost.
