During the rebuilding of the Royal Alessian Expeditionary Force, Her Majesty Empress Carolyne II authorised the construction of a class of airship capable of escorting diplomats to foreign states while conveying the essence of Alessian air superiority. Sky Marshall Sir Rogibald Kenworth, Order of the Thorn, First Air Lord, presented a design with air superiority in mind that also provided a mobile and well equipped office for diplomatics parties embarked. He named it the Albacore-Class Expeditionary Vessel. In th event, only one Albacore was comissioned before the design was redeveloped as the current Kestrel-Class area defence frigate. In outline, both designs are similar, differing only in internal layout and armament.

Named RAS "Alessia", the sole Albacore-Class vessel was converted for use as Empress Carolyne's private yacht, its armament increased to match that of contemporary corvettes. A well known fact to countrymen of the Alessian Empire is that Empress Carolyne herself is ship's captain of RAS Alessia both in combat and while on diplamtic missions, and therefore RAS Alessia is the flagship of the RAEF. This is made most obvious by the pennant number 01.

While RAS Alessia is not a Kestrel-Class frigate, to the untrained observer, the two classes are virtually indistinguishable. The most obvious difference is in fact the dual-stage reactors used in RAS Alessia are less efficient, but have a greater capped output, than the tri-stage reactors used in Kestrel-Class frigate, giving RAS Alessia a higher top speed and rate of climb. Due to this, more weight is added as armour, and less is devoted to machinery. To many, the characteristics of RAS Alessia lead them to assume that she is more closely a destroyer, despite the fact RAS Alessia lacks both the combat radius and raw firepower of destroyers in service with other Nations. In fact, an improved dual-stage reactor is being developed that will be used in the destroyer classs currently under construction.

RAS Alessia fits a role between that of yacht and warship that no class since has been able to emulate.

STATS:

Top Speed: 1550kt
Service Ceiling: 24,000 ft
ROC: 100ft/s

Armament:
4 x ASCAMS hyperkinetic railguns
2 x RIM-661 RAM launchers, 21 missile per launcher
4 x 6in quick-firing AP/HE cannons, broadside 2.

Armour:
Nominal. 800t overall, concentrated around superstructure, midships and machinery spaces.

Crew: 26.
Most system are fully autonomous, greatly reducing the crewing requirements. With that in mind, otherwise unused space has been repurposed as the chambers of Empress Carolyne and her diplomatic team. In combat, her rooms are instead used to house additional ammunition and supplies.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: AS OF 24 DEC 14, CHRISTMAS EVE, I HAVE ABANDONED THE CURRENT ITERATION OF RAS ALESSIA. THIS IS DUE TO A NUMBER OF UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT LEAST THE INSTALLATION OF A TNT LASER CANNON THAT EXPLODED THE OLD GIRL. I THEN ACCIDENTLY DELETED THE WORLD SAVE WHEN TRYING TO DELETE ANOTHER.
HOWEVER, I WILL MAINTAIN THIS PROJECT AND START ANEW. I HAVE DEVELOPED AN IMPROVED BOW FOR A CORVETTE/FRIGATE/DESTROYER TYPE HYBRID DIRIGIBLE THAT I HOPE TO IMPLEMENT. UNTIL THEN, ENJOY THE ONLY IMAGE EVER TAKEN RAS ALESSIA BEFORE HER MAJOR REBUILD. SPECS WILL REMAIN THE SAME, AND ALL ASSOCIATED FLUFF IS UP TO DATE. WOW, IT CERTAINLY TOOK SOME TIME, BUT THE EXTERNAL REBUILD AND SUPERSTRUCTURE ARE COMPLETED. I HAVE YET TO REDESIGN THE INTERIOR, AROUND THE IMPROVED ENGINES, BUT I CAN SAFELY MOUNT THE LASERS (NOT PULSE CANNONS, ACTUAL, PROPER FIREHOSE-ESQUE LASERS) INCLUDING A DUAL ARRAY IN THE BOW. TO BE FURTHER AMMENDED.

TO IYECTE: If you are reading this, note I have cracked the laser problem in 1.5.2. It's now absolutely INSANE, though it may self destruct if the delay is out. A workable firehose in 1.5.2 is nothing to sneeze at, and the range is actually quite good,
Z = 50-60m, X =  5-7m @ 55m. Note this is taken from some elevation, otherwise it has an effective range of 20m from three blocks off the ground.