Originally published at: Lunch Is On Me | The Associated Worlds
Séralámíya-class littoral restaurant ship
Builders:
(original) Ethring Iron and Steam Works
(refit) Captal Daëntry Naval District
Displacement: 41,000 long tons
Length: 272 m
Beam: 34 m
Draft: 6.18 m (full load)
Propulsion:
- 8 x Empire Nucleonics, ICC “” nucleonic boilers, driving
- 8 x Blackstone Industries, ICC turbogenerators
- 4×4 Hammerforge Tool Company, ICC heavy shaft drive motors
Speed: 32 knots
Range: Unlimited (6 year refueling interval)
Complement: 2,800 (including chefs and longshoremen)
Armament (Secondary):
- 4 x 6″ Imperial Navy Type Three dual-purpose gun; single turrets
- 12 x twin 24 mm Black Sky anti-air defense guns
Armor:
- Belt: 6″ heavy steel plate
- Deck: 3″ heavy steel plate
A product of the late Third Oceanic Dominance, the Séralámíya-class littoral restaurant ship – or rather, the unique example of such – was a product of the conditions of the island-hopping eastern theater, in which the Imperial Military Service found itself liberating or accepting the surrender of a number of island polities whose infrastructure had been depleted by war to the point at which starvation was setting in, necessitating relief efforts trailing only a short distance behind the front proper.
Modified from one of the then-aging Affíëtelír-class flush-deck carriers (then in the process of being replaced by the new Stormfall-class island-superstructure carriers), Séralámíya maintained the fundamental structure of the Affíëtelír, but replaces its aviation facilities. While the aft end of the flight deck was retained as such to support a small number of light cargo tiltrotors (carried on deck), the forward flight deck was converted into an open area (which could be rigged with a canvas cover in inclement weather), designed to be readily secured from the rest of the ship and with protected access routes from reserved gangways to shore. This was intended to serve as a safe dining area for civilians when suitable areas ashore were unavailable.
Meanwhile, to serve both this and back up shore facilities, the forward end of the main (upper) hangar deck was converted into extensive kitchens and other food preparation areas, while the majority of this deck was given over to food storage including a large refrigerated section. The secondary (lower) hangar deck, including its workshops and aviation fuel tanks, were converted into more food storage, but in their case with the addition of large cargo doors on each side of the ship at bow and stern. At the bow, these doors were intended to permit rapid “roll-off” deployment of self-propelled field kitchens to serve areas remote from the coast, and delivery of stored food to them using carried vehicles; at the stern, to permit the ship’s stores to be replenished from colliers without interrupting other operations.
While a rapidly constructed and in many ways clumsy compromise design, Séralámiya served throughout the later stages of the war and undoubtedly prevented many civilian death due to hunger. Following the Third Ocean Dominance, Séralámíya herself was decommissioned, ultimately to be replaced by a specialized class of littoral restaurant ships (the Galramíya-class, designed as a joint project with the Emergency Management Authority for disaster relief) based on the lessons learned from her design, of which the second carried forward her name.