KDY Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

KM/H KDY Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

The EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate was a 300-meter-long warship that was built by Kuat Drive Yards for use by the Imperial Navy, to protect convoys from Rebel Alliance starfighter actions. It was, however, used more famously by the Rebellion.

Characteristics
The standard Nebulon-B frigate was armed with twelve turbolasers, twelve laser cannons, and two tractor beam projectors. It was designed to carry twenty-four TIE series starfighters.

While generally well-armed for a vessel of that size, its midsection connecting spar was a vulnerability. It could be split open by concentrated heavy weapons fire, venting the frigate's atmosphere and killing most of the crew.

History
The EF76 was introduced as a counter-insurgency ship after the Clone Wars. It largely phased out the Class-C frigate. The Nebulon-B was originally designed to defend Imperial convoys against raids by Rebel starfighters, as the Imperial Navy wasn't keen on the idea of relegating its expensive Imperial-class Star Destroyers to escort duty, and the CR90 corvettes were too weak and carried few, if any, TIE Fighters.

The EF76 was used extensively by both sides in the Galactic Civil War. The frigate was known and respected for its efficiency against fighters and bombers, and its anti-fighter assignment in Imperial convoys had an immediate impact, causing the Rebels to reconsider their hyperspace raids after suffering irreplaceable losses in fighters and pilots. They were also often used to support larger capital ships, such as Imperial-class Star Destroyers and Rebel Mon Calamari Star Cruisers.

In their starfleets, Imperial Admirals Thrawn and Demetrius Zaarin often used Nebulon-B frigates as command ships in lieu of the standard Star Destroyer.

Rebel Usage
Before the formal founding of the Rebel Alliance, the escort frigate Resurgence, was used by the Alderaanian Resistance forces allied with Alya Aldrete and Bail Organa.

The Rebel Alliance also acquired a number of these ships through defection, capturing them in battle, or by outright theft. The Rebels were not the only ones beyond the Empire to acquire Nebulon-B frigates. It was rumored that Kuat Drive Yards would sell the frigates to interested third parties through secret fronts so as not to upset the Imperial Navy. The sale price was 19,400,000 credits, cited as a twentieth of the cost of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer.

The Rebels were able to find other uses for the ships which took advantage of their sophisticated sensors and deep-space multifrequency antennas. Escort frigates were used as long-range scouts, search and rescue ships, or to relay information to command ships during battle. In small, shorthanded, Rebel task forces, Nebulon-B frigates often served as command ships.

All available Rebel Nebulon-B frigates were deployed at the Battle of Endor, where they took a pivotal part in the battle.

Variants
The Rebels converted some of their Nebulon-B frigates into medical vessels, which served as mobile hospitals. Weaponry and hangar space was sacrificed to make room for treatment facilities, 15 bacta tanks, 745 beds, and other hospital suites. The crew was slightly modified to included an additional 80 medical personnel and 30 medical droids (such as the 2-1B model). These ships could not carry any fighters, and their armament was reduced to 6 turbolasers (with computer-assisted targeting) and 8 laser cannons. The most famous medical frigate was the Redemption, where Luke Skywalker was treated for his injuries suffered on Cloud City.

Kuat Drive Yards eventually produced an improved version of the Nebulon-B, the Nebulon-B2 frigate. They were similar overall, but had higher sublight speed, improved shields and hull armor, a thicker connecting spar, and additional weaponry.

Following the Battle of Endor, Kuat Drive Yards followed up on its successful Nebulon-B design with a new starship class, the 275 meter-long Corona-class frigate. Corona-class frigates were produced solely for the New Republic. Due to the fact that Corona frigates were not part of the New Republic's New Class Modernization Program, orders for the ships remained modest. A number of them served in the Corellian Defense Force during the Second Galactic Civil War.

At least one EF76 was used to make up a secret retreat in 137 ABY. The criminal organization Black Sun used such a frigate around this time, where it was stationed near Vigo Lun Rask's tibanna gas platform headquarters over Kaer. At least one was used during the Evacuation of Dac.

RPG D6 Stats
Craft: KDY Nebulon-B Frigate

Type: Escort Starship

Scale: Capital

Length: 300 meters

Skill: Capital Ship Piloting: Nebulon-B

Crew: 854, gunners: 66, skeleton: 307/+10

Crew Skill: Astrogation 3D, Capital Ship Gunnery 4D+1, Capital Ship Piloting 3D+2, Capital Ship Shields 3D, Sensors 3D+1, Starship Gunnery 4D+1

Passengers: 75 (troops)

Cargo Capacity: 6000 metric tons

Consumables: 2 years

Cost: Not available for sale

Hyperdrive Multiplier: x2

Hyperdrive Backup: x12

Nav Computer: Yes

Maneuverability: 1D

Space: 4

Atmosphere: 560; 1,600 KMH

Hull: 3D+2

Shields: 2D

Sensors: Weapons:
 * Passive 40/0D
 * Scan 75/1D
 * Search 150/3D
 * Focus 4/4D+2

12 Turbolaser Batteries

Fire Arc: 6 front, 3 left, 3 right

Crew: 1 (2), 2 (8), 4 (2)

Skill: Capital ship gunnery

Fire Control: 3D

Space Range: 3-15/35/75

Atmosphere Range: 6-130/70/150KM

Damage: 4D

12 Laser Cannons

Fire Arc: 6 front, 2 left, 2 right, 2 back

Crew: 1 (8), 2 (4)

Skill: Capital ship gunnery

Fire Control: 2D

Space Range: 1-3/12/30

Atmosphere Range: 2-6/24/50KM

Damage: 2D

2 Tractor Beam Projectors

Fire Arc: Front

Crew: 12

Skill: Capital ship gunnery

Fire Control: 2D

Space Range: 1-5/15/30

Atmosphere Range: 2-10/30/60KM

Damage: 4D

Starfighter Compliment:
 * 24 TIE Series Starfighters
 * 5+ Troop Shuttles
 * 5+ Boarding Shuttles