Community Vessel Landing Ship

The Community Defence Forces of Sober Thought have landing ships with tri-service personnel. They are specifically designed for amphibious assaults and medium-sized humanitarian aid mission. For major troop transports not under threat of attack, the CDF Naval Service uses much larger transports.

The Naval Service commissions nine landing ships in each population wave of one hundred million citizens. Their hull numbers are L-1 through L-9 in the first wave, L-10 through L-18 in the second, etc., and bear concurrent names beginning with the letter L.

Design

The design of the landing ship was inspired by the British-built and Arab-operated Brooke Marine 93 m class assault ship and the United States Navy Wasp class assault ship-helicopter carriers. Three views illustrate its features.

The side view shows, from stern to bow, anti-aircraft missiles, the superstructure with bridge on top note roundel, aircraft hanger doors, HTN-55 Hortense, HU-70 Huo, HG-9 Hugo, FG-22 Flaget, dual purpose 40 mm guns, dual purpose 150 mm gun, anchor and bow doors. The diesel engines vent their exhaust through inverted J-shaped funnels located behind the bridge tower and bookending the communications tower. Note the identification markings, the roundel on the bridge tower and the hull number below the gun turret.

The head-on view shows the bow doors opened ready to disembark, clockwise from top left, an armoured personnel carrier, an armoured command vehicle, two APCs and four tanks. An elevator lowers up to four vehicles at a time. One 40 mm gun turret is turned, and the other and the 150 mm turrets are facing forward. Note the side view of the funnels.

The sectioned head-on view, cut in front of the hangar, shows the air traffic control tower below the bridge (which can also do ATC). The hangar doors are open to show single-rotor HU-70 Huo and doube-rotor HTN-55 Hortense helicopters.

Naval component

The Naval Service component which is necessary to operate the ship consists of 100 crew of all ranks. It provides the overall mission commanding officer, a Vice Commander or Chief Lieutenant. A Chief Lieutenant would command a relief mission consisting of bulk goods or shipping containers that require only some stevedores and a few marines for force protection. A Vice Commander or Commander would command a personnel-heavy relief mission. A Vice Commander would command a beach assault mission with a full marine contingent and composite air squadron.

The Chief Lieutenant is the commanding officer of the naval component, in addition to whatever overall command he or she may have, and is directly responsible for all 100 seafarers on board. The executive officer is a Lieutenant, and is the de facto captain if the Lieutenant is also mission commanding officer. The Bridge Section consists of 6 officers and 21 other ranks including the CO and XO. The seafarers navigate the ship; communicate with other vessels, aircraft and shore installations; and operate aerial, surface and weather sensors.

The Naval Engineering Section, responsible for the physical plant and most especially the engines, consists of 4 officers and 30 other ranks under a Lieutenant. The Naval Support Section, responsible for the "human plant" -- feeding and otherwise caring for all people aboard -- consists of 10 all ranks under a Vice Lieutenant.

The Naval Weapons Section consists of 4 officers and 25 other ranks under a Lieutenant. It is responsible for all the guns and missiles permanently attached to the ship itself, disregarding the weapons of the Air Service and Land Service components. A turret with a 150 mm gun is near the bow is flanked by two twin 40 mm guns, all of which can be used for air defence and ground support. One anti-aircraft missile battery is located on either side of the stern. There is no naval defence against submarines, this role being unnecessary for peaceful missions and provided by escorting frigates or destroyers for warlike missions.

Air component

The CDF naval aviation component consists of up to sixteen aircraft, but it may be reduced or eliminated if extra cargo or passenger space is needed for the particular mission. Unlike the air component on frigates or destroyers, this air component is primarily or exclusively designed to support the land component and not defend the naval component against submarine attacks

The flight deck located amidships, fore of the bridge superstructure and aft of the bow gun emplacements. The hangar is located fore of the bridge and can house two to five aircraft, depending what size they are.

The CDF Air Service component normally consists of a composite squadron commanded by a Chief Lieutenant in the following configuration:

• one ground flight of headquarters and maintenance personnel
• one airplane flight with two FG-22 Flaget or F-22 Faith V/STOL jet airplanes
• one ground support flight with four HG-9 Hugo helicopters
• one transport flight of two HT-55 Hatty/HTN-55 Hortense helicopters and two HU-70 Huo land helicopters.

Land component

Like their air counterparts, the CDF Land Service provides a sliding scale of troops ranging from zero to a demi-brigade, depending on the mission. Thus, the component commanding officer ranges from a Vice Lieutenant to a Commander.

Cargo-heavy humanitarian missions frequently require no land presence or perhaps only a token platoon. Passenger-heavy humanitarian mission typically require a battalion or composite battalion of engineering, maintenance, transport or medical troops.

If the landing itself is unopposed, the landing ship can embark up to a brigade of marine light infantry without portions of its non-combattant troops. If fully equipped, up to a demi-brigade could fit with all its soft skinned vehicles. If tasked for an amphibious assault, the landing ship can embark a full battalion of armour or armoured infantry.