Xanthos (Individual Black Lion-class WarShip)

Revision as of 14:30, 3 May 2013 by BrokenMnemonic (talk | contribs) (Added clarification on ship class plus detail from FM:FWL, FM:U, JHS:3070 and J:FR.)
Xanthos
Vessel Profile
Previous namesNelson
TypeWarShip
ClassBlack Lion

History

The Black Lion-class battlecruiser[1] SLS Nelson was the winner of the Best WarShip category of the 2732 Martial Olympiad.[2]

In 2764 the Nelson was serving was the flagship of Vice Admiral Dudley Spencer, the commanding officer of 161st Line Squadron within the Star League Defense Force Sixteenth Fleet.[1]

The Nelson played a valuable part in the Amaris Civil War, taking heavy damage in the battle to liberate Oliver; the crew of the Nelson managed to nurse her as far as SLDF fleet station in the Castor system, only for the SLDF command to declare that the Nelson wasn't considered a viable candidate for repair. As a result of this decision the Nelson was scuttled and abandoned in a long elliptical orbit around Castor.[3]

While the Nelson's career with the SLDF was over, it wasn't the last time the doughty ship would see military service; after the fall of the Star League the Nelson was located by ComStar but was left where she had been found due to the amount of work that was believed to be required to return her to active service. The Free Worlds League later became aware of the location of the Nelson thanks to information provided by the Word of Blake, who had relocated to the League after the schism within ComStar and who had decided to assist the League in its WarShip rearmament programme. The Blakists had helped the League locate twenty-two assorted derelict WarShips by 3059, of which the Nelson was one;[4] a salvage team from the Free Worlds League salvaged the Nelson in 3058 and moved her to Ionus, where she underwent more than two years of renovation work in the secret Illium Shipyards to return her to operational status.[3]

The Nelson represented the single greatest catch of the Free Worlds League's secret reclamation programme, and went on to serve in the League's black water navy under the designation FWLS Xanthos.[3] As late as the eve of the Jihad in 3067 the Xanthos was still the only battlecruiser in service with the Free Worlds League.[5]

In 3069 the Xanthos was suborned by the Word of Blake, a fate that befell a substantial number of League WarShips; the Xanthos was subsequently destroyed in the Shiloh system in 3070 along with the the Aegis-class heavy cruiser WoBS Impetuous by the Eagle-class frigates FWLS Galahad and FWLS Lancelot and the Agamemnon-class heavy cruiser FWLS Menelaus.[6][7]

Notes

“ Hello,

The SLS Nelson was a Black Lion-class. Field Manual: SLDF was in error.

Thank you,

Herbert Beas
BattleTech
Catalyst Game Labs

”
  — Herbert Beas, BattleTech Line Developer, 02 Oct 2012

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Field Manual: SLDF, p. 198, "161st Line Squadron"
  2. ↑ The Star League, p. 135, "Martial Olympiad Champions 2640-2736"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 119, "Renovation/Construction"
  4. ↑ Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 116, "Aid From The Word of Blake"
  5. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 144, "Ships Of The FWL"
  6. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, pp. 108-109 & Blake Ascending, pp. 268-269 "Fleet Advisory: Shiloh"
  7. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 128, "Captured Ships"

Bibliography

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