Venator Class Heavy Frigate

The Venator Class is a class of advanced warship drawing on the ideas pioneered by the Dreadnought Class. The Venator was a "Heavy Frigate", something rather dichotomous as frigates were traditionally light and agile warships. It was so called because it was a lighter and more agile version of the Dreadnought Class despite is still being far heavier than the traditional frigates which dominated the Imperial Navy prior to this point. The Imperial Navy currently operates 27 Venator Class Heavy Frigate with 5 additional Venators commissioned.

Characteristics
The Venator Class was smaller and lighter than the Dreadnought Class on which it is based. It forgoed 18 of the Dreadnought's gun and a significant portion of her armor. It also traded the steam engine of the Dreadnought for traditional sails, as despite the advantages of a steam engine they were not yet sufficiently advanced to match the speed of sails. All these changes allowed the Venator to be a much cheaper and more agile warship without sacrificing a great deal of firepower. Furthermore the armor of the Dreadnought Class was considered overkill when faced with the threat of modern cannons, and the Venator's lighter armor was deemed more than sufficient.