Tough Little Ships

[Bry_Sinclair]

Hello all.

I'm in need of some ideas. I'm needing a class of ship that will at some point in the future be attached to a station, set in the post-Dominion War era.

I'm not looking for a big capitol ship, she is to have an absolute maximum of 100 crew, though less is preferred. I'm not wanting a Defiant-Class, I think something a little more versatile would be better. My first thoughts were for a Sabre-Class, her 40 crew would suit just fine, but I'm open for other options.

Any suggestions for small classes, either canon or non-canon (if non-canon, it'd be helpful if you had a link to images and/or specs), that might fit my requirements?

Thanks in advance.

[Mage]

Nova class? About the same size as a Sabre, according to most fleet charts.
What sort of role is the ship supposed to have? Defense? Patrol? Scout?

[MacLeod]

If canon doesn't matter, just create your own class.

[Timo]

...Or pick from Star Trek Online, which features quite a range of ships in this size category for the specific era. Try out the various escorts, for example.

http://www.stowiki.org/Playable_starship
http://www.stowiki.org/Non-playable_starship

Timo Saloniemi

[MasterArminas]

How about the Hayden-class by Michael Bosshca (aka, BorgMan)? She's a fan design, not canon, but she has the FEEL of a canon ship, post-VOY.

She's a scout and the 3-d meshes of her on that page are pretty neat. She's small (131 meters in length, with a beam of 54 meters, and height of just 29 meters; 6 decks). She's got a core crew of only 25 officers and men and is pretty freaking fast (cruise at Warp 8.2, hits 9.92 flank, and 9.995 emergency full). Armament consists of two torpedo launchers (one fore, one aft) capable of handling quantum torps (but limited magazine space), and four phaser strip arrays (fluff says five, but I can only see four on the model).

Or the Harrier class from the same page. The Harrier has a deck layout schematic and is pretty cool, even if she isn't as sleek or fast as the Hayden. She's even smaller, but carries three phaser strips and two (forward-firing) torpedo tubes (quantum capable).

MA

[Bry_Sinclair]

Mage wrote:

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Nova class? About the same size as a Sabre, according to most fleet charts.
What sort of role is the ship supposed to have? Defense? Patrol? Scout?

The Nova-Class Refit is also a possibility.

The ship is really to be an all-rounder, docked at the station until needed, then sent out to conduct reconnaissance, escort, transportation, etc. Adaptable is really the main criteria.

MacLeod wrote:

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If canon doesn't matter, just create your own class.

I did think that but I'd like to have some visuals to go with it. Specs I can devise myself (its one thing I enjoy making up when I take on new ships). It nothing really fits, this is always a good fall back point.

Timo and MasterArminas, thanks for the links. I'll investigate further.

[jpch]

The Nova class,was a Science vessel designed for short range planetary research.(from Equinox) has a crew of 80.
Al thought compared to Voyager it seems like a weak very inferior vessel tactically according to Janeway it was able to survive a beating from Voyager.
so its clearly a tough little ship kinda like the Intrepid as well.

in Endgame a Nova class refit the Uss Rhode Island was able to distract 2 Neg'hvar class Battle cruisers and damage them,it also displayed high maneuverability.

[Mage]

And, considering that the Nova class was at first one of the designs considered for what ultimately became the Defiant, you could argue it can be quickly refitted into something other than a science vessel.

[jpch]

Mage wrote:

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And, considering that the Nova class was at first one of the designs considered for what ultimately became the Defiant, you could argue it can be quickly refitted into something other than a science vessel.

Indeed,the Nova was said to be science vessel,the Nebula a research vessel but both were very powerful ships.

[Bry_Sinclair]

Over at deviantART, thefirstfleet has made up a version of the original Defiant-Class design, which looks very cool.

I'm leaning towards the Rhode Island-style Nova, with the smaller secondary deflector. I could imagine her with an improved weapons array and warp drive, giving her greater capabilities of a science ship (though I always thought that eleven phaser arrays made her pretty well-armed).

[The Badger]

MasterArminas wrote:

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Or the Harrier class from the same page. The Harrier has a deck layout schematic and is pretty cool, even if she isn't as sleek or fast as the Hayden. She's even smaller, but carries three phaser strips and two (forward-firing) torpedo tubes (quantum capable)

I like the Harrier design. Whilst most fan designs err towards the all powerful uber-ships, the Harrier seems much more realistic. A small hull designed to be quickly mass produced with the minimum of resources, it is intended to quickly bring ship numbers up after the Dominion War. Most components are stock, so no new manufacturing lines need be set up.

It's well armed for it's (very small) size, four phaser strips, two pulse phasers and a pair of torpedo launchers. One of it's most useful features is the Reconfigurable Mission Module. The RMM is essentially a large cargo bay with added data links and power conduits, allowing it to be be altered for different purposes as the mission requires. Science lab, additional sickbay, extra quarters, whatever.

Due to the limited size and amenities they are intended to be assigned to Starbases, with missions of one to three weeks.

[Timo]

There's also the Aegian frigate from the Armada game. Sort of like a slightly stretched Nova, perhaps with the long tail holding the "special weapons" and being another exchangeable module you could make use of.

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Aegian_class

Very compact, although how compact exactly, we don't know. The only "official" spec, a crew count of 200, is not really all that official, and plays no role in the game. I've chosen to believe the ship is some 330 m long with the tail module, and 270 without (that is, from bow to aft end of nacelles), just to keep her in the frigate category, but the window sizes would certainly allow for a smaller ship as well.

In the game, she's a fleet outrider, but mainly because the game relies on "special weapons" and hers is a shield enhancer that boosts the protection of nearby friendly vessels (aegis bearer, get it?). Give her a different "special weapon" or leave it ashore, and you would have a cutesy short range patrol type.

Timo Saloniemi