Star Trek: Renaissance Technical Manual, Appendix A

Written by Chris Edmonds and Dan Carlson

Images by Robert Crosswell and Chris Edmonds

Appendix A: Starfleet Strategic Force Spacecraft

In the last three decades of the 24th century, the face of Starfleet has changed drastically. From the brutal conflicts with the Borg and the Dominion to the treasure trove of scientific data collected by the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet has been forced to adapt to these changing times. The new Rapid Reaction Force starships represent the cutting edge of Federation technology, but this hardly renders previous classes of starship obsolete. Indeed, even allowing for accelerated production of slipstream-capable starships, vessels with those capabilities will certainly remain in the minority for the next twenty years or more. Starfleet has no plans to prematurely retire any existing starships that are in acceptable condition; they will only be retired when they reach the end of their normal hull life.

The following list covers the most prominent classes of starship which have been launched since the end of the Dominion War in 2375. Older designs, including the Sovereign, Akira, and Prometheus classes, have been covered in previous references and are not included here.

Author’s Note: Statistics for most of the following ships are not definitive, because these ships have not been realized as 3D models yet (or are not even drawn). The general purpose and backgrounds of these ships will remain the same; however, some changes will be made as the series develops.

A.1: Front Line Starships

Pelagic-class Explorer

Following in the footsteps of such revered names as Lancaster, Constitution, Excelsior, and Galaxy, the Pelagic-class starship was pioneer of the next generation of Starfleet technology. Incorporating numerous advances made in the previous 20 years, the Pelagic quickly became the primary workhorse of the fleet after its launch in 2382, and became the archetype for other contemporary designs.

Although primarily designed as an explorer in the tradition of the Galaxy class,like their predecessors during the Dominion War the Pelagics were pressed into the role of heavy cruisers in the fight against the Sheliak. They served adequately in this position, being equipped with reasonably effective offensive and defensive systems; but as the Galaxy-class ships had been at a disadvantage against the Jem’Hadar, so were the Pelagics against the Sheliak. Nevertheless, numerous class ships earned their reputations during this conflict, most notably the USS Enterprise-F under James Winter and the USS Caesar under Elizabeth Delfune.

Despite its apparent shortcomings on the battlefield—which have been contested by several vocal groups within Starfleet—the Pelagic class became the premiere starship of its time, and has sometimes been called “the Goddess of the stars.” Apart from its combat actions, many starships took part in the most notable scientific and exploration missions in the past 20 years, including the first Starfleet surveys of the Gamma Quadrant following the Dominion War, the observance of the Sandstrom supernova, and First Contact with the Anait’sirhc race in 2388.

Today, the Pelagic-class is slowly being preempted in the front-line roles by the new Phoenix-class heavy cruiser, whose slipstream drive capabilities and enhanced combat systems offer large advantages in both exploratory and defensive roles. However, the Pelagic remains on the front lines in significant numbers, and is expected to continue in limited production for several more years.

Pelagic design and background created by Chris Edmonds and AJ.

Martel-class Heavy Cruiser

Just as Starfleet has traditionally fielded a prominent explorer-type starship as the premiere of the fleet, it has usually developed a slightly modified version of that design to serve as a heavy cruiser with similar abilities yet a simpler construction period. Like the Miranda and the Constitution, or the Nebula and the Galaxy, the Martel-class heavy cruiser is a derivative of the Pelagic-class explorer to serve as the primary workhorse in the Federation’s frontier sectors.

However, reflecting Starfleet’s increasing focus on defense roles in the years following the Dominion War, the Martel was designed primarily as a patrol and defense cruiser to anchor the deployments of lighter ships along the border. Due to the need for heavier ships along the front lines in the Sheliak War after 2385, Starfleet all but abandoned any exploratory programs for non-dedicated explorer vessels, and assigned them more and more in the combat arena.

Today, the Martel class forms the backbone of the Federation’s border patrol force and internal defense fleets. Ironically, the Martel may be the one type of ship that will not be immediately usurped by the newer slipstream-capable Rapid Reaction Force starships, led by the Phoenix-class heavy cruiser. Because of its defensive orientation and and smaller emphasis on high FTL speeds, its niche allows it to retain its full usefulness while the more offensive-oriented starships are superseded by the Phoenix and the Scimitar. It is expected that the Martel will remain the an important part of Starfleet’s combat task forces for the next ten or fifteen years.

Joan of Arc-class Long-Range Explorer

With its origins in the Galaxy-class program of the mid-24th century, the Joan of Arc-class starship is Starfleet’s longest-range vessel not equipped with a slipstream drive system. Although the enormous Galaxy-class ships could explore more territory in less time than any extant vessel, the ships were incredibly expensive in terms of metals, manpower, and construction times. With the current trend toward larger and larger vessels with more and more centralized capability, analysts predicted that the next class of exploration starship would be so large and so expensive that even the Federation economy might not be able to support them in any numbers. The only option, therefore, was to produce smaller and more mission-specific designs. The first of these was the Intrepid-class scout ship first fielded in the early 2370s. With the Sovereign-class redesigned primarily as the Federation president’s “Big Stick,” any new exploration vessel would need to focus more on scientific capabilities than on patrolling the borders. This, and continually advancing technologies, allowed ASDB to shrink the necessary systems and supplies for a long-range mission into smaller and smaller hulls. By 2382, the first new vessel, the USS Joan of Arc, was laid down, and entered service a year later. Most ships in the class were built after 2386, however.

Thanks to a radically redesigned warp nacelle that allows extended, highly efficient operations at speeds exceeding warp 9.9, the Joan of Arc class can perform independent operations for up to six years at a time. These long deployments require ship crews to make many personal sacrifices in the interest of exploration. Even today, service on a Joan of Arc is a sought-after, but strictly voluntary assignment. The original production run of Joan of Arc-class ships carried no families, and only a minimum crew of 120–a scant one tenth of the manpower needed to operate a Galaxy-class ship. Despite their small crews, enhanced automation capability allows the latest Joan of Arc-class vessels to perform more exploratory functions than two of the Galaxy-class monsters they were designed to replace. Although her diplomatic facilities are state-of-the-art, the Joan of Arc is understood to be foremost a First Contact vessel, and therefore carries sufficient weaponry to defend herself against species who prefer “gunboat diplomacy.”

Production of the Joan of Arc class continues today, as the ships have become a vital supplement to the larger explorers like the Pelagic class. Exploration by the Joan of Arc class has resulted in thirty First Contacts and the thorough cataloguing of literally hundreds of star systems. Unlike most starships, this unique class has almost never been drafted into service in a role for which it was never designed, a testament to the designers’ foresight and the ships’ proficiency in their intended role.

Joan of Arc design and history created by AJ.

Churchill-class Destroyer

The Churchill-class destroyer is an oddity in Starfleet. It was originally designed in the late 2380’s during the Sheliak War to be the first starship capable of traveling at slipstream velocities—a testbed for the technologies that would be incorporated into the larger Phoenix-class heavy cruiser. However, when the slipstream drive proved to be more complicated to develop than anticipated, the ASDB was left with a starship that had no propulsion system ready to be installed. Therefore, a standard warp drive system was installed instead.

Because its hull profile was originally designed to sustain the extreme velocities of the quantum slipstream, the Churchill has superb performance at standard warp speeds, matching the burst warp speeds of the later Rapid Reaction Force vessel designs, thus making it an ideal platform for long-range strike and patrol missions. After entering service in 2392, the Churchill saw action in several battles of the Sheliak War. Since then, it has functioned primarily as a light patrol cruiser along the Federation’s outer borders.

Ark Royal-class Frigate

During the Dominion War, the majority of the fleet was filled out by Excelsior and Miranda-class starships, very aged ships relative to what Starfleet’s latest consisted of. The war took a staggering toll on their numbers, rendering over 60% of the ships of these classes either destroyed or unsalvageable. Starfleet’s numbers were thinned due to this culling, and needed to rebuild its numbers fast. Starfleet consulted its Advanced Starship Design Bureau to design an easily built replacement ship that can be constructed within eight months to restore its numbers.

The ASDB had little over a year to yield a design that met specifications, but they persevered and produced a starship with a rather odd hull configuration: the nacelles were merged into the saucer. However, it met both the paramount requirements of having the advanced technical refinements of the time, such as ablative armor, quantum torpedo capability, Bioneural computer hardware, and advanced warp field geometry, and also being easy to construct. They then dubbed the ship class Ark Royal, after the name that almost all flagships of the British Royal Navy carried.

The Ark Royal remains the preeminent workhorse ship of the fleet, just as the Excelsior and Miranda classes it was designed to replace. Its native quantum torpedo capability also meant no retrofitting to the torpedo weaponry was needed when Starfleet switched over to using solely quantum torpedoes for standard torpedo armament; a great foresight on ASDB’s part.

Nighthawk-class Light Cruiser

During the Dominion War, Starfleet wished to strike deep within Dominion territory, to disrupt their logistical lines. However, due to their very comprehensive detection systems, the only way to remain undetected during the long journey was to hijack a Jem’Hadar ship, which proved very hard to do. Despite the constraints in the Treaty of Algeron, Starfleet R&D simply worked around the problem in making a stealth system for a Starfleet ship. In the end, the low-observability systems developed in the Nighthawk project paid off, though the prototype arrived too late for the Dominion War.

The Nighthawk class employs a remarkable two-layer system to avoid detection. First, it uses several special low-power chronoton field emitters, essentially “poor man’s cloaking devices”, to mask the ship from sensors. At a passing glance, a sensor scan would go right over it. In the event that they manage to arouse some attention, the second system is brought online: a silicon-based biological compound on the hull that mimics the surrounding colors and lights with remarkable accuracy. Coupled with its augmented long range sensor array, the Nighthawk could see almost anything without being detected itself.

Though it never saw action in the Dominion War, it did see action extensively in the Sheliak War. By that time, the Nighthawk and her sister ships had been refitted with second-generation low-observability systems, and had their phaser arrays upgraded to Type-12 strength as well. They proved to be invaluable assets, as the Nighthawk and her sister ships often went marauding through the Sheliak logistical network, wreaking havoc with surprise attacks.

A.2: Auxiliary Craft

Nile-class Runabout

After Starfleet introduced the USS Danube, the first truly interstellar "runabout" type starship, in 2368, the small-but-versatile craft quickly came into high demand on many of the far-flung stations and starbases of the Federation. The Danube offered all the flexibility and options of a short-range starship, yet requiring little more resources than a shuttlecraft in terms of support and maintenance.

The Danube was frequently called into service as a short-range reconnaissance or covert operations craft during the Dominion War, being well-suited for such intelligence missions thanks to its small sensor profile. However, the ship’s outfit and spaceframe was optimized more for noncombat operations, especially scientific missions. The Nile was designed primarily as a multipurpose, combat-oriented craft that could serve as a small fleet support unit, a short-range patrol ship, or a covert operations vessel. It served very successfully during the Sheliak War in most of the fiercest theaters of action. Today, it is slowly being replaced by the new Mississippi-class runabout. However, it still remains relatively common.

Type-19 Shuttlecraft

The Type-19 heavy shuttlecraft was a common sight on many starships for more than 15 years. Designed as a heavy-duty cargo transport, the Type-19 became popular in those mission profiles where a great deal of equipment or personnel are needed. However, this shuttle has fallen out of favor in recent years, as relatively few missions require its massive payload capacities, which can be served almost as well by two standard-size shuttles. Only a few shuttles of this type are in service now, although they are occasionally sighted in some of the busiest outposts of the Federation.