TCS Concordia (Pre-Kilrathi War)
| TCS Concordia | |
|---|---|
| Type | Concordia-Class Fleet Carrier |
| Manufacturer | |
| Introduction | 2634 |
| Primary user | Terran Confederation |
The TCS Concordia was a Concordia-class fleet carrier commissioned by the Terran Confederation Navy in 2634. She was one of nine carriers active in the Confederation Fleet at the time, and was one of six carriers assigned to the Seventh Fleet stationed at McAuliffe. Prior to the start of the Kilrathi War, she was the newest carrier to come online.
Before the start of the war, the Concordia spent most of 2634 docked at the McAuliffe Alexandria skyhook along with most of the rest of the Seventh Fleet. At the start of the war the ship was captained by Captain Mifune, who was planet side for Confederation Day during the opening of hostilities. The ship was under the command at the time of watch officer Lieutenant Commander Valeri Olson.
Approximately an hour and half prior to the arrival of the Kilrathi, Commander Winston Turner contacted watch officer Lieutenant Commander Valeri Olson and requested a battle drill about the TCS Concordia. His intention was to get the ship away from the skyhook and able to maneuver in the event that the Kilrathi counter-offensive was in fact coming for McAuliffe. Lt. Cmdr. Olson was senior ranking officer on board the ship and begin to get the engines warming up immediately, taking temporary command of the TCS Concordia. Her command lasted until just after the destruction of the picket ship Java, which marked the arrival of the Kilrathi in the McAuliffe System. At that time Commander Winston Turner and then Lieutenants Geoffrey Tolwyn and Vance Richards arrived aboard and Commander Turner took command under the power of Fleet Regulation Seventeen. Under his orders the ship sailed into harm's way with roughly 40% of her crew and only 29 out of 83 pilots on board.
The Concordia moved away from the Skyhook immediately, despite needing additional time to warm up the engines, risking a rupture of the cooling pumps. Initiating contact with task force Twenty One commanded by Rear Admiral Dayan, the Concordia organized a rendezvous with the TCS Ark Royal. Conflicting reports indicate that Admiral Long attempted to hail the TCS Concordia in order to hoist his flag aboard her, but the signal was either not received or deliberately ignored in order to preserve the Seventh Fleet's last carrier. However, the TCS Ark Royal was selected as the rallying point for the remains of the entire Seventh Fleet.
At this time the first Kilrathi strike reached the TCS Concordia. Close to thirty Kilrathi fighters and bombers assaulted the carrier, led by Kilrathi Prince Ratha. The Concordia scrambled her entire fighter complement of forty planes in order to beat back the attack. Despite the loss of several fighters, the Concordia took at least two torpedoes amidship, damaging the ship with fires spread across three decks and leaving at least a hundred people dead. The Kilrathi strike group was recalled to escort the remaining bombers back to the carriers to re-arm, buying the ship some time to effect repairs.
The next twenty four hours are somewhat sketchy but at least six sorties were made from the TCS Concordia as it traversed the system to finally link up with task force Twenty One, engaging at least two Kilrathi Destroyers and clearing a route for the surviving ships to return to McAuliffe for a counter-attack against the Kilrathi bombarding the planet.
Commander Turner had devised a plan involving the entire complement of Bombers from the Ark Royal and an all fighter strike from the Concordia. The fighter groups were to fake an attack at the leading Kilrathi carriers who were at the time closing on the augmented task force, but at the last moment break off. Looping around McAuliffe they were to engage the transports and landing craft who were preparing to assault the ground divisions still putting up fierce resistance on the planet. The Ark Royal bombers, meanwhile, would strike the carrier, and then form a second wave to sweep through the landing craft. Additionally, a pair of frigates the TCS Hermes and the TCS Masada had volunteered to ram their targets to inflict maximum damage on the enemy fleet.
The plan went off without a hitch. Forty screening fighters from the Concordia cleared the way for the frigates and the Ark Royal bombers. Though the Hermes was lost early, the Masada continued on due in no small part to the actions of Lt. Richards and Lt. Tolwyn and rammed the Kilrathi carrier KIS Tukgah, destroying her utterly. Despite this victory nearly half the flight wing was lost, with sixteen ships down after this first encounter.
Continuing with the plan, the Concordia flight wing continued around the planet, sweeping through the lightly defended Kilrathi landing ships and inflicting devastating casualties on the almost defenseless craft before looping around to re-join the Concordia. Fourteen more Confederation fighters were lost in this engagement, despite a lack of covering fighters for the transports and landing craft.
The remaining fighters and bombers from the Concordia and the Ark Royal reached the rendezvous point about forty minutes after the strike on the landing craft and began recovery operations immediately. Due to sustained damage the Ark Royal flight deck was down, so all fighters were ordered to the Concordia instead. Two crashes set back the landing cycle, and the counter attack from the Kilrathi reached them at this time.
Organizing a loose defense from the remaining fighters still in the landing pattern, a pilot named Hawkins led the defenders out to break up the incoming strike of bombers. Despite valiant efforts from the defenders, another torpedo struck the Concordia, bursting through her armor layers and inflicting additional heavy damage. Hawkins was lost when he rammed a second bomber lining up for a strike on the carrier, and then an emergency recall was issued as the Concordia was about to jump. Passing through the jump node with heavy fires on board, the defiant Concordia prepared another attack strike in the event that they were pursued, but no Kilrathi came through the jump node behind them.
However, the damage sustained in the previous fighting proved to be a mortal blow. The TCS Concordia was abandoned shortly after, and exploded in short order. This effectively halved the number of carriers in the Seventh Fleet, and the last defensive line between the Kilrathi and Earth.
Behind the Scenes
The TCS Concordia is featured as the primary fleet carrier in the novel Action Stations.
