SS Andronikos
TBD | |
Type | Armed merchantman/CAM ship |
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Place of origin | Babkha |
In service | 1574 – present |
Used by | Constancia |
Designed | 1574 |
Manufacturer | Osman-Almagro Shipping Corporation |
Owner |
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Operator |
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Crew |
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Length | 127·4 m (418 ft) |
Beam | 17·5 m (57·3 ft) |
Draught | 8·4 m (27·5 ft) |
Depth | 10·4 m (34·2 ft) |
Propulsion | Diesel engine with single screw propeller |
Speed | 21·3 kn (39·4 km/h; 24·5 mph) |
Aircraft complement | 1 × T-2 Saeqeh |
Armaments |
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The SS Andronikos was responsible for delivering diplomatic emissaries and presents to Puerto Arcadio and Port Farrar as well as the conveyance into the region of a small band of presbyters dedicated to spreading the good news of Monism for reasons that have already been largely forgotten. The SS Andronikos subsequently remained in the region steaming between Puerto Arcadio and Port Farrar upholding Constancia's commercial interests and treaty obligations.
The Constancian experience with utilising the SS Andronikos as an armed merchantman performing the role of patrol and communications ship in the contested waters of the Norfolk Isles informed the subsequent conversion of further merchant vessels into auxiliary cruisers known collectively as the Andronikos-class. The foremost refinement in the auxiliary cruisers upon the precursor ship was a substantial increase in armaments - adding two radar-guided 75 mm autocannons bolted onto the fore and aft decks respectively whilst the complement of heavy machine guns, man-portable surface to air missile launchers and recoilless rifles were each increased by a factor of four.
Since 1665 the SS Andronikos remained on station in the Norfolk Isles. Its duties included the conduct of fisheries protection missions, as mandated by commercial treaties between Constancia and the regional powers, the provision of consular services for Constancian citizens ashore, hydrographic and environmental surveys, ship to ship cargo transfers, discrete relief work during the Thraci civil war, and chartered haulage work for fee paying customers.