Database and Lore

The Nelson Class Guided Missile Battleship

“Never had I seen an issue than that of the Nelsons. Long overdue hours would be constant. At least they worked…..barely,” A UHN engineer stationed onboard the UHN Nelson. What was intended to replace the Magellan class Battleship had incurred a series of lawsuits and scandals that shook the UHN to its core. Regardless, the Nelson Class Battleship would still serve to become one of the many battleships to support the military. Despite its hardships, it had managed to prove valuable in combat and fight when needed. It would essentially be one of the most powerful warships at least till the dawning of the 2350s. Design Much as it was intended, the success of the Magellan class Battleship would spurn the UHN to create a new series of ever-increasing powerful warships. Initially, the Magellans were only supposed to be built in so many numbers. The UHN officials' dreams of having a new more powerful warship were in demand. This would lead to the slim vertical-nosed warships. The Nelson class was little more than an improved Magellan. It would carry more powerful railguns, an elongated frontal hull to carry more missiles, and additional AIO turrets. The through hangar deck would once again return to two side-mounted facilities to launch shuttles. Despite all the ideas, there would be differences internally. This would include some brand-new equipment designs, improved reactors, and less need to return, replenish and restock ammunition. Everything sounded like an excellent idea, but it sadly would never be. It would eventually become the “Nelson Scandal.” Initially, when the UHN board of inquiry had evaluated the Nelson design, they quickly gave the go-ahead and started building them. Rumors speculated that the people that drew up the Magellan class had been involved in designing the Nelson class, but it proved to be a lie to fool the UHN to convince them that the Nelsons worked. What further made things worse was the fact that there was no oversight in testing the prototype, the UHN Nelson. The Neptune’s Trial that all ships went through was done by inexperienced evaluators that had mostly retired after the Magellan’s construction order was complete. This resulted in inaccurate scores and a lack of oversight in pointing out significant flaws in the design. History In reality, the ships were inundated with glitches and mechanical faults that hadn’t been seen since the first series of Martian warships. However, even then, little blame was placed on the design as ship construction was mostly brand new for most builders at the time. By the time the fourth Nelson was commissioned, crews had pointed out the numerous mechanical breakdowns. The story goes that by the time the fifth battleship, the UHN Yamamato, was launched from the Deimos Shipyards, it left the dockyards and had a complete power failure. A courageous act of one of the tugs saved the hull and early mechanics within from crashing into the surface of Mars. The scene was an absolute embarrassment to the UHN officials that quickly had UWA politicians demanding answers. Several investigations had revealed that the Nelson class trials and tests were utterly faulty. There were at least 89 forms of mechanical faults. This would often lead to the early breakdown of equipment and enormous glitches that afflicted the quantum computer core. Within half a year later, another ship would have a catastrophic breakdown, to which a partnering battleship would render assistance. For two years, all future Nelson’s were halted in construction. Debates raged if the battleship line was to be canceled entirely. This was why further production would resume for the Magellan class. Additional orders for the Magellan class were made to begin filling in the new numbers of the failing Nelson class design. However, the crews, design teams, programmers, and mechanics had put a firm hold on restoring the Nelsons from within despite the problems. This included overhauls of the faults, fixing the glitches, and taking care of any other issues that needed to be fixed. Many of the early Nelsons were brought back to the yards to be given an emergency overhaul. Once the issues were corrected, then the construction resumed. The ship’s passed the stricter Neptune Trial runs and performed adequately. Despite this, the Nelson Class Battleship’s legacy had been sealed as a cursed design. Engineers who were to be stationed onboard cringed at the long hours needed to keep things going. It was strongly believed that the Nelsons were little more than expensive warships that required just as much money to keep them functioning. However, many of the later Nelsons classes barely had any problems. Even with the idea that they worked, the reputation as “Nelson Follies,” remained by most crews and personnel from a distance. This hasn’t stopped the fact that some still see promise in the design. For many, the ship is outright beautiful. Its two-thin bow cylindrical hull display makes it look like a knife in the distance. The enormous room has proven to carry far more reloads. Combat trials showed that they could serve as siege platforms in case of an all-out war. Their heavier railguns and improved armor showed that they could fight far better than the Magellans. With the Magellans being built in masse, this didn’t stop the UHN from resuming construction of more of the Nelsons. What was intended to replace the Magellan class would only supplement them. The legacy of the early years of the warships would be kept at home. Once it was deemed safe, the ships were finally sent to participate in paired patrols in the later 2340s. The UHN had learned to adapt to the upsurge in Magellans while using the Nelsons as “Battleship Leaders” in small-scale fleets. If ships like the Fleet Drone Carriers couldn’t lead a fleet, then the Nelsons would be used in their places.      *Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* When the war with the Itreans had begun, the UHN needed every ship that was available. The Nelsons were no different. Even if the ships had a soiled history to them, humanity was in dire need to protect itself. By the time the JJ-78 incident occurred, only 26 of the Nelson class were available. This was a startling contrast as 79 Magellans had existed by then. Essentially, the more powerful battleships only filled 20% of the UHN composition. Regardless, the Nelson class had seemed to hold out rather well in battle. Even in the Siege of Cipra, the Nelsons took the least losses and managed to hold out longer than the Magellans ever did. Valiant crews struggled to keep the vessels in combat as they would battle the Aksren. When the alliance with the T’rintar clan was made, it was later revealed that the Nelson class was completely on par with modern Itrean battleships. Of course, the biggest problem was that there were too few of them. Even with twenty-six of them, the Itreans had 100,000s of battleships in turn, not including their more powerful dreadnoughts to go along with it. The most common and powerful warships in the UHN were still insignificant against the other Itrean clans. Most of the Nelsons were kept at home to help maintain priority in defense of Mars and Cebravis. However, with the advent of the lend- leased T’rintar battleships, the UHN has been bolder in sending Nelson battleships on aggressive patrols to other UWA territories. In the beginning months of 2350, it was not uncommon to see a Nelson class serve as a fleet leader or be sent to potentially hazardous locations. By now, more risks were being made, and many felt safe to do so. At the same time, the shipyards began to pump out more of these battleships that still needed to be completed. Unfortunately, the Nelson class has been so sullied from its early days and ongoing maintenance issues that the UHN has ceased ordering more. While this complies the same with the Magellans that faired no better in combat, the UHN staff have already been looking into a new battleship class that can adequately take care of itself. The Czar class Battleship has been looked at as the best replacement. It carries many of the fixed improvements that the Nelsons had. Many of the mistakes made prior have been heavily analyzed with the Czars. Even then, the Nelsons will remain in the UHN inventory for some time.