Database and Lore

The Durgess Class Attack Dreadnought

*Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* “The Durgess is perhaps the best heavy warship of the Aksren clan. When we encountered them at Cipra, we knew the battle was lost,” Admiral Joseph, 2349 AD. The Durgess was a virtual unknown in the late years. When the Aksren clan needed a better and more powerful warship, it took the clans by surprise. The new designs were the culmination of the Oldra class Dreadnoughts and current innovations to produce a solid frame. In all aspects, the UHN can’t really counter this ship. It’s simply too powerful and can obliterate single battleships with ease. Even its cost is not enough to dissuade the Aksren from building them in rather large numbers. Design The design of the Durgess is one that is easily pointed towards the Akra class Dreadnought. The Akra had performed well, but with the advent of the other Itrean clans in providing better dreadnoughts, the Aksren knew that it had to follow suit. The Durgess featured the most amount of changes that any dreadnought class of the other clans had. For one, the warship would replace much of the older CIWS guns with the same CIWS batteries used in the Italx Mark 3 battleships. While the vessel does have fewer CIWS guns than the Akra class, it makes up for it in having them in specialized compartments. Technically, the Italx Mark 3 has far less ammunition for its guns, while the Durgess has four times the storage space for its guns. This allows the dreadnought to maintain longer rates of fire and rely less on resupplying. The guns and forward engine mounts are also gravely moved around. This further improves upon the storage bays used for the VLS launchers. Another major change was the introduction of two light forward-mounted particle beam cannons. This has often been considered to be criticism of the design as it reduces the number of torpedoes that the Akra carried. However, it does give the Durgess a little more firepower in the forward section. Much like the Akra, the traditional heavy railgun and particle beam hybrid turrets are carried. History The first Durgess dreadnought was completed in 2345. It didn’t take long before they were shoveled into the fleets. Unlike the other clans, the Aksren don’t really hesitate to send their most powerful warships ahead in offensive engagements. The dreadnoughts proved to be rather effective in combat, although the slightly fewer CIWS gun batteries seemed to be a partial detriment. Even by this time frame, long-term sieges were rare in the Itrean Civil War. The series of small-scale skirmishes often pushed the dreadnought to be sent alone or in small packs of warships. This was to inflict as much damage as possible before they needed to withdraw. The Durgess was designed more as a stand-off vessel. While they were still used in raiding and quick assaults, their combat record tended to reflect this concept. It was deluded as they were used to batter down enemy defenses with withering guided munitions. Regardless, the Durgess still served with a reputation of being ruthless and powerful. The Aksren clan economy could more easily afford to send these dreadnoughts on offenses against their clan counterparts. Even a loss or two didn’t really dissuade them from keeping them in the front. Unlike the most powerful super dreadnoughts, the dreadnought class can be afforded rather easily and outcompete against its enemies in raw power alone. The UHN, at first, didn’t know much about this warship. The Italx was a common component of the Aksren scouting fleets and the siege of Cipra. Even with Cipra, the Akra class was predominantly used, but only a few were fielded to help serve as command vessels. It wouldn’t be until later months that the Durgess would be moved over to help in pressing forward with the onslaught. There was no hope in taking down one of these behemoths. Even the most powerful UHN warships were simply outmatched against the raw power alone. The dreadnoughts simply served as a platform to crush the defenses that were in place. It would be a Durgess class dreadnought that almost derailed the peace talks between the T’rintar clan and humanity. A single warship appeared after a spy onboard tipped off to the Aksren that peace talks were occurring in the sector of space. According to T’rintar clan reports, the Aksren clan was reluctant upon hearing the news but decided to send a single powerful warship to investigate the area. Both the UHN Gabatrix and T’rintar Italq Mark 2 battleship were no match against the strength of the dreadnought. Even if the Gabatrix was fully armed with munitions, the odds were stacked against them. Only the heroic actions of the captain were enough to buy time for the T’rintar clan to escape to friendly space. The loss of the dreadnought, while horrific, was insignificant in the eyes of the Aksren fleets.