U.S.S. Sullivan, Mobile Construction and Repair Ship

[ThomastheCat]

With the announcement of Star Trek online and all the implications thereof I started thinking on what dedicated repair, medical and science vessels might look like in a "historical" (as in "not-made-up-for-this-game") sense. Below is are the first fruits of my pondering:

Designed in the 2340s, the Eiffel class ships are large workbee and cargo carriers that are tasked with building subspace relays, small starbases, and serving as a mobile repair control center for large fleets away from central starbases.

Eiffel class ships can work alone, carrying the materials they need in their massive dorsal cargo bay, or in tandem with starfleet tenders and cargo haulers for larger construction projects.

The dorsal saucer contains 7 auxillary craft bays which are all connected by a central maintenance space. These bays store the Eiffel's workbee squadron. A bay on the ventral section of the saucer houses conventional shuttlecraft and a pair of runabouts.

Living spaces are contained in the dorsal "spine" between the saucer and the cargo bay, with the engineering hull housing a twin M/AM reaction core drive system used to power the Eiffel's over-sized nacelles. This extra power is used to generate larger than usual subspace fields, allowing Eiffels to tow disabled ships or large construction components with them through warp.

I'm going to try and eke out some time to color her. What do you guys think?

 

[JNG]

I think that is promising. For some reason I am led to think of some of the concept ship illustrations in the back of the Next Generation Technical Manual (though I am aware your idea predates those).

 

[hellsgate]

Sweet stuff, T.T.C.!

 

[ThomastheCat]

I think that is promising. For some reason I am led to think of some of the concept ship illustrations in the back of the Next Generation Technical Manual (though I am aware your idea predates those).

You know I haven't opened that book in a while but now that you mention it I definitely see the similarity between the Sullivan's top view and some of the "post-Galaxy" conjectural designs. All I can say to that is that the influence of Sternbach and Okuda runs wild in everything we do.

(And having just done this drawing last week it is MUCH newer than the Tech manual, which has got to be more than 10 years old by now.)

Sweet stuff, T.T.C.!

Thanks! I'm hoping to do some color or a perspective shot at some point. I also owe a friend some concepts for dominion and Breen starships, so those should start appearing before too long...