ASZ St. Katherine

From Ctss

General Background

Often referenced in popular planetary culture and the subject of multiple large scale moving theaters, the Air Superiority Zeppelin St. Katherine is one of the most well known disasters of the early 22nd century.

The St. Katherine was the first Coronation class vessel constructed by the Resurgent Etruscan Empire. Befitting of its name, it was nearly 400 meters long with a beam of 85 meters, making it the single largest lighter than air vehicle ever constructed. Powered by three Oppenheimer perma-boilers, it was capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots in calm air. She carried a crew of 1,200 and her range was only limited by her ability to take food and fresh water.

Her armament consisted of six smaller Repentance class vessels, all designed to use area denial munitions on the battlefields below. In addition to this she mounted four Carcano compression rifles, two on each side with 160 degrees of free movement each, for the purposes of engaging other airborne craft and ground targets.

Service Life and Death

Deployed on March 12th, 2114, the St. Katherine was scheduled to see action in the Adriatic theater of the REE - Pan-Slavic conflict. As she began to make her way over the Adriatic from the airfields at San Severo, it soon became apparent that there was a fault in the ship's Oppenheimer-boiler system. A jet of super-heated steam was seen to erupt from the stern of the vessel, tearing into the gas-bag of the craft. The steam flashed the violate hydrogen gas into an explosion, ripping through the St. Katherine while she was two kilometers over the sea. Due to the violence of the explosion and the height at which it occurred, there were no survivors.