Post-Analysis of the Porcupine

Tonnage Analysis

Engineering (book 2)

Unit	Type	Performance	Mass
Power Plant	Z	Pn = 5	73 t
Manoeuvre Drive	X	Mn = 3	43 t
Jump Drive	X	Jn = 3	115 t
Fuel Purification			30 t
Jump Governor			1 t
TOTAL			262 t

Fuel Tankage (book 2 consumption)

Unit	Size
Main Fuel Tanks	731 t
Upper Fuel Tanks	120 t
TOTAL	851 t

Bridge

Unit	Mass	Comments
Basic Controls	20 t
Computer	6 t	allows book 2 Model/7

Weaponry

Quantity	Unit	Mass	Comments
5	Laser Turrets	5 t	fire control
5	Heavy Turrets	5 t	fire control

Cargo Tonnage

Unit	Mass
Lower Hold	300 t
Centre Hold	120 t
Upper Hold	52 t
TOTAL	472 t

Accomodation

Quantity	Unit	Unit Mass	Total Mass
19	Staterooms	4 t	76 t

Summation of Tonnage

Total rated tonnage of ship	2000 tons
Total Accountable Tonnage	1697 tons
Unaccounted tonnage	303 tons

Analysis of Unaccounted Tonnage

Unit	Mass
Hull armour at TL 14-15	200 tons
Remaining planetoid structure	103 tons

Conclusion: Hull armour tonnage implies an Armor Factor of 9

Energy Analysis

Unit	Quantity	Unit Energy	Total Energy
Triple Lasers	5	1 x 3 = 3	15
Triple Heavy Turrets	5	7	35
Computer (up to Model/7)	1	7	7
Consumed			57
Available			100
Remaining			43

Conclusion: AGILITY = 2

Note

The energy requirement for the heavy turrets is given as 7 units per turret. Each turret incorporates a very heavy duty step-up and capacitor system to produce the pulse action without putting extreme strain on the ship's power system. The strain is, however, extremely large out of proportion to the energy requirement of the turret, and requires considerable maintenance and monitoring to ensure that the weaponry operates properly.

Failure to provide such support could mean:

overheating of the turret power supply system, probably resulting in a large explosion or melt-down;
burn-out of the power distribution system form the main power plant, with associated internal damage to the ship;
overload of the ship's main power plant.