Surya Class Frigate

SURYA CLASS FRIGATE A trailblazing design, the Surya class takes its place with the Constitution, Saladin and Fed- It wasn’t until 2248 that the Surya—along with the Coventry, Loknar, Saladin and Larson eration as one of the most important ship classes of the Class I era. classes—was able to free up the larger heavy cruisers and assume primary responsibility for defensive/offensive operations. It was from this point forward that these ships began to Originally, the Anton class was set to be produced to uprated specifications—the design build an impressive and fearsome reputation. itself being altered to correct a number of flaws. However, the changes compounded what was already a complicated and complex design. After review, the decision was sub- sequently reversed and existing ships were gradually withdrawn from service. In 2249, the Pralaya (FF 1855), Avenger (FF 1860) and Illustrious (FF 1863) were present with the 8th Fleet at the Battle of Thranstor. The introduction of Phaser weaponry that year and Instead, the ASDB revisited an earlier proposal, the Hunt class Light Cruiser. Little more than its presence on the majority of the Starfleet vessels present at the battle helped ensure a a Ptolemy class transport/tug with more comprehensive armament, Hunt was an intriguing swift and overwhelming Federation victory. The Pralaya was lost with all hands not long af- modification of an already proven design, though it was eventually dropped in favor of the ter, being drawn into an ambush outside the Beta Aurigae star system. Kearsarge class. Throughout the war though, a favored tactic of fleet commanders was to disguise these The potential of a fully armed Ptolemy was not lost on designers though and from this point, vessels as Ptolemy class transport/tugs and use them (usually in groups of 2 or more) as they continued to study various proposals based around it. In 2242 a proposal was submit- bait—complete with ’dummy’ containers—to lure out unsuspecting Klingon warships. This ted that combined the angled warp nacelle pylons with a saucer that was modified in line tactic, being proven many times over during the war, would go on to become a trademark with that of the Anton. It improved on the capabilities of the Hunt proposal while being of Starfleet’s anti-piracy operations for the rest of the century. vastly simpler to construct and maintain when compared to the older Baton Rouge era cruiser. Codenamed Surya, it was approved for production with an initial build group of 28 Beginning in 2271, Surya class ships were selected to undergo linear warp refits and would ships. go on to form the Knox and related Daran frigate classes. The Reliant (FF 1864) would be the only Surya class ship uprated to Miranda class specifications in 2274. Though not the most heavily armed frigate in Starfleet’s inventory (a distinction that be- longed to the Loknar class), because of the very close similarities and ease at which it was able to be constructed, the Surya class was the most widely produced. The outbreak of the Four Years War saw Starfleet caught un-prepared in more ways than one. The Constitution class—the fleet’s crown jewel, designed primarily for deep space ex- ploration—became the de facto combat workhorse, while the Federation Council’s decision to cancel a further sixth block of Independence class transports saw Starfleet’s logisti- cal capabilities nearly crippled at the war’s outset. Class Surya Armament 3 Laser Batteries (2244-49) Classification Frigate 3 Type VI Phaser Banks (2249-60) 2 2nd Class Torpedo Launchers Service 2244-60 Number Active 0 Defense Systems Standard Deflector Shield System, total capacity 245,000 TerraJoules Standard Monotanium Single Hull Length 237m Beam 127m Height 61m Decks 10 Mass 139,000 metric tons Compliment 247 Editor’s Annotations The Surya is another ship from Ships of the Starfleet, Volume One, one of those I felt I just had to do to flesh out the Class I era. I had planned on doing the Coventry (the TOS progenitor to the Miranda in my book), but after reading the aforementioned work, I figured I couldn’t do one and not the other. Combine that with the detailed history formulated by Richard Mandel for the Surya in the Federation Spaceflight Chronology, Vol. 10 and there’s a pretty compelling case for doing a writeup on it. Bibliography Logo—Kristian “Reverend” Trigwell (Gallery @ Star Trek Minutae) Text—Federation Spaceflight Chronology, Vol. 10 / Richard E. Mandel Ships of the Starfleet, Volume One / Calon Riel Schematic—Richard E. Mandel .

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