John D. Rockefeller-class Battleship
- Role: Fleet Comand, Planetary Assault
- Length: 8100 meters
- Weapons Systems: One spinal coilgun, 500 coilgun emplacements, 1500 nuclear batteries, 3000 ESML point-defense cannons
- Country of Origin: Coalition of Western Republics
- Users: Coalition
The pride of the Coalition Navy and the largest weapon system constructed by man, the John D. Rockefeller-class battleship is designed specifically to strike fear into the hearts of the Coalition's enemies. Over five miles long, these battleships are crewed by thousands and can operate without resupply for years. Few in number, they form the core of the Coalition's most important battlefleets and defend the Coalition's most important worlds.
The John D. Rockefeller-class represents a dramatic change in Coalition military policy. With the growth of the Coalition and the Springfield Pact and the increasing number of spacefaring political entities within the galaxy, the Navy could no longer rely on its limited deployment abilities to maintain Coalition will throughout the stars. The Navy pursued a "propaganda" victory: the construction of massive spacecraft that could easily cause mass extinctions. This philosophy, later emulated by the Army and their development of the M88 Landcruiser, is meant to turn even a single Coalition weapon system into an existential threat. The fear of overwhelming force would make any attempt to revolt against Coalition rule or to challenge the Coalition militarily a suicidal endeavor. The John D. Rockefeller is essentially one massive coilgun, technically making the ship the largest gun ever made by man. This gun accelerates a 500-ton ferrous slug to 90% of c. At these speeds, the resulting impact releases as much energy as if the entire slug were composed of unmatter. This weapon is designed to cause mass extinctions on any world targeted. The slug is also massive enough and traveling fast enough to render any attempts at interception moot; a properly-targeted world is doomed. Because of the tremendous energy required to fire the weapon, the John D. Rockefeller must deactivate all other systems save for the sublight engines, which must fire at full capacity in order to compensate for the gun's recoil. As a spinal weapon, the coilgun is must be aimed with the ship's thrusters. The massive power requirement, fulfilled by the John D. Rockefeller's many dark energy and fusion power plants, place massive strains on the cooling systems and capacitor banks. The main coilgun cannot fire in rapid succession, as power must be built up over the course of days or weeks and the weapon itself must cool down for a roughly equivalent amount of time. Because of these limitations, the main gun is only used on planetary targets. Secondary weapons systems are used to deal with enemy naval assets.
John D. Rockefeller were completed, massive shipyards were made out of hollowed-out asteroids in the Columbia system. Entire asteroids would be molten down to create the hull of the John D. Rockefeller the first of its class. Completed in 2740, the John D. Rockefeller would actually be requisitioned by the Presidential Guard, to the vociferous protest of the Navy. By the beginning of the Galactic War, fifteen John D. Rockefellers were in the Navy's service, and by the 2770s this number grew to thirty-five. As of 2777, no planets have been assaulted using the John D. Rockefeller's main gun, as that could spark an equally destructive response from the targeted nation.