Earth Alliance Explorer Class Exploration Vessel

Name: Explorer
Craft: Earth Alliance Explorer Class
Type: explorer
Scale: capital
Length: 6,103 meters
Skill: capital ship pilot
Crew: 330; Skeleton: 33/+10
Passengers: 49,670
Cargo Capacity: 45,359 metric tons
Consumables: 100 weeks
Hyperdrive: x12
Nav Computer: yes
Maneuverability: -0D+1
Space: 8
Hull: 11D
Sensors

• Passive: 40 / 1D+1
• Scan: 80 / 2D+1
• Search: 120 / 3D+2
• Focus: 4 / 5D

Weapons

• Twin-Linked Heavy Pulse Cannon

Fire Arc: forward
Crew: 1
Scale: capital
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1-15/35/75
Rate of fire: 4
Damage: 7D+2

• 11 Twin-Linked Particle Beams

Fire Arc: 2 forward, 3 port, 3 starboard, 3 aft
Crew: 1
Scale: starfighter
Skill: starship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Rate of fire: 1
Damage: 5D

• 4 Mark II Interceptors

Fire Arc: 1 forward, 1 port, 1 starboard, 1 aft
Crew: 1
Scale: capital
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Rate of fire: 1
Damage:

• Offensive: 1D
• Intercept: 5D

Miscellaneous:

• Artificial Gravity: Rotational sections only
• Crew: 330

• Officers: 10
• Pilots: 30
• Sensor Operators: 40
• Crewmen: 250

• Average Crew Experience Level: Earth Force Line

• Astrogation: 5D+1
• Capital Ship Gunnery: 6D+1
• Capital Ship Piloting: 5D+1
• Communications: 5D+1
• Sensors: 5D+1
• Starship Gunnery: 6D+1

• Stealth: 0 (Base Difficulty to Detect Ship)
• Hull: 11D

• Strength: 10D+1
• Armor: 0D+2

• Fusion Engines
• Jump Point generator

Ship Complement:

• Light Shuttles: 9
• Starfury Heavy Fighters: 36

Description: Explorer class ships are used by Earth force to explore new regions of space and build new jump gates.

These immense ships are built by Mitchell-Hyundyne at the New Kobe Orbital Shipyard. Designed for the long haul, this is a pure breed exploration vessel for charting out on the Rim, making first contact with new species and construct new jump gates to open up exploitation of areas with useful resources. Explorers are the largest ships in service of the Earth Alliance. As such, vessels of this class were not built for combat and were unlikely to be called upon for fleet action support.

In addition to their complement of fighters, Explorer-class ships have an array of smaller support vessels and shuttles for short range exploration and planetary surveying. Understandably, Earth Alliance has very few of these ships due to their large cost in credits and equipment, but the few they do have allow for rapid expansion in Earth's sphere of influence through jump gate construction and are a good source of income, as other races can then be charged for the use of new jump gates.

Despite their relatively low crew, explorer ships are exceptionally massive vessels. At over six kilometers in length, an explorer ship is nearly as long as Babylon 4 (the only Babylon station designed to travel under its own power).

Captain John Sheridan remarked that if an Earth force officer was "supremely lucky", he or she would see two Explorer class ships in his or her lifetime - in order to justify their expense, they are always on the Rim constructing gates. They are only seen in civilized space if they are undergoing major overhauls, and in fact crew starting or finishing their tours are transported to or from the Explorer by other ships instead of the Explorer visiting a port of call to pick them up.

Source:

• The Babylon 5 Project: Explorer class ship
• Babylon 5: Ships of the Galaxy (page 9)
• thedemonapostle