Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Escort

A Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Escort in the void.

The Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Escort, also sometimes referred to as the Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Heavy Escort, is a new voidship design of the T'au Empire developed as part of the Kor'or'vesh fleet initiative.

The Castellan is the Kir'la (Warden)-class Gunship's larger cousin; capable of independent action and well-equipped for starship combat.

Operations by the older Kir'qath (Defender)-class Starship revealed that while it was a capable Escort, continuing shortcomings in its engineering plant required a new vessel design that could make much deeper and longer dives as well as a larger number of dives before requiring to recharge its primary drives.

A squadron of four Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Escorts.

Like the other vessels designed during the Kor'or'vesh initiative, the Castellan’s unique hull design allows for considerably longer-range operations compared to its predecessor.

When deployed in the role of traditional escort vessels, it has proven directly comparable to commonly encountered Imperial designs such as the Sword-class Frigate and the Firestorm-class Frigate.

Around Taros during the Taros Campaign, the T'au fleet deployed Castellans in large numbers in support of their larger vessels with great success.

Armament

Dorsal schematic of a Kir'shashvre (Castellan)-class Escort.

All Castellan-class Heavy Escorts are, as standard, armed and equipped with a prow Railgun battery and Gravitic Launcher, a pair of defensive turrets mounted around their hulls, and standard T'au starship gravitic shielding.

Sources

• Battlefleet Gothic 2010 Compendium, pg. 165
• Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign pg. 214
• Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 (PC Game)