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The Barbarian class of Heavy Cruisers was built for Earth Fleet in the 2160's for service against the Drakat. Quite successful ships in their day, they compensated for being not quite as heavily armed as other heavy cruisers by carrying four squadrons of starfighters.
This class was decommissioned shortly after the Second Civil War, when the economic downturn forced the cancellation of a modernization scheme which, among other improvements, would have seen their heavy Plasma Cannons replaced with Grav Lasers (as plasma cannons became somewhat obsolete after the advent of electromagnetic deflector shields for warships).
Two were saved to be preserved as museum ships, but they were refitted with weaponry fifteen years later for use as part of Task Force David against the Christian Federation during the Third Civil War. Although the NIS Samson was lost in battle, the NIS Goliath survived the war, was decommisioned, and returned to orbit over the New Israel colony in the Cronos system. In 2265, it was confiscated by the Holy Terran Empire and rearmed for use in the Ascension War, mostly in patrol and suport roles to free up superior ships for front-line combat. Surviving that war as well, it was eventually sent to the Fifth Fleet guarding the Arachnid Quarantine Zone, where it remains today.
Known Ships[]
- EFS Barbarian CA-27
- EFS Visigoth CA-28
- EFS Ostrogoth CA-29
- EFS Mongol CA-30
- EFS Celt CA-31
- EFS Saracen CA-32 (renamed NIS Samson as part of Task Force David)
- EFS Philistine CA-33 (renamed NIS Goliath as part of Task Force David, later conscripted into Imperial Navy)
- EFS Aztec CA-34
- EFS Olmec CA-35
- EFS Apache CA-36
- EFS Anasazi CA-37
- EFS Zulu CA-38
- EFS Ashanti CA-39
- EFS Bedouin CA-40
- EFS Alemani CA-41
- EFS Maasai CA-42
Behind the Scenes[]
This class was designed by Martin Hohner at the request of Edward Stasheff specifically as an obsolete class, so two could be used in the Task Force David plot arc.