Above: Kennedy and Washington racing into blockade positions during Operation ENTENTE in the Kimanjano system (Reserve Fleet Media Ops)(Laurent Esmiol)

Introduction

The Kennedys are some of the most glamorous and controversial warships in service today. The mainstay of the United States Space Force’s striking power. While classed by other nations as a cruiser the American definition of Fast Missile Carrier reflects these ships' design and operational concepts. Undoubtedly fast, stealthy and with impressive firepower doubts remain as to the Kennedy’s staying power when compared with ships such as the French Suffren. Nevertheless they remain the pride of the USSF.

Acknowledgements

This article is based on the Kennedy class ship described in GDW's 1st Edition 2300 Referee’s Manual and Star Cruiser. The pictures in this article are by Laurent Esmiol and Mark Lucas. Editing by Dan Hebditch.

Narrative

‘Relay the data to the squadron.’ He took a breath, ‘and to the Foudroyant and Schleswig. Request a video link with all their skippers.’ The screen told a worrying tale – three Bug battle cruisers and possibly over 60 missiles.

Human forces in-system amounted to his ship, the Reagan, a British destroyer, the three frigates - one each from Australia, France and Germany, and a hodgepodge of auxiliaries of little military value. On the positive side they had nearly 50 missiles between them. The Ronnie was undoubtedly the most powerful warship in-system, but with Gsell in charge of the human forces her speed and striking power were going to be restricted by the need to coordinate with the other ships. The fate of the Sanchez was at the forefront of the minds of the crew. However they all knew that if the system was to hold they would have to at the forefront of the resistance.

The human warships began to maneuver, moving quickly away from Adlerhorst and out towards the edge of the system. Defensive alerts were now sounding across orbit and the world’s surface. One by one the multinational group of Captains called in. As the final one joined Gsell had made his decision and informed them of the plan that would take them into battle.            

Above: Kennedy in the Sol system prior to the dispatch of CruDiv1 to the French Arm (USSF Information Command)(Laurent Esmiol)

Index

Historical Background

Development

Organisation

John F. Kennedy class Fast Missile Carrier

Hyde Dynamics Model 14 "One-Mission Definite Kill" Semi-Independent Missile

Hyde Dynamics Model 5 "Scout" Sensor Drone

Technical Notes

Sources

America has had a long history in space, being the first to walk on Luna before the Twilight War, and the first to develop a reusable spacecraft. Despite this head start America does not dominate space, as the experiences of the Twilight War and subsequent recovery had made her less willing to get involved in international affairs preferring to concentrate on ensuring domestic prosperity. Indeed America was slow to reactivate her manned space programme. 

However the invention of the Stutterwarp Drive by the European Space Agency eventually revitalised the traditional American frontier wanderlust. The colony of Tirania came first, but its cold corporatism failed to exite the American public. Deep space exploration of what would become the American Arm proved much more popular, but in reality most of the people were happy staying home in prosperous North America and the US has one of the lower colonial populations of the starfaring powers.  

The United States Space Force was formed shortly after the foundation of Tirania but only became an independent service in 2211. It has concentrated for much of its history on in-system defence work of US assets in the core but increasingly with long range deployments to the American Arm. The increasing trend of piracy on the Chinese Arm gave the USSF a chance to develop its skills which was to come in handy with upsurge of privateering during the Central Asian War.   

INDEX

Development

Above: Original concept design model of the Kennedy (USSF Procurement Command)(Mark Lucas)

In the early 2280’s American foreign policy changed from one of isolationism to that of engagement. Congress authorised the building of a new ‘Great White Fleet’. Loren Fryer, a Trilon subsidiary, won the contract for a new large warship against stiff competition. Their Kennedy class was developed to fill the both the roles of a long range raider and a main line combat vessel within the USSF. Although the European navies split these functions, the USSF felt it could combine them successfully. 

She was to carry a large number of missiles, 20, more than any previous USSF warship. The primary design requirements were speed and manoeuvrability. The new USSF doctrine stressed manoeuvre superiority and long ranged missile attacks, and close in defences were largely ignored as they would slow the Kennedy down. 

The Kennedy has a fairly boxy hull profile based on work done by the French at the time of her design. This is not intrinsically low RCS but it is composed of some of the latest stealthy materials. She is 70 meters long, and 21 meters in diameter, displacing 12,350 cubic meters (approximately 900 tons of hydrogen). She has two extendible spin boom arms, each of which carries spin quarters. The spin quarters are cramped for a starship and many of the main facilities are in the zero-gravity parts of the vessel. Gravity is maintained at .11G with the arms retracted but rotating during routine operations. When out-system, where the larger profile doesn’t matter, the arms are extended and gravity reaches .21G. 

The main engineering is a 150MW TerraFuse fusion reactor with a life span of 15 years. It powers the SAT Mk.100 Stutterwarp Drive, some earlier models were built with the less efficient Mk.80 and have been upgraded to the new standard since 2295. The standard armament fit includes 10 laser cannon, usually Hyde Dynamics EA-112 but sometimes EA-1000’s. The powerful Simmons SN-526 ‘Long Reach’ active search sensor provides the ship with its eyes and ears. 

The USSF mounted a concerted misinformation campaign in the late 2280’s and early 90’s, designed to make the world think that they had many more ships than they actually did. Each ship was given multiple identities and would routinely change hull names during voyages. It was duly reported that the USSF had up to 20 of these vessels. In fact in the time period concerned they had between 7 and 10. However, with the Kafer War under way, the USSF has apparently come clean, 9 Kennedys are in the USSF Order of Battle as of 1st June 2301, with the next due for delivery in early 2303.

Attritional vs Manoeuvre Warfare

The USSF initially used a very extreme form of manoeuvre doctrine, influenced by their experience in operations against pirates. The ultimate aim of the design is for speed and sensor superiority, anything else is secondary to this. Thus the Kennedy has no armour, no screens and for most of the time her point defence weapons are powered down. The Kennedy operates by locating isolated enemy vessels, driving at high speed and releasing missiles at the opportune moment. Timed correctly, the missile will strike before the enemy sensors have spiked it for the point defence.

 In this manner, US tactics are similar to British or French tactics. However because of its light armour, the Kennedy can find itself in great difficulty if the attack goes wrong. Screening fighters and missiles can rake the ships with fire and a poor commander can misjudge his run, especially if facing an unknown adversary. It was just this that caused the loss of USS Sanchez with all hands in the Arcturus System. 

If executed successfully this tactic has proven very effectively. Kennedys cannot stand in the battle line as a conventional cruiser can, as much as US politicians would like them to, but they often act as ‘cavalry’ for Terran task forces; scouting, screening and providing vanguards and rearguards. Future designs will stress more armour and better survivability but for now the Kennedys’ excellent skippers make the most of the strengths of the design while doing their best to avoid potentially catastrophic close combat.

INDEX

Organisation

Above: The last seconds of the USS Sanchez in the Arcturus system as the crippled ship is scuttled. (USSF Information Command)(Laurent Esmiol)

The USSF organises ships into semi-permanent units to aid the development of team work. Each ‘Division’ usually consists of two ships, although the loss of the Sanchez has meant that CruDiv2 is only operating at half strength. CruDiv5 has detached the Reagan for peacekeeping duties at Vogelheim
 

CruDiv1

After a considerable refit at Beowulf, Graham was ready to take the offensive, but divisions in command caused this plan to be aborted. Consequently CruDiv 1 was at Beowulf when the Kafers made their climatic attack. CruDiv1 was assigned to the newly formed TF Kennedy, reinforced with British and French destroyers, with Spence in command. They were assigned the unenviable task of disrupting the weaker Kafer fleet and keeping them from influencing the battle for as long as possible.

 The 6 ships of this group faced 7 regular Kafer warships, with fighter escorts, in an action which should have been sacrificial. Instead Spence turned it into a victory, using the excellent manoeuvrability of the screening group to lure the Kafers into several fire-pocket ambushes. By the time TF Kennedy linked back into the line, 3 line ships were destroyed and only 2 of the remaining group were combat capable. However this was not without cost, as the Washington was badly hit and only just limped back to the fleet. 

However CruDiv1’s operations were not over as they were re-armed and the Washington jury-rigged back into service ‘held together with spit and sawdust’. Together they took part in Graham’s exploitation attack into Kimanjano that finished the Kafer fleet as a fighting force and destroyed its logistic support. While largely undamaged, Kennedy was out of ordnance and Washington required several months in a major facility back at Earth. After rearming, the Kennedy was assigned command of an all-American hunter-killer group, TF29 with 2 US Cayuga class Close Escorts. For much of the next year, the Kennedy patrolled behind Terran lines, searching for Kafer raiders. Meanwhile Washington was in refit and assigned to the newly formed CruDiv6 with the latest US warship off the line USS Kimberly. CruDiv6 and was sent to the American Arm, spending the next year guarding against a possible Kafer incursion across the Backdoor.

Ultimately Kennedy was involved in joint operations against the final Kafer stronghold on the Eta Bootis finger at DM+36 2393. The Kennedy was joined by the veteran Jefferson on the disbandment of CruDiv2 and was part of TF29 during its operations against this system.

Crew Quality: +2 (Kennedy), +4 (Jefferson), +2 (Washington)

CruDiv2

Moving closer to deliver more effective strikes, the Sanchez was caught by Kafer fighters and had her drive disabled. Pounded to a hulk by Kafer fire, the Sanchez was abandoned with all hands and destroyed with a nuclear warhead to stop the Kafers exploiting her for intelligence. The surviving warship Jefferson returned to Aurore, reporting the loss of the Sanchez and the destruction of Alpha-3. 

The Jefferson was still stationed in the Eta Bootis system two years later when reports came in of an attack at Hochbaden from the French merchant Beau Soliel. Racing to engage the enemy, leaving only a small force of converted auxiliaries and the returning Australian squadron behind, Jefferson was at the vanguard of the counterattack. The epic of the 3rd Battle of Hochbaden saw the chance of victory sway first one way, then the other before the Kafers finally triumphed. Jefferson and her two escorts were heavily engaged and the Temptress almost lost.

 The Jefferson became intimately caught up in the course of the siege of Eta Bootis that was one of the defining episodes of the war. On her return from Hochbaden she was thrown into Rear Admiral Borodin’s successful ambush at Laodaemon and then his cruiser raid on Arcturus. This successful series of action restored some initiative to the human force following the loss of the Tallyrand at 3rd Hochbaden. However at the end of this intense period munitions supplies were running very low across the fleet, however the Jefferson had access to the doomed Sanchez’s stockpile leaving it the only fully armed warship in Borodin’s Fleet.

In this period Kafer ships were constantly transiting the system. This made it very dangerous, especially for ships near Aurore as the nearby FTL shelf gave hardly any warning of attack. One transiting ship was successful tagged back to the DM+18 2776 by the frigate USS Spitfire. After several more unsuccessful probes of Hochbaden and Arcturus, the Jefferson took part in Borodin’s raid on the DM+18 2776, which finally confirmed the existence of a Kafer base in-system, but could not ultimately locate it.

The major actions of the Kafer War mainly moved into the Beta Canum Cluster until Christmas Day 2301, when 16 Kafer ships of Task Force Victor under ‘Smasher of Skull’entered the system and engaged Borodin’s Aurore fleet. They were repulsed with the loss of 2 Betas and 2 Epsilons but the human fleet was effectively finished with almost all their arms expended. However they were saved by the arrival of the relief force on 5 January 2301 with fresh ships, but most importantly with new loads of munitions.

Less than a week later the ‘Three Battles’ of Eta Bootis commenced, with major Kafer elements closing on all sides in an attempt to smash the depleted defenders. The first group was TF Victor, arriving on the 12th, Borodin deployed his light forces in three successive lines falling back while harassing the enemy until bringing his heavy ships up to finish the job, sending Bismarck and Heavy elements including Jefferson in pursuit.

The second group, TF Whiskey was ambushed in the rings Laodaemon, destroying the lead Delta Echo of Sorrow. Before the fleet could pursue the broken Kafers the final group, TF Yankee from Hochbaden arrived, and were eventually dealt with in a stand up fight ending on 15 January. Aurore was effectively secured after seven months of siege and Jefferson was stood down for a much needed refit. Following the Battle of Beowulf, CruDiv2 was dissolved, and Jefferson sent to round out CruDiv1. The Jefferson’s story, rivalled only by the Columbia as the most renowned American warship,  is continued there.

Crew Quality: +4

CruDiv3

Captain Douglas Blake was the junior commander of CruDiv3 at the time, but his superior, Rear Admiral Pat Yokum was to be reassigned to the newly built USS Columbia. Blake was promoted O-7 (Rear Admiral) and placed in command of the division, the youngest USSF Division Commander this century. The immediate problems facing him was that he was ordered not to take a sub-ordinate position to the French or German Divisions hunting the Kafer, and the British were going something else on their own. The USSF Officer Corps’ belief in their own superiority and that of their ships also led to a sense of false superiority over the other nations. These factors led to conflicts over courses of action, and the various contingents co-operated poorly.

In April the human forces had sorted out many of their problems and had been substantially reinforced. To improve things, the French had destroyed one of the raiders supply ships in Hochbaden space. The US had sent the 1st Scout Division, their elite intelligence gathering group consisting of the scoutships Retief, Flandry,and Falkenberg supported by the transport Hanford. These ships allowed the Terran forces to track the Lone Wolf and finally engage her at Beta Canum, crippling her. Unfortunately attempts to board her went wrong when the remaining Kafers set off a self-destruct device, killing over 100 French FUVOLMARS marines. 

Returning to Earth, CruDiv3 was in refit when the Invasion commenced. Leaving refit in November, they were assigned to show the flag on the American Arm and protect US interests there.

Crew Quality: +3

CruDiv4

CruDiv4 was retained at Earth as a final reserve for most of the war until new of the victory at Beowulf was received. With the immediate threat over, the US was free to launch forward this grouping into battle. Graham assigned them to the Britannia Battle Group with the Reserve Fleet, from whence they were the vanguard of advances into several still hostile star systems up arm. 

Crew Quality: +2

This division started the Invasion divided. The Reagan was with the Vogelheim peacekeeping forces, while Lincoln was back at Earth. Reagan was first engaged in combat on the 8 July 2301 when 3 Kafer Beta class vessels attacked the Vogelheim colony. Captain Gsell of the Reagan co-ordinated the activities of the 5 ships in-system and managed to inflict a shock defeat on the Kafers, destroying one Beta and damaging the other two so badly they withdrew from the system.  

Things changed the next month as the French 3e Flotte reinforced with British and German Squadrons entered the system under the command of Vice-Amiral Rochemont. News from Aurore had reached him and he intended to launch a counterattack on Hochbaden with the aim of relieving the Terran Forces at Eta Bootis. His attack did not go well and he was forced to retreat from Hochbaden, the Kafers mounting a pursuit which was defeated at Vogelheim with the aid of the warships of the peacekeeping force. 

Shortly thereafter, the squadron was reinforced by the Lincoln and the British Cruiser HMS Trafalgar. Adlerhorst was probed in November but this was merely a distraction to keep the Vogelheim forces tied down during the battles of this period. The next major action was an assault by TF Yankee, which cost the defenders the Schleswig and the Kafers three Epsilons. This was merely a screening action for an attack by TF Zulu through the Grosshiddenfaden system which fell victim to a carefully coordinated ambush.

Following the victory at Grosshiddenfaden Rochemont led a successful a counterattack at Joi, landed troops on Crater, recaptured Beta Canum orbit and landed troops there. CruDiv5 took part in most of these actions and was part of the defence group for the landing ships at Beta Canum and carried between them the 4th US Marine Raiders. They continued to operate as an integral part of Rochemont’s Fleet in the Beta Canum Cluster until relieved after Beowulf. Currently the Division is in refit at Earth.

Crew Quality: +2 (Lincoln), +3 (Reagan)

INDEX

Above: One of the earliest images of the new Kennedy Class ever released. (USSF Information Command)(Laurent Esmiol)

American John F. Kennedy class Fast Missile Carrier

Design Date: 2282

First Example Laid Down: 2282

First Example Completed: 2285

Fleets in Service: America

Number in Service: 9

This design is, however, nearly useless at the more mundane tasks the USSF has to undertake day to day. She's wasted as a convoy escort or pirate hunter, and even exposed to danger as the release of her powerful main ordnance is unlikely, resulting in a knife fight which an illegal has a chance of winning. Smaller vessels can do the job better. Where she excels is as a long range hunter-killer, in fact the Kennedy is surely the finest hunter-killer in any nation’s arsenal. Unfortunately, she is also called upon to undertake line of battle duties, where her lack of protection is a serious flaw.

Performance

Warp efficiency:

Power Plant: 150 MW fusion

Fuel: none

Range: 7.7 light years

Endurance: up to 16 weeks

Mass: 10,927 tons (standard load with external slings empty, 7,504 tons unloaded)

Cargo Capacity: 3,423 cubic meters

Crew: 99 (20 Bridge, 18 TAC, 24 Engineering, 6 small craft and pilots, 27 troops, 4 medical); Passengers: one (squadron commander)

Comfort: 0

Emergency Power: 100 hours

Total Life Support: 100 for 180 days

Cost: MLv232.21, exclusive of small craft or ordnance (Standard Loadout costs MLv341.4)

Ship Status Sheet

Move: 8 (9 unloaded)

Screens: 0

Radiated Signature: 4(7)

Radial Reflected: 6

Lateral Reflected: 8

Target Computers: +2

Radial Profile: 0

Lateral Profile: +2

Armour: 0

Hull hits: 59

Power Plant Hits: 100

Active: 15

Passive: 10

Manoeuvrability: 3

Other: 2 External Magnetic Slings

 
Weapons

10 x1+1 lasers in masked turrets with UTES (4x1234, 4x1678, 1x3456, 1x4567)

Ordnance Load

20 SIM-14 missiles in 4 bays, 4 missile communicator

2 external slings with HD-5 drones (these slings may alternatively carry a FS-17A fighter each, a lander each or a missile pack with 3 missiles each.), one (or two) dedicated communicator(s)

 
Sensors and Electronics:

Spherical Active-15
Spherical Passive-10
Navigation Radar
DSS
Gravitational

Crew Hits:
Bridge: Captain, Navigator, Helm, 3 Engineer, 2 Communications, 2 Computer
TAC: 10 Fire Control, 4 Remote Pilot (Missiles), 2 Remote Pilot (Drone)/ Flight Control, Active Operator, Passive Operator

Damage Control: 12

INDEX

Above: The USS Reagan patrolling the Vogelheim system late in 2301. Note the presence of Rochemont's flagship Richelieu in-system. (USSF Information Command)(Laurent Esmiol)

Appendices

Appendix 1

American Hyde Dynamics SIM-14 Missile

Design Date: 2279

First Example Laid Down: 2279

First Example Completed: 2280

Fleets in Service: America

Number in Service: 828

 
The SIM-14 is the current missile of the USSF. Although expensive, the SIM-14 has been produced in large numbers, and every US warship is safe in the knowledge that an entire ordnance reload is held for them at Earth, something no other major nation can boast. During the Kafer War, it was fortunate that Jefferson has both her reload, and that of the Sanchez to draw on, allowing her to sustain an extremely high tempo of operations at Eta Bootis.

Combat Performance Data

Movement: 7

Radiated Signature: 1

Radial Reflected Signature: 1

Lateral Reflected Signature: 1

Radial Target Profile: -4

Lateral Target Profile: -4

Hull Hits: 1/1/1

Power Plant Hits: 1/1

Armament: one 10x2 detonation laser

Active Sensors: none

Passive Sensors: 8 Forward Looking (Folding)

 
Design Characteristics

Warp Efficiency: 3.4

Power Plant: 0.07 MW Fuel Cell

Fuel: 0.189 tons, sufficient for 8 hours of operation

Mass: 10.4 tons

Length: 14 meters

Diameter: 1 meter

Price: MLv10.97

Bay Volume/Mass: 14 cubic meters

Appendix 2

 
American Hyde Dynamics Model 5 “Scout” Drone

Design Date: 2288

First Example Laid Down: 2288

First Example Completed: 2289

Fleets in Service: America

Number in Service: 40

 
The Scout is deployed on most large USSF ships to provide forward reconnaissance and target solutions way forward of that which the ship can get for itself. USSF practice differs from many other in that each ship is assigned drones permanently rather than on a ‘per mission’ basis.

Combat Performance Data

Movement: 9

Radiated Signature: 4

Radial Reflected Signature: 5

Lateral Reflected Signature: 7

Radial Target Profile: -3

Lateral Target Profile: -2

Hull Hits: 1/1/1

Power Plant Hits: 10/2

Armament: none

Active Sensors: 13 Spherical

Passive Sensors: 10 (Folding)

 
Design Characteristics

Warp Efficiency: 4.63

Power Plant: 10MW MHD Turbine

Fuel: 60 tons, sufficient for 10 hours of operation

Mass: 270 tons

Length: 10 meters

Diameter: 6 meters

Price: MLv61

Bay Volume/Mass: As vehicle, 1,680 cubic meters/ 336 tons of hangar required for fast launch

Appendix 3

Technical Notes

The problem is, the Kennedy is actually a slightly broken design as stands. The above statistics are based on the Kennedy as presented in the Naval Architects Manual, with all the mistakes corrected.

INDEX

Above: A close up picture of the USS Kennedy in the QAS system in early 2302. (Reserve Fleet Media Ops)(Laurent Esmiol)

Appendix 4

Sources

Cayuga-class Close Escort by Clare Hess; http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/2303/mag/cayuga.htm

American Battleship Columbia by Clare Hess; http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/2303/jay/columbia.htm

Lone Wolf by David Nilsen; http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/2303/mag/lonewolf.htm

2300AD Boxed Set

Star Cruiser

Invasion

INDEX

Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Richard G. Spence USSF was strapped into his command station on the bridge of the USS John F. Kennedy, distantly daydreaming. CruDiv 1 was covering the approaches to Kimanjano from BCB while the bulk of the Task Group concentrated on lifting as many soldiers from the surface of Kimanjano as they could before they were overrun.

The ambitious Spence knew his moment had come, licking his lips he anticipated contact with the enemy and a glorious victory for his country, ship and himself;‘Helm take us towards them, 50% power. Signal Washington to keep formation, prepare four fish for launch, weapons tight. Have our fighters close on the sierras and report.”As the crew moved to bring the ship to full battle readiness, four FS-19 fighters of 5th Space Fighter Squadron ‘Helldivers’ surged forward. Kafer Foxtrot fighters moved out to meet them, clashing with lances of invisible light, coherent X-rays punching through space trying to meet their targets. Came the tell tale detonations as the Helldivers submunition warheads detonated, smashing 2 of the Kafer fighters. One US fighter slipped through the Kafer screen, lighting up her active array and scanning the enemy capital ships, the tightbeam datalink repeating the information on the screens of the Kennedy.

‘Sir, Confirm Master contacts, designating one Alpha, one Beta, four Foxtrots as Master 1 to 6, confirming four more Master contacts, missiles sir, going for our fighters.’ ‘Okay, full power, weapons online. They haven’t got weapons lock on us yet. Launch four fish, concentrate on Master-1, tell Washington to do likewise.’ Seconds later, two American fighters were slashed down by focused light, one terminal, while the full fury of the American missiles were spent on the hull of Alpha-45.

Extract from ‘ENTENTE – The Miracle of Kimanjano’ (Oxford University Press, 2305)

Below: Another of the early images of the class. Some say that the second ship is just a manipulated image and that only one ship was in service at the time this picture was released. However due to the USSF's misinformation campaign the truth of this assertion has not been revealed. (USSF Information Command)(Laurent Esmiol)