The Battle Dragon is the premier capital warship employed by the Royal Hapan Navy. The unique double saucer design has become a symbol of the Hapes Consortium and the impressive firepower of the vessels have earned the Hapans a position among the galaxy's most prominent naval powers.
They replaced the Nova Battle Cruiser as the most powerful Hapan vessel in 4030 after years of testing the prototype HRS Starfyre and bringing the Consortium's shipyards up to date.
History
HRS Starfyre Prototype
King Andrew had seen the rapid development of new ships and vessels during his childhood on Charubah during the Hapan civil war. After the conflict ended and the introduction of the Nova Battle Cruiser, the Hapes Consortium put the development of newer and more powerful naval vessels on hold due to the power and superiority of the Novas. Following the death of Grand Admiral Canler in 4014 at the hands of pirates, it became apparent that the technology available in the outside galaxy was starting to catch up to Hapan standards.
The King, along with the newly appointed naval commander, Admiral James, began discussing the idea for having a new warship designed that could stand against the aggression of pirates or even foreign powers. One of the difficulties facing the project was the lack of co-operation between the remnants of the older shipyard companies, such as Olanji/Charubah and Hapan Consortium. Alpha Ship Construction and Zion Tech had previously been contracted to help fill orders on Nova Battle Cruisers, but lacked the expertise to design and produce ships of the magnitude that the King envisioned. In the end, the monarch forced Olanji/Charubah, Hapan Consortium, Alpha Ship Construction and Zion Tech in to an uneasy corporate alliance he called Olanji Corporation and tasked them with working together to design a new warship.
Due to old rivalries, differences of opinion and the lack of suitable R&D facilities, the project took nearly ten years to complete and the finished designs of the Battle Dragon were not presented to King Andrew until 4024. After reviewing the plans with then Grand Admiral-Prince James, the ship was ordered in early 4025. It took over a year to finish and was finally launched on May 2 4026 with the name HRS Starfyre. After completing tests and sorting out initial bugs, the ship was staffed with a test crew in April of 4027 and was subject to a number of tests and experiments for the following eighteen months. In the end, the hull design was found to be seriously flawed and the prototype was scrapped in late 4028, a year after King Andrew's abdication.
Re-Designed
Dortan Amethius and a team of experts from the Royal Hapan Support Corps were tasked with making appropriate changes to the design of the Battle Dragon in Operation Dragon. Some modifications were made to the hull and design, such as removing the saucer rotation struts which connected the two saucers along the rims. Instead the main connecting superstructure was reinforced. The overall size of the ship was also increased.
King James was so pleased with Amethius' progress that he ordered a number of ships before the designs were even completed and had the shipyards begin basic construction of the ships' superstructures in 3029. The finished designs were transferred to the shipyards in 4030 and four Battle Dragons were completed shortly thereafter.
Service
The launching of the Battle Dragons was announced through newschannels across the Hapes Cluster on October 3 4030 as King James showed off the new mainstay vessels to his close friends Lord Antaria and Viceroy Esco of the Trade Federation.
The various shipyards of the Hapes Consortium were bought up by the government and merged in to the Olanji Corporation in 4031in order to make mass production of the vessels easier. Since then, more and more Battle Dragons have entered service in the Royal Hapan Navy, putting the Nova Battle Cruiser at the spot of second-best. To now, the only major operation they have participated in was the Dellalt Conflict in 4031.
Stat Statistics
Design & Hull
Armament
Shielding
Power & Engines
Cargo & Carrier Capacity
Crew & Passenger Capacity
Famous Battle Dragons
References
See Also
| Preceded by: Nova Battle Cruiser |
Royal Hapan Navy Mainstay 4030–present |
Succeeded by:<br./>Incumbent |
