Tokugawa Class Troop Transport

(Version 1.00 - Last Modified: 02/17/2006)
Background information inspired by Tokugawa Class Super Dimensional Landing Ship (SLS) by Pieter Thomassen and Peter Walker, with Rob Morgenstern on the Unofficial Robotech Reference Guide.
Tokugawa Class Troop Transport

As the SDF-1 was being restored and the Orbital Fleet was under construction, new technological advancements saw the design of the follow-up vessels, the SDF-2 and the Tokugawa class. The SDF-2 was to be a copy of the SDF-1, and the Tokugawa's were to be fold-capable follow-ups to the ARMD carriers. After the appearance of the Zentraedi and the subsequent Zentraedi Holocaust, the design was placed on the shelf until resources could be dedicated towards rebuilding the space fleet. The first ship of the class, the Tokugawa, was launched in January 2016, with the additional four vessels following approximately every twelve months.

At first, the vessels saw service as aircraft carriers, carrying a large complement of Valkyries in space superiority and interceptor roles and several wings of the deadly SF-6 Vultures as their primary attack aircraft. The vessels saw action during their early lives, including the Tokugawa's support of the Valkyrie squadrons dispatched to disable a small flotilla of Zentraedi ships that had been hiding in the asteroid belt since the destruction of Dolza's fortress. The class was also used as bases for the flotillas searching beyond the solar system for the coordinates of the capital world of the Tirolian Empire, Tirol.

As the departure date of the SDF-3 for Tirol loomed close, four of the five ships, Tokugawa, Xerxes, Marcus Antonius, and Themistocles, were brought into space dock for their conversion from a carrier into a landing ship. The hangars were substantially reduced in size, and the crew spaces were extended and made more cramped. In the space now made available were added mecha storage bays and billets for a full Army Corps and an Air Force. In 2022, the landing ships were loaded with their full complement of troops, the Hannibal filled with fighters, and the vessels prepared to depart for Tirol.

During the first battles against the Invid and the invasion of Tirol, the Tokugawa cruisers did not fare to well against the Invid. Designed to fight the Zentraedi, and what little the REF knew about the Robotech Masters, the ships were not designed to withstand the massed assaults of the Invid. Following the defeat of the Invid on Tirol, the Tokugawa cruisers were withdrawn from service and all five ships were given a refit to increase their weapon systems. The result was a payload that was much better suited to fight the Invid, and the ships saw much service in the Sentinels' War, especially the Tokugawa and Themistocles.

When the new Fold Drives were ready, the Hannibal was the first to be refit and sent back to Earth. She was destroyed in an attack on the Robotech Masters on returning to Earth-space. In a valiant but suicidal run, the Hannibal rammed and destroyed one of the Robotech Masters' mother ships, although some of the fighter squadrons and nearly her entire complement made it safely to Earth. There they were integrated into the armies of the Southern Cross. The Marcus Antonius was sent to Earth after the REF determined that the Tirolian Fleet had destroyed the Hannibal. Marcus Antonius was assigned a battle group consisting of most of the remainder of the REF's initial fleet, and linked up with the Southern Cross in the final days of the Second Robotech War. Although she was on Earth unloading her ground troops during the first battle where the REF and Southern Cross fleets were to link up, she launched from Earth soon after and participated in the war's final naval engagement. After the war, her crew helped establish bases on Earth to counter whatever threat might come next. Her crew and a small number of Southern Cross units, accompanied by many of the clones that were homeless after the Second Robotech War, then took her back to Tirol. However, because of previously unsuspected faults in the first REF Mk-2 Fold Drives, the ship had arrived at Earth in a structurally weakened condition. Even after her drives had been updated so that the ship was once again fold-worthy, the return trip compromised the structural integrity even more. The vessel was decommissioned soon after her return to Tirol and did not take part in the Battle at Reflex Point. The Tokugawa served as the REF's main Strike Force flagship for as long as the SDF-3 was crippled, until she was destroyed by Edwards' flagship, the Xerxes, which rammed her over Tirol in 2030, destroying both ships.

The remaining ship of this class, Themistocles, was refitted in the Kaberran shipyards in 2035. There, her anti-ship cannons were replaced with the new turrets that were also being mounted on the Izumo class vessels. Although the total energy of one full salvo was not increased dramatically, the new turrets had several times the concentration of fire of the old ones, and the effective firepower was significantly increased. The Themistocles served as the Sentinels' flagship, was part of the final Jupiter Group assault on Invid-occupied Earth, and survived through the end of those fateful days. She left Earth-space after the Battle at Reflex Point with a number of distinguished REF officers to search for the missing SDF-3.

The Tokugawa Class Cruisers were among the first vessels, after the ARMD carriers and the Oberth destroyers, to be designed by Human engineers. The Tokugawa class was designed as the systems of the SDF-1 were still being deciphered and constantly redesigned for nearly a decade after that. The cruisers were designed to copy the armament philosophy of the ARMD carriers, as well as provide bulk transport for stores and personnel. Consequently, the original design saw the class with six large cannons, as well as a large mecha complement and a powerful rocket battery. As the original weapons proved to be a disappointment on the ARMD class, however, the armament scheme came under attack, and the Orbital Fleet's disastrous engagement with the Zentraedi caused another major redesign. The large cannons were removed, and in their place faster firing, though far less powerful, weapons were mounted. As this, and the orbital slaughter, proved to be the death knell for the ARMD operational philosophy, the ship was redesigned into a heavy transport, though the capability to operate a large air group remained, as did the missile battery. However, the class was no longer intended for the battle line, but as a base, transport, and orbital fire support ship.

The five ships of the class were commissioned between 2016 and 2020, and served until the REF departure in 2022 as bases for the reconnaissance flotillas sent out to search for Tirol's coordinates and as guard ships in the solar system. Shortly before the REF's fold-jump to Tirol, four of the five vessels had much of their hangar space converted into mecha holding bays. The Naval Air complement in the remaining hangars was dramatically reduced and an entire Army Corps was embarked. At this point, the designations of the four vessels were changed from those of carriers (SCV) to those of landing ships (SLS).

The Tokugawa class ships were equipped with fold systems taken from decommissioned Zentraedi vessels. However, it was decided that the fleet would make the jump to Tirol in the fold-bubble of the SDF-3, ensuring that the ships would all defold together. After the arrival of the REF fleet and the conquest of Tirol, utilization of up-to-date testing equipment in the mostly destroyed Tirolian orbital shipyards proved that all drives were affected by the unusual fold system configuration of the SDF-3 and would be deathtraps if utilized for long folds. It was required to completely refit the class with improved drives, something that could only be done after the Tirolian shipyards were rebuilt. However, even after the refit the fold system was still faulty, as was demonstrated by the Marcus Antonius; the fold drive had an adverse effect on the structural integrity of the vessel, and the two surviving ships were refitted with their third fold drive.

The cruisers were nearly the size of the SDF-1. However, this class of vessel, in the landing ship configuration, suffered from a lower standard of habitability, since so much internal space was dedicated to mecha storage space and the supplies necessary for prolonged campaigns. The Hannibal was the exception. Retaining its large hangar spaces, the Hannibal served as a space control vessel her entire life, but could carry only a token complement of ground forces. As she was never required to perform troop landings, however, this was no large disadvantage.

The vessels were built in three main sections. The foremost section contained most of the hangars, and was built in the shape of a blunt wedge, with a large superstructure on top, and a smaller substructure to the rear of the section. Aft of this front section came a central section, capped with the command tower. Behind this was the very massive engine section, with no less than twelve major reaction thrusters. The landing ships were intended to use their fighters and armaments to smash through enemy defenses, and then unload their large Army detachment in a few hours on the surface. However, the ships became vulnerable during their re-entry to a planet's surface, when they were unwieldy and incapable of outmaneuvering any attack. Therefore, the REF switched to the Ikazuchi Class Heavy Cruisers and the Izumo Class Super Dimensional Fortresses instead of constructing additional Tokugawa cruisers. The major flaws in this class of vessel were the relatively weak armament and the lack of a heavy gun, despite the fact that the ships were never intended for major naval battles. In addition, the landing ships suffered from the lack of sufficient hangar space for all their enormous mecha complement to be delivered rapidly into battle.

Names and Disposition:

Ship Information:

Vehicle Complement: (2022 CE Complement)

Vehicle Complement: (2035 CE Complement)

Front view of a Tokugawa Class Cruiser

M.D.C. by location:

Speed:

Statistical Data:

Forward-Top of a Tokugawa Class Cruiser

Weapon Systems:

  1. PB-45 Particle Beam Cannon Turrets (4 originally, 6 after 2023 CE refit)
  2. PB-4 Particle Beam Cannons (12 originally, 16 after 2023 CE refit)
  3. LT-5 Point Defense Laser Turrets (12 originally, 30 after 2023 CE refit)
  4. SLS-25 Vertical Missile Launchers (6)
  5. SRS-2 Heavy Missile Launchers (3 originally, 8 after 2023 CE refit)

Shield Systems:

  1. DS-1 Pinpoint Barrier System (4)

Special Systems:

  1. Electronic Warfare System
  2. SF-X Shadow Cloaking Device (after 2037 CE refit only)

Standard Systems:

  1. Life Support System
  2. Communication Systems
  3. Sensor Systems
  4. Targeting Computer System

Combat Summary: