posted
Another one!!! this one I found slightly harder to do than the previous ones and I'm not quite as happy with it. I'll see what you lot think though...
Conjectural History of the Steamrunner Class
The early 24th century was a time of great unrest in the alpha quadrant; the United Federation of Planets was involved in numerous regional conflicts that had little effect upon the majority of it’s citizens. One of the most consistent areas of conflict was along the border with the Tholian Assembly; in 2335 one of the most serious of these incidents occurred, a conflict known as the 15 days war. On the 10th of April (Terran calendar)groups of Tholian vessels warped into orbit over six Federation colonies within 10 light years of the border. They demanded that the Federation abandoned the colonies and moved the border 10ly ‘forward’ or else they would send a full scale invasion force into Federation territory. The Federation immediately tried to open negotiations but all advances were refused and task forces began to be assembled. Then, twelve hours after the stand off began, a Tholian vessel began to fire on the New Petrograd colony; it is believed that a group of colonists attempted to escape and their actions were misinterpreted as an attack. Significant areas of the colony were destroyed and 36% of the population killed. Soon, Tholian troops began landing in all the colonies. Starfleet Intelligence believes they wanted to capture Federation technology and personnel and so they did not simply destroy the colonies. The Starfleet task forces (TF 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) were immediately ordered to retake the colonies and push the Tholians back. This was accomplished by the 25th of April. This short conflict had however, revealed significant weaknesses in one type of Starfleet vessel: The Shelley class. The Shelleys were amphibious assault vessels, carrying troops of the SFMC to the necessary areas and then deploying them, either by transporter of assault landing craft. During the 15 days war three Shelley class vessels were destroyed, one with all hands, and six were damaged, out of a total of twelve deployed. The main drawback of the type was that it was too slow and unmanouverable at sublight speeds and consequently was vulnerable to orbital weapons platforms and Tholian web weaponry. Starfleet decided it was time for a successor and design work had begun by the end of 2335. The design was finalised in September 2336 and was a departure from previous Starfleet ship designs. The warp nacelles were pulled in and their forward end and bussard collector were integrated with the primary hull in order to make them less vulnerable to enemy fire.. Previous troop transport craft such as the Belleau Wood, Normandy and Shelley had all had their hangers in specialised (and large) secondary hulls; the Steamrunner however, had it’s hanger run through the middle of the saucer section, with doors at either end. This configuration allowed the class to deploy and retrieve at a faster rate, as well as eliminating the need for a secondary hull and so giving the class a smaller, more difficult to target, profile. The installation of the hanger bays in the primary hull did leave one major problem; where to put the deflector. It could not be installed at the front of the saucer due to the danger of a returning shuttle or landing craft hitting it. It was eventually decided that the deflector would be placed in a small, vestigial secondary hull, slung between the ends of the nacelles. The type was also fitted with a significantly increased defensive armament compared to it’s predecessors; four photon torpedo launchers, two forward, two aft and seven type-9 phasers. The USS Steamrunner (NCC-52100) was launched in 2338 and, as soon as systems trials had been completed, was put through its paces in a variety of simulated combat situations. The types performance was impressive, with 200 Starfleet Marines being landed on Terra Sabaea in less than 20 minutes. In fact, Starfleet command was so taken with the design and its performance that the ASDB was ordered to begin work on a light cruiser variant of the design as a possible successor to the versatile but venerable, Miranda class. This design work was completed in 2340 and the 32nd production vessel, USS Minerva ( NCC-52106) was pulled from the production line for modification. The forward half of the hanger was converted into an array of science laboratories, sensor arrays and storage facilities (including increased photon torpedo storage). The Minerva was relaunched in January 2341 and soon, this became the most produced Steamrunner variant. The light cruiser variants were assigned a variety of border patrol, fleet scout and scientific missions as Mirandas were relegated to fleet and support roles. The Steamrunner had their operational debut in the Cardassian wars (Intermittent conflicts between 2347 and 2367) and proved their worth in many battles and landings; two hundred and thirty two (40 troop transports and 192 cruisers) Steamrunners were built, of which 16 were lost in action prior to 2373. After the end of the war the Steamrunners reprised their roles as replacements for the Miranda class and also began a program of refits, starting in 2368 to install modern facilities, such as the EMH program and upgrade existing systems, mostly at Spacedock 1 (Earth) and Utopia Planitia. As a result of this 12 Steamrunners were in and around Sector 001 at the time of the Second Borg Incursion and were rushed to join the Typhon Sector fleet that was assembled to try and stop the single Borg cube that was approaching. Tragically, the Steamrunner’s shields proved to be unexpectedly vulnerable to Borg weapons and no less than six were destroyed. Subsequently all Steamrunners had their shields modified to better withstand Borg weaponry. During the Dominion War the Steamrunners served in several battles, including Operation Return, often fighting alongside their predecessors. Forty-two were lost during the war.
Any suggestions for improvements would be appreciated, also any suggestions for what to do next. Thanks!
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Why do people assume that there are hangar doors at the front of the ship?
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
The Real Folk Blues
Ex-Member
posted
i refuse to believe that the steamrunner is a throughdeck carrier. that would just be pointless. to me, it is a frigate or light cruiser commisioned in the 2350's. nothing more, nothing less.
IP: Logged
posted
What I find rediculous is the fact that anyone would make a ship already poor in terms of internal volume due to her design into an assault transport which requires significant accomindation devoted to troops and support functions. What I find silly is the fact that someone would then turn that assault transport into a light crusier.
-------------------- "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged
posted
Weren't the hanger bays (or hanger bay like bits at any rate) visible in some of the pictures?
Well Mirandas were modified from cruisers to transports so it's not that far fetched.
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged
BWC
Ex-Member
posted
If I go with your dates, the Steamrunner is too combatish to be a sucsessor to the Shelleys. Actually they wouldn't have needed to do that, because I figure that a Ambassador or a couple of Excelsiors or New Orleans would have done the job anyway.
IP: Logged
The Real Folk Blues
Ex-Member
posted
quote:Weren't the hanger bays (or hanger bay like bits at any rate) visible in some of the pictures?
Well Mirandas were modified from cruisers to transports so it's not that far fetched.
SOMETHING was visible in the pictures, but it is hardly evidence of through deck hangers. also, it is a much different proposition to modify a transport to a cruiser than it is to modify a cruiser into a transport.
IP: Logged
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged
Printer-friendly view of this topic
