Database and Lore

The Magellan Class Guided Missile Battleship

“They are the pride of the UHN. They are the workhorse. They are everywhere. Nothing represents us better than the big Maggeys,” A UHN engineer. Nothing has been more of a proud representation of the United Human Navy than that of the Magellan class Battleships. They would be an outright surprise to many on how they had managed to be built in such large numbers. For the UHN, the Magellans would serve as the pinnacle warship that was seen just about everywhere in the UWA. If you joined the UHN, it was most likely that you would be stationed onboard one. Unfortunately, even with such great abilities, the Magellans have had a soiled history in being able to repel alien invasions or stand up against the more powerful Itrean vessels. Even with the famed JJ-78 Incident, the battleships were stacked odds against the alien warships. Many have seen the flaws of the concept, yet it’s all that humanity really has as a last line of defense. Design The Magellan is really an outgrowth of the famed Helix Class Guided Missile Battleship that was little more than the end of the exploratory battleships used by the UHN in the past. While the Helix was considered revolutionary of the time that would lead to the “Modern Battleships,” many saw that the ship needed to be expanded further. The Helix was still moderately armed for a ship of its class, with some seeing them as more of modern-day guided-missile cruisers of ancient Earth’s past. After only 23 warships were produced, they were quickly halted in production as the UHN saw the need to create something better. The Magellan class was under scrutiny with a lot of demand to take the frame and drastically improve it. This included the Mark 9 AIO turrets that were better tracking anti-missile defenses, better railguns, and eight missile/torpedo tubes instead of six. The interior was also allocated to more redundant systems. The centripetal rotating ring was more armored and included better safety enclosures. Overall, it was much sleeker and prettier of a design. It had new advanced quantum computer cores that are still used in newer UHN warships to this day. The overall systems were moderately cheap and easy to manufacture. When the first ship was created, the UHN Vespucci was used to get rid of any potential flaws in the design properly. It is said that much like the Helix class, the Magellans were given extensive live tests to make sure that every system worked to the exact specifications as intended. It proved to work rather well. History The Magellan class began their first construction in 2315 but really wouldn’t have the orders for production until 2318. It is said that the “UHN Boom” was at its peak at this time. By now, the Nova Pirates had encouraged a more extensive queue for more warships, and at the same time, the new intergalactic economy of the UWA was expanding. The Deimos shipyards would receive an outstanding order of over 30 warships, with it being further expanded. There was almost no resistance to such spending in politics as many of the older exploratory battleships needed to be replaced. At the same time, they would be able to handle any potential civil unrest and be able to repel any “alien invasion,” even though the fear of such a thing was primarily mute. There was some resistance in the government as the orders continued to expand, but even then, the government had more money than ever. It was only natural that some of it bled into the military to strengthen it. Very few of the Magellans actually ever saw combat against piracy, but they would still be used off and on in patrols in the Paloran asteroid belt. The Helix class would actually see more glory in this category, but it didn’t stop the UWA from seeing these ships everywhere. By the time it hit 2330, more and more were popping up. Each of the vessels would be named after famous explorers of former Earth’s past. At times, there were so many that they were typically deployed in pairs to travel to the outer boundaries of the colonized solar systems. There, the ships would be able to backup each other in case of breakdowns or some other unknown disaster. In reality, the ships were very maintenance-friendly, even more so than the Helix. One engineer had quoted, “No longer was I working with recycled equipment from old UHN warships but new equipment that worked better. Once we were trained to fix it, it would take half the time to replace the parts than the Helix.” The crews and captains enjoyed the ship’s operational capability. Technically, the ship batch order was supposed to be thirty to forty vessels as the Nelson class was to be introduced, but the new class of vessels had proven to be a disaster for the UHN. The Nelson battleship orders had dropped or been halted with numerous mechanical faults and problems as the issues could be corrected. At the same time, the UHN wanted more warships. A growing fear in the staff was that the UHN was under-armed to handle any potential alien invasion. UHN politicians continually debated with the UWA in trying to procure more warships. Everyone fell back upon the famed Magellan class as additional orders backed into the ship. More batches were introduced. By the time it was nearing 2340, over seventy were manufactured. Many historians even quoted that “The Magellan class was very much the Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers of ancient Earth. The United States, at the time, simply wanted more, and they worked.” They had been so successful that a “Flight II” model was introduced that carried the new Mark 11 AIO turrets, along with other upgrades. Undoubtedly, the class of battleships is the most successful in being built in such huge numbers. *Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: Minerva arc* The regrettable truth was that the UHN’s remote fears had proven to be true. The Itreans were discovered in 2349, and it resulted in disaster. A patrol of Magellan class Battleships would be overwhelmed by two red warships that forced one vessel to sacrifice itself to save the other. The JJ-78 incident seemed to highlight the ship then and there. Despite all the great efforts in making a viable warship design, the Magellans simply couldn’t hold their own. The aliens could have had thousands of ships at their disposal, possibly even hundreds of thousands. Eutera would further highlight the ineffectiveness of the Magellans as two battleships of them were disabled with the Itreans raiding and kidnapping the colonists present on the planet. All of this was done by three Itrean warships. After the loss, the UHN would ensure that any further colonies would be adequately defended. Unfortunately, even such a commitment had proven to be further disastrous. The Cipra siege was one where Magellan battleships were being obliterated. The Itrean ships seemed to be almost at the same tactical and combative prowess as humanity, but they simply had more resources. The defense fleet that was in position would have to keep fighting in the struggle to protect the colony. Ships that were damaged had to withdraw and be repaired. Meanwhile, the shipyards couldn’t even fulfill all the orders. There were some cases that the battleships had to return back even if they sustained damage. Crews often had to make choices on what systems had to be cannibalized to keep the vessels from falling apart. It is said that the UHN would lose over ten battleships within the first few months due to the constant small attack fleets that kept coming at Cipra. Eventually, it started to hit twenty Magellans within another month. Finally, a decision was being made by the UHN command and UWA officials in the later year. Any efforts in trying to hold off the attack fleets while defending any escaping Cipra civilian vessels were barely working. The military was bleeding itself to death. All UHN military vessels were told to evacuate the system, leaving the population to its fate. Within the later point of the year, the surviving Magellans were used to protect Mars and Cebravis from further attacks. Many had quoted the term, “The devastated Maggeys were useless, but it’s all that we have left.” The Battle of Oshun would further highlight this as the fleet of Magellans could barely fight off another Itrean assault. It was said that two Magellans could successfully counter an Itrean battleship, but even then, it was very well possible that one of them would get destroyed in the process. Regrettably, the last Magellan present would get destroyed in orbit as the last Itrean vessel was destroyed near the same time. The battle was considered a “victory,” even though no further reinforcements would be sent to Oshun. The planet was a sitting duck from further attacks. *Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* By the time it hit near the end of 2349, the Magellans were all asked to stay and defend Mars and Cebravis. It was this argument on why an older, almost decommissioned Helix battleship, the UHN Gabatrix, was to be sent to negotiate with the T’rintar clan in hopes of establishing a peace treaty. It proved to work and create a reprieve for the UHN to begin the construction of new warships. Magellans were finally repaired while new ones were being shoveled out as quickly as possible. At the same time, however, the alliance had proven that the Magellans simply couldn’t hold their own in combat. Itrean battleships were simply more viable in battle and more than an equal in terms of firepower. So by 2350, the UHN knew that they had to introduce new warships to counter the other two alien clans. Even so, with new classes of warships being built, the Magellans will see service for a considerable time until those replacements are made available. Much as it was argued a year ago, the “Devastated Maggeys” still have a way to go, trying to hold their own against the Aksren and Shal’rein clan fleets. There has been some defense for these ships, even in the long run. Many have claimed that even against such odds, human engineering has proven to help save some of the warships from being lost. Even with the defeat of Cipra, if it weren’t for the rigorous tests and trial runs being made so long ago, that the battleships would have been further knocked down in numbers. If anything, the ship has defiled the odds and has managed to still serve as the representation of the UHN as of 2350.