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Star Fleet Engineering
Bureau of Ships

The Unites Federation of Planets Star Fleet Engineering Bureau of Ships is responsible for the design, construction, maintenance, and retirement of all Star Fleet Naval starships and starcraft in the inventory of the United Federation of Planets.

These documents give general overviews of the major equipment on the ships. For specifics about how different subsystems operate, see the Technical Memorana.

Starship Designs

The United Federation of Planets uses a larger number of different starship designs or various sizes and capacities. The following classifications are used by the Star Fleet Navy and, generally, applied by Star Fleet personnel to other starships encountered regardless of the specific designations given by foreign powers for ease of common reference.

Battleship, BB

Battleships are warships without any regard for science or exploration. They are intended for defensive and offensive military operations. While some have debated the need for such large, single purpose designs, battleships of the Zeus class have proven their worth in a number of key engagements. These include the defense of Starbase Gamma from the Dominion and the defense of Starbase Omega from the Dalriadan Alliance.

Zeus-class Dreadnought

The largest ship in the Federation inventory, the Zeus-class battleship repsents the fullest application of modern military technology to the construction of a warship. Few vessels of this class exists. Those in service act as area command ships or are the center of fast-responce task forces capable of deploying anywhere in Federation space in responce to the potential of hostilities.


Command Battlecruiser, CBC

Solar-class Command Cruiser

The Solar is a large, mutli-mission capable starship with extensive science labs in addition to extensive fleet command and control facilities. She has point defense systems and the phaser cannon typical of most battle cruisers. With the Mark III revision, she has been retrofit with the latest in weapons and computer systems to keep those ships in service in line with the newer Arizona-class command battlecruisers.

On the down side, the class has a high mass and correspondingly low normal space maneuverability. High staffing levels make the ship very costly to operate. Large portions of the staff contribute to the multi-mission capacity and are non-combat oriented.

Valhalla-class Command Cruiser

The Valhalla is the latest command cruiser design. They are an attempt at balancing size, flexibility, and offensive capabilities. As such, they are smaller and more maneuverable than Solar-class ships, but more multi-mission capable than the leaner Bastion-class vessels. They have been designed as a gravitically propelled ship from the original design phases.

Battlecruiser, BC

Agamemnon-class Warship

The Agamemnon is, essentially a more militant and slimmed-down cousin of the Solar in terms of capabilities. She is almost as good a command platform as a Solar and has extensive multi-mission capabilities. Her crew quarters are significantly more compact and she loses some lab space as compared to a Solar (but still has more multi-mission suited spaces than either Circe or Caesar classes). Due to very heavy armor, the class is capable of absorbing far more punishment than any other battlecruiser class. The class is intended to be able to deal with both large opponents and multiple small targets. If the power management issues can be overcome, there is enough room within the space frame to accomodate the inclusion of point defense systems.

Circe-class Warship

The Circe was something of an experiment in automation, allowing a smaller ship operated by fewer personnel to have combat capabilities on par with much larger battle cruisers. There is a price. She is crammed with equipment. Crew spaces are very small for a Federation starship and her laboratory facilties are almost non-existant compared to other cruisers and battle cruisers. She is a lean warship built using lessons learned in the Dalriadan War and is accordingly light and maneuverable by even multi-mission heavy cruiser standards. While she is still outmaneuvered by Dalriadan Warships of similar rate, she is capable of outmaneuvering all but the smallest Dalriadan battleships.

The Mark III variant of the Circe is a command variant which brings the fleet command-and-control facilities in line with those of other battle cruisers. It is sometimes identified as a Bastion after the first ship of this variant. The Mark III also introduces a gravitic sublight drive similar to the one first deployed in the Fearless class.

Fleet Carrier, CV

Regency-class Advanced Fleet Carrier

With the advent of new gravitic drive combat shuttles, the design of carriers underwent a paradigm shift. While still needing to be able to efficiently handle and maintain large numbers of small craft, the new fleet carrier design needed to be able to throw the fighters clear of its own drive field before they could light their own drives. This could not be done with transporters or tractor beams because the low initial <math>\Delta v</math> would leave the shuttles too vulnerable for enemy fire. So, the ship is build to house a series of linear accelerators, much like over-sized photon torpedo launchers, which blast the combat shuttles clear of the hull on a laterally diverging vector from the mother ship.

Starfall-class Fleet Carrier

Meant as the ultimate support for marine operations, the Starfall-class fleet carrier is the best ship to maintain in-atmosphere air superiority and provide close air support for Star Fleet marines. In any contested battlefield where large scale troop de ployments are needed, this rare fleet carrier will undoubtedly be present.

Heavy (Armored) Cruiser. CA

Caesar Augustus-class Warship

Take a Galaxy-class starship. Remove the civilians. Gut its science labs, trim it down for war, armor it, and arm it to the teeth. You will have a Caesar. The warp system on these ships is inefficient in light of the 500-series drives of the last few years, but was the only way to make the ship fast enough to combat the Borg at the time they entered service. While a bit heavier than the Galaxy, they still hold a mass and maneuverability edge over even the ultra-modern Circe class. There is no room to retrofit point defense systems into the spaceframe. As such, the ultimate service life of the class is limited and the class is no longer in production.

Endeavour-class Explorer

The final in a long series of heavy cruiser variants of the venerable Galaxy-class spaceframe. The ships of the Endeavour class are thoroughly modern multi-mission starships. Still, the final evolution of the Galaxy-class spaceframe had primary been used as a conversion and uprating of existing hulls and is no longer in production.

Fearless-class Warship

The Fearless is a next-generation heavy cruiser. She features many technologies which set her apart from her predecessors. First among these is a revolutionary reactionless sublight propulsion system. While current inertial dampener allows only a fraction of the potential for this new drive system to be realize at this time, but this limitation will be solved over time. Second a new tactical computer system which uses distributed computing to replace the traditional computer core, increases the redundancy and flexibility of shipboard computing.

Kirov-class Explorer

The Kirov is a multi-mission cruiser which was originally designed as a replacement for the Galaxy-class spaceframe. It mounts the advanced AUGUR sensor suite as well as a modern point defense laser system. Because of the smaller hull, the Kirov is more handy in sub-light maneuvers than the larger Galaxy-based ships. With a more efficient and modern power plant, the Kirov also boasts higher warp cruising speeds than all of the Galaxy-derived designs save the Solar-class command battlecruiser.

Magellan-class Long-Range Explorer

The Magellan-class cruiser is a modification and modernization of the basic Galaxy-class design into a specialized long-range explorataion vessel. It was superceded by the Endeavour class and is no longer in production.

Yasuragi-class Explorer

The Yasuragi-class cruiser is an exploration-oriented cousin to the Fearless-class warship. She is less heavily armored than her cousin, but shares much of her spaceframe and her gravitic sublight drive system. She combined this with state-of-the-art sensor systems and research facilities unequaled by any heavy cruiser in the inventory. Her size continues the current trend to smaller, more efficient ships. As such, she is only about 80 percent the mass of the half-century old Galaxy-class cruiser and even smaller than most of the starships derived from that venerable design. USS Akira is the first ship of the class to enter actual fleet service. The class is intended to replace most remaining Galaxy and Sovereign-based spaceframes in frontline service over the next decade.

Command Light Cruiser, CLC

Tempest-class Command Light Cruiser

The Tempest began her life as a Storm-class light cruiser, a design renowned for its endurance and speed. With the need for a smaller, more agile command cruiser, she was converted to the first command light cruiser in the star fleet and the class named in her honor.

The massive refit of the ship resulted primarily in internal changes to accommodate the requirements of a flagship. These included that addition of a flag bridge, quarters for an admiral and his staff, and a quarters and training areas for a marine complement. This has resulted in the ship becoming more crowded and in a sharp reduction in authorized civilian complement.


Light Cruiser, CL

Ambassador-class Explorer

While most of this early 24th century design have long since left service, a few remain in the inventory for minor roles in remote systems without high priority for newer units. Others, like the USS Akagi have become test beds for Star Fleet Engineering. As one of the larger ship classes not currently in service and a class built in relatively large numbers when it was in production, these ships can serve as a test-bed for almost system which might some day find itself in service in modern cruisers. The USS Akagi maintains most of her original weapon suite (with minor upgrades to her torpedo system), but was used extensively to test new sensor systems. The ship has recently been recalled to active duty to serve in a project created by the Office of the Star Fleet Historian.

Diogenes-class Explorer

One of the most unusual designs ever to see production in the Federation, the Diogenes was an attempt to maximize the internal volume for long range explorer vessels. Very few were produced and fewer still remain in active service; they are no longer in production.

Galaxy-class Explorer

Since its introduction in 2363, the Galaxy-class cruiser and its varients have formed the mainstay of the exploration fleet of the Federation. The basic spaceframe is spacious enough to incorporate a wide variety of laboratory spaces and can also be adapted to function in a military capacity when necessary. Regular minor refits have kept the systems aboard the remaining Galaxy-class cruisers up-to-date. Most ships of the class have been upgraded to or retired in favor of the newer Endeavour-class cruisers which share the same spaceframe as the Galaxy. No longer in production.

Hippocrates-class Medical Cruiser

The Hippocrates-class ship is based on an extensively modified Galaxy-class spaceframe. Designed to respond to large-scale medical emergencies, much of the general scientific lab space has been turned over to sickbays and the supporting labs.

One uncommon design feature of the class is the ability for both primary and secondary sections of the hull to operate at warp speed while separated. This twin warp core design has not been trouble free in its implementation, but has allowed the class to respond to major disasters in ways in which no other starship is capable. In a major crises, the ship can literally be two places at once.

Hiryu-class Multi-mission Cruiser

The Hiryu-class starships represent the idealogical successor to the Hood-class. These ships incorporate a multi-mission pod which allows a starbase to configure the ship for specific missions before launch. This abliity allows these light cruisers to carry mission-specific equipment which, because of mass and space restrictions normally, are normally only found on larger vessels.

Hood-class Multi-mission Cruiser

Yet another cousin to the Galaxy-class spaceframe, the Hood boasts a more compact design and a multi-mission pod. The pod allows a starbase to configure the ship for specific missions before launch. This abliity allows these light cruisers to carry mission-specific equipment which, because of mass and space restrictions normally, are normally only found on larger vessels. No longer in production.

Katana-class Anti-Piracy Patrol Cruiser

The Katana-class is a modification of the standard Montu-class light cruiser which is, in turn, based on the older Akira. The modification entails the inclusion of a hanger deck with limited capacity for modern gravitic-drive fighters. This allows the cruiser to deal with multiple small craft which are less well equipped than modern warships. It also allows the ship to sweep a system much more effectively and is possible with automated probes.

Montu-class Warship

The Montu-class is a newer design which fills the slot of light, general-duty warship in the Federation inventory. although not without science facilities, the ship is designed primarily for long range patrol and escort duty. More specialized than the Hood or Hiryu classes, the ships of the Montu class are better suited to military duty.

Storm-class Explorer

The Storm-class cruisers were designed for sustained normal-space warp speed. They are sleek vessels with a very high power to mass ratio. Because of their high normal-space warp speed, they are ideal for long range exploration.

Escort Carrier, CVE

Bogue-class Escort Carrier

The Bogue-class escort carrier fills a very particular niche in the fleet. With the expanse of the Federation making it impossible for full starships to patrol every region of space or to escort every convoy, there is a need for cost effective deployment of lighter craft for that purpose.


Kronshtadt-class Advanced Escort Carrier

Launched in 2412 as the next generation of escort carriers intended to correct the inadequacies of the Bogue class, the Kronshtadt shares a basic spaceframe with the Coventry-class destroyer. Kronshtadt features far more advanced shuttle maintenance facilities than her predecessor as well as launch capability for the new gravitic drive combat shuttles which boast far improved accelerations due to improvements in both main shuttle drives and inertial compensators.

Destroyer, DD

Coventry-class Warship

Coventry, the newest destroyer design in Star Fleet, is the representation of a new push by the Federation to work under the premise of "smaller can be more".

Feynman-class Surveyor

One of the largest destroyers in the Federation inventory, the Feynman-class ships are designed to be the equivalent of the Galaxy-class vessels writ small. The DELPHI sensor array gives these ships sensor power which many larger ships cannot match.

Franklin-class Warship

The Franklin is the mainstay of the destroyer fleet and is deployed in large numbers throughout the Federation. As the first destroyer series routingly equipped with dimensional warp drive systems, these ships see heavy use as escorts for larger cruisers, battlecruisers, and battleships which have routinely been equipped with hyperspace drives from some time.

Nightingale-class Medical Ship

The Nightingale is the largest destroyer in the Federation inventory. They are primarily designed as fast-responce medical ships and, as such, are the conceptual predecessors of the larger Hippocrates-class ships. Though ill-suited to military duty because of a low power to mass ratio and poor normal-space accelerations for a destroyer, these ships often see use on diplomatic missions.

Tsyklon-class Surveyor

At just over half the mass of the Feynman class, the Tsyklon class offers a far more cost efficient light, mobile sensor platform. While not the equal of its larger cousin as an exploration vessel, the Tsyklon incorporates most of the major advantages of the larger Feynman in a much more efficient vessel.

William Mitchell-class Warship

The Mitchell was once the single most common destroyer in Federation service. The venerable design is still seen in a variety of roles in the fleet and is common in the more remote sectors as a patrol ship because of its relatively long range capabilities for a destroyer. No longer in production.


Escort Destroyer, DE

Thunderbolt-class Warship

A cousin to the Defiant class, the Thunderbolt class is the smallest starship in the Federation inventory to mount to offensive weapons of a destroyer. As such, the class has nearly unparalleled maneuverability for a ship of its rate. This is paid for by a lack of range, cramped crew compartments which do not even afford all personnel with their own bunks, and virtually non-existent scientific research equipment.

Diligent-class Warship

The next-generation escort vessel, the Diligent has more range and sustained endurance in a fight than the Defiant or Thunderbolt. While not as hard-hitting as her predecessors in a concentrated forward attack, Diligent has the ability to sustain a higher sustained rate of energy transfer to her weapons systems and to engage more simultaneous targets than either. This means that her combat effectiveness is higher. The addition of limited point defense capability and enhanced electronic warfare systems also make her much more effective in preventing damage to ships that she is escorting.

Frigate, FF

Charon-class General Duty Frigate

The Charon-class frigate represents the ultimate in miniaturization of the multi-mission concept. Too small for a multi-mission pod, the primary hull of the ship has interchangeable modules that allow reconfiguration while in space dock. This capability allows the Charon to be the most versatile of the small ships in the Federation inventory.

Pathfinder-class Scout

The Pathfinder was designed as a general duty science vessel to replace the aging Oberth class ships.

Stingray-class Scout

The Stingray-class frigate is one of the smallest frigates in the Federation inventory. It is used primary as a long range scout and has never seen heavy production.

Asgard-class Warship

Originally known as Valhalla-class, the Asgard class represents a compromise design. While bearing undeniable similarity to the Thunderbolt-class destroyers, the designers of the Asgard-class frigates opted for a more balanced approach. Rather than dedicating shipboard systems to offense to the exclusion of all else, the ship design balances offensive punch, range, and scientific research abilities. The tactical sensors on the ship are first rate and as capable of those aboard a Thunderbolt, but concessions in other areas mean that the class does not mount as much offensive firepower as her destroyer-rated cousin.

Wolfe-class Scout

The Wolfe-class frigate represents a modernization of the venerable Miranda-class spaceframe. The platform was often used as a testbed for new and experimental systems. No longer in production.

Corvette, FL

Other starships

Assault Landing Ship, Warp, LSA

Eisenhower-class Assault Landing Ship

The largest marine transport in current service, the Eisenhower is made to land a full marine regiment including armor and artillery battalions in a planetary assault. It also carriers a number of support combat shuttles. It is a warship with substantial shielding and ablative armor, but it is not intended to combat other large warships and invariably is accompanied by escort ships.

Patrol Craft, Warp, PTW

Flemming-class Scout

The next general in small scouting craft, the Flemming represents a quantum leap in small craft technologies. Using a revolutionary compact fusion power core, it is capable of faster-than-light travel using both conventional warp and dimensional warp drive and very high sublight accelerations using a gravitic planing drive.

Auxiliary, Fast Personnel Transport, APF

Mountain-class Transport

Long-haul, moderate capacity d-warp capable personnel transport.

Ocean-class Transport

The last generation of Star Fleet personnel transport. Lack d-warp capability, the Ocean class now finds more use in civilian service than in Star Fleet.

Reference

Ship Types

Starship Registry

Starship Naming

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