Tyne-Class Super Freighter

The Tyne class is a series of super freighter vessels built at the Newcastle Orbital Docks, funded by Protol Ltd. The class is named for a river on Earth that Newcastle Orbital Docks' namesake sits on; the ships of this class are named for the towns along this river.

These freighters were designed as a less expensive solution to get vast amounts of cargo across interstellar distances without using typical Furray Gates. Their immense size and sheer amount of cargo that can be transported makes up for the relatively slow speed that they travel.

The first ship of the class was commissioned on 5 March 2454. To date 8 ships have been constructed with another, The Hexham, currently under construction and estimated to be completed in June 2461. This will be the final ship of the Tyne class to be constructed.

Background and funding
The Tyne class was originally designed as the Perceville class (named for the designer Perceville Rothchild) by Protol Ltd due to the increasing expense on using Furray Gates to ship small amounts of cargo. In 2452, Protol started approaching many different ship builders with their plans for the new super freighter and, after a year of negotiation, came to an agreement with Newcastle Orbital Docks to fund the cost if they would build and outfit the ships.

Some unconfirmed sources have stated that many terms changed in the negotiations, but Newcastle Orbital Docks refused to let Protol name the ships or even the class of ship, something the ship builder is known for.

Construction
Construction on the fleet started in early 2453 with the flagship, The Newcastle. After completion, Newcastle Orbital Docks started building the ships two at a time with an offset of roughly 4 months to keep work going constantly. This came to a head in 2455 when, after the completion of The Prudhoe, an overworked construction union went on strike, refusing to outfit the ship or continue building The Ovingham until they got better working hours and pay.

The strike lasted 9 months 12 days and concluded with the construction union achieving their demands. This strike caused the delay of The Ovingham and all subsequent ships by 2 years.

The Stocksfield was outfitted twice as fast as any other vessel in the fleet, but was deemed satisfactory by an investigation shortly before launch.

Ships in class
In 2453, Newcastle Orbital Docks and Protol Ltd agreed to name the class, and ships, after the Tyne river.