The Hermes class scout was based on the same design as the Saladin class destroyer. As it was more powerful and than the earlier Nelson class it was generally assigned as a scout for battle fleets.
A number of vessels of this class were built in an experimental configuration with a neck mounted deflector dish, instead of the original that was mounted below the primary hull. This modification improved reliability of the deflector system, but did not affect combat performance.
The Hermes class scout was based on the same design as the Saladin class destroyer. As it was more powerful and than the earlier Nelson class it was generally assigned as a scout for battle fleets.
The Cygnus Class entered service in 2246 as a Command Courier version of the highly successful Saladin/Hermes class. The Intention was that an Admiral could use the ship as a sector command post. To this end the design was given the FWC-1 warp drive, giving it more power than its half sisters, the weapons were entirely laser based to make more room for the Admiral’s facilities and command centre.
In 2250, the USS Columbia was converted to a more heavily armed configuration as an experiment to evaluate the benefits of an FWC-1 powered heavy destroyer type. These trials amounted to nothing, but the Columbia was left in this configuration, and was assigned as a Destroyer Leader to a flotilla of Saladins in the Klingon Border Area.
The outbreak of the Four Years War saw a major change in Starfleer Operational Procedure, a number of the Cygnus class ships were involved in near disasters in 2252, as operating independently without escorts as they had been designed to do made them tempting targets. In a fleet role the additional speed of the Cygnus was wasted, so it was ordered to convert the other 8 mk1 vessels to mk2 standards.
The Cygnus Class entered service in 2248 as a Command Courier version of the highly successful Saladin/Hermes class. The Intention was that an Admiral could use the ship as a sector command post. To this end the design was given the FWC-1 warp drive, giving it more power than its half sisters, the weapons were entirely laser based to make more room for the Admiral’s facilities and command centre.
In 2250, the USS Columbia was converted to a more heavily armed configuration as an experiment to evaluate the benefits of an FWC-1 powered heavy destroyer type. These trials amounted to nothing, but the Columbia was left in this configuration, and was assigned as a Destroyer Leader to a flotilla of Saladins in the Klingon Border Area.
Compared to the Mk1, the Mk2 mounted a pair of rear firing Lasers and also added a pair of FAC-2 accelerator cannons at the expense of the Flag Cabins. The extensive Combat Information Centre initially fitted for the use of an Admirial was retained for suadron level operation command.
The outbreak of the Four Years War saw a major change in Starfleer Operational Procedure, a number of the Cygnus class ships were involved in near disasters in 2252, as operating independently without escorts as they had been designed to do made them tempting targets. In a fleet role the additional speed of the Cygnus was wasted, so it was ordered to convert the other 8 mk1 vessels to mk2 standards.
The nine Cygnus class ships performed valiantly throughout the war, and in many ways paved the way for the later Strike Cruisers which adopted the role of command ship for a Destroyer squadron. Post war the future of these ships was uncertain, as the fleet backed away from a purely military posture, it was eventually decided to convert all of the ships to Hermes specifications to make good the losses suffered by that class.
The Diligent Class Combat Support Tender commissioned in 2249, the ships were intended to provide frontline support to damaged ships, towing them out of the battlefield with the powerful tractors, then assisting them with repairs.
The Class was based on the Coventry Class hull, but with a vertically enlarged rear hull which housed the massive spare part storage bins and the enlarged hanger bays. The Twin FTB-1 Tractors (also fitted in the aft hull) could each haul 300,000 mt. The maximum mass that the Mark 1 could haul was 330,250mt (this covered all class 14 ships, and some class 15), where as the later Mark 2 could haul 480,250mt (including all ships up to class 17, and the majority of class 18 ships as well).
The ships were armed with 4 FL-6 lasers which were meant to give a measure of self defence, in fact coupled with the state of the art shielding the Diligent was a surprisingly capable combat vessel, capable of a very robust defence. With the advent of the four years war these ships were plunged into action. They were initially used in there intended role of recovering crippled Federation ships, but their role developed as the war continued.
In 2255 the USS Stevenson and USS Brunel were employed in a most unorthodox operation, a Klingon Z-3 Station had been placed in a position where it could easily monitor Starfleet Traffic. All previous attacks on a Z-3 had failed as insufficient ships were available locally to push home the attack. The two Diligent class ships were tasked to pull the Z-3 out of its stable orbit and start it moving down towards the planet’s surface, a a Federation Task group was simultaneously attacking the station to prevent it diverting power to its station keeping thrusters. The operation succeeded, but the losses on the Federation side were such that the exercise was not repeated, the losses included the USS Brunel.
2256 saw a more daring but more conventional mission, Starfleet Intelligence learnt of a crippled Klingon D-10 with only a skeleton crew aboard in the vicinity of ‘Malta Station’ within Klingon controlled space that was awaiting recovery. The USS Diligent, the USS Sir Lancelot (an Eagle class Troop ship) and an escort squadron of Baton Rouge class cruisers crossed into Klingon space and successfully captured the vessel, then towed it back to the Federation at the painful speed of warp six. This was the first intact D-10 captured by the Federation and was the source of much valuable intelligence. In all 8 ships of this class were lost or destroyed during the war, but they recovered an estimated 4.5 million mt worth of ships from the battlefields to fight another day.
| Class: | VIII | Year: | 2249 | |
| Ship Source: | Steve Bacon, based on Coventry from Ships of the Starfleet. | Ship Datasheet: | Download PDF | |
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Ordered as an alternative in case of the failure of the Constitution Class. The delays to Constitution Class and poor performance of the Ranger II meant that the Pyotr Velilkiy served as an interim Heavy Cruiser, and was ordered in quantity in response to Klingon aggression in 2244.
The eventual entry of the Constitution Class to service in large numbers meant that the Pyotr Velikiy was relegated to less glamorous duties, and some were converted to serve as tugs. The Cruiser version was phased out by 2312.
The Pyotr Veliky class was conceived as fall back design in case of delays to the Constitution Class Program. The Protoype, USS Pyotr Veliky named for the Tsar who created Russia’s Imperial Fleet, entered service in 2241. The ship mounted the ultimate non dilithium warp drive to enter service, the FFTL-7B and was the only class fitted with this engine. The other technology of this design was also well proven, in direct contrast to the advanced systems chosen for the Constitution Class. The class was designed and built at Andorian shipyards in an effort to disperse the strategically important role of building heavy cruisers away from Earth, additionally much of Earth’s ship building and design capacity was tied up in the Constitution class program.
Delays to the Constitution Class led to the ordering of 5 Mk 2 ships, the first of which entered service in 2244. The Mk 2 featured improved laser weaponry and improvements to cargo handling systems. The Pyotr Veliky class, despite it’s old technology warp reactor did have the same nacelle design as would be used on the Constitution, and many minor improvements made to the nacelles on these ships found their way into the Constitution class nacelles.
As the Mk2 ships entered service, increased Klingon aggression prompted an order to be placed for 14 Mk3 ships. The Mk3, which entered service in 2245 mounted the brand new FAC-4 accelerator cannon, but the main advance was with shielding. The New unary shields were now coming into service, and the FSG was selected to replace the inefficient system mounted on earlier ships. The FSG required the addition of a new style M series computer, and the M3 was accordingly fitted.
With the Constitution class beginning to be available in quantity by 2250, steps were taken to refit the 20 Pyotr Veliky ships for further service. 14 Ships were refitted to MkIV standards for service with Military Operations Command, and 6 to MkV for service with Galaxy Exploration Command.
The MkIV adopted the FWD-1 warp drive, this drive at half the weight of the FFTL-7B meant that the ship’s mass dropped by almost a 100,000mt. The resultant ships, although less powerful, were more efficient in movement and had a higher maximum speed, useful for patrol duties. The only old technology system retained aboard the ships was the dependable FNSP-X impulse system, as no newer style engines could yet power ships of Class XI. The refits were all complete at the outbreak of the Four Years War, where this class served distinction.
The MkV adopted the even lighter FWE-1 Warp drive, and had a major physical change with the removal of the secondary hull. These ships had been intended for use in an exploration role, but the Four Years War saw them serve as Frigates until the Surya and Coventry classes entered full service. The MkV mounted the same weapons as the MkIV and the FIC-3 impulse engine meant that it had the same amount of power as its larger sibling, but the lighter structure could absorb less damage.
Postwar surviving vessels were used in second line roles, some for exploration (Mk6) and some as cargo tugs(Mk7) or transports (mk8), although a small number did remain in defence roles with the Blue Fleet (Mk9).
The last Pyotr Veliky was not retired from service until 2312, that vessel, the USS Salah Ad-Din is now on display in the Starfleet Museum.
Commissioned Ships
USS Pyotr Velikiy NCC-1670
USS Shrelev II NCC-1671
USS Yi Sun-Shin NCC-1672
USS John Paul Jones NCC-1673
USS Tav NCC-1674
USS Elizabeth I NCC-1675
USS Etrox NCC-1676
USS Togo NCC-1677
USS Rommel NCC-1678
USS Friedrich Barbarossa NCC-1679 USS Goyathlay NCC-1680
USS Washington NCC-1681
USS Niakenchiis NCC-1682
USS Salah Ad-Din NCC-1683
USS Giap NCC-1684
USS Hannibal NCC-1685
USS Zerisshebi NCC-1686
USS De Grasse NCC-1687
USS Rexx NCC-1688
USS Gantu NCC-1689
The Nelson class scout was primarily designed to act as a scout for Galaxy Exploration command, it had much in common with the Constitution class Cruisers and the other ships of the period. The class can be distinguished from the similar Hermes class scout by the V formation of the warp nacelle supports
| Class: | VI | Year: | 2243 | |
| Ship Source: | FASA | Ship Datasheet: | Download PDF | |
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Historically, Starfleet had only ever fielded one heavy Destroyer class, the Detroyat class of 2224. In 2243, Starfleet Tactical suggested the development of a new tactic for Destroyer operations, the use of leaders. New sensor technology, such as that fitted to the Constitution class offered massive range improvements, but it was felt that the sensor suite and associated systems were too large to be fitted to standard Destroyers. As a result the 10 Detroyat class ships were refitted with modern warp drives, and with the new sensor systems, it was also decided to order 26 vessels to supplement the Detroyats. The total of 36 Heavy Destroyers was felt to be sufficient to allocate one to each group of 6 standard destroyers operating along the Klingon and Romulan borders. The Heavy Destroyer would act as the command ship for the group, and also provide long range sensors.
The design, later to be named Apache, started off as a modified Detroyat design. During the design process the class evolved, the saucer was modified to feature an elongated rear edge and the secondary hull was massively enlarged compared to that of the Detroyat. It was intended that the Apache would be allocated to Destroyer groups allocated to more remote areas, and as a result the secondary hull was enlarged to enable it to carry spares and supplies to support its assigned group.
In service the Apache proved to be as dependable as its illustrious ancestor. Destroyer groups led by Apaches served with distinction throughout the Four Years War, and a group led by the USS Tartar was instrumental in the Attack of Convoy Y-16Z in 2253, the first significant Federation fleet victory of the war. So effective was the Leader concept, that a number of Cygnus class command couriers were rearmed and modified to act as Leaders to supplement the insufficient numbers of Detroyats and Apaches.
Postwar the fortunes of the Apache, and the leaders in general waned. The progress in miniaturisation meant that conventional destroyers could now mount the long range sensors far more economically. As a result the Detroyats were reclassified as long range scouts and assigned to exploration duties, and the new leader class, the Derf, was modified to become a tender. The 18 surviving Apaches were retained in service, but were grouped together to form three heavy destroyer groups, which were assigned to the defence of Terra, Vulcan and Alpha Centauri. In 2258 the ships were rearmed with phasers and photon torpedoes.
Heightened tensions leading up to the Organia conflict led to the Apaches being refitted again, and recalled to the Klingon Border. This time they served as sector command ships, supplementing the Perimeter Action Ships of the Kiaga and Agilis classes. The success of the ships in this role led to them being reclassified as Strike Cruisers (interim) in 2268, and they served in this capacity until the Belknap class entered full service.
The Apaches were progressively retired to reserve from 2280 onwards as the Belknap class ships assumed their role.
The Apache class was named by Admiral Wood, commander of Military Operations Command in commeration of his first command, the Mann class Cruiser USS Apache.
The Heavy Cruiser variant of the D7, the D7B was produced for some of the more militant of the Klingon houses. Compared to the standard D7 the ship was far more effective in combat efficiency terms, although more costly and time consuming to build. Some 280 ships were built between 2250 and 2252, when production was switched to the more capable still D10 class.
Although highly capable and successful, production of the ‘ugh (heavy) version of the D7 was limited as it was viewed as an interim counter to the Federation Heavy Cruisers program prior to the D10 entering service in large numbers.
| Class: | X | Year: | 2250 | |
| Ship Source: | Paramount Pictures/ The Starfleet Museum | Ship Datasheet: | Download PDF | |
Vintage Starships 
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