Disclaimer: This article, City Class Air Destroyer (Divergence Point), does show a non-canon fanfiction version of the canon Britannian Caerleon Class Airship design from the anime show Code Geass. It is also property of its author, deathzealotzero. So please do not try to edit it or change anything with it. Thank you.
- "The City Class, its number of different subclasses, and other such variants have been silent guardian angels of the Britannian homeland for over a decade. With their silent shadows providing comfort and awe across the entire North America Continent for the people of this great Empire. While at the same time making the enemies of Britannia cautious and always looking up to the skies in nervous anticipation at every large shadow that crosses their paths. Now with the new Caerleon Subclass and its many improvements to the overall design, our enemies across the large oceans of Earth will now have the pleasure of facing our silent guardian angels of the sky..."
- ―- Taken from a Speech done by Baron Arthur Harrington, 7th Baron of Harrington, CEO of Douglas Airship Yards
The City Class Air Destroyer, its numerous subclasses and variant designs, is the primary combat airship of the Holy Empire of Britannia's Royal Air Force and its awe-inspiring Air Fleets . The City Class, or sometimes known as the Escort Class Airship is a small lightweight combat airship design that is similar in weight and mission type as a typical frigate type naval warship of most Navies in the world including the Royal Britannian Navy, the ocean-bound counterpart to the RAF's own Air Fleets. Overall, the Holy Empire of Britannia, and its primary airship manufacture Douglas Airship Yards have produced somewhere around three hundred of these small and quick Float Unit Capable Airships across the decade of its service life, through four different subclasses and several different variant designs.
Appearance[]
The City Class Air Destroyer sports a slim and rounded hull design that looks different yet still a bit similar to notable naval ship design. By looking different it does possess the large stacked double-hull like engine section that contains the ship's Float System and the Secondary Float System, along with the short winglets on either side of the hull which does give the appearance of a large aircraft complete with ailerons and flaps built into the winglets of the design. That allows an easier time maneuvering the airship in the air in conjunction with the ship's gravity-defying Float System. Meanwhile, the hull looks somewhat similar to a naval hull just with a slight difference that comes from it being an airship, that flies through the air and not cutting through the water like a navy ship. Then there is the central lengthy catapult that allows a dozen combat VTOLs to be launched from the ship's small hangar and into combat. This catapult is nearly the length of the ship's main hull which does give it a different feel to any sort of naval ship as it extends the length of the ship dramatically.
Overall, this general appearance of the City Class is retained through the entire class, its four main subclasses and its several different variants. However, what is quite different is the different paint schemes that are used with the class. From the basic dark gray hull color that serves as the main colors for the entire Air Fleet to a dark blue hull color that is used by the ships under the direct control of the Imperial Guard. Then each of the eight main Air Groups of the Air Fleet sport a distinct secondary hull color from a yellow color showing ships operating under the control of the First Air Group to a dark green that serves as the secondary color of the Eighth Air Group. Meanwhile the Imperial Guard sports a darker yellow, almost gold, as its secondary color, and if a City Class ship ship would be under the control of one of the smaller Royal Guard formations this may a dark purple color as a secondary color. Though currently no ship of the class serve under the control of any of the small Royal Guard units that protect the various sub-branches of the overall larger Imperial Family.
Design Overview[]
The City Class Air Destroyer was the first production type of the Fourth Generation Airship design family which was a vast change in direction in airship design. Mainly due to the newly introduced Float System, which replaced the older lighter-than-air way of keeping airships aloft, and moving away from the older blimp-look of airship hull design which greatly remained similar in looks to those First Generation Airships of the First Great War under a century before the introduction of the City Class. This was mainly thanks in part to keeping with the lighter-than-air methods of keeping airships floating in the air needed such an overall blimp-like hull design to actually function. Therefore, with the introduction of the Float System a whole new hull design could be introduced that allow airships to move away from this overall dated design which could include things like dedicated armor panels across its entire hull and a much larger design overall. Hence, designers working for the Douglas Airship Yards in the Duchy of Texas would looked towards future ship designs of the Britannian Royal Navy for much needed inspiration for a new standard looking hull design for the new airships.
A second new technology that would be included in the new fourth generation airship design is a whole new weapon, the hyper-velocity cannon. A technology that long been in development by the Empire and its different research organizations. The City Class Air Destroyer would be the first ever combat platform to carry this new weapon. Overall, the air destroyer would sport five of these weapons placed all around its hull in dedicated turrets that have somewhere around ninety degrees of rotation. Each one fully capable of leveling a couple of small buildings and anything inside of them with just one shot. Combined with the standard Royal Air Force normal airship weapons of dedicated lightweight missile launchers and carrying their own combat VTOL escort craft made an interesting overall combat platform. The latter idea made the City Class a dedicated pocket carrier and allowed it to carry a single squadron of Air Force Combat VTOLs, like the AV-10 Viper, to escort itself while in combat. Something that was carried over from the last Third Generation Airship Design of the Air Force, the Maxson Class Air Escort, though the City Class does not sport the ability of the Maxson to carry a short battalion of deployable combat troops.
The result of this new technology and the overall new standardized design scheme would be the new City Class Air Destroyer which Douglas would start producing in large numbers just in time for 98th Emperor Charles I's brutal expansion policy which would see many of these brand new airships in battles many theaters of war across the planet. However, it would during these battles that more then a few different downsides of the design would become known to the Britannian Royal Air Force. The first of which would be the large batteries the served as the power source for the new fourth generation airship design would cut down the operational range of the City Class drastically. This was a combination of things including the new Float System being quite a power hog, and only a small amount of the ship's tonnage being able to be set aside for the batteries. The second major downside of the new airships would be that they were quite slower then even a typical turbine-powered aircraft. All of which mainly prevented the City Class ships, and its variants, from being used during many of the more distance combat theaters during the 98th Emperor's expansion policy. This included the brief Second Pacific War which had the Empire invading the Japanese islands though a couple of the far larger Duchy Class Air Battleships, thanks to their larger batteries, were able to take part in the final moments of the war. Afterwards, the newly renamed Area 11 and its Garrison Forces would only sport a handful of airships under their control thanks in part to these downsides.
After the City Class was first introduced the Douglas Airship Yards would start to introduce more then one variant designs of the basic design of the larger class. Even with its different downfalls it was still a major step up in airship design that allowed it to be produced in large numbers. The first major variant introduced by Douglas would be the Yukon Class Medium Air Transport which was an unarmed cargo carrying version of the regular City Class Air Destroyer which looked similar to its more combat airship sister design just without the VTOL Catapult. Not to mention sporting much of its interior space now a series of large cargo spaces which allowed the Empire to transport a large amount of cargo across the entire length of the Empire. Far more then even the largest cargo aircraft could carry. Soon afterwards a more militarized version of the Yukon Class, the Yellowstone Class Combat Air Transport would be introduced by Douglas to be used by the Air Force to support its ever expanding Air Fleet. While it looked similar to the Yukon Class the Yellowstone retained a small hangar allowing it to use a couple of auxiliary craft to transport its cargo to other ships or bases. Not to mention sporting half of the City Class CIWS emplacements allowing it to defend itself when needed. Both of these cargo carrying variants of the main class really redefined the Empire's entire transport infrastructure almost overnight replacing Trains, cargo trucks, and large Cargo Aircraft. These cargo carrying airships remain mainly in service even today though with several different improvements to their basic design.
The final major variant design of the City Class would be quite an interesting change in airship design, mainly bringing back an earlier idea about airships. Mainly having them transporting people across long distances. Something that passenger aircraft mainly took over from early First and Second Generation Airships. With the overall new shift in airship design that was the Fourth Generation this idea came back in the minds of some of the Douglas Airship Yards designers. The result of this would be the new Superior Class Air Passenger Transport which can transport around three hundred passengers almost anywhere in the Empire in the matter of days in more comfort then either a passenger train or smaller turbine-powered passenger aircraft. Each ship of this class sported fifty distant sized passenger cabins each one able to hold six passengers in comfortable seats that can straightened out into dedicated beds for those overnight flights. All of which are serviced by twenty-four flight stewards and double that in assistant stewards providing not only basic drink services but meal services to the passengers. After the first ships of this class would be finished by Douglas, a couple more variants of the basic design would be further developed as more ideas were introduced. This would include the Huron Class Air VIP Transport which cut the passenger capacity vastly allowing it to carry sixty passengers in almost sinful comfort, more so then the more basic Superior Class accommodations. Some of these Huron Class would be custom-built by Douglas for the use of dedicated private transports for notable Noble Families. The second minor variant of this passenger transport version of the larger City Class would be the Erie Class Air Passenger Transports which double the number of passengers but tones down the comfort and are mainly in use for more shorter range flights. Though in some areas of the Empire these passenger transports are use in place of the more comfortable Superior Class ships for long distance travel. Overall, these passenger transports have brought the idea of traveling in the sky in airships.
Overall, the City Class Air Destroyer was a design ahead of its time and would allow the Royal Air Force to shine once more after nearly three decades of being downsized in favor of other branches of the Britannian Armed Forces. It also reintroduction the whole idea of the combat airship and would go on to prove the whole idea to the entire world. It also led into the introduction of the far superior fifth generation airship design which solved the majority of the issues with that of the Fourth Generation Airship Design. The City Class would even be refitted with the new tech and such of the Fifth Generation while a new similar-looking replacement design was in the process of being introduced by Douglas. It would be these refitted City Class ships that would become notable in the Second Great War between the Empire and the Europia United Armed Forces with these refitted ships easily crossing the Atlantic Ocean to take the fight to the Europe mainland itself.
Armaments[]
System Features[]
Subclasses and Variants[]
Ships of the Line[]
| City Class Air Destroyer - Angelus Subclass | ||||||||
| Angelus Subclass - Production Block One | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMAS Angelus | DA001 | Decommissioned | HMAS Dallas | DA002 | Decommissioned | HMAS Leon | DA003 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Ottawa | DA004 | Decommissioned | HMAS Phoenix | DA005 | Decommissioned | HMAS Monterey | DA006 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Austin | DA007 | Decommissioned | HMAS Colombus | DA008 | Disarmed Hull Sold | HMAS Charlotte | DA009 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Merida | DA010 | Decommissioned | HMAS Seattle | DA011 | Decommissioned | HMAS Detroit | DA012 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Kingston | DA013 | Decommissioned | HMAS Memphis | DA014 | Decommissioned | HMAS Vancouver | DA015 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Portland | DA016 | Disarmed Hull Sold | HMAS Baltimore | DA017 | Decommissioned | HMAS Brampton | DA018 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Hamilton | DA019 | Decommissioned | HMAS Chicago | DA020 | Disarmed Hull Sold | HMAS Havana | DA021 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Philadelphia | DA022 | Decommissioned | HMAS Jasper | DA023 | Decommissioned | HMAS Victoria | DA024 | Sold |
| HMAS Durango | DA025 | Decommissioned | HMAS Richmond | DA026 | Decommissioned | HMAS Calgary | DA027 | Decommissioned |
| HMAS Jacksonville | DA028 | Sold | HMAS Denver | DA029 | Scrapping | HMAS Boston | DA030 | Scrapping |
| HMAS Flagstaff | DA031 | Scrapping | HMAS Reno | DA032 | Sold | HMAS Jamestown | DA033 | Scrapping |
| HMAS Lousville | DA034 | Scrapping | HMAS Boulder | DA035 | Scrapping | HMAS Tucson | DA036 | Scrapping |
| HMAS Memphis | DA037 | Scrapping | HMAS Raleigh | DA038 | Scrapping | HMAS Brooks | DA039 | Scrapping |
| HMAS Bexar | DA040 | Destroyed | HMAS Riverview | DA041 | Active | HMAS Hesperia | DA042 | Active |
| HMAS Woodbridge | DA043 | Active | HMAS Gander | DA044 | Active | HMAS Concord | DA045 | Destroyed |
| Angelus Subclass - Production Block Two | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| HMAS Cold Lake | DA046 | Active | HMAS Spruce Grove | DA047 | Active | HMAS Newport News | DA048 | Active |
| HMAS New Bedford | DA049 | Active | HMAS New Haven | DA050 | Destroyed | HMAS West Hardford | DA051 | Active |
| HMAS Las Vegas | DA052 | Active | HMAS Kansas City | DA053 | Destroyed | HMAS Colorado Springs | DA054 | Active |
| HMAS Virginia Beach | DA055 | Destroyed | HMAS New Orleans | DA056 | Active | HMAS Santa Anna | DA057 | Active |
| HMAS Des Moines | DA058 | Active | HMAS Little Rock | DA059 | Active | HMAS Grand Forks | DA060 | Active |
| HMAS Huntington Beach | DA061 | Bombed/Destroyed | HMAS Garden Grove | DA062 | Destroyed | HMAS New London | DA063 | Active |
| HMAS Santa Rosa | DA064 | Active | HMAS Penbroke Pines | DA065 | Active | HMAS Grand Rapids | DA066 | Active |
| HMAS New Collins | DA067 | Active | HMAS Coral Springs | DA068 | Active | HMAS New Leon | DA069 | Active |
| HMAS High Mountain | DA070 | Destroyed | HMAS Palm Bay | DA071 | Active | HMAS High Point | DA072 | Destroyed |
| HMAS Costa Mesa | DA073 | Active | HMAS Sandy Spring | DA074 | Active | HMAS Daly City | DA075 | Destroyed |
| HMAS Spokane Valley | DA076 | Active | HMAS New Biscay | DA077 | Active | HMAS Red Deer | DA078 | Active |
| HMAS Green Bay | DA079 | Active | HMAS Red Rock | DA080 | Active | HMAS Jersey City | DA081 | Active |
| HMAS Sugar Land | DA082 | Active | HMAS South Bend | DA083 | Active | HMAS Long Beach | DA084 | Destroyed |
| HMAS Happy Valley | DA085 | Active | HMAS Hot Waters | DA086 | Active | HMAS Dawson Creek | DA087 | Active |
| HMAS Round Rock | DA088 | Destroyed | HMAS New Cross | DA089 | Active | HMAS Thousand Oaks | DA090 | Active |
| Imperial Subclass - Imperial Guard Use Variant | ||||||||
| Imperial Subclass - Production Bloc One (aka Prince Series) | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| IAS Prince Albert | IGS01 | Active | IAS Prince William | IGS02 | Active | IAS Princess Katherine | IGS03 | Destroyed |
| IAS Princess Zofia | IGS04 | Bombed/Scrapped | IAS Prince Neils | IGS05 | Active | IAS Prince Biaggo | ISG06 | Active |
| IAS Prince Richard | IGS07 | Active | IAS Princess Leila | IGS08 | Active | IAS Prince Basilio | IGS09 | Active |
| IAS Princess Sophia | IGS10 | Active | IAS Prince August | IGS11 | Destroyed | IAS Princess Marlene | IGS12 | Active |
| Imperial Subclass - Production Bloc Two (aka Emperor Series) | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| IAS Emperor Ricardo | IGS13 | Active | IAS Emperor Aurelien | IGS14 | Heavily Damaged/Scrapped | IAS Empress Claire | IGS15 | Active |
| IAS Emperor Alec | IGS16 | Active | IAS Empress Guinevere | IGS17 | Active | IAS Emperor Alexander | IGS18 | Active |
| IAS Empress Elizabeth | IGS19 | Damaged/Srapped | IAS Emperor Theseus | IGS20 | Destroyed | IAS Emperor Charles | IGS21 | Active |
| Imperial Subclass - Production Bloc Three (aka Consort Series) | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| IAS Consort Tomas | IGS22 | Active | IAS Consort Louisa | IGS23 | Active | IAS Consort Rene | IGS24 | Active |
| City Class Air Destroyer - Armstrong Subclass | ||||||||
| Armstrong Subclass - Production Bloc One | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| HMAS Armstrong | DA091 | HMAS Duncan | DA092 | HMAS Greenwood | DA093 | |||
| HMAS Langford | DA094 | HMAS Nelson | DA095 | HMAS Terrace | DA096 | |||
| HMAS Parksville | DA097 | HMAS Merritt | DA098 | HMAS Mission | DA099 | |||
| HMAS Cranbrook | DA100 | HMAS Ashfordshire | DA101 | HMAS Chilliwack | DA102 | |||
| HMAS Brandon | DA103 | HMAS Mordin | DA104 | HMAS Winkler | DA105 | |||
| HMAS Dauphin | DA106 | HMAS Steinbach | DA107 | HMAS Selkirk | DA108 | |||
| HMAS Halifax | DA109 | HMAS Colchester | DA110 | HMAS Argyle | DA111 | |||
| HMAS Chester | DA112 | HMAS Barrington | DA113 | HMAS Digby | DA114 | |||
| HMAS Antigonish | DA115 | HMAS Bridgewater | DA116 | HMAS Clare | DA117 | |||
| HMAS Guysborough | DA118 | HMAS Kentville | DA119 | HMAS Lockeport | DA120 | |||
| HMAS Kenora | DA121 | HMAS Pembroke | DA122 | HMAS Sarnia | DA123 | |||
| HMAS Vaughan | DA124 | HMAS Welland | DA125 | HMAS Brant | DA126 | |||
| HMAS Rockland | DA127 | HMAS Belleville | DA128 | HMAS Waterloo | DA129 | |||
| Armstrong Subclass - Production Bloc Two | ||||||||
| Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status | Ship's Name | Pennant Number | Status |
| HMAS Saint Katherine | DA130 | HMAS Saint Alice | DA131 | HMAS Saint Albert | DA132 | |||
| HMAS Saint Joseph | DA133 | HMAS Saint Nicholas | DA134 | HMAS Saint John | DA135 | |||
| HMAS Saint Peter | DA136 | HMAS Saint Roberts | DA137 | HMAS Saint Helena | DA138 | |||
| HMAS Saint Ferdinand | DA139 | HMAS Saint Monica | DA140 | HMAS Saint Lawrence | DA141 | |||
| HMAS Manaus | DA142 | HMAS Cali | DA143 | HMAS Valencia | DA144 | |||
| HMAS Rosario | DA145 | HMAS Mendoza | DA146 | HMAS Londrina | DA147 | |||
| HMAS Lima | DA148 | HMAS Santiago | DA149 | HMAS Belem | DA150 | |||
| HMAS Havana | DA151 | HMAS Carolina | DA152 | HMAS Kingston | DA153 | |||
| HMAS Willemstad | DA154 | HMAS Portmore | DA155 | HMAS Artemisa | DA156 | |||
| HMAS Bridgetown | DA157 | HMAS Kingstown | DA158 | HMAS Nassau | DA159 | |||
| HMAS Anchorage | DA160 | HMAS Fairbanks | DA161 | HMAS Dillingham | DA162 | |||
| HMAS Juneau | DA163 | HMAS Homer | DA164 | HMAS Seward | DA165 | |||
| Yukon Class Medium Air Transport | ||||||||
| Yellowstone Class Combat Air Transport | ||||||||