CONSTELLATION-CLASS CRUISER
In the mid 2270’s, Star Fleet decided to commission a design for an Explorer-class vessel capable of missions of extreme duration on the outskirts of Federation space. While both the Enterprise and Excelsior class starships were designed for missions of up to five-years, they were also expected to be able to have access to Federation facilities. Star Fleet was looking for a vessel capable of mission duration’s of at least twice that and without the need to replenish at a starbase. Neither the Enterprise or Excelsior, due to the complexity of their systems design, was considered a viable platform for such a mission. Therefore, an entirely new ship class had to be developed.
Class:
The ASDB began initial design work in 2276. Though known to be extremely inefficient, it was felt that more than two warp nacelles would be critical for this design, both to reduce stress on the entire warp system as well as to provide spares in case of an unrepairable system failure. It was decided that four nacelles, in a double-tandem configuration, made the most sense for the above reasons. The remaining design of the starship became dictated by the results of this decision. Mission requirements evolved to add long-range sensor analysis and intelligence gathering within Threat territories, communications, and deployment and retrieval of stealth shuttles. The Design Project was named Constellation in honour of the flag of the late Commodore Matthew Decker and Commodore Gihlan’t’aehn of Port Copernicus Fleet Yards was named Director in May 2280. The registry 1974 was assigned to the lead ship at this time.
Classification:
Though classified as a cruiser, the Constellation class in hull design and layout actually shares more in common with a frigate.
Design:
While sleek in appearance at a distance, upon closer inspection there are numerous bumps and protrusions for sensors and equipment, resulting in only average warp dynamics. A special extra-thick laminate hull was sandwiched between the top and bottom halves of an Enterprise (II) class cruiser saucer. This design allowed almost a tripling of the internal volume of the hull, while only doubling the mass. There were a total of seven hangar doors for cargo and the four shuttles (three impulse, one warp) carried. The Constellation was also the first vessel to have enveloping Structural Integrity Fields (SIF) that helped protect the ship during combat and high-stress maneuvering.
The additional internal space allows for cabins that are larger and more luxurious than those found on most current Federation starships, due to the nature and duration of the missions. Crew (100 officers and 435 enlisted) and cargo are 25 percent higher than that of an Enterprise class.
Engineering:
Since the vessel would be operating so far from repair facilities, it was decided to use the Cochrane Warp Dynamics LN-64B warp drive. The four nacelles were placed on their sides, allowing a single intermix shaft to feed each set of two nacelles. As with the Federation (II) class dreadnought, the shaft ends in a “T”, with a direct horizontal feed to each system. The entire system looks like a sideways “H”. The original plan was to fit two independent warp cores, but this proved to be cost-and-space prohibitive. Therefore, an 18% larger warp swirl chamber was developed to handle the additional reactants, and a 60%-complete spare core was carried for in-field repairs. The core was placed within the juncture of the impulse block and pylons. Matter and anti-matter tankage filled the aft primary hull with twin hatches to allow the staggered ejection of the anti-matter storage pods. Dual and independent Scarbak Propulsion Systems RSM impulse drives were fitted for redundancy.
Tactical:
Though designed as an Explorer, the Constellation mounted the most powerful tactical systems available at the time, including six RIM-15A dual phaser turrets and six RSM-20B single units, three Mk 70 photon torpedo launchers (two forward in pods at the juncture of the nacelles and one rearward in the impulse block), and the “Merlin” deflector shield system.
Computer Systems:
It was necessary to fit the M-9 Duotronic IV computer system to adequately handle the balancing of four nacelles, as well as to ensure sufficient computing power for unseen needs. RAV/ISHAK Warp Celestial Guidance has been fitted, with a special expanded databank to allow the new mapping data these ships acquired to be stored for transmission back to Star Fleet. Sensor facilities were state-of-the-art, including a sensor “cannon” (a precursor to the subspace telescope) to map targets up to 3.5 light-years away with high resolution.
Builders:
All Constellation class vessels were built at the Port Copernicus Fleet Yards, Luna, by Star Fleet engineers.
Development and Construction History:
The design was finalized in 2280 and construction began on the Constellation, with two sisterships – Valkyrie and Hathaway – added six months later. A third vessel, Stargazer, was added six months after that. Constellation was launched on June 15, 2284 and immediately encountered severe problems in trying to balance all four nacelles. This was expected, and through extensive simulation and testing, the fields were balanced for both two-and four-nacelle operation. She began her speed trials, but another problem occurred. The ship was designed for speeds upwards of Warp 9, but stresses on the attachment points became so great that, above Warp 8, there was serious concern the ship might be destroyed. As such, top speed was limited to Warp 8, with Warp 7 the recommended maximum. This was a severe disappointment, as the ship was now no faster than an Excelsior class Battleship. However, the ship was still capable of mission length’s double the duration of an Excelsior. Hathaway entered service in August 2284, but Valkyrie suffered a partial anti-matter containment loss during testing. While the ship was not destroyed, the engineering section had to be cut out and a new one inserted. This delayed her commissioning until April 2286, after Stargazer, who was commissioned in February 2286.
Though not everything they had hoped for, Star Fleet commissioned an additional two vessels – Magellan and Gettysburg – over the next decade to perform deep-space mapping missions to the outer reaches of the Federation Treaty Zone. As the Ambassador class project developed, two more – Victory and Gihlan – were procured to perform initial surveying for later follow-up by the Ambassadors.
Nomenclature:
Gihlan (CE 9761) was originally ordered as Houbolt, but was renamed in honor of Rear Admiral Gihlan’t’aehn, who passed away from an illness shortly after the commissioning of U.S.S. Stargazer.
Current Specifications for the Constellation class:
Displacement: 325,000 mt
Overall Length: 315 m
Overall Draft: 86 m
Overall Beam: 175 m
Propulsion:
Four LN-64B Mod 3 dilithium-energized antimatter linear warp drive units
Two RSM subatomic unified energy impulse units
QASR particle beam maneuvering thrusters
“Trentis II” pulsed laser reaction control system
Velocity:
Warp 6.0 Standard Cruising Speed
Warp 7.0 Maximum Cruising Speed
Warp 8.0 Maximum Attainable Velocity
Duration:
10 years, standard
Complement:
100 Officers
435 Enlisted Crew
0 Passengers (Normal – Up to 100 maximum)
535 Total Crew (Standard)
Embarked Craft:
1 Type SW-9 Intelligence Shuttle
3 Type SW-7 Personnel Shuttle
2 Type S-10 Shuttlepod
2 Type S-2A Bee Workpod
Navigation:
“Hawkeye” Warp Celestial Guidance
NAVTAC Guidance Supplement
Computers:
“Daystrom” Duotronic IV with Multitronic M-9 Supplement
Phasers: 6 banks of 2 each – RIM-15A independent twin mount
Phasers: 6 banks – RSM-20B single mount
Missiles:
3 tubes – Mk 70 Mod 2
Défense:
“Merlin” primary force fi eld and deflector control system
Life Support:
MC-3E artificial gravity generator
“Rastis” radiation protection package
“Cerix” waste regeneration system
