Type: Mosquito Class Corvette In Service: 2766 Number in Service: 120 Mass: 200,000 tons KF Integrity: 6 Sail Integrity: 2 Thrust: 5/8 Fuel: 5000 tons SI: 40 Armor: 160 tons of Ferro Aluminum Armor (30+4 fore/aft, 17+4 FL, FR, AL, AR) Heatsinks: 1424 Docking Collars: 0 Small Craft: 0 Crew: 70 Lifeboats: 0 Escape Pods: 10 Grav Deck: 0 Cargo: 10,757 tons Bays: Bay 1: Cargo Weapons: Forward: 4 NAC/30 6 Large Lasers Fore Left/Right: 6 Large Lasers Aft Left/Right: 6 Large Lasers Aft: 8 NL55 6 Large Lasers Ammo: 200 Rounds of NAC/30 Ammo Overview: The Mosquito Class Corvette was designed as an emergency measure by the Lyran Commonwealth shortly before the Amaris Civil War. The design owes it creation to Star League Rear Admiral Jacob Manfred. Rear Admiral Manfred retired from active service in the SLDF, in 2760, after 30 years service, at which time he returned to his homeworld of Tharkad. With the increasing tensions in the Inner Sphere, the Lyran Navy asked Manfred if he would be willing to serve his nation in the strategy and planning division in 2763. Admiral Manfred agreed, as much from, boredom as loyalty for his nation. He immediately became concerned that the Lyran CommonwealthÕs Navy was woefully insufficient, especially when compared to the superb and efficient Navy of the Free Worlds League. While the FWL had a well balanced fleet, the Lyran Navy was comprised of mostly large and slow battleships and cruisers. Because of the large size of the ships, production was very slow and so the Lyran commonwealth was badly out numbered. Admiral Manfred immediately proposed an interim design that could be rapidly produced to help close the gap until a new generation of cruisers and battleships could be designed and produced. The new design would be light and fast, and rather then serving as a ship of the line, it would be deployed in hunter killer squadrons of 6 ships and used solely in an offensive role. It took 2 years to convince the high command to issue a RFP for the new design. A year later in 2766 the Mosquito was chosen for production. The design was easy to produce and the first units were commissioned in late 2767. By then Admiral Manfred had rejoined the Star League in response to the Amaris Crisis. [Ed. Note: Admiral Manfred was killed during the war against Amaris when his flagship the Sovetski Soyuz was destroyed leading an advanced fleet against TerraÕs SDS system.] . Construction was carried out at several Naval Yards around the Commonwealth, with construction continuing until the last yard was destroyed during a Free Worlds League attack in the First Succession War. Even so the Lyran Commonwealth was able to produce 120 examples of the class. Capabilities: The Mosquito was designed exclusively for offensive operations. The original design requirements called for a fast, heavily armed warship that would be cheap and easy to mass produce. The Mosquito meets these requirements, but does so at the expense of armor and a lack of adaptability, the design is only effective when used as a raider or in Hunter Killer Squadrons. The Mosquito is one of the fastest warships ever designed. The ship is capable of reaching 4GÕs of acceleration. The high speed was intended to allow the ship to attack enemy ships and escape before they could come under fire. The weapons array is designed around this concept with 4 NAC30s in the nose providing the main punch of the ship. 8 Heavy Naval lasers were mounted in the aft of the ship to help discourage pursuit while several standard large laser are mounted around the ship to discourage fighters. Since the ship was not intended to stand fight against enemy warships the armor is very light. There are 160 tons of Ferro-Carbide armor protecting the ship. The armor is concentrated on the front and aft sections with only minimal armor on the sides. The Mosquito has the advantage of being very easy to repair and maintain since, with the exception of the Ferro-Carbide armor, the ship does not make use of any advanced technologies. Deployment: The first Mosquitos became available shortly after the war against Amaris started. The first six ships were assigned to a squadron under the command of Leutnant-Kaptain Gunther Rhinehold. These would be the only Mosquitos to serve as the design was intended. This squadron (nicknamed the Pests) served together until they were destroyed during the first Succession War. Used solely in an offensive role against the Free Worlds League, the Pests destroyed numerous Marik Warships in raids against FWL Naval Facilities and staging areas. They were finally destroyed when the FWL set up a trap and leaked information about an attack fleet that was staging at Stewart. The Pests were caught approaching the planet by several fast warships and dropships. Of the six ships in the squadron, only the Dragonfly survived. She was reassigned to the remnants of the Lyran Navy and destroyed during the 1st Succession War. The vast majority of the Mosquitos were assigned as picket ships and escorts to the Lyran Navy or used to defend the Commonwealth's many shipyards. Their use is this role resulted in the mass destruction of the Mosquitos, as they simply could not even stand up to small destroyers. No Mosquitos survived the First Succession War.