A series that explains the mechanics of battleships and other ships that appear in the rebooted version of the Space Battleship Yamato series from Yamato 2199 to REBEL 3199. The sixth installment is a detailed explanation of the Asuka-class supply carrier Asuka, which appeared in Yamato 2205 and fought in the absence of Yamato, including the operation to stop the progress of the Grand Reverse, the subsequent recovery of the crew of the former 65th Escort Squadron, and the transfer of the crew to the Icarus Observatory.
by Yuka Minagawa
● Specifications and performance
Type: Supply carrier
Length: 278m
Height: 98m
Width: 56.5m
Main engine: Dimensional Wave Motion Engine x 1
Auxiliary engine: Kelvin Impulse Engine, 2-shaft nozzle (rear combined nozzle) x 2
Kelvin Impulse Engine, 4-shaft nozzle (bottom combined nozzle) x 1
Landing craft and aircraft: The type and number of craft and aircraft varies depending on the ship.
General-purpose transport aircraft SC97 (Cosmo Seagull), internal fireboat, Cosmo Tiger II, Cosmo Python, Cosmo Hound
(only Asuka can carry them)
● Artillery weapons
30.5 cm triple-barreled convergent compression shock wave turret x 2
Six-barreled large energy cannon (bridge cannon, top of conning tower)
Quadruple anti-ship grenade launcher x 2 both sides of bow)
Small torpedo tubes x 4 (both sides of bow)
Medium torpedo tubes x 8 both sides of bow)
Missile tubes x 8 (bottom of ship)
Shock field cannon x 12 (both sides of bow)
Multi-barreled missile launcher x 12 (both sides of bow)
Conning tower protection shock field cannon x 3 units (front and base of conning tower)
Close-combat 6-barreled side-beam projector cannons x 2 units (base of conning tower)
Anti-aircraft pulse laser turrets x 4 units (for conning tower and base)
Diffuse anti-aircraft pulse laser turrets x 3 units (front and base of conning tower, both sides)
Multipurpose launcher x 6 units (wave barrier shell, both sides)
Diffuse anti-aircraft pulse laser turrets x 2 units (both sides at the stern)
Wave barrier shells
The wave barrier shell deploys a “net” of conducting cables. The wave barrier is deployed by the wave coil mounted inside the shell. The energy is supplied by a simple wave reactor core inside the shell, and is activated by active wave resonance waves.
Active wave resonance waves
Active wave resonance waves are the result of Cosmo Reverse research on the wave experimental ship Ginga. This irradiation promotes the deployment of extra dimensions in the target ship’s wave engine reactor core, restoring power and energy. In contrast, inhibitory wave resonance waves used in wave resonance minefields suppress deployment and shut down the wave engine.
Sister ships
In addition to Asuka, the supply carrier-type Oumi and Elbe, and the amphibious assault ships Vancouver, Mamiya, Amundsen, and Colossus were deployed in the Grand Reverse interdiction operation in October 2207. At this stage, the paintwork of each supply carrier-type ship had not been changed, and the bow was the same orange color as Asuka.
The Asuka-class supply carrier was conceived as a high-speed combat supply ship capable of long-term voyages within and outside the galaxy under the Fourth Defense Plan in 2204.
Until the decision was made to abandon the Time Fault after the Gatlantis War, the Factory inside continued to produce unmanned Dreadnought-class capital battleships. In the Fourth Defense Plan, which rejected the expansion of the military, the Dreadnought-class was converted to a manned system and reused along with ships under construction. These are called the Dreadnought-class Modified. (The ships that were commissioned before this time were also re-commissioned, with the identification number ending in 2204 or later being treated as a modified class, and the end of the number being changed to 2204.)
One of these is the first ship, Asuka, which was repurposed from a Dreadnought-class under construction to be used for supply and defense. With the construction of mass-produced ships, the ship class was officially designated the “Asuka-class”. Originally, it was not considered “modified” within the military organization, but as “dreadnought modified Asuka-class supply carrier DAOE-01 Asuka.”
The Asuka-class is characterized as a supply ship by its wave resonance guide device. This device has the function of activating the engines of other ships equipped with wave engines by emitting active wave resonance waves from the wave resonance guide devices on the bow and both sides of the ship. With the installation of the wave resonance guide device, the bow Wave-Motion Gun was abolished, but it can be re-equipped in a short period of time.
In addition to normal torpedoes, the multipurpose launchers on both sides fire wave barrier bullets (Type 4 wave barrier deployment bullets). The barrier bullets were developed with the assumption that the wave barrier protecting the hull could be deployed anywhere outside the ship and used as a shield. In addition, with the installation of the aircraft carrier deck, the anti-aircraft missile launcher on the aft deck has been removed.
The first ship, Asuka, was experimentally designed to function as a command ship and an amphibious assault ship in addition to its supply function. The rear landing port serves as a well dock, and the door can be used as a landing ramp. During the goodwill voyage to Iscandar in 2205, a squadron of the Space Cavalry led by Captain Shiori Nagakura was aboard and used the amphibious assault function.
When the mass production plan was implemented, this function was utilized, and an amphibious assault ship type was also constructed, based on the supply carrier type. Identification numbers are assigned with odd numbers for the supply carrier type and even numbers for the amphibious assault ship type. Asuka is designed to carry 40m-class spacecraft, and has a large storage space, but this was eliminated in the mass production model.
The first ship, Asuka, is an experimental ship, so it is not painted for low visibility. The bow is painted orange for warning purposes. The early supply carrier-type ships were painted in the same way, but as the mass production plan moved to the combat stage, the bows were scheduled to be repainted cream yellow. Asuka was also supposed to be painted in the same color, but this was postponed because it was no longer part of the regular chain of command.
The Asuka class is one of the new generation of ships mass-produced after the implementation of the Fourth Defense Plan, and can be considered an attempt at fleet operation different from the Wave-Motion Fleet Plan.