Frigates of the Linear Warp Era Knox – Miranda – Soyuz
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FRIGATES OF THE LINEAR WARP ERA KNOX – MIRANDA – SOYUZ The transition from the Class I to the Linear Warp era saw Starfleet finally come into its The fleet’s wide-ranging program of rejuvenation and uprating began in 2268 on the own, having shaken off the last vestiges of a suffocating, inept bureaucracy. That order of Rear Admiral Heihachiro Nogura. It was spurred on by classified intelligence bureaucracy hamstrung the fleet’s modernization and was a prime contributor to its regarding Klingon S-Graph warp engine technology and preliminary data regarding being caught a good two to three steps behind its principle adversary. Only the their next Battlecruiser class, D-8/K’tinga. emergence of the first modern frigate--in the form of the Surya (FF 1850) class--helped save the fleet and buy it enough time to chart a path forward. Starfleet’s response was already in the works, the ASDB having evaluated a number of experimental engine models to replace their line of PF series circumferential units. In the decades that followed the 23rd Century’s only wide-scale conflict, Surya and its Leeding Engines LTD’s now-iconic LN-64 series engines were developed in 2267, pre- slightly larger sibling Coventry (FH 1230) found a niche and were widely utilized as production units fitted to the prototype Strike Cruiser Decatur (CSX 2500) for general-purpose supporting platforms. With the technological advances brought about testing. Series production units (designated LN-64A) were subsequently installed on the by the shift to linear warp technology, they were well positioned to become Starfleet’s Belknap (CS 2500) class and from there, Starfleet was off and running. prime support classes. The burgeoning tit-for-tat arms race with the Imperial Klingon Defense Forces destroyed) that prompted their updating. Mounted high above the hull on reinforced accelerated during this period too, the IKDF launching ever larger, more powerful pylons, large warp plasma conduits provided a direct link between the cannons capital ships. Naturally then, Starfleet placed a heavy emphasis on Cruiser classes, themselves and the intermix assembly. With larger pre-fire chambers and focusing coils, launching the offensively-oriented Belknap and then pursuing a dual-track ‘high/low’ these updated cannons could store more energy longer and direct it more precisely, strategy when fielding replacements for both Pyotr Velikiy and Constitution (culminating making them more powerful than a standard emitter by a factor of 625. in the Constitution II and Enterprise classes). Changes and upgrades in armament aside, Surya’s successor improved upon its Though overlooked, this proved to be a seminal moment in the fleet’s development, one generous cargo capacity. The hull’s redesign both increased the size of the port and which would see the gradual de-emphasis of Frigates, Destroyers and other smaller ship starboard landing bays on deck 5 and the main cargo bay perpendicular to them. A types in favor of larger, more adaptable Cruisers and other vessels. secondary bay was also added at the fore end on decks 6 and 7. This came at the expense of modularity, but did boost capacity from 10,228 to 14,580 metric tons. In the late 2260’s and early 2270’s though, Frigates were still very much relevant, multipurpose tools. When charting the path forward for Surya and Coventry, maximum Aside from this, the new design shared components and systems rapidly becoming flexibility was deemed essential. Also, because their replacements would comprise a standard equipment--the Duotronic III main computer, DX-8 fire control system and LN- large portion of the fleet, a premium was placed on high construction and engineering 64A series warp engine nacelles. Designated as the Knox (FF 1940) class, this quite fitting efficiencies as well. replacement for Surya entered production and began supplanting the older ships in 2272. Design work began in early 2269 and was unusually complex, even compared to larger classes like Decatur/Belknap and Constitution II/Enterprise. This was due primarily to the To replace Coventry, the ASDB followed a now familiar pattern and lengthened the question of where to place the navigational deflector in the new, streamlined single hull basic Knox hull 34 meters. This provided a more substantial increase in hangar deck section. A vexing issue, its solution was found in the Kiaga (DD 820) class of yore, which space. Like its smaller cousin, Coventry’s replacement--designated Miranda (FH 1833)-- utilized a dedicated generator that fed dual deflector emitters instead of a single dish, moved small craft storage above the twin hangar bays (deck 4) instead of keeping it housed inside prominent dorsal ‘blisters’ that also housed long range sensor below, the movement of craft back and forth from this storage bay facilitated by a arrays. Dispensing with the dedicated generator (instead, relying on dedicated EPS taps large elevator platform. Miranda though was rated to embark 7 Class III Shuttles and 19 that were directly linked to the horizontal intermix assembly), the ASDB devoted ‘Killer Bee’ Assault Craft compared to Knox’s 5 and 10 respectively. Her cargo capacity significant work to updating Kiaga’s emitters, eventually producing units that were not was likewise increased to 20,500 metric tons. only smaller and more streamlined, but significantly more capable. Two were utilized, tightly integrated with the hull, extending out from the augmented/terraced part of the The most recognizable change between Knox and Miranda came with the hull, one port and one starboard. armament. Miranda sported 4 2nd Class Torpedo Launchers (2 fore/aft) in a sleek pod mounted midway between the two pulse phasers on a reinforced roll bar Offsetting this complexity was the comparatively simple armament suite. A hallmark of assembly. Accompanying it was the DX-8A fire control system (modified to provide Class I starship designs was the integrated torpedo armament--launch tubes, control independent torpedo target tracking) and a stronger Deflector Shield System. spaces and weapons storage being housed within the bridge module. New Linear Warp-era designs dispensed with this integration entirely and largely automated both Miranda entered service in 2274 following Knox and both established themselves as the loading and launch operations. This new Frigate then, relied exclusively on phasers. As preeminent general-purpose platforms in the fleet. With this success, some within the with larger Cruiser designs beginning to be fielded, 6 Type VII Phaser Banks at forward, Federation General Assembly (and even Starfleet Command) questioned the need for port and starboard locations (both dorsal and ventral) became the mainstay. To larger, more resource intensive Cruiser designs like Constitution II (CH 1700). As Starfleet compensate for the lack of a torpedo armament, the ASDB reached back to Kiaga would later come to find out, Miranda was also quite easier to experiment on compared again, this time to update its pulse phaser cannons. to Constitution II/Enterprise. Such experimentation produced several notable subclasses- Soyuz (FT 1940), Comanche (FSX 3600) and Hensley (TTH 4300). The first form of phaser-based weaponry developed, pulse phaser cannons were intended to give Starfleet an overwhelming tactical edge against the IKDF. In layman’s Soyuz came about primarily to more fully leverage the tremendous tactical advantage terms, these weapons built up highly-charged bursts of energy and released them in provided by pulse phaser weaponry and like many other ‘niche’ or ‘one-off’ classes, short, controlled pulses that proved highly destructive upon target impact, nearly as filled the gaping hole left by continuing delays in the fleet’s infamous Perimeter Action much so as a photon torpedo. Proving their worth during the Four Years War, it was Program. A standard Miranda hull was stripped of its rollbar and the fleet-standard ironically enough, the encounter between the Constitution (CH 1700) and a new D- bridge module was replaced by the more austere, low-profile version used on 8/K’Tinga class Battlecruiser in 2268 (an encounter in which the Constitution was nearly Constitution II. The aft 2/3rds was extensively modified, providing space for not only a third hangar bay, but also a mounting point for 2 of the 5 pulse phaser turrets that were a with a pair of Valley Forge class Frigates engaged the largest part of the Klingon hallmark of the design. opposition, 6 D-14 class Destroyers, while the latter two flew with a wing of starfighters, providing fire suppression against gunboats, corvettes and numerous other smaller Comanche was more of a design study than anything else, based solely off Miranda. craft. Externally, it featured a third nacelle suspended beneath the hull opposite the torpedo pod. Internally, science labs were eliminated and cargo handling/storage spaces were 2 years later, events would transpire that would burn Miranda into the collective cut down to expand accommodations for SFMC troops, assault shuttles and other consciousness. On stardate 8130.31, the starship Reliant (FH 1864) was hijacked. The supporting craft. Given the success of Miranda in service and the ease at which these ship, under the command of Captain Clark Terrell was carrying out a survey of what it could be built/operated vis-a-vis Enterprise, it was hoped a multi-purpose Assault Frigate thought was Ceti Alpha VI, in support of Project Genesis led by Dr. Carol Marcus. The could be procured in the same manner. Unfortunately, the hoped-for gains turned out roots of this project went all the way back to Operation Vanguard and the discoveries to be much less impressive than the ASDB had first speculated. Combined with the that Marcus made regarding the Shedai and the Taurus Meta-Genome. Terrell, former complexity brought about by the addition of the third nacelle, Comanche remained a XO of the USS Sagittarius, was unaware of this connection, nor was he aware that the design study only, with the testbed ship (FSX 3600) scrapped at the Beta Antares yards in planet the Reliant was orbiting was actually Ceti Alpha V.