Rotor Ship

Since Hesper stopped rotating, wind power has become essential to the everyday life of Hesperians. With the constant trade winds from the sky-side of the planet towards the hel-side, harnessing wind power is a very reliable source of energy for cities and travelers.

A Rotor Ship is a type of ship that uses either wind turbines or Flettner Rotors which are mechanically linked to the ships propellers. There is a wide variety of designs, carrying both freight and passengers across the surface of the planet at very reasonable speeds. Different configurations on the same propulsion system service both land and sea faring vessels, turning either a set of submerged propellers, or a large centrally located wheel.

Size and Deck Layout

Measurements

Rotor ships are typically of a catamaran or trimaran design, allowing for greater stability in often unsteady Hesperian seas and from rotational torque on the vessel induced from tall and heavy turbines. They are typically widest at the water line, with subsequent decks shrinking behind a sleek hull to minimize wind resistance. The length of most ships at the water line is between 70 and 150 feet long, 15 to 30 feet at their widest, and 16-20 feet tall at the main deck from the overall bottom of the hull, with an elevated Wheelhouse or Bridge adding an additional 4-8 feet.

Wheelhouse

A raised section, rarely more than the height of a person, usually found at either the bow or aft end of the ship (depending on the design) is known as the Wheelhouse or Bridge of a ship. The section is usually only large enough to contain a table for the display of the ships charts and navigational equipment, as well as storage for the same, and space for the controls of the ships rudder, steering, and the mechanical linkage between the rotors and the propulsion system.

Waist Deck

The Waist deck, often referred to as the Main Deck, is the level of the ship that is at or just above the water line. In larger ships, this deck will sometimes have room for some officer cabins and captains quarters.

Merchant ships built for transportation have a warehouse of cargo space at this level, affording greater stability by bringing the majority of the weight on the water line between the port and starboard hulls. On passenger ships, this area is partially used for crew quarters, with the mid deck reserved for paying passengers.

Draft Hulls

This deck is also typically home to other amenities, such as a small kitchen (which often doubles as a medical bay), a dining/gathering room, armories, head, Captains quarters, and other such areas.

This deck also contains the engine room on the midline, the complicated mechanical gearbox that combines wind energy from the ships' rotors and transfers it into the propulsion system. A small maintenance area with storage for replacement parts, oils, engine cleaning lubricants, and a workbench is usually attached to the engine room, the workspace for the ships mechanic.

Power Generation

Rotor Ships are powered by either a wind turbine or a Flettner Rotor, which captures wind power to propel either an aft wheel or a set of propellers.

Weapons & Armament

Some cannons exist, but with most of a ship being so close to the waterline, they are only used as weapons of war, to outright sink or destroy enemy ships. Sufficient damage to an enemy outrigger hull can quickly cause the ship to list heavily to one side from the flooded compartment. Enough listing, and the torque from the rotors or turbines can snap the ship away from the outriggers, completely sinking the vessel.
Ships equipped for piracy or enforcement, however, are equipped with an array of both hand and crew served weapons designed to foul up the enemy ships turbines or rotors. Harpoons launched into a Flettner Rotor with hooks will embed themselves into the spinning rotor and snag onto available surfaces, stopping the rotation and thus the ships propulsion. Once the enemy ships rotors are disabled, the pirate crew can demand seizure of goods and valuables, or move in for hand-to-hand combat against less cooperative crews.

A smaller sea-faring Rotor Ship with a single vertical axis wind turbine.

Used by

• Gale Wraith

Rarity

Common

Width

15-45ft

Length

90-200ft

Height

16-25ft

Speed

25mph (Land 15 knots (Sea)

Complement / Crew

8-16

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

20-25 tons, or 10-25 passengers