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Ushton class
Type: Heavy Freighter
Designation: LHC
Scale: Capital Cargoship
Designed by: SubPro
Built at: Victoria Drydocks, Caspar
Sim Status: Coded; 4,550,000 credits
Statistics & Specifications
Length: 400 meters
Landing Cap: Yes
Engines: ProThrust Ursa PL.8 Type II
Power Grid: Polaris
Crew: 100
Accommodation: 200
Cargo Cap: 4000 metric tons
Consumables: 1 year
Hyperdrive: Primary- x6 | Backup- x20
Space Speed: 40
Manuverability: 0D
Sensors, Detection, & Ranging
Standard: 800 | Focus: 50 | Passive: 200
Combat Capabilities
Hull: 828
Shields: 162
Gunnery: 10 x Turbolaser batteries (single)
Launch Tubes: 2 x Torplex CMLTs
Tractor Beams: 1 x tractor beam projector
Flight Operations
Hangar Space: 100
Craft: Utility, transport, or dropship
Additional Resources
Full Stat Sheet: Available

Lumbering through the spacelanes, an Ushton is a monstrosity of commerce. It is one of the few blueprints that SubPro revived and continued producing once the company relocated to Caspia, although not many are produced in a given year. Instead, SubPro has been taking these hulks in one at a time and giving them complete overhauls, then re-leasing them or selling them on the open market. The revitalized Ushtons have been enjoying much more hospitable interiors, more efficient cargo handling machinery and equipment, and more reliable hyperdrives. Unfortuneately, it was discovered that the internal structure of the Ushton would not be able to handle multiple hyperspace cycles of speeds exceeding 6-times-factor unless reinforced. That process would cost considerably more, and require additional time to do, such that SubPro decided to not undertake the option. So, as a compromise, the new hyperdrives are capable of going faster than 6-times-factor, but have a governor embedded into them. To remove the governor and increase its hyperdrive capability, a leasee or owner would opt for giving the Ushton a structural upgrade first.

While it may not be fast, the Ushton more than makes up for it in sheer volume it carries. It's equally adept at landing on prepared planetary offloading facilities, or taking on ferry barges to offload its cargo while in orbit. The latter feature is courtesy of the Caspian Navy, which turned the CCS Forbearant into a rather adequate assault supply ship by cutting a large "starpool" hangar bay in the underside of the ship. The Naval engineers installed a new innovation they call "softdecks" into this space, such that a transport's or barge's loading and unloading process is highly expedited, without burdening the handling crew with zero-G gear or specialized machinery. The Navy used this to great success, and even went so far as to implement it as a standard feature on future refits undertaken by SubPro. This was demonstrated in the construction of CMS Trenchant, which was classified as an LHC (Landing-Harbor-Cargo) by the Navy, and served as the archetype for further assault & logistic ship developments. Trenchant served for three years before being phased out and sold to a commercial entity, with all her military hardware removed and the name struck from the board.

Ushtons in general, though, saw an upsweep in demand. If not for brand new builds, there was certainly a substantial amount of requests for restoration of vessels, some still in service from the days of the Old Republic! It's been the sentiment among several commercial directors and ship captains alike, that while it may not be much to look at, nothing can beat an Ushton when alot of "it" has to get "there" in the safest manner possible.

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