Dauntless-class Cruiser
Craft: Rendili StarDrive's Dauntless
Type: Heavy Cruiser
Length: 475m
Skill: Capital ship piloting: Dauntless
Crew: 5,288, gunners: 48, skeleton: 2,000
Passengers: 400 (troops)
Cargo Capacity: 800 tons
Consumables: 4 years
Cost: 4 million (used only, not available to private citizens)
Hyperdrive: X5
Backup: X20
Nav Comp: yes
Manueverability: 0D
Space: 3
Hull: 7D+2
Shields: 1D+1
Sensors: 15/0D; 35/1D; 60/2D; 2/3D
Weapons:
   6 Quad Blaster Batteries
    Fire arc: 1 dorsal turret, 1 ventral turret, 2 port, 2 starboard
    Crew: 8
    Skill: capital ship gunnery
    Fire control: 1D
    Space range: 1-5/15/30
    Atmosphere range: 2-10/30/60km
    Damage: 4D+1
Capsule: The Dauntless-class Cruiser is a ship design that is over 800 years old. The design concept was to create a vessel that could withstand virtually any punishment long enough to cause damage of its own. The design succeeded in its goals, and the Republic ordered 2,000 of the ships. Within 30 years, however, the Dauntless was considered obsolete. By this time the many flaws of the design had showed themselves. Because virtually all of the space on the vessel had been used up with multiple bulkheads, blast shields, and armor a full 2 meters thick in places, there was very little room left over for engines, weapons, and other such systems. As a result, the ship is slow, clumsy, and inadequately armed. Despite these flaws, even today it is difficult to find a more heavily armored ship, or one more reliable. Simply put these vessels were built to last.
    During the clone wars an admiral by the name of Figgher was able to put good use to these obsolete ships in a large-scale fleet action. Figgher had aquired a squadron of 4 Dauntless-class Cruisers. During the battle of Tannin IV Figgher sent his Dauntless ships straight into the Clone Masters' formation, while holding the rest of his fleet back at long range. The Clone Masters concentrated on the most immediate threat, while the Republic fleet pounded them from long range. The Dauntless ships themselves were able to do little damage, but they were able to take the punishment dished out to them while the rest of the fleet caused massive damage from extreme range, while staying relatively safe from enemy fire. One of the Dauntless Cruisers was destroyed, but the others survived, and the Clone Masters' fleet was routed.
    It is estimated that 200 of these ships are still in use throughout the galaxy. Some have been converted to cargo haulers for use in dangerous areas. The ships aren't able to carry much cargo, and some of the internal bulkheads are traditionally removed from this configuration in order to gain more cargo space, but the vessels remain one of the most durable designs out there. This is a definite boon when transporting extremely valuable cargo through pirate-infested areas of space. Other examples of this ship are used by planetary militias and large corporations for defense. A popular strategy is to use a Dauntless as a more or less stationary platform to defend a specific area, such as an asteroid base, or the approach to a major starport. There have even been reports of a few Dauntless-class Cruisers that have been used as pirate vessels over the years.