San Juan Frigate

*Not to be confused with the Allied Subhunter Frigate.*

 **Key Features** | »76mm Anti-Air Gun Turret»RIM-16A Mongol SAM Tubes»*"Willie"* Steamboat Engine»Pelican Subhunter Tiltrotor»*"Bounty of the Oceans"* display (too big to remove)

*"Time to teach the Allies a whole new lesson."*

- Frigate captain

## Tactical Analysis

* **Today's forecast, cloudless:** The Frigate is armed with a 76mm AA turret that can tear through the thickest of aircraft armor and bring the largest of blimps crashing to earth. The turret is also able to track smaller aircraft, ensuring that no bird gets past the Frigate alive. For slower helicopters it is equipped with surface to air missiles.

* **Explosives Away!:** Each Frigate is also equipped with a single Pelican Subhunter, which the Continentals have repurposed to drop oil filled barrels on the target area. When struck by fire, these barrels will explode in a violent fashion, with predictable consequences for all those caught in the blast.

* **It's moving too fast to track!:** The Frigate may be powerful, but it is ineffective against fast targets and heavy capital ships, leaving the Frigate open to retaliation from these targets.

* **Joining the Modern Age:** Elite Frigate crews have been known to be transferred to *Raytheon*-class Frigates, which happen to have Patriot missile systems in place of the old 76mm AA turret mount, increasing the Frigate's already impressive effectiveness against aircraft.

## Combat Log of USS Skyclearer

*Excerpt from the Raytheon-Class Frigate USS Skyclearer's combat log during a patrol of the United States southern coast.*

**Commander Walter Bailey (Ship Captain)** : "Radar, clear up that signal, we can't watch the skies if you're getting interference from every tropical storm moving through the Gulf *(of Mexico)*."

**Petty Officer Forest Rednour (Radar Operator)** : "Aye aye, sir. *(Sound of the Skyclearer's radar frequency being shuffled)* There we go sir, I've isolated the upper atmospheric effect of the tropical storm rolling towards Texas, we might not be able to see as high up, but at least we aren't blind."

**Senior Petty Officer James Williams (Weapon Systems Officer)** : "Keep your eyes sharp Red, we don't need those Allied tyrants getting the drop on us in our home waters, they'd love to knock out one of our Raytheon-Class Frigates!"

**Chief Petty Officer Samuel Felton (Helmsman)** : "The Allies aren't "tyrants", Will, stop embellishing and focus on your duty, otherwise the Allies might just sink one of our Raytheon-Class Frigates with you yammering away."

**Bailey :** "Enough you two! We're one of the best Frigate crews in the Confederacy, so can you at least try to act like it once in awhile! Helmsman, change our heading to 1-0-0 degrees, we need to get some distance from the coastline, we don't need a bunch of TB-1s giving us a surprise visit like on the East Coast."

**Felton** : "Aye aye, sir. Change heading to 1-0-0 degrees, maintain current speed."

**Rednour** : "Commander, I'm getting returns on my radar scope! *(The sound of contacts can be heard from the Radar station)* I'm seeing about 8 positive contacts...two different profiles, four each, flying towards our coast from the Gulf."

**Bailey** : "Any idea on what aircraft we're dealing with here, Rednour? Are they Allies?"

**Rednour** : "Negative sir! Their speed is too slow for jet aircraft. *(The Radar station's teleprinter springs to life)* Hold on, sir...the computer puts them as YaK-5s and...Rascal dive bombers? Sir, they can't be ours, there's nothing out here for them to do!"

**Williams** : "Permission to mark them as hostiles, Commander!"

**Bailey** : "Permission granted, Williams, if they aren't ours, they aren't friendly. Helmsman, change to Combat Speed, adjust heading to 1-4-5 degrees!"

**Felton** : "Aye aye, sir! Speed to Combat, adjust heading to 1-4-5 degrees!"

**Williams** : "Aye aye, sir, radar contacts now marked as hostiles!"

**Bailey** : "Confirmed! *(The sound of the shipboard PA turning on can be heard)* This is the Captain speaking, all crew to General Quarters! Prepare for hostile contact!"

**Rednour** : "The computer has firing solutions on all 8 radar contacts, we're clear to fire!"

**Williams** : "Confirmed firing solutions on all hostiles, awaiting permission to fire!"

**Bailey** : "Fire!"

**Williams** : "Aye aye, sir! Firing!"

*(The dull rumble of the RIM-14A Patriots and RIM-16A Mongols leaving their launch tubes and lancing into the sky is heard)*

**Williams** : "Missiles away! Missiles away!"

**Rednour** : "Confirmed launch, they are all tracking clean and true! Contact in 5 seconds!"

*(The old Rascals and YaKs have no way of detecting they had just been fired upon, their first and last warning is the supersonic warheads exploding in and near their targets.)*

**Williams** : "I'm getting 8 positive impacts, no misses!"

**Rednour** : "I confirm, all hostiles fading from radar, confirmed splashes!"

*(The sounds of cheers from the bridge crew and general crew can be heard around the ship)*

**Bailey** : "Good work men, we've done the Confederacy proud this day! Send word to Command that we have pirates in these parts *(pause)* tell them that the USS Skyclearer will defend these skies!"

## History

With the introduction of the *Hispanolia*-class hydrofoil, the ***San Juan*-class Frigate** (and to a lesser extent, its Patriot Missile System equipped sister class, the *Raytheon*-class) were obsolete, despite their helipad capability. Given their large deck space, they were converted into museum ships instead of being scrapped. Much of the machinery was left inside preserved with cryotechnology, while outer deck and choice rooms inside were converted into displays, multimedia presentations, and gift shops. Spread liberally across ports throughout Allied nations, all people from the young and old could visit these ships and learn about the war, the ocean, and the world in general. The Continentals thought differently. Though they respected the veterans of old, they also needed their skies clear of Allied aggressors.

To that end, they sent entire reservations worth of Thieves to steal these floating museums. Masquerading as lost children and school groups, they infiltrated these ships and disabled the cryotechnic preservers with a hammer, before cutting the moorings and pushing off, where pre-hijacked tugs pushed them to friendly anchorages. A similar system used on Destroyers was used to power the Frigate, though due to the helipad, the paddle wheels had to be put on the sides. Soon, the Frigate was able to bring down Allied airplanes that foolishly flew over water. The *San Juan'*s were given freely to whatever crew wanted it, but the more complex *Raytheon* were only assigned to elite crews, who exchanged the ships as soon as they were judged worthy of it.

 File:Pelican.jpg
The helipads presented an opportunity to further the Frigate's usefulness. Trials were held using Hawkers and Longbows, but both proved useless due to the inability to supply these quick firing aircraft (though Hawker pilots had a desire to stay on the frigates due to the number of males in close proximity, presumably to find a boyfriend, have some “fun”, and/or patriotic fervour). Instead, the answer literally came flying when a group of young patriots stole most of the fleet of Pelican Subhunters from their poorly guarded reserve base. These originally Canadian tiltrotors were intended to be mounted on the back of helipad equipped *Ironclad*-class destroyers, but the project was scrapped with the introduction of the *Michell*-class. The Continentals' Frigates proved an ideal platform for these helicopters, and the only question left was what to arm the Pelicans with. Strangely enough, the Continentals decided on oil filled drums that would explode when fired upon. Though highly unconventional, the innocuous appearance of these barrels has allowed them to evade the notice of many an Allied ship until it is too late.

## Behind the Scenes

* The Frigate's Pelican appears to be inspired by the RA2 Destroyer while the heroic upgrade is similar to the weaponry of the RA2 Aegis Cruiser.