"Her mission, and the mission of those who follow in her
path, shall be to support our fleets afar in the hopes that we
might shorten this terrible conflict we face."
- Dahtay Kirin, commander, Alpha Centauri IV ASDB Integration
Facility
"Yeah, we can do that."
- Motto of the USS Ganymede
Class and Type: Ganymede Class, Tender
Commissioning Date: 2375
HULL CHARACTERISTICS
Size: 10 (1400 meters long, 55 decks)
Resistance: 5
Structural Points: 190
OPERATIONS CHARACTERISTICS
Crew/Passengers/Evac: 750/1100/16000 [7pwr/round]
Computers: 4 [4pwr/round]
Transporters: 8 personnel / 8 cargo / 12 emergency [6pwr/round]
Tractor Beams: 1fv, 1 av, 1ap, 1as [2pwr/rating used]
PROPULSION CHARACTERISTICS
Warp Systems: 5.0 / 9.0 / 9.5 (6 hours) [2pwr/warp factor]
Impulse Systems: .5c / .75c [8/9pwr/round]
Power: 200
SENSOR SYSTEMS
Long Range Sensors: +2/20ly [7pwr/round]
Lateral Sensors: +2/1ly [4pwr/round]
Navigational Sensors: +2 [5pwr/round]
Sensor Skill: 5
WEAPONS SYSTEMS
Type IX Phasers
Range: 15/30,000/100,000/300,000
Arc: All
Accuracy: 4/5/7/10
Damage: 18
Power: [18]
Type II Photon Torpedos
Number: 25 (each launcher)
Launchers: 2fd
Spread: 5
Range: 15/300,000/1,000,000/3,000,000
Arc: Fore but self-guided.
Accuracy: 4/5/7/10
Damage: 20
Power: [5]
Note: the primary role of the ship's torpedo tubes are the
launching of probes, not weapons.
DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS
Starfleet Type Deflector Sheild
Protection: 60/80
Power: [60]
FLEET DATA: The Ganymede class tender is one of those projects that only makes sense during wartime. Faced with a battle fleet that was operating weeks away from friendly ports and resupply, while fighting an enemy in his own backyard, Starfleet looked for ways to bring a stardock to a fleet rather than constantly having the fleet run home for repairs. The result of this was the Ganymede.
Each gargantuan ship is, in effect, a small space station. A highly flexible set of docking and support arms, similar to those found at the McKinley platforms above Earth, extends from the bottom of the primary hull. Immense doors at the back of the hull open into a repair bay for smaller ship types. Large cargo areas permit the storage of consumables to be passed on to resupplying ships, and large numbers of industrial replicators ensure quick production of spare parts.
The ship itself commands several defensive layers. A network of Class VIII Medium-Range Warp Probes orbit the ship like electrons around an atom, returning every few days for refuelling. These provide early warning to the ship's escort, usually a pair of Saber class Light Cruiser/Escorts. The same tube that launches probes can launch photon torpedoes; while the Ganymede carries many photon torpedoes for the ships it resupplies, it has few loaded and ready to fire at any given time. Phasers equal to those aboard an Ambassador Heavy Cruiser ring the hull. Lastly, the ship mounts the shields of a battleship and a thick hull to fend off any penetrating attacks. While all this may seem excessive, it must be noted that a 1.4km long ship can't dodge worth crap.
The first wave of Ganymede class ships was to be named after the moons of Jupiter. Particularly large or active fleets would then be given additional ships from a second wave, named after the moons of Saturn. With the end of the Dorho War, the need for such a ship disappeared, and construction stopped with only four ships being launched. The first three had seen active duty, with the Io being lost in a Dorho raid. The fourth, the Europa, was completed just after the war's end, and is now being sent out on a long range mission to rendezvous with the USS Voyager approximately five years out from Federation space.
A frame was built for a fifth ship, named Leda. The ship's construction was halted since it had begun just before the war's end. There is a vocal group of captains and lower admirals suggesting that the Leda be completed and sent through the Bajoran wormhole to act as a base for continued exploration of the Gamma quadrant. The Leda would be capable of servicing explorer ships while constructing her own permanent replacement. While the plan has the interest of Starfleet Command, no decision or action has been made so far. Until a decision is made, the Leda's spaceframe floats in the Epimetheus Storage Yard near Saturn, ready to be filled out and sent to duty should the Federation ever need such a vessel again.
[The Ganymede class ship looks like a gigantic version of the Intrepid's "saucer", with a spiderlike mini-McKinley undeneath. Warp nacelles are built into the body, as on the Defiant. The back of the "saucer" splits open to reveal a spacious cargo and pressurized repair bay large enough to accomodate all but Starfleet's largest ships; but hey, that's what the mini-McKinley is for. Inspiration comes from several sources, including the Yuri Gagarin class fleet tender from Jovian Chronicles RPG, and real life ships. --Nelson]
Ship design by Nelson "Justy-san" Eisel
