The unanticipated shift in the Excelsior project, peace with the Klingon Empire, and the removal of the Constitution class from the front lines marked the end of one era, and the beginning of Starfleet�s renaissance of the early 24th century. Dreadnoughts were gone, and explorers such as the Ambassador-class took on the lead role in a new Federation where the risk of war was far from the minds of Starfleet captains. A fine example of advancing technology without enhancing militancy was the introduction of the modern dedicated escort. To the casual observer, any ship classification that concentrated so thoroughly on defensive weaponry and held little scientific, exploratory or diplomatic value might be seen as symbolic of an aggressive Federation intent on reliving the mistakes of its historic wet navies. To the contrary, the fact that the only ships with such a high priority on defense were now small vessels (which typically possessed a tactical ability quite inferior to larger multipurpose ships) proved the commitment to removing large tactically dedicated vessels from Starfleet�s ranks as promised at the Khitomer Accords.
While dedicated escorts had existed prior to the beginning of the Seetoo project in 2309, Seetoo would redefine their usefulness in a peaceful Federation, remaining in service for more than half a century, a considerable lifetime for a relatively small class. The design, with its final design draft dated May 19, 2313, called for a single-hulled ship with inboard warp and impulse systems and twin downward-pitched wings mounted with wingtip phaser emitters. Final length was 84.4 m, width 94.0 m, and height 20.6 m, typical dimensions for a medium sized escort. The main fuselage itself was composed of an upper equipment module, three full-size decks, and a subdeck below those dedicated to cargo, fuel and weapons storage. Crew compliment is variable; for a standard short term escort mission, a Seetoo class vessel normally operates with twenty officers and crew, however, longer hauls and presence of additional mission-specific personnel can push the complement into the sixties, albeit in rather cramped conditions.
Fabrication of the USS Seetoo, NX-10075, began in February of 2314 at the Callisto Auxiliary Fleetyard. Construction was completed 18 months later without major incident. Flight-testing revealed fuel intake imbalances between the inner and outer pairs of impulse engines could be problematic, but several weeks of computer simulation resulted in a software fix without any physical modification. An initial fabrication order of 40 units per year was split between the Callisto and Copernicus Yards, and slowly Seetoos began to show up at starbases and outposts throughout the Federation. Until the last Seetoo left the yards in 2360, production remained relatively constant. The Tomed Incident saw an increase in the production of these hardy ships, but the class�s true colors would not be seen until the Cardassian Wars of the 2350s.
For years, Starfleet Intelligence has used a classification system for Threat spacecraft completely independent to that used for Federation vessels, including such classifications as Marauder, Corsair and Raider. The latter classification refers of course to smallish ships whose primary threat status comes about from their design emphasis on warp and high impulse hit-and-run attacks on larger craft without resorting to fighter-style swarming of targets and continuous strafing runs at lower speeds. The relatively short-range war front in the Klaestron sector that developed in the fall of 2349 had lent itself to assorted Cardassian raider strikes on both Federation starships and outposts. Following a request from that front�s commander-in-chief, Rear Admiral Shanthi, the Seetoo was forwarded as the Federation�s answer to this, and though no official documentation on the class�s Escort classification ever changed, for the remainder of the war, more than a hundred Seetoos served as Starfleet�s first unofficial raiders.
In its role an offensive craft, the Seetoo excelled. Its small sensor profile and sufficiently speedy engines allowed attack wings of about a half dozen Seetoos strike Cardassian supply lines, communication networks and all manner of space facilities then retreat to such space phenomena as the Badlands or the McAllister C-2 and Goshnell Nebulae, where their impressive maneuverability left pursuing cruisers in their plasma exhaust. They were also instrumental in diversionary strikes, pulling large vessels away from their position to pursue and opening the door to Federation cruiser and frigate rushes. Success against Cardassian starships was more limited. Cardassian tacticians soon realized they could gain the upper hand by taking the Seetoo out of its element during combat and force it to act as a fighter, swarming-and-strafing when neither the maneuverability nor crew experience to do this sort of thing was present. Determined to find a supplementary craft that could take over vessel assault duties from the Seetoo, Starfleet R and D experimented with modifying other existing designs to serve as either light or heavy fighters, eventually finding success with the Peregrine-class Courier. It should be noted that a prototype squadron of two dozen �Seetoo Juniors� was also deployed at this point. These light fighters, eventually cast aside by the arrival of the Peregrine, were created by compressing a standard Seetoo spaceframe �Klingon style� to less than 50% of the original size, then mounting a modified Type-IV shuttle in place of deck one. Warp engines pulled from the Pampas-class scout, Microtorpedo launchers and Type 5 phaser emitters completed these creations, which saw limited action due to numerous and continuous problems.
The Draft Peace Accord reached in 2361 saw the end of the Seetoo�s usage as a Raider and its return to the freight lanes of the Federation. However, the news was not so good for many of the ships. As part of the preliminary withdrawal and disarmament talks, the Cardassians demanded that these �thinly disguised weapons of terror� be removed from Starfleet�s arsenal in vicinity, and so nearly one hundred aging Seetoos, along with the Seetoo Juniors and many Peregrines modified for duty as light fighters and interceptors were stripped of value and abandoned to surplus depots, most of which were within ten light-years of the cease-fire line. This would later prove to be a great embarrassment to the Federation, as Maquis terrorist factions that arose in 2370 gained easy access to a fleet of small and deadly craft. Starfleet Intelligence believes that prior to their destruction at the hands of the Dominion, the Maquis had rebuilt and armed at least 9 Seetoo raiders, along with dozens of Peregrines and assorted Bajoran, Xepolite and Klaestron smallcraft. At least six more have been destroyed by Cardassian or Starfleet forces, and one was swept to the Delta Quadrant, where Starfleet has learned it too was lost.
Under Starfleet control, a shrinking fleet of Seetoos has continued to operate in its intended escort role. The Dominion war saw their return to combat, albeit in a limited role, on the relatively calm Vulcan front.
-------------------- "Kirito? I killed a thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?"
-Asuna, Episode 2, Sword Art Online Abridged
Registered: Mar 1999
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