EXCELSIOR-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER
It is a rare vessel indeed that lasts one-hundred years, and no Star Fleet ship has remained on active-duty for such a length of time. Yet, in June of 2385, the U.S.S. Excelsior will celebrate her first century of active-duty service. Though decried as a “White Elephant” and a “Technical Failure” when she first entered service, the Excelsior and her hundreds of sisterships have gone on to become the most famous and effective starship class in Federation history.
Class:
The Space Control Ship has been a part of Starfleet’s vessel inventory since 2287. As developed, these vessels were to serve as task force flagships and as fire-support vessels (gunships) during Marine planetary assault operations.
In 2290 a new variation of the Excelsior class was submitted for consideration. With enhancements to cloaking technologies of both the Romulans and Klingons, detecting cloaked vessels became more and more difficult. It was decided to fit an advanced electronics suite to the ship to turn it into a “sensor picket” vessel which could patrol the Federation border. A set of high-powered side-scan sensor suites were installed in two large pods on the secondary hull to peer deep into Threat Territory. The first vessel to be built to this standard was the next incarnation of the USS Enterprise, which entered service in 2293.
Classification:
The Excelsior class started as a Battleship. As her military function became more and more subsumed by her explorer and other roles, she took on the standard designation for large Star Fleet multi-mission vessels and was re-classified as a Heavy Cruiser.
Design:
The Excelsior class was a radical design in her day, though many future starship classes, including the Ambassador and Sovereign, drew inspiration for their lines directly from her. Her shape was the result of extensive computer modelling of transwarp travel, though the design adapted itself quite well to conventional warp, as well. As a battleship, Excelsior and her early sisters reflected the quarters design of the day with barracks for the enlisted and junior officers. Though considered spacious for the time, the senior officers and VIP quarters would be considered downright Spartan today. The Excelsior class was originally designed for combat, and carried an extensive hangar bay with the equivalent of a full Carrier Air Wing of shuttles and fighters.
Engineering:
When first designed, the Excelsior was equipped with the experimental Koëller Uti K27 Transwarp drive system. However, this drive system never performed more than about 10% better than a conventional warp drive and cost close to 50% more to build. Though computer models and tests on small, unmanned test ships had shown great promise of offering extremely high speeds, when the process was scaled up to starship dimensions, it just did not work. About the same time, Shuvinaaljis had developed a new LN-72 warp drive to be used on a hypothetical super-carrier close to the displacement of the Excelsior. The drive was first tested on Excelsior’s sister, the highly modified USS Ingram, and proved to be an excellent match. Returning transwarp to the design room, Excelsior was returned to Spacedock and her entire drive system was replaced.
Tactical:
The Excelsior was easily the most powerful vessel of her day. She mounted the most powerful dual- and single-turret phaser banks as well as the latest photon torpedo system. Her “Merlin” primary force field was state of the art and was equipped with a cloaking device. Over the decades, the ball turrets were uprated to what is now Type VIII specifications. Phaser rings were considered, but the sheer cost of the conversion, as well as the amount of hull-rework that would need to be done, was considered impractical. The “Merlin” system has been continuously upgraded, and is now roughly three-times the strength of the original, though integrated cloaking was removed after the Treaty of Algeron was signed. Later-build vessels are equipped with Charlottes Shield’s FSO system.
Computer Systems:
As launched, the Excelsior was fitted with the Daystrom Duotronic IV computer system with M9 supplement. Over the years the core and memory subsystems have been upgraded, but the ship is still based on duotronic circuits, as refit to Isolinear technology was considered impossible without rebuilding the ship from the keel up.
Builders:
Excelsior class vessels have been built by most of the larger shipyards in the Federation.
Development and Construction History:
Excelsior was laid down in 2280 and was formally launched in 2285. A sistership, USS Ingram, was laid down in 2284 and plans for three additional vessels were made. Three months into her trials, it was obvious that transwarp was not working, and work on Ingram was halted at the basic spaceframe stage while the engineers tried to determine and then solve the problems plaguing Excelsior. By this time, Operation Dixie and Project Grey Ghost had determined that both the Klingon and Romulan Empires had started construction of large battleships capable of taking and holding planetary systems. Ingram’s design was immediately modified to answer this threat, turning the vessel into a space-control ship and production was resumed.
The initial trials of the Excelsior were fraught with systems failures, which ballooned the final price well beyond what the Federation Council had initially budgeted. Though it seemed the class might be doomed to consist of but a single ship, a number of fortuitous events occurred. First was the Klingon-Romulan Alliance — the technology trades between the two powers allowed each to significantly improve their vessels and create new series of powerful warships. Second, by 2290 the Federation and Ascension class dreadnoughts were reaching the ends of their design lifetimes and would need replacement. And third, while her trials had been fraught with difficulties, once commissioned, the Excelsior performed exceptionally well.
By 2286 transwarp was classified a failure and Excelsior was returned to the yards to be fitted with the LN-72 drive that had gone onto Ingram. Initial plans were to convert Excelsior to the Ingram’s design, but the cost would have been so high that Fleet decided to keep her a battleship. As such, Ingram was designated her own class. At the suggestion of her new Commanding Officer, Captain Hikaru Sulu, the Excelsior was modified in the yard with an extensive exploration and scientific suite and then went on to complete a number of multi-year surveys. After the favourable modifications advanced and then tested by Captain Sulu, Star Fleet decided to build six more Excelsior and two more Ingram ships.
The specialized Surveilance version entered service in 2293 and approximately twenty of these vessels were built. In 2372 one of these vessels, the USS Lakota, was converted to an enhanced combat variant to try and make the vessel a more even match for the upcoming Dominion threat. However, while the new vessel did prove to be more powerful than her conventional sisters, she was still bested in combat by the USS Defiant during the aborted coup attempt and the expense and time needed to convert the rest of the Fleet was abandoned and the effort put into construction of new Akira class starships.
Conclusion:
The lead vessel of this class is close to one-hundred years old, and even the latest vessel entered service thirty years ago. They are admittedly relics, but the basic soundness of their design has been proven over the decades. These vessels suffered truly terrible losses during the Dominion War, where they were hopelessly outclassed by the Dominion forces. However, the ships that remain in service will continue to serve in the vast middle of the Federation Treaty Zone until they are no longer serviceable. As for Excelsior herself, plans are to retire her to the Mars Museum of Spaceflight on her 100th birthday with a grand celebration.
Specifications for the Excelsior Class
Displacement: 1,534,610 mt
Overall Length: 467 m
Overall Draft: 78 m
Overall Beam: 186 m
Propulsion:
Two K-27 Mod 1 dilithium-energized antimatter linear warp drive units
Two LN-72 Mod 1 dilithium-energized antimatter linear warp drive units
Two SANTH-H subatomic unified energy impulse units
“QASR” particle beam maneuvering thrusters
“Trentis II” pulsed laser reaction control system
Velocity:
Warp 8.0 Standard Cruising Speed
Warp 9.0 Maximum Cruising Speed
Warp 9.3 Maximum Attainable Velocity
Duration:
5 years, standard
Complement:
100 Officers
450 Enlisted Crew
0 Passengers (Normal – Up to 50 maximum)
550 Total Crew (Standard)
Embarked Craft:
5 Type SW-7 Personnel Shuttle
5 Type S-10 Shuttlepod
5 Type S-2A Bee Workpod
5 Victory Class Fighter
5 Vigilante Class Fighter
Navigation:
RAV / ISHAK Mod 1 Warp Celestial Guidance
Computers:
“Daystrom” Duotronic IV with Multitronic M-9 Supplement
Phasers:
10 banks of 2 each – RIM-15A independent twin mount
4 banks – RSM-20B single mount
Missiles:
4 tubes – Mk 70 Mod 2 Direct
Defence:
“Merlin” primary force field and deflector control system
Life Support:
MC-3E artificial gravity generator
“Rastis” radiation protection package
“Cerix” waste regeneration system
