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KNS Outremer CL5-5

The Outremer is a unique light cruiser of the Khertland Navy. Designed as a cheaper and more modest design relative to previous cruiser classes. The Naval Advisory Board determined smaller and cheaper cruisers will be better at trialing new technologies and address longstanding design flaws of previous classes without over investment. This was the navy's attempt to replicate their iterative approach of their destroyer line. The traditionalist admirals had wanted a more ambitious cruiser than the Crusader. The keel of the Desidra was laid almost immediately after the Crusader had commissioned. However the Naval Advisory Board highlighted the numerous problems with the KNS Crusader and a need for a thorough review as to not repeat those mistakes again. Despite this, the keel was laid on January 30, 2024. The Aila administration ordered work be halted until a conclusive report had been made. By the time the report was formulated, the Naval Advisory Board had successfully pushed for a more modest design. The new ship will trial their proposed engineering solutions, mainly to address the poor reserve stability of the Crusader. As a result, the Aila administration approved of the scrapping of Desidra's keel to make room for the Outremer.

The KNS Outremer featured a uniform main battery of three three-gun 152mm turrets. This was actually two guns less than the Crusader, a major source of contention by the Traditionalist and Conservative factions within the navy and government. These new turrets however were more compact, less protected, and lighter, which the engineers had hoped would reduce the top weight of the ship. The secondary armament came in six twin 138mm gun turrets, same as the designs used on the Crusader, which had eight turrets. The new design omitted the lighter anti-aircraft guns due to its ineffectiveness, following the same trend seen on the destroyers. These weapons were coordinated by the same fire control directors as on the KNS Crusader, except using lighter mountings. The main fire control tower has its armored conning tower extend all the way down to the main deck now for improved resiliency. Electromagnetic insulation and thick armor plating were also provided for the fire direction control centers, which was a previously exposed on the Crusader.

Due to the Outremer being 2m narrower than the Crusader, the main belt are thinner in most regions. The machinery space also had to be shrunk as a result, using only 1 set of the steam power plant instead of two sets as on the Crusader. This reduced power output also meant it drove two screws instead of four. The engineers attempted to compensate for this by making the bow fairly long and slender. Combined with the overall narrower and lighter hull, the speed dropped to 35 knots instead of the Crusader's impressive 40 knots. Fuel consumption however were significantly reduced, allowing it to have longer operational range. The slender bow pushed the turrets closer to the center as the ends had limited space available. Although calculations suggested otherwise, scale model testing displayed a high probability of magazine chain detonations that are likely to doom the ship. While attempts had been made to improve redundancy such as having two armored combat information centers, the single power plant sent meant there was no back up power if it was hit. Furthermore, the secondary turrets' machinery spaces were located in such a way that created weak spots along the belt armor.

Ultimately, the Outremer was considered a failure and a inferior overall ship than the Crusader. However, the Outremer was significantly more stable and cost 58% that of the Crusader to produce. The Naval Advisory Board and the Aila administration defended the procurement as a "learning process." After the depression, the shipbuilding industry had been hollowed out, and so the current administration favored a cheaper iterative approach to rebuild capacity and relearn that technical expertise. The Traditionalists however said their design would have produced a more capable ship even if those same flaws persisted and capability is what ultimately matters. The ship as it stands was considered too weak. Still, the Naval Advisory Board believes that they should be patient, citing the success of the Solvanetus and Teresh-class destroyers as evidence that the iterative approach will lead to a better outcome. The administration's goal currently is to make this process as cost efficient as possible, not splurging on expensive paper tigers.

[Ship Overview]
Operators: Khertland Navy
Ordered: May 3, 2025
Laid down: May 31, 2025
Commissioned: July 13, 20245

[Class Overview]
Class: Crusader
Planned: 1
Completed: 1
Preceded by: Desidra (proposed), Crusader (actual)
Succeeded by: None

[General Characteristics]
Type: Light Cruiser
Displacement: 624,580
Volume: 27,068 m^3
Blocks: 11,472
Cost: 289,921
Overall Length: 191 m
Waterline Length: 189 m
Between Perpendiculars: 188 m
Beam: 21 m
Draft: m
Freeboard: m
Propulsion: 2 shafts powered by 1x SSE-3 8C/1/1/1/1 Mk.I 2.2K4.4
Speed: 35 knots
Endurance: 8,064 km
Turn radius: m

Sensor and Processing Systems:
>1x CSST-2 m9 Mk.1 Centralized Fire Control
>1x RSS-YU-5 Mk.1 Surface Search Radar
>2x FCS-5 m5 Mk.1-L Fire Control Director
>1x FCA-1 m0 Mk.1-L Fire Control Director
>1x REWR-9 Mk.1 Early Warning Radar

Armament:
>3x3 152mm L/53 DPG-14 Mk.1C
>8x2 138mm L/65 DPG-12 Mk.2B
>4x1 05m L/8 SS-2 Mk.4A Illumination gun

Other:
>2x 9m Rowing Cutter
>4x 4m Inflatable Rafts

Armor:
>Weather deck: None
>Main deck: 2.5m metal
>Main belt: 4.5-5.5m metal
>Bulkheads: 3.5m metal
>Conning tower: 5m metal
>Secondary barbette: 1m metal
>Main turret face: 3m metal
>Main turret side: 2m metal
>Main turret rear: 1m metal
>Main turret roof: 1m Applique
>Secondary turrets: 0.5 - 1.5m metal