The ICSS Connie Malone
Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:30 pm
The Connie Malone is a 400 dton Type RJ (J2/M2) merchant ship. It is 62 years old, but in good condition and if well maintained should be space worthy for another 150+ years.
As the RJ variant, The Connie addresses the subsidized merchant's greatest short-coming, its poor range. Of course it sacrifices valuable cargo space to get its longer legs. Connie's cargo capacity is 156 tons, a good bit less than its J1 cousins. However, Connie still has 13 staterooms (5 crew and 8 for passengers) and has 10 Low Berths. Each stateroom can accommodate double occupancy, however, High Passage passengers typically require single occupancy per stateroom.
As a Type R, Connie has cargo doors fore, aft and on both the starboard and port sides. This allows a full cargo load to be unloaded in about 15 minutes! This makes Type R's an excellent choice for situations when a ship has to get in and dump its cargo in a hurry. Loading takes about twice that long. Type R's can land, unload a full cargo, take on a full load and be back in the air in under an hour!
Type RJ's like Connie are both armed and armored as they often go in harms way and also carry mail. The Imperium requires ships that carry mail to be armed. Connie has four hardpoints, but only two are fitted with turrets. Each of the turrets have a Beam Laser and Sandcaster installed.
Connie can operate with a crew of two (Pilot/Navigator and Engineer), but is more often crewed by six to ten. Crew positions include: Pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Cargo Master, Steward, Medic, and Gunner. Crew can double up on positions if shorthanded, but generally each is filled, plus extra Engineers and Gunners are added.
Although, Type R's can land and launch from almost all worlds, there are times when it might be convenient for the ship to remain in orbit. For those times, a 20-ton Launch is usually carried atop a Type R. This provides flexibility as the ship can be in orbit, or at the Star Port while the Launch can be elsewhere. The Launch can carry 10 passengers or 10 dtons of cargo and conversions back and forth is both quick and easy.
