Kilo

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Kilo Class Colony Transport

   The early colony transports like the Aurora were just converted Darjee freighters.  The Kilo class, in contrast, are the first purpose built colony transports for the human evacuation.  Officially called the 'Star Class' of transports, everyone quickly abandoned that name and used Kilo class, or sometimes Kilopod.  Capacity for a Kilo class colony transport is 1,024 pods.  Possible first usage around month 43.
   The first several examples of the class consisted of two separate 512-pod modules separated by a central armored citadel containing critical systems.  Later members of the class dispensed with the central citadel in order to make the overall length slightly shorter and thus allow a higher speed in hyperspace with the provided equipment.
   The layout of a single deck is sixty-four pods in a grid of sixteen (ten-meter widths) by four (twenty-five meter lengths), all separated with one-meter clearance.  An eighteen meter wide corridor divides the deck in half.  One six-meter aisle separates the first and second rows and another six-meter aisle separates the third and fourth rows.  The second and third rows abut (except for that one-meter buffer).  That would make the corridor 117 meters long and each aisle 194 meters long.  A single transporter pad is located in the exact center of the deck.  Two additional emergency-only transporter pads are located where the aisles cross the corridor.
   The sixteen pod decks would (with one meter separation each) be 175 meters tall.  The pod area would be 175 x 117 x 194 meters, and then the total ship size would include the nose and tail sections.  The gravity grids are installed such that "Down" would be toward the stern of the ship.  Typical of the class is the 'Catch 22' mentioned in Taking Deliveries by The Thinking Horndog set in month 46: 

  The layout of a single deck is sixty-four pods in a grid of sixteen (ten-meter widths) by four (twenty-five meter lengths), all separated with one-meter clearance.  An eighteen meter wide corridor divides the deck in half.  One six-meter aisle separates the first and second rows and another six-meter aisle separates the third and fourth rows.  The second and third rows abut (except for that one-meter buffer).  That would make the corridor 117 meters long and each aisle 194 meters long.  A single transporter pad is located in the exact center of the deck.  Two additional emergency-only transporter pads are located where the aisles cross the corridor. 

  The sixteen pod decks would (with one meter separation each) be 175 meters tall.  The pod area would be 175 x 117 x 194 meters, and then the total ship size would include the nose and tail sections.  The gravity grids are installed such that "Down" would be toward the stern of the ship.


Standard Equipment

  • 24 Pod Tenders
  • 4 "House-Cat" Shuttles
  • 34 Survival Shuttles

   By design and normal use, a Kilo's passengers are usually transferred to and from the ship via transporters while the pods deliver themselves or get delivered by the ship's 24 pod tenders.  Alternately, that many pod tenders can deliver all 1024 pods in only 43 trips if they have to.  Compare this with the 48 trips that an Aurora's 2 pod tenders need to make to deliver only 96 pods.  The pod tenders can also be used to deliver large industrial cargo, but only if the cargo is capable of surviving in open space.
   The basic design allowed for both the volume and power to carry non-critical assets, so four "House-Cat" shuttles were provided for the occasional situation where passengers needed to be transferred but the destination did not have an operational transporter system.  These shuttles can also be used to move cargo which is too large to be transferred using the transporter network but is not large enough to require the pod tenders.
   Last, each ship was provided with a pair of survival shuttles for each level of pods as well as an additional pair -moored inside the hull at the (forward) bridge and the (aft) engineering spaces- for the ship's crew.  Each survival shuttle is rated for 60 'adults' so they can keep the inhabitants of several pods alive -if not comfortable- for two months or longer.
   In emergencies the passengers can ride down to the nearest safe piece of land in their pods.  In an emergency the crew will use the ship's standard 'House-Cat' shuttles or, if necessary, the survival shuttles.  All of these are also available for overflow passengers if damage is taken to a group of pods.

Ship Listing

  • APM001 - Atlantic Clipper
  • APM002 - Pacific Clipper
  • APM003 - Indian Clipper
  • APM004 - Mediterranean Clipper
  • APM005 - China Clipper
  • APM006 - Hawaii Clipper
  • APM007 - Miami Clipper
  • APM008 - Bengal Clipper
  • APM009 - Sydney Clipper
  • APM010 - Caribbean Clipper
  • APM011 - Catch 22
  • APM012 - Othello (commissioned at Azahar Month +46, seen in Destination Azahar by deGaffer (Timeline month: 30), Prodigious Collection by Tomken (Timeline month: 62) )
  • APM021 - Aquarius Clipper
  • APM022 - Capricorn Clipper
  • APM023 - Pisces Clipper
  • APM024 - Sagittarius Clipper
  • APM025 - Ares Clipper
  • APM026 - Taurus Clipper
  • APM027 - Gemini Clipper
  • APM028 - Cancer Clipper
  • APM029 - Leo Clipper
  • APM030 - Virgo Clipper
  • APM031 - Libra Clipper
  • APM032 - Scorpio Clipper
  • APM033 - Araby (Used months 65-72 for colonization of Vulcan see A Perfect 10 Part 2 by akarge)
  • APM034 - De Halve Maen (Used months 65-72 for colonization of Vulcan in A Perfect 10 Part 2 by akarge)


Named but not numbered:


(At least two were lost in action; "The First Command" mentions that by year six -month 72- two had been lost but gave no further details.)

The Half-Kilos

   The "Kilo" class was designed in modules, with a forward control and crew berthing section, a block of 512 pods, a central citadel, a second block of 512 pods, and an after engineering section.  Several ships were built with only the forward section, one block of 512 pods, and the after section, with all required systems added to the forward or after sections.  These Half-Kilos cost about 2/3 the cost of a full Kilo to build and could only carry half as many pods (and thus passengers), but they were significantly faster in hyperspace and were far faster and more maneuverable in normal space.
   After a year or so of operation for both versions, all remaining Kilos were built like the Half-Kilos, only with two stacked 512-pod blocks and no central citadel.  All required systems were installed in the forward and aft sections.

See Also


Story Usage

A textual analysis of the story repository, current as of 2018 and performed on 2019-09-06 identified the following top ten usage counts for Kilo class:



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