With 5 mid slots and 6 low slots, the Tempest can be shield- or armor-tanked. If shield tanked, it achieves impressive DPS; if armor tanked, it has a huge number of utility mids. In both cases, the tank is on the weaker side compared with other Tech 1 battleships. Its big brother the Tempest Fleet Issue has one low slot more and thus works better with an armor tank. The Tempest is relatively quick and agile for its class.
The English word "tempest" was adopted into the language, meaning largely unchanged, from Latin via Old French. It appears in English surnames in the twelfth century, and as a noun in written English in the thirteenth. The Tempest is the only ship in EVE that shares its name with a Shakespeare play.