In the latter half of the 23rd century relations between the UFP and the Klingon Empire were strained to say the least. Ships of the Starfleet and the Imperial Klingon Navy frequently skirmished along the neutral zone and there were even several encounters that were battles in all but name. The UFP was not, however, willing to go to war over these relatively minor incidents and the Klingon Empire had sustained heavy loses in these actions. But after the Klingon victory over the Romulans at Klach D’kel Brakt in 2271, Klingon incursions became more frequent and more determined; Starfleet feared that the Klingons were preparing to launch an assault against the Federation. As a result Starfleet Command decided that a new type of vessel was needed; it would have to have powerful sensors and weapons and yet be small enough that large numbers could be produced to patrol the Neural Zone. Because of the urgency of the situation it was decided to modify a Miranda class vessel to the new specifications. Construction had just begun on the USS Soyuz (NCC-1935) and the vessel was assigned to the ASDB. The modifications consisted of four large sensor pods and the addition of a large hull extension (including a shuttle bay) at the rear of the ship. The hull extension made way for a larger, more powerful, warp core and increased fuel storage. This was to allow more energy to be supplied to the phasers, and the fitted phaser banks were modified accordingly. This worked extremely well, and the phaser banks were more than 18% more powerful than those fitted to a standard Miranda. The types main drawback was the lack of torpedo launchers, but it was hoped that the early warning sensor arrays and enhanced phasers would make up for this. The USS Soyuz was commissioned in late 2273 and was followed by more than 50 similar vessels, including the USS Bozeman (NCC-1941) which went missing in 2278 defending Starbase XX from a Klingon attack. Other vessels of the class also participated in many actions with both the Klingons and many other species, including the Tholians; in all the incidents the Soyuz gave a good account of itself. However, in 2287 the USS Oregan (NCC-1953) suffered major structural failure while travelling at high warp; the dorsal sensor pod broke away and several structural beams failed. Twelve crewmembers were killed and 28 injured. The Oregon was towed to the nearest Starfleet facility and subjected to intense analysis by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They found that the additions made to the Miranda hull were causing more stress than was initially thought, especially when travelling at warp speeds. Inspections were made on all of the fleets Soyuz class vessels and cracks were found in every single one; the type was retired almost overnight, with two exceptions. The USS Atrevida (NCC-2981) and USS Vimeiro (NCC-2982) were intended to be replacements for Soyuz class vessels lost in the line of duty the previous year; they were about 90% complete and Starfleet did not have the time or resources to convert them back into standard Mirandas. Consequently the were assigned to Starfleets’ weapons test facility at Pluto (Sol IX), Sol System; here their high power warp core could be used to test new, higher capacity phaser systems. The last phaser type tested on these vessels was the type-9 and, upon their retirement in 2369, these strips were removed and fitted to Deep Space 9. Fortunately for Starfleet, at the time that the Soyuz classes fault was discovered and the class withdrawn, a replacement was already entering service; the Akyazi/Akula/Arbiter series of perimeter action vessels. The USS Bozeman was discovered in 2368 by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D); it had been trapped in a temporal causality loop. The majority of the crew was retrained on modern Starfleet equipment and then assigned to the USS Bozeman (NCC-31277), a Miranda class starship.
Comments, etc?
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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Elna
Ex-Member
posted
Did you write all that from memory or did you read a book whilst writing it? How can you know so much, im gonnan have to catch up... Anyway the reason im writing on this bit is because i can no other reason than i wanted to reply to someones post and i dont know anyone else so HELLO!
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Well most of it's made up... I was refering to the ST Chronology and encyclopedia. I got bored doing RE revision BTW.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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Hmmm... this is an interesting interpretation of events. Most of it is stuff that I've read floating around, but this is one of the first articles to draw it all together.
One of the things I really liked was the weapons testing assignment, that managed to explain that old DS9:TM screw-up about the Soyuz-class phaser banks.
Good job!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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The BWC
Ex-Member
posted
Could I use them for my website?
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A few things to "correct" if you may say that. I know you indicated Bozeman was defending a starbase from Klingon attack. The episode which first featured her indicated she was homebased at Starbase 12. The novel "Ship of the Line" goes along with this. The entire Soyuz class was decommed around 2280 or so and so would not even have two ship about to be completed be completed.
-------------------- Is it Friday yet?
Registered: Feb 2000
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Personally, having everyone on the 1941 Bozeman transplanted over to the 31277 Bozeman sounds a little too "neat" for my taste. Among reasons, the odds are that a "modern" Miranda would not need nearly as much crew as an old Soyuz, and then there's the displaced crew you'd have to worry about.
I wrote an outline once for a fanfic that would include a description of the fate of the Bozeman. She would have still been more spaceworthy than the last run of Mirandas, and despite her sensors being compeletely outdated she'd have the superstructure to mount even better ones. So Starfleet had her in spacedock for a couple years doing a complete overhaul, and she put to space afterwards with a state-of-the-art sensor and ECM suite. More than half of the crew would be downsized, but most of the command staff and Captain Frasier would still be there. Anyhoo, she'd be assigned as a science and patrol vessel close to the Typhon sector, where she'd have become one of the first casualties of the battle...
Of course, there's always the "Ship of the Line" history to fall back on, if you're feeling like being shunned by the fans.
BWC: Yes, you can as long as you credit me. PM me about it.
Dat: The chronology gives the decom date as around 2288.
Mark: Good idea; maybe she'd be fitted out with some kind of sensor rig specially designed to detect transwarp signitures? I would think that Starfleet would want to keep as many of the crew together as possible to ease their transition.
Just a little note: the idea of an unpredicted structural failure causing the entire type to be retired comes from the Vickers Valiant bomber.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
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Elna
Ex-Member
posted
Wow! I thought you were just a walking encyclopedia for real history but you know all this aswell!!How cool, where can i get to know some of this stuff or do you just somehow know it neway??
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Actually its not that uncommon for a few of us to write a conjectural history on classes. I have a whole bunch of them on my computer. But I don't like to give out what I did because soon or later I will make a website.
-------------------- Matrix If you say so If you want so Then do so
Registered: Jul 2000
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The BWC
Ex-Member
posted
Except it's hard to write good ones. I mean, my Ptolemy class first draft (bad idea) is posted sucks...
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I don't imagine I'll ever get around to doing a website so I may as well post 'em here. Anyone who wants to can use them on their websites, as long as I'm credited. .
------trailer----- coming soon, the history of the Steamrunner class... ------trailer-----
Also, if anyone has any requests I'll be more than happy to have a go at 'em.
Elna: i will teach you...
[ June 15, 2002, 06:29: Message edited by: Wraith ]
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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@all: how about a conjectural history for the Cheyenne class? Anyone done that already?
-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
no other reason than i wanted to reply to someones post and i dont know anyone else so HELLO! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Nice job.
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