Maelstrom

Since the invention of ships various forms of vessels have been used in warfare. Early on they were simply used to transport fighters to the battlefield and carry away whatever was seized. Later on some transports began carrying fighters specifically for boarding other ships. Then came the invention of things like the ram for damaging other ships and carrying archers. One thing these early fighting ships had in common was that they were transports first and fighting vessels second.
Virtually all the ships were privately owned and the concept of an organised fleet of sailing vessels was alien to most countries. Sea bandits and raiders frequently took advantage of this making a heavy contingent of guards nexcessary on most trading vessels and requiring the stationing of many soldiers along coastal regions. However, maintaining guards, soldiers, and barraks can be expensive and they may not arrive in time to fend off a threat so one country decided to experiment with a more aggressive approach to defence. The result was the Maelstrom, a purpose built warship designed to sink other vessels without having to ram or board them.

Weapons & Armament

The Maelstrom was outfitted with a complement of experimental weapons. Each side of the ship had two fire launchers and a flamejet, while a lightning lance graced the prow. A small unit of archers was allso deployed aboard the ship in case the main weapons should fail.

Fire Launchers

These seven foot long brass cones were mounted sideways on stands attached to the deck. The stands allowed the cones to be rotated from side to side through an arc of about a quarter of circle. They could also move up and down through an arc of around a tenth of a circle.
The launchers could fire a blast of flame about 200ft in the direction the cone was pointing. Linked to a crystal bank they were capable of firing once a minute and could last for about an hour on a full spellcharge. They were notoriously hard to aim and were considered useless when operated by the untrained.

One of the downsides to using fire based weapons was their potential to do damage to the ship they were on. This was countered by the presence of a Fire Muffler but this presented another problem. The muffler stopped the weapons from working. A captain was therefore faced with the question of whether to attack or defend at any given moment, they couldn't do both.

Flamejets

Another fire weapon, designed to repel ships that got too close, these weapons emitted a fan of flames across a little less than a half circle arc. The fan only extended about 30ft, but this was generally enough to deter would be boarders. These weapons required no aiming and the bronze fans were typically operated by new crew who had yet to be trained on the more complex weapons.
The flames could only be triggered once every 5 minutes and could fire a maximum of 6 times before the banks needed to recharge.

Lightning Lance

This large steel weapon resembled a ballista and required constant maintenance to avoid rust on some of it's fittings. Fixed to the prow of the ship it could only be aimed by turning the whole ship. As the name implies it launched a bolt of lightning straight ahead of the ship to a distnace of around 250ft. The damage from one of these bolts was far more destructive than the fire launchers but it also fired more slowly, requiring ten minutes between shots and having a maximum of 3 shots before the banks that powered it needed recharging.

Armor and defense

As opposed to other ships the Maelstrom was designed around not getting in close to other vessels. It's primary defence was speed and maneouvrability, but it did have a few features were unusual for the time.
The first and simplest was the inclusion of a wheelhouse to protect the person steeing the ship. Prior to the Maelstrom this would have been considered a hinderance due to how it could obscure vision, but with the Maelstrom's dependency on being able to avoid danger, the safety of a skilled helmsman became more important.
Fire arrows, pitch, and alchemists fire were all key tools in what passed for ranged ship to ship combat. In order to counter this the Maelstrom was equipped with a Fire Muffler. Limitations on storing magical energy, driven by cost and weight, meant this could only be used for short periods and it couldn't be used at the same time as the momentary shields.

During one early voyage a wizard providing additional support launched a fireball into a barrier, destroying the barrier and badly burning some of the crew.

Akin to a warmage's shield, momentary shields were temporary magical barriers designed to deflect missile fire. They could only cover one quadrant at a time and had to be manually guided. They also blocked outgoing attacks which necessitated the development of very clear commands and responses to avoid accidents.

The Maelstrom was a resounding success when it first went into battle. During it's first engagement it took on 4 enemy vessels, sinking all four of them. Though the scale of the battle was driven by necessity rather than any belief that the ship could achieve victor, the scale of the success led to more ships of a similar (though cheaper) design.
The new Storm ships turned a nation under constant threat of attack into a major sea power, and forced nearby nations to reassess how they fought at sea. Though the Maelstrom was ultimately outstripped by newer vessels many of it's features formed the basis for the design of all future warships.

Related Technologies

• Fire Muffler