‘Fallout’: ‘The Prydwen’ is the Best Ship For Surviving the Apocalypse
Of all the technologies in the Brotherhood of Steel’s arsenal, perhaps the most impressive is the massive airship known as the Prydwen.
In the Wasteland, the Brotherhood of Steel have a reputation for having the best technology the old world has to offer. Armed with power armor, lasers, plasma weapons, and more, the Brotherhood and its order of Knights and Paladins are formidable. True. But what makes them stand out is their ability to build new things out of the wreckage of the old.
And nothing represents the kernel of hope, the seed of progress that the Brotherhood guards, than the mighty airship known as the Prydwen. This airship served as a mobile command center, flagship, and headquarters for the Brotherhood of Steel. But how did it come to float over the skies of the Commonwealth? And how exactly was it built?
The answer to this lies in the secret archives of the Brotherhood of Steel.
The Prydwen – Design and Capabilities
The Prydwen arose from the ashes of one of the Brotherhood of Steel’s greatest victories. After the Enclave was defeated outside of the Capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood of Steel took over the Enclave’s former home of Adams Air Force Base. There, the best and brightest minds in the brotherhood spent two years designing the ship, salvaging parts, and breaking down Enclave Equipment. They spent a further two years constructing the vessel.
And what a construction it was. Weighing a massive 40,000 tons, the Prydwen was a behemoth. A rigid-frame dirigible, the Prydwen was kept aloft by four “bags” of hydrogen gas (as helium was rare), which were protected by heavy armor surrounding the main deck.
The Prydwen’s armor plating was designed with protection in mind. A single section was capable of sustaining direct hits from all but the heaviest of weapons. It had to be. If the hydrogen bags were ignited, the destruction would be unimaginable.
Doubly so, because the Prydwen was powered by a nuclear fusion plant. Salvaged from the wreckage of an aircraft carrier, the nuclear plant provided power to the main engines: four massive propellers mounted at the stern of the ship, as well as four thrusters on the flight deck. Of course, the strain on the nuclear plant is severe, and it needs a constant supply of coolant to dissipate waste heat.
The vessel is not meant for direct combat. Onboard weapons might slow the ship down. And their ammunition might well be one more thing to potentially detonate, setting off the hydrogen inside the ship. Instead, the Prydwen focused on command and control capabilities. Onboard sensors and computer systems allowed it to gather and send updated recon data to Brotherhood troops.
And should the need arise, the ship’s onboard spaces could easily be converted to labs. Thus, did one airship become a nerve center for the Brotherhood’s operations within the Commonwealth.
A Secret History, Pride of the Commonwealth
After construction was completed in 2282, the Brotherhood wasted no time in deploying the Prydwen. Perhaps because, as Proctor Ingram realized, the first post-war airship would afford the Brotherhood a significant advantage. First, it patrolled beyond the Capital Wasteland, traveling along the East Coast of what was once the United States of America.
However, by 2287, it was redeployed to the Commonwealth. There, the Brotherhood of Steel became alerted to the existence of a sinister foe, lurking in the shadows—the Institute. The Prydwen proved to be invaluable to the Brotherhood during their operations in the War of the Commonwealth.
The Prydwen served as the mobile command center for Brotherhood operations. From aboard, the Brotherhood of Steel was able to provide a safe haven for its crew and provided a safe space to research new nuclear technologies.
In 2296, the Prydwen made the perilous cross-country journey from East Coast to West Coast. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
