Cobra Destroyer

Imperium Portal Imperial Navy

Cobra Class Destroyer^[1]

The Cobra Class Destroyer is a torpedo boat used by the Imperial Navy and Basilikon Astra.^[10]

Overview

It is fast and manoeuvrable enough to get into a position from where its torpedoes will do most damage. However, due to its small size, large engine signature, and relatively poor armour, it does not stand up well to enemy fire. This shouldn't be a problem, however, due to the long range of a torpedo. Cobras act in squadrons of between two and six ships, making a torpedo volley from a squadron enough to cripple a large capital ship. It is the smallest independent Imperial warship, the smaller ones being carried aboard larger cruisers.^[1]

A Cobra Destroyer^[9]

The Cobra has a pair of torpedo tubes in the prow, and a single weapons battery positioned to fire to the sides, and in front of the ship. The weapons battery is a purely defensive measure, for when the Cobra is attacked by enemy escorts. It is short-ranged, and is almost never used to attack a capital ship, as it simply is not powerful enough to do any real damage. Cobra Class Destroyers are often seen fighting alongside Space Marine formations.^[1]

A Cobra Destroyer was the sole surviving ship during the Yuctan Incident, the Imperium's first encounter with Necron naval forces.^[2]

Technical Specifications

• Dimensions: 1.5 km long, 0.3 km abeam at fins (approx)
• Mass: 5.7 megatonnes (approx)
• Crew: 15,000 crew (approx)
• Acceleration: 7.6 gravities maximum sustainable acceleration

Variants

• The Widowmakers^[1] squadron uses a special variant of Cobra that carries experimental long range detection gear. The weapons batteries on these vessels were removed.^[1]

Viper Class Missile Destroyer

Viper Missile Destroyer^[7]

The Viper Class Missile Destroyer is a converted Cobra Destroyer. Carrying Boarding Torpedoes over their standard armament by adding more torpedo tubes, the conversion program was pushed by the Gareox Prerogative. The experiment was not a success, however, as the destroyers could not carry enough crew to man the torpedoes and fight the ship. As a result, most of the Vipers have been converted back to their standard armaments but use the extra Torpedo tubes to carry more offensive armament. These ships have since been designated as Missile Destroyers and are organized into separate anti-ship flotillas by the Imperial Navy. They are most often employed for mass torpedo attacks, proving ineffective in convoy protection duty.^[7]

Squadrons known to contain Vipers are the 59th Rat Runners and 76th Silver Spears.^[7]

Notable Cobra Class Squadrons

• Cypria Squadron
• Hydra Squadron
• Omna Squadron^[3]
• Skargul Patrol^[1]
• The Widowmakers^[1]

Notable Cobra Destroyers

• Act of Clarity — Personal craft of Canoness-Errant Setheno.^[12]
• Honoured Prophecy — Strike vessel. Built in Entelheim shipyard, it is owned by the Death Spectres Chapter. Its crew consists of five Space Marines and one hundred and fifty Chapter Serfs. It has armaments meant for close support and it is used as a system reconnaissance craft.^[4]
• Molech's Enlightenment — Horus Heresy-era vessel.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Spiteful — Rammed the Chaos battleship Agonising Death that fought at the blockade of the planet Garomar. As a result both of the spaceships were destroyed.^[8]

Miniatures

• 

  Battlfleet Gothic Miniature^[6]

• 

  Space Fleet miniatures^[11]

Sources

• 1: Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook, pg. 114
• 2: Battlefleet Gothic Resources: Necron and Tyranid Fleets, pg. 72 (accessed 2010.12.05)
• 3: Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pg. 39
• 4: Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 30
• 5: Warriors of Ultramar (Novel) - The Ultramarines Omnibus (Omnibus), Chapter 5, pg. 333
• 6: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat490024a&prodId=prod1690052 (site is no longer active, last accessed October 4, 2012)
• 7: Battlefleet Gothic Magazine Issue 2, pg. 40
• 8: The Traitor's Hand (Novel) - Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium (Omnibus), Editorial Note after Chapter 14, pg. 674, fn. 1
• 9: Battlefleet Gothic: Armada (Video Game)
• 10: Fanatic Online #92 - Vessels of Mars: Ships of the Adeptus Mechanicus, by Nate Montes, Robert Henderson, and Ray Bell.
• 11: Solegends: Space Fleet miniatures (last accessed 12/14/2019)
• 12: The Pyres of Armageddon (Novel) — Yarrick: The Omnibus, Chapter 1, Section 3