[Headcanon] Ships of the Star Fleet ca. Stardate 8000.5

[Vagabond Elf]

Howdy! In this thread, I’m going to natter on about my vision of how Star Fleet is put together and what ships exist in it, as a series of posts made by an in-universe writer whose data is good up to Stardate 8000.5. This is headcanon. I’m not making any attempt to explain what we see on screen, nor am I attempting to conform to it outside of fuzzy personal boundaries.

I'm planning on using separate posts for separate subjects. Hopefully this doesn't cross the forum's "spamming a thread" boundaries. If I'm over the line, please just say so - I'm very comfortable with taking correction as long as it's stated clearly and plainly.

Discussion is of course welcome. Art craves an audience, and while this certainly isn’t “high art,” it is a sort of story and definitely creative work. All I ask is you be conscious of your phrasing. Don’t tell me I’m wrong because something here is inconsistent with an on-screen detail. I probably know that, and chose to ignore it. Instead, make an observation about how my choice is different from what’s shown on-screen, or comment about how you might make a different choice, or if you’re actually curious, ask about the logic behind my decisions. Phrase things positively, as opinions and observations, and give me credit for making deliberate choices, and this can be a lovely place to have a chat!

Most of the details should, I hope, emerge from the posts, but a few background things need to be noted (since they’re things the author is assuming the audience knows.)

First, the meaning of “Starship.” In My Star Trek Universe (IMSTU), “starship” is a technical term, and means “a faster-than-light vessel suitable for long-term occupation that has been designed and built specifically for the United Star Fleet.” The term was in fact coined to describe the first ship built specifically for Star Fleet, rather than being transferred from a member nation’s fleets, and to highlight that this was something new and special.

Other kinds of warp-powered ships are “Warpships,” and “warpship” is the most common generic term in everyday speech. “Spacewarp ship” is old-fashioned. “Starship” is just barely starting to displace “warpship” in day-to-day conversation but it hasn’t happened yet. Star Fleet was formed using ships built and operated by the founding nation’s fleets, and these were designated Warpship Type 1 through Warpship Type 8. Since then, Star Fleet has often found the civilian shipbuilding industry already has a design that’s suitable for their needs - especially auxiliary craft like transports - and as these “not designed for Star Fleet” vessels get adopted, they’re labeled Warpships.

This explains why the Constitution-class cruisers are only the ninth mark of starship. As of SD8000.5, Star Fleet is up to the Mark XV Starship, and the Type 17 Warpship.

(As an aside, I’ve since been persuaded that the “Mark IX” label on that diagram of a phaser battery was meant to refer to the phaser, not the starship, but I’ve got too much invested in this system to abandon it now.)

Second, how Stardates work. IMSTU, the “1000 Stardate Units equals 1 year” structure was part of the system from the very beginning. The reason the numbers are so low in TOS is because it’s new. So when Enterprise encounters the galactic rim on Stardate 1312, that’s something happening a mere 1.3 years after the Stardate system was adopted. In this headcanon, that’s because the first century of the Federation isn’t very unified, and there aren’t a lot of common structures, so it takes them over 100 years to agree on a common calendar.

This means that dates before SD0001.0 were recorded in a bunch of different methods. By the time the posts are written, though, academia at least has settled on “Antestardates” or AD. These are just counting backwards, so they’re negative numbers – meaning just like 1000 BCE happened after 2000 BCE, so did Antestardate 1234.5 happen after AD 3456.7; in other words, the bigger the AD number, the further into the past it took place.

Third, nomenclature. As the United Star Fleet was being created, the Federation was eager to avoid any suggestion that this was a military force. Therefore, Star Fleet avoids the use of “aggressive” terms like “destroyer” or “battlecruiser.” Initially, Star Fleet ships were placed in one of four categories:
– Explorers engaged in medium to long-duration missions both venturing into new territory, and in doing detailed surveys of specific worlds and systems. That latter mission is often split out by SD8000.5, with some ships being designated as “Surveyors” rather than “Explorers.”
– Transports moved people, cargo, or data across the Federation. (The last tasking has largely disappeared with the construction of the subspace relay network, but in the early days the fastest way to send information to the border areas was to put it on a ship.) Most Star Fleet ships are in fact some form of Transport. Specialist labels have emerged: a Courier moves a small amount of cargo or passengers at high speed; an Underway Replenishment Ship is equipped with shuttles, gantries, pumps, docking clamps, and so on to allow ships to be refuelled, restocked, and resupplied while deployed; and a Tug is a ship with minimal internal transport capacity, but able to haul standard transport pods or sublight-only ships based on the transport pod profile.
– Frigates are ships focused on the use of force and emergency response. They are used for both border defence and internal security patrols. (Not everyone in the Federation, as an individual, fully aligns with the Federation’s ideals, which are after all more aspirational than obligatory. Also, there are a huge number of systems that are surrounded by the Federation but not actually part of it, and sometimes these get frisky. Still, internal patrols are more focused on law enforcement and search-and-rescue, rather than military deterrence.) Small frigates that dropped firepower and combat resiliency in exchange for fast response times and wide area coverage (similar to how many real-life cities have a large number of paramedics in SUVs and smaller number of actual ambulances) have become known as Cutters. A very new category is the Responder, which is a high speed ship with a deep capability to deal with medical or environmental emergencies; they react to both ships in distress and colonies in crisis.
– Cruisers are maids of all work. They are expected to be fully capable of performing any mission Star Fleet might be called upon to do as well or better than any specialised ship. (Except for Transport tasks, though even there a Cruiser is expected to be able to make do.) They are also expected to stay deployed for years at a time. The very first starship (Starship Mark I) was the first ship designated a “Cruiser,” and by SD8000.5 there have been five types of Cruiser (the Mark I, Mark III, Mark VI, Mark IX, and Mark XI) in service, with a brand new concept (the Mark XV) under construction.

That should cover it. I’ll be building this out if and when the whim strikes me, focusing on a Starship Mark or a Warpship Type that I feel like playing with.

The images that follow, unless otherwise noted, were created using Captain_Mojo’s STLs, converted to OBJ and rendered in DAZ|Studio, then assembled in a very old copy of Photoshop Elements 2.

The STLs can be downloaded from Cults, here:

https://cults3d.com/en/users/Captain_Mojo/3d-models

 

[Vagabond Elf]

STARSHIP MARK IX (Cruiser)
The Fourth Generation Starship Commission was formed on AD 18462.4, tasked with creating a coherent strategy for the replacement of the Mark V Frigates and Mark VI Cruisers before those ships began reaching the end of their useful life. (Both Star Fleet and the Federation Council were eager to avoid a repeat of the Type 7 debacle.) The resulting report, delivered on AD 17753.8, described a “High-Medium-Low” system where a relative handful of very capable cruisers would be supported by a larger number of more specialised, less capable, but also far less expensive frigates and explorers. Star Fleet had done this by accident with the Mark III, Mark V, and Mark VI; the commission now proposed to do so on purpose and with better planning.

The Mark IX cruiser was intended to be the high-capability ship in this plan. As with all Star Fleet cruisers, the Mark IX was meant to be fully capable of performing border defence, long-range exploration, high-detail survey, distress call response, and colony medical and logistical assistance missions. (The Fourth Generation Commission is also where Star Fleet’s policy that a cruiser should be capable of deterring a peer adversary’s primary warship in a one-on-one confrontation without resorting to actual combat was first formally articulated, though it had been understood internally for decades.)

There is no debating that the Mark IX succeeded in these goals. The ship built on the success of the Mark VI, maintaining the same general configuration but being just a little larger, a little more efficient, a little more mature in every respect. Today, the ships are still seen as the baseline for evaluating other craft with starships past, present, and proposed constantly being compared to the iconic Mark IX Block 2 Constitution-class.


The Mark IX has been built in four official production blocks, plus two pre-production ships. There are several transitional ships, with some elements of the older or newer being retained or installed early as production shifted from one Block to another. The most recent, Block 4 ships are usually considered “Fifth Generation” starships, though the label is unofficial.

As of Star Date 8000.5, 29 Mark IX Starships have been built, and two more are under construction. This makes the Mark IX the third most built starship so far, behind the Mark VII and of course the ubiquitous Mark III. It has also suffered the most casualties, by proportion, of any Starship mark. Of the 29 built, 18 remain in active service (if one includes U.S.S. Hood, serving as a training ship with Starfleet Academy). Only two ships, U.S.S. Fraternity and U.S.S. Freedom, were paid off and retired to Reserve. (Fraternity has since been decommissioned entirely.) The other nine (Starships Liberty, Equality, Intrepid, Enterprise, Exeter, Kumari, Defiant, Yorktown, and Challenger) were either lost in action or paid off and scrapped. This is a casualty rate of 31 percent, a figure not normally seen outside of wartime, and one that highlights just how dangerous deep space exploration is.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Pre-Production, Liberty-Class
U.S.S. Liberty NX-1650, U.S.S. Equality NX-1651

These ships were laid down in Antestardate 14500.0 and 14250.0 and completed in AD 12256.0 and 12024.5, respectively.

One of the driving motivations for creating the Fourth Generation Starships was the Mark VI Cruiser’s vulnerability to certain forms of external damage and operational wear. These problems had their root in the Mark VI being an enhanced Mark IV, which in turn was conceived of as a self-propelled research station rather than as a true ship.

As a result, the two pre-production Mark IX starships, often informally (though incorrectly) referred to as the “Block 0” ships, were somewhat overengineered. This included a number of structural frames and members that proved superfluous. These frames gave the ships a unique internal layout and deck configuration. Externally, they are easily identified by the life-support radiator structures mounted on the dorsal surface of the saucer. As built, both ships also had armoured shrouds over the impulse exhaust vents, and lacked the Matter/Anti-Matter Reactor (MAMR) radiators on the interior surfaces of the nacelle pylons, again as a reaction to the Mark VI’s vulnerabilities.

These last two features had a greater impact on acceleration and manoeuvrability than had been anticipated. The MAMR could not be run a full capacity for very long without risking serious overheating, and the impulse shrouds restricted impulse thrust substantially. Though the ships were still operable as-is, this was not really a desirable situation.

Both these features would be changed for series production, with the Mark VII Frigate U.S.S. Defender serving as the test-bed for the new approach. The pre-production cruisers were retrofitted over time to the Block 1 standard (in different order for the two ships, and at different times, so imagery of pretty much every possible combination can be found). Replacing the life-support radiators would have called for a complete rebuild of the saucer, however, and so the external radiators were retained. While it had been determined they were unnecessary and were deleted from the production ships, they presented only a minor vulnerability and the ships were quite operable with these features.

Beyond this, the pre-production Mark IXs have the tall bridge structure, large deflector dish, spiked Bussard collectors and vented nacelle endcaps broadly associated with the production Liberty-class and indeed all early Fourth Generation starships.

U.S.S. Liberty was lost in action on AD 2324.8 after striking a mine while patrolling the Talarian border. U.S.S. Equality suffered serious damage to her spaceframe following a Warp Factor 8 sprint in response to a distress call on Stardate 3010.0; deemed not worth the cost of repair, she was paid off and scrapped on SD 3255.5.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Block 1, Liberty-Class.
U.S.S. Fraternity NCC-1652, U.S.S. Freedom NCC-1653, U.S.S. Intrepid NCC-1654

These three ships define the Block 1 standard. They were laid down one per year starting on Antestar Date 10750.5 and each completed one and a half years later.

The extra structural components found in the pre-production ships are removed, and the “traditional” deck configuration created. Externally, the life support radiator system is now under the hull and not visible to an outside observer. The MAMR radiators on the interior surfaces of the warp nacelle pylons are first introduced here, as is the more open impulse exhaust vent, a compromise between protection and efficiency. Finally, these three ships were built with the tall bridge structure, large deflector dish, spiked Bussard collectors and smooth, vented nacelle endcaps that typify the Liberty-class, although Intrepid would have her endcaps retrofitted to include the deflector balls found on Mark IX Block 2 starships as part of a general refit, completed on Star Date 2950.5.

U.S.S. Fraternity was paid off and placed in Reserve on Star Date 2013.4; a routine inspection on SD 5231.0 found ionization effects had rendered her dilithium chambre housing extremely brittle, and she was scrapped on SD 5501.5. U.S.S. Freedom was paid off and placed in Reserve on SD 3217.4, where she remains - the only Mark IX starship in the Primary Reserve. U.S.S. Intrepid was lost in action on SD 4307.1 after an encounter with a negative energy entity caused her antimatter containment fields to fail.

U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-1655

The last of the Block 1 ships, laid down on AD 7750.5 and completed AD 6247.0, Excalibur differs slightly in that she was built with the newer PBN-27/4 deflector system, and thus has the smaller deflector dish associated with the Mark IX Block 2.

As of Star Date 8000.5, Excalibur remains in commission. On SD7750.0, she was attached to the Coreward Downspin Fleet, which patrols the Tzenkethi, Talarian, and First Federation borders. While CoreDown is considered the lowest intensity border posting in Star Fleet, it is still noteworthy that this fourteen year old ship that is at least two technology generations behind the state of the art is considered suitable for a front-line mission.

This is a simple comparison image, showing the subtle variations in Pre-production and Block 1 ships.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Block 2, Constitution-class
(Initial Production)

U.S.S. Constitution NCC-1700, U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

These two ships were laid down on AD 6100.0 and completed on AD 5231.5 and AD 5155.0, respectively. This initial pair was not actually built to the classic Block 2 standard - production chokepoints resulted in these ships being built with the older,vented nacelle endcaps associated with the Block 1 Liberty-class ships. Enterprise would later have the endcaps altered in a general refit, but Constitution never did.

This often surprises the casual starship fan. Enterprise is probably the most famous starship to ever serve, due mostly to a series of holodrama features and one ongoing series, and even casual viewers think they know what she looks like based on these shows. And indeed, the majority of external shots of the ship in the holos are images of actual Mark IX starships. But none of them are actually the Enterprise. The original feature used U.S.S. Freedom, a Block 1 cruiser, as a stand-in; the follow-up feature recycles some of that imagery but also shot new images of U.S.S. Liberty over two days as she was preparing to enter spacedock to have the impulse shrouds removed. The ongoing series was able to spend a week with U.S.S. Hood, building a library of imagery, and later spent a few days with U.S.S. Yorktown. Both were standard production Mark IX Block 2 ships. Despite having become the poster child of Star Fleet, the actual U.S.S. Enterprise has never appeared on the silver screen.

Other than the nacelle endcaps, these initial Block 2 ships have all the hallmarks of a mid-period Fourth Generation starship: the bridge superstructure has been reduced, with the bridge itself sunk deeper into the hull; the deflector dish is the “small” version, and the Bussard collectors no longer have spikes. Indeed, other than the endcaps the Warp Nacelles are entirely Block 2 technology.

U.S.S. Constitution is still in commission, though no longer in active service - she was handed over to the Star Fleet Museum on Star Date 4921.4. U.S.S. Enterprise was destroyed by Klingon cruisers on SD 5963.3 as part of the so-called “Genesis Incident,” which is the subject of a highly fictionalised holodrama.

(Standard Production)

U.S.S. Exeter NCC-1702, U.S.S. Hood NCC-1703, U.S.S. Defiant NCC-1704, U.S.S. Potempkin NCC-1705, U.S.S. Kumari NCC-1706, U.S.S. Yorktown NCC-1707, U.S.S. Phindra NCC-1708

These ships were laid down in pairs and a triplet, on AD 5050.5 (Exeter and Hood), AD 4000.0 (Defiant and Potempkin) and AD 3100.5 (Kumari, Yorktown and Phindra), and each was completed just over a year later, with production time steadily decreasing throughout.

These are the true, classic Mark IX Block 2 Starships, the design that everyone recognises and associates with the term “Starship.” Often argued as the epitome of the Star Fleet Cruiser concept, these ships are marked by their sunken bridges, smaller deflector dishes, uncapped Bussard collectors, and “ball” style nacelle endcaps.

The goal when building any cruiser is a ship that can do anything, and do it well. The Constitutions fully meet that goal, and remain a very viable spacecraft despite being two technological generations out of date. This is perhaps best illustrated by the way most ships’ capabilities are currently described by comparing them to the Mark IX/02s.

U.S.S. Exeter encountered an extreme pathogen while exploring Omega II on Star Date 4521.4 which incapacitated most of the crew, and drifted into the upper atmosphere of the planet before rescue ships arrived. After a survey, she was deemed not repairable, paid off, and scrapped. U.S.S. Hood is in active commission as a training ship with Star Fleet Academy. U.S.S. Defiant was lost in action during a border dispute with the Tholian Assembly on SD 5693.2. U.S.S. Potempkin is still in active service, serving with the Coreward Downspin Fleet as of SD 7995.0. U.S.S. Kumari collided with a “dark” asteroid during a severe ion storm on Antestar Date 0023.5 and was paid off and scrapped. U.S.S. Yorktown was lost in action after suffering a severe auxiliary reactor failure during a First Contact scenario on SD 3390.0; the crew evacuated in the saucer section but the engineering section was unrecoverable. U.S.S. Phindra remains in active commission, serving with the Home Sectors Fleet as of SD 7899.5.

(Late Production)

U.S.S. Lexington NCC-1709, U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-1710, U.S.S. Tikopia NCC-1711

These three ships are sometimes referred to as the “Lexington-class” cruisers, though officially they remain Block 2 Constitution-class ships. They were laid down on AD 2250.5 and completed just under a year later.

These ships are generally seen as a transitional design to the later Block 3 cruisers. They also reflect a shift to a more martial design emphasis in starships in general, as tensions with the Klingon Empire rise. Internally, volume previously devoted to cruising endurance and crew comfort is repurposed for even greater systems redundancy and combat resilience. Externally, these final Block 2 cruisers can be identified by the additional phaser emitters mounted on the ventral surface of the engineering hull, and the twin turbolift alcoves abaft the bridge.

All three ships remain in commission as of Star Date 8000.5. Lexington serves with the Coreward Treaty Zone Fleet, conducting interior survey and security tasks and supporting the Coreward Upspin and Downspin border fleets. Saratoga is with the Rimward Upspin Fleet patrolling the Klingon border areas, and Tikopia is with the Coreward Upspin Fleet patrolling the Gorn, Tholian, and Cardassian borders.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Block 3, Endeavour-class

Initially, these ships were intended to be another tranche of three Mark IX Block 2 cruisers, with the incremental improvement of replacing the PBN-27/4 deflector system with the new PBN-29/1. Before construction began, however, the Monoceros project proved the viability of the MCOM warp nacelles, and the decision was made to slow production in order to incorporate this advance in propulsion technology. At the same time, the ships were formally redesignated Block 3.

It is perhaps worth noting that the names of the resulting Endeavour-class are mildly controversial. As with all Mark IX cruisers, these ships are named for earlier cruisers and explorers. Block 1 and Block 2 ships were named for various Mark I and Mark III Starships. The Block 3s, however, were all named for Type 4 Warpships - explorer vessels that, though key contributors to the early Federation, were all originally built by the United Earth. Indeed, the ship the Block 3 class as a whole is named after - U.F.S. Endeavour NAC-029 - was handed over to Star Fleet so late in her career she only served as a training ship for the then brand new Star Fleet Academy. This meant that the newest and best ships in Star Fleet have a very Terran-centric feel to them. Political pushback on this has not been excessive, but it has been noticeable.

U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-1750

The first cruiser to incorporate the new MCOM warp nacelles, Endeavour is clearly a transitional design. Beyond the warp nacelles, the only external difference with the final three Block 2 ships is the PBN-29/1 deflector system and its recessed dish. The internal layout of the dorsal and saucer is the same as the Saratoga, and the engineering hull changes only enough to accommodate the new deflector.

Laid down on AD 0950.0, she was completed on SD 0675.3. As of SD 7950.0, she was in service with the Coreward Downspin Fleet.

U.S.S. Columbia NCC-1751

The second Block 3 is still a transitional design. The saucer’s internal layout is entirely unique, although the engineering hull is the same as the other Block 3 ships. Externally, Columbia is recognisable by having the redesigned superstructure found on later Block 3 and Block 4 cruisers over a standard dorsal. This causes some to confuse her with a standard Block 3; however, the new torpedoes had not been adopted when she was laid down, and so she relies entirely on the older, saucer-mounted 50cm torpedo tubes.

Laid down on Star Date 0550.0, she completed on SD 1676.4. As of SD 7950.0, she was in service with the Rimward Treaty Zone fleet, which conducts survey and security missions in the interior of the Federation (but outside the Home Sectors) and supports the Rimward Upspin and Downspin border fleets.

U.S.S. Challenger NCC-1752, U.S.S. Atlantis NCC-1753, U.S.S. Buran NCC-1754

These three ships represent the actual, formal Block 3 standard. The internal layout was finalised and standardised, and they have all the conventional hallmarks of a Block 3: the twin turbolift alcoves on Deck 1, the larger Deck 2-3 superstructure with the two-level crew lounge aft, the recessed deflector dish, the ventral phaser emitters, the MCOM warp nacelles, and of course the single 80cm torpedo tube mounted at the base of the dorsal. They do retain the saucer mounted 50 cm tubes, but magazine space is substantially reduced.

Laid down on SD 1500.0, 2000.5, and 2500.5, each ship completed in just over a year. Three more planned Mark IX Block 3 cruisers were cancelled before they were laid down, when the Fifth Generation Warp Drive Project had its remarkable success and triggered a radical new approach to starship design that would lead to the Block 4s.

On SD 3987.2, U.S.S. Challenger struck a nuclear mine leftover from the Earth-Romulan War. Though casualties were light, the damage was substantial and she was paid off and scrapped. As of SD7950.0, U.S.S. Atlantis serves with the Rimward Downspin Theatre Fleet, patrolling the Romulan and R’Ongovian borders, and U.S.S. Buran serves with the Home Sectors Fleet.

Another comparison image, showing the variations in the Starship Mark IX Block 3 ships.