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Oberth class
Commissioned 2269 - 2308
Dimensions
Length: 123 m
Width: 87 m
Height: 41 m
Decks: 12 including engineering, 5 habitable
Mass: 25,000 tons
Crew: Widely varies between types. Typically 20 to 60
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise Warp 4
Maximum Cruise Warp 5
Maximum Rated Warp 5.8 for twelve hours
Armament
- 2 x Type IV Phaser banks, total output 3,500 TeraWatts
- Probe magazine can hold up to 25 photon torpedoes but these are rarely carried
- Defence Systems Shield system, total capacity 243,000 TeraJoules
- Standard Duranium single hull
- Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Expected Lifetime 100 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 1 year
Standard: 4 years
Major: 20 years
The Oberth class has a distinguished Starfleet career dating back for over a century. They are no record breakers - even when the first ship was commissioned in 2269 there were far more capable platforms from which to conduct scientific research and exploration. But the Oberth's had some crucial advantages - they were easy to build and easy to run. The design was highly modular - the whole vessel was made up of sections of 50, 150, or 300 tons which were simply bolted together and sealed. This allowed construction to take place in the smallest of facilities, even those intended to handle craft such as shuttles and small transports. The warp drive system, one of the most difficult parts of any starship to fabricate, sacrificed a large degree of speed and acceleration in return for simplicity and reliability. These factors enabled no less than eight Oberth class vessels to be built for the same resources as a single Constitution class starship. In service the Oberth's were just as easy to run as they were to build; the engineering plant was almost wholly automated, with the engineering hull unmanned in normal operation; the entire engineering crew consisted of one officer and four enlisted personnel, less than a tenth of the number normal for a vessel of this size.
The exploratory nature of the Oberth class mission meant that they would frequently discover new alien species, but their small size and limited crew numbers meant that they had a very limited diplomatic capability. Although they did occasionally engage in first contact procedures, it was more usual that an Oberth would make an initial assessment without revealing itself before reporting back to Starfleet and allowing larger vessels to make the actual contact.
Over the decades of their service the Oberth's have been produced in and upgraded to over twenty different variations. Early changes are limited to the sensor and laboratory resources, but the later models introduced improved crew facilities such as larger quarters and replicator systems, made possible by reduced crew numbers due to further automation. In the 2340's all units received new phaser banks - although the peaceful nature of the Oberth class is emphasized by the irony that this change was necessitated by new safety standards introduced for phaser equipment, and that the resultant changes actually lowered the ships phaser power by nearly 10%!
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Saber class
Commissioned 2343 - 2368
Dimensions
Length: 191 m
Width: 250 m
Height: 41 m
Decks: 11
Mass: 250,000 tons
Crew: 102
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise Warp 6
Maximum Cruise Warp 8.8
Maximum Rated Warp 9.2 for twelve hours
Armament
- 1 x Type VIII phaser bank
- 4 x Type VII phaser arrays, total phaser output 4,000 TeraWatts
- 2 x Standard photon torpedo tubes + 30 torpedoes
- Defence Systems Shield system, total capacity 189,000 TeraJoules
- Standard Duranium single hull
- Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Expected Lifetime 80 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 1 year
Standard: 5 years
Major: 20 years
The Saber class was part of Starfleets modernization programme of the 2340's. They were designed to be a frigate counterpart to the Steamrunner class starship; much smaller, easier to build and hence considerably more numerous. The designers brought in many measures to ensure that the Saber class would be easy to build; like the much earlier Oberth class science vessels the Saber's design is highly modular in nature, allowing ten thousand ton sections to be constructed in small shipyards before final assembly in a larger facility. One requirement was for the Saber's to have a science and exploration capacity equal to 85% that of a Steamrunner class along with equal cruise and maximum speeds - a measure intended to allow the vessels to work together in co-ordinated operations. This proved an exceptionally difficult target to meet in a hull with only two thirds of the volume of a Steamrunner; the designers were eventually forced to cut the torpedo armament of the Saber class from the original two triple-fire torpedo tubes to a single mono-fire tube and reduce the load carried from 90 to 30 torpedoes. The six type VII phaser arrays were at first to be reduced to only four, but in the event a reduction in the ships accommodation levels allowed a single Type VIII emitter to be worked into the leading edge of the saucer section. This brought the overall phaser power to some 91% of the initial planned phaser capacity. The competition for internal volume also forced a reduction in the size of the warp core, and as a result the Saber can only manage a top speed of Warp 9.2 compared to the Steamrunner's Warp 9.5.
The original specifications of the Saber called for a crew of 130, but increased automation of the engineering systems allowed this to be cut to 118 and then 102. Conditions for the crew are quite poor by the standards of the Steamrunner or Akira classes; crew quarters average 30 square metres and there are no holodecks. In addition, there are no personal replicator stations in crew quarters - instead three mess areas are provided with replicator systems for the whole crew. The Saber's have proved reasonably successful in service, although the relatively poor living conditions has led to a shorter than expected average mission duration. Like the larger Akira and Steamrunner classes, Saber's have largely served in the frontier regions and they have been an uncommon sight at the heart of the Federation. This has changed over the last three years, when many of the Saber class have been relocated near the core as part of Starfleets build-up of forces against the Dominion. Saber's featured heavily during the recent Borg incursion, where many of the ships involved in the Typhon and Earth battles were destroyed or severely damaged.
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Sovereign class
Commissioned 2372 - present
Dimensions
Length: 685.2 m
Width: 249.9 m
Height: 88.4 m
Decks: 24
Mass: 3,500,000 tons
Crew: 700
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise Warp 8
Maximum Cruise Warp 9.9
Maximum Rated Warp 9.99 for thirty six hours
Armament
- 14 x Type XII phaser arrays, total output 85,000 TeraWatts
- 1 x Rapid fire quantum torpedo turret + 600 torpedoes
- 1 x Burst fire quantum torpedo tube + 200 torpedoes
- 4 x Type 4 burst fire photon torpedo tubes + 280 torpedoes
- Antimatter spread emitter
- Defence Systems Auto modulated shield system, total capacity 4,563,000 TeraJoules
- Heavy Duranium/Tritanium double hull plus 10 cm Ablative armour
High level Structural Integrity Field
Expected Lifetime 120 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 1 year
Standard: 5 year
Major: 10 year
The Sovereign class has emerged from the dockyards as Starfleets most sophisticated and comprehensively armed vessel. The vessel is equipped with a new variant of the Type XII phaser array - formerly known as the 'Type X+' for security reasons - which equips the Federations most powerful Starbases and deep space facilities. The type twelve has a raw beam power output some 60% more powerful than the Type ten arrays installed on the Galaxy class. In addition the type twelve has a shorter recharge time and can fire a longer sustained burst, giving each bank a combat effectiveness 79.4% greater than a type ten array. Since the Sovereign carries fourteen arrays compared to Galaxies twelve, this gives the ship an overall 92.6% increase in phaser capability.
The torpedo armament is similarly impressive. The large quantum torpedo turret forward of the deflector dish is capable of firing five rounds per second, a greater overall rate of fire than the two main ten round burst photon torpedo tubes of the Galaxy class combined. Rearward quantum torpedo coverage is provided by an identical tube above the main shuttle bay. Backup to the quantum torpedoes is provided by four photon tubes; these are located at the base of the engineering section in pairs which face forward and aft and are also capable of twelve round bursts. This gives the Sovereign class the most powerful torpedo armament of any vessel in Starfleet service.
The shield system of the Sovereign class is similarly the most powerful of any Starfleet ship; the design was modified just prior to installation in order to increase effectiveness against both high energy tractor beams and phased polaron particles, measures clearly aimed at the Borg and Dominion respectively. Under normal operation the shield modulation frequencies are under the control of the ships computer system, which continually evaluates incoming weapons fire and automatically re-modulates the shields to give the most effective possible defence. It is thought - hoped - that this system will also enable the Sovereign class shield system to prevent beam-through by Borg transporter technology.
The warp engines of the Sovereign are of a new design which eliminates subspace distortion effects inherent to standard warp drives, a feature now becoming common on most Starfleet ships. The Sovereign class is currently the fastest vessel in Starfleet, with a maximum cruise speed of Warp 9.9 and a top speed of Warp 9.99 for up to thirty six hours. The very high cruise speed is intended to allow the ship to deploy as rapidly as possible to potential trouble spots. Her Impulse drive system is the most sophisticated model in production, giving the Sovereign class a manoeuvrability equal to that of a vessel one quarter its size.
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Soyuz class
Commissioned 2270 - 2293
Dimensions
Length: 245 m
Width: 150 m
Height: 63 m
Decks: 18 excluding nacelles
Mass: 310,000 tons
Crew: 130
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise: Warp 5
Maximum Cruise: Warp 6
Maximum Rated: Warp 8 for one hour
Armament
- 4 x Type VII Phaser banks
18 x Type VI Phaser banks, total output 22,500 TeraWatts.
- Defence Systems Shield system, total capacity 540,000 TeraWatts.
- Standard Duranium single hull.
- Standard level Structural Integrity Field.
Expected Lifetime 50 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 5 years
Standard: 15 years
Major: 30 years
In the late 2260's the Federations outermost colony worlds began to suffer significantly at the hands of raiding parties. Some of these were the usual mix of mercenaries and criminals, but at least some of the most serious attacks were strongly suspected to have been carried out by Klingon forces eager to test themselves against Federation targets.
In response, Starfleet deployed extra starship assets to the colony worlds, but this was never going to be a practical proposition; many of these worlds had populations in the thousands, and it was simply not worth keeping even one starship in a system to protect such a target. Starfleet wanted to produce a new class of ship for colony defence, but the resources to set up a new production line were simply not available. The Soyuz class was fielded as a compromise solution. By basing the ship on the already successful Miranda class Starfleet avoided much of the design and set-up costs, while a pool of personnel familiar with the design already existed.
The basic Miranda design was modified in order to make the Soyuz as easy to build as possible. The colony defence role called for the ship to be based in one system for long periods of time, rather than conducting extended patrols; any combat would likely be at impulse speed and would take place within a single system also. The typical raiding party would be equipped with relatively light weapons and defences, but the Soyuz would need to have a considerable reserve of offensive firepower to deal with Klingon opponents. Starfleet decided to delete the roll bar mounted photon torpedo pod from the design and replace it with a pair of turrets mounting twin heavy phasers; this would provide excellent firepower at close range while allowing the complex systems and personnel associated with long range torpedoes to be removed.
Other measures to reduce the cost of the Soyuz included reducing the overload capacity of the engines so that Warp 8 could only be held for one hour, rather than the twelve hours of the standard Miranda. The diplomatic facilities reduced from Grade 4 to Grade 3, and the scientific facilities were eliminated. On the other hand, at a late stage of the design it was decided to add several long range sensor pods to the ships hull. This was intended to give the Soyuz a good degree of early warning capability against incoming raiders, and to allow them to act as traffic control centres for the space around a colony.
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Steamrunner class
Commissioned 2367 - present
Dimensions
Length: 366 m
Width: 160 m
Height: 40 m
Decks: 9
Mass: 375,000 tons
Crew: 185
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise: Warp 6
Maximum Cruise: Warp 8.8
Maximum Rated: Warp 9.5
Armament
- 6 x Type VIII phaser arrays, total output 13,000 TeraWatts
- 2 x Pulse fire photon torpedo tubes + 75 torpedoes
- 2 x Standard photon torpedo tubes + 80 torpedoes
- Defence Systems Shield system, total capacity 891,000 TeraJoules
- Standard Duranium/Tritanium double hull plus 4.8 cm High Density armour
- Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Expected Lifetime 48 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 2 years
Standard: 8 years
Major: 24 years
During the late 2340's Starfleet became increasingly worried about the average age of the ships in the fleet. Although vessels such as the Miranda and Excelsior class were performing adequately as mid sized cruisers and destroyers, these designs dated back between 50 and 100 years and were lagging behind the latest technology despite frequent refits. Rapid expansion of the Federation was also putting a great strain on both the exploratory and defence capacities of Starfleet, and although the Nebula class was under development Starfleet was predicting that it would be unable to meet all of its commitments by 2365.
The Steamrunner design was fielded in the early 40s along with the Saber as part of a major fleet wide programme of modernization. Essentially the Steamrunner's serve a similar function to the modern day Intrepid class - a smaller, faster counterpart to the cruiser class ships which would be deployed in large numbers to augment the more capable designs. The first of the class was launched in 2342, and series production began after a six month flight test programme.
The Steamrunner introduced several innovations into Starfleet; she was the first to be equipped with an isolinear computer system rather than the duotronic system then in use. Her hull form was also rather unusual in appearance; the angular profile of the primary hull was claimed to be an inherently stronger shape than the traditional circular/elliptical shape, allowing a reduction in the thickness of the structural beams which decreased the overall vessel mass by some 12%. This made for greater acceleration at both impulse and warp. However, some flaws have surfaced in the design; Steamrunner class ships which engaged in extended periods of high warp speed found some cracking in the structural members of the primary hull. Several fixes were tried to correct this problem; Starfleet finally found that a combination of a modified Structural Integrity Field system and slight changes to the Warp drive itself eliminated the harmonic vibrations which were causing the problem. Those vessels already damaged had to have some of their main hull support structure replaced, a task which set construction of the class back some time.
Although the Steamrunner is relatively limited in its capabilities to perform scientific and exploratory functions compared to a larger ship, its real difficulties lie in the diplomatic area. Like the Intrepid class which is now replacing it, the Steamrunner is capable of holding only limited diplomatic venues. Despite this the Steamrunner's have proved their worth in diplomacy, helping to settle many matters in sparsely populated areas where Starfleets "big guns" rarely make an appearance.
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Yeager class
Commissioned 2374
Dimensions
Length: 328.9 m
Width: 150 m
Height: 85.5 m
Decks: 11
Mass: 580,000 tons
Crew: 135
Warp Speeds
Normal Cruise: Warp 6
Maximum Cruise: Warp 7.8
Maximum Rated: Warp 8.2 for twelve hours
Armament
- 8 x Type VIII Phaser arrays
- 2 x Type VIII Phaser cannon, total phaser output 9,500 TeraWatts
- 4 x Standard photon/quantum torpedo tubes + 20 torpedoes
- Defence Systems Shield system, Total capacity 513,000 TeraJoules
- Standard Duranium/Tritanium single hull
- Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Expected Lifetime 80 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 1 year
Standard: 5 years
Major: 20 years
Another member of Starfleets "Frankenstein Fleet", the Yeager class was rushed into service in 2374 during Starfleets retreat from the Dominion during the early phase of the war. The design melds a standard Intrepid saucer section, of which Starfleet had something of a surplus in this period, with an engineering hull which is based on a scale-up of a Peregrine variant. The latter was chosen because of the extreme ease with which it could be constructed by the Starbases involved.
Like all of the Frankenstein Fleet, the Yeager is significantly below its properly designed counterparts in terms of performance. The area in which the Yeager suffers most in speed; while the Intrepid is amongst the fastest classes in the fleet, the Yeager can only break Warp 8 for relatively short periods. This is largely due to the rush in which the ships were completed - there was insufficient time to properly match the hull configuration to the warp field, resulting in a serious loss of efficiency.
The Yeagers also suffer somewhat in firepower. The forward facing torpedo tubes of the Intrepid are located in the Engineering hull, and so are not present on the Yeager. The ship is thus left with only the aft firing tubes. The number of phaser banks is also reduced; although the presence of two large phaser cannon on the engineering hull largely compensates for this in terms of absolute firepower, there is a significant lack of phaser coverage to the ships aft.
The Yeagers participated in the operation to recover Deep Space Nine, but this is their only offensive action so far. They are largely used in a defensive role due to their inherent deficiencies - Yeagers are often to be seen as part of Deep Space Nines defensive screen, and have operated in several other locations in this area. Despite their relative "backstage" role, many of the ships have been lost during Dominion attacks.
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