The Hammerhead-class Fast Patrol Corvette is a class of heavy corvettes built by the Huntington-Litton Shipbuilding Corporation for the Royal Ducal Navy using lessons learned from the Tiger Shark-class missile boats. Rather that utilizing missiles or torpedos of any kind, the Hammerhead relies entirely on speed and the punch provided by its five triple-turrets, each carrying a trio of pulse lasers. At sixty meters in length, this ship is considered on the high end of corvette size, but is not quite capable enough to be reclassified as a frigate.

Carrying a crew of 17, these vessels are frequently deployed for long stretches, often longer than the official 12 week operational window recommended, prompting most of the limited cargo capacity aboard to be filled with spare provisions. As a further consequence of this extended service time, crewmembers are almost always single and it is extremely rare for one to be mixed gender, with Fleet Command preferring to segregate its personnel to avoid “accidents.” This has been met with open derision from the junior officers and enlisted serving aboard Hammerheads and there has been rumblings that Fleet Command might be looking at revisiting this decision in the near future.

Among fleet mechanics, the Hammerhead is considered a nightmare to maintain due to the necessary shortcuts made by the engineers and shipbuilders who designed and constructed them at a breakneck pace demanded by the Ministry of Defence, a problem no doubt exacerbated by the before-mentioned extended deployment schedule. It is believed that of the forty-three Hammerhead-classes in service, nearly twenty-five percent are in drydock undergoing maintenance, critical repairs, or upgrades at any given time.

The Hammerhead is primarily tasked with interdiction and boarding parties. As a result, it is equipped with the appropriate equipment, but the limited space for personnel means the standard crew must conduct such insertions. As a result of this, most Hammerhead-classes deploy with at least one marine serving aboard, often in lieu of a gunner position.

Image and name pulled from Aegis Hammerhead from the Star Citizen game. Everything else (including my resizing of it) is original.

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