FC

Escort warship

ISV Redoubt

The professional naval lane of the expedition, and the ship that keeps moving when Sarah Bishop is absent. She survives separately, which is the whole point of her: she gives the later books an established ship and crew that do not depend on one person being alive. Her arrangement is known mostly through her magazines, because that is what her officers spend the book worrying about.

Operator
ISCA Frontier Command
Registry
ISV
Series
Closed Sky
Drawn as
As she crossed the first route's entry boundary at 09:26 on Friday 10 March 2350 — first, because an escort goes first.
Sheet 1 General arrangement — profile, looking to port 180.0 m overall · 180 frames at 1000 mm
GA Ranging and forward sensors — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 1–26 · published RD-01 Director spaces — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 26–54 · published RD-02 Bridge and command — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 54–78 · published RD-03 Ready magazines — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 78–104 · published RD-04 The hoists — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 104–118 · published RD-05 Transfer pawl and lower feed — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 118–132 · published RD-06 Lower magazine — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 132–150 · published RD-07 After handling room — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 150–164 · published RD-08 Plant — General arrangement — forward to aft · frames 164–178 · published RD-09 THE TRANSFER PAWL — six hours to the lower magazine, and six hours is never available. Fouled four times since the yard, fifty seconds each. THE EXCHANGE RATE — forty minutes of full director set buys three hours of quiet; rounds at the hoists costs a tenth and lasts for days. 1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 FRAME
Sheet 2 Deck plans — 1 decks, looking down 26.0 m maximum beam

⭐ The organising idea: everything canon establishes about this hull is on the ammunition path or beside it. That is not an accident — it is what her officers actually think about.

Ranging and forward sensors · frames 1–26 · published · Closed Sky — ranging from 08:50; solution open 09:20, superseded 10:40 Ranging and forward sensors Director spaces · frames 26–54 · published · Closed Sky — the director spaces, Ilves Director spaces Bridge and command · frames 54–78 · published · Closed Sky — the XO holds the readiness state on the Captain's own statement Bridge and command Ready magazines · frames 78–104 · published · Closed Sky — 'That's five if they go tidy. There has never been a tidy one.' Ready magazines The hoists · frames 104–118 · published · Closed Sky — 'directors manned with rounds at the hoists' The hoists Transfer pawl and lower feed · frames 118–132 · published · Closed Sky — the pawl has fouled four times since the yard, fifty seconds each Transfer pawl and lower feed Lower magazine · frames 132–150 · published · Closed Sky — what is below takes six hours to bring up Lower magazine After handling room · frames 150–164 · published · Closed Sky — after handling room: a chief, and Okada, up the side on 26 February 2350 After handling room Plant · frames 164–178 · published · Closed Sky – Duong, plant Plant 1 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 PORT STBD
  1. RD-01 Ranging and forward sensors Fr 1–26 published Closed Sky — ranging from 08:50; solution open 09:20, superseded 10:40

    A solution opens, is held, and is superseded. The interval between those is the whole tempo of an escort action.

  2. RD-02 Director spaces Fr 26–54 published Closed Sky — the director spaces, Ilves

    ⭐⭐ THE EXCHANGE RATE LIVES HERE. Two plant states, never conflated: a FULL DIRECTOR SET buys roughly three hours of running quiet for forty minutes of plant — about one to four and a half, and the one that eats you. DIRECTORS MANNED WITH ROUNDS AT THE HOISTS costs a tenth of that and can be carried for days. As the engineer puts it: that is not a limit, it is an exchange rate. The limit is further along.

  3. RD-03 Bridge and command Fr 54–78 published Closed Sky — the XO holds the readiness state on the Captain's own statement

    ⚠ The Captain is deliberately unnamed. He gave the drill programme in one sentence at the mooring and has not asked about it since; the readiness state is the XO's, on his own statement, with one condition — he is told the day it changes, not the day after.

  4. RD-04 Ready magazines Fr 78–104 published Closed Sky — 'That's five if they go tidy. There has never been a tidy one.'

    ⭐⭐ FIVE ENGAGEMENTS. That is the whole tactical problem of the ship, stated as a joke by somebody who is not joking. ⚠ There is no interceptor stock of this class anywhere else in the formation — the XO checked the auxiliary's charter list herself, line by line, because it is a civilian document and no fleet officer may assume what is on it.

  5. RD-05 The hoists Fr 104–118 published Closed Sky — 'directors manned with rounds at the hoists'

    Rounds wait here in the cheap readiness state. Where a round is standing IS the readiness state on this ship.

  6. RD-06 Transfer pawl and lower feed Fr 118–132 published Closed Sky — the pawl has fouled four times since the yard, fifty seconds each

    ⭐ THE FAULT THE WHOLE SHIP IS ORGANISED AROUND. Bringing up what is below takes SIX HOURS through this pawl, and six hours is not available. It has fouled four times since the yard at fifty seconds a time; the chief has had it apart twice and the XO has read both reports.

  7. RD-07 Lower magazine Fr 132–150 published Closed Sky — what is below takes six hours to bring up

    Full, and effectively unreachable inside an engagement. A magazine you cannot reach in time is a fact about the fight, not about the stores.

  8. RD-08 After handling room Fr 150–164 published Closed Sky — after handling room: a chief, and Okada, up the side on 26 February 2350

    Manned by a chief and one rating. Named on the page with a date, which is how this ship's people are established: by where they were standing and when.

  9. RD-09 Plant Fr 164–178 published Closed Sky – Duong, plant

    Where the exchange rate is actually paid.

Key

  • Command
  • Power
  • Access
  • Defence

Grade of every figure on these sheets

  • published Stated in the books. If a drawing disagrees, the drawing is wrong.
  • derived Arithmetic on published facts; the working is given.
  • fixed Canon was silent here and the drawing decided.

Principal figures

Each figure carries its grade: published (the books state it), derived (arithmetic on what they state) or fixed (the sheet's own decision, bounded by what the books rule out).

  • Length overall

    180 m

    fixedspec ruling 2026-08-31

    ⚠ NOT CANON. No dimension is stated. An escort is drawn smaller than the medium cruiser Palisade (240–290 m) and far smaller than the command hull Breakwater. The figure is the drawing's.

  • Beam

    26 m

    fixedspec ruling 2026-08-31

Systems

Magazines and feed

published

Five engagements up top and six hours to the rest

  • ReadyFive engagements — 'if they go tidy. There has never been a tidy one'
  • BelowSix hours to bring up, through the transfer pawl
  • The pawlFouled four times since the yard, fifty seconds each
  • ⚠ ResupplyNo interceptor stock of this class anywhere else in the formation

Closed Sky

Plant and readiness states

published

Two states, never conflated

  • Full director setForty minutes buys about three hours of running quiet — roughly 1:4.5
  • Cost of it'The one that eats you'
  • Directors manned, rounds at the hoistsA tenth of that, carried for days
  • ⛔ NeverTreat the two as points on one scale. It is an exchange rate; the limit is further along

Closed Sky

What was checked

The books state distances aboard this ship. The drawing has to produce the same ones or it is wrong — so it is made to, and the working is shown. These run again on every build; a compartment moved by a metre fails them.

  • “The ammunition path runs ready magazine → hoists → pawl → lower magazine, in that order” Closed Sky

    RD-04 (78–104) → RD-05 hoists (104–118) → RD-06 pawl (118–132) → RD-07 lower magazine (132–150). Monotonic and contiguous, so the six-hour delay sits physically between the rounds you can fire and the rounds you cannot reach — which is what the prose means by it.

  • “Five ready engagements, and no resupply of this class in the formation” Closed Sky

    Both stated outright. The second is what makes the first binding: with a consort carrying spares, five is a nuisance; without one, five is the plan.

  • “She goes first” Closed Sky

    Crossed the first route's entry boundary at 09:26 on Friday 10 March 2350, ahead of Halberd, which crossed behind her. An escort goes first; the sheet's forward sensor and director arrangement follows from that being her job.

Service history

Compiled from

  • Closed Sky — the expedition and wreck record
  • the fleet peer this sheet is proportioned against