GH Castigator with Safety Overrides is the most ridiculous ship build I've tried yet. Two Assault Chainguns in the back mediums, one Heavy Machine Gun in the center medium hardpoint, two Overcharged Fusion Torch in the front two mediums.
Light Machine Gun in all the smalls.
Murders everything in seconds. The machine guns everywhere prevent/punish shield use, the Assault Chaingun X2 shreds through armor and hull extremely fast, and the Overcharged Fusion Torches finish off enemies with huge hull pools, like stations and battleships.
It's the combination of being able to point 5 Medium Ballistics at whatever is in front of it, while being fast and maneuverable (Good speed with SO +the perma 10% time dilation), and the time dilation gives an effective +10% DPS and flux advantage against all targets.
The ship system (Errant Drive) feels good too, allowing you to side-dash in any direction. I constantly use it to dodge Reapers or massed fire.
At the same time, I also find the Castigator (P) to be an excellent ship for AI-controlled officers: it has everything you want in an AI ship - excellent mobility system to let it backpedal and keep distance, a Large hardpoint to snipe with, two Medium ballistics for Hypervelocity Drivers (more sniping + EMP), lots of point defense on all sides, and 1500 armor. The combination of armor and mobility means you don't have to worry about it getting killed.
I like to kit them out with a Hellbore Cannon and two Hypervelocity Drivers. That lets them threaten any target from good range.