Specifications - USS Tigerfish (NCC-1509)
Summary
Lancaster-Class Cruiser
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General
| Class | Lancaster | |
| Role | Cruiser | |
| Duration | 30 years | |
| Time Between Refits | 6 years | |
| Time Between Resupply | 2 years | |
| Description | The end of the 22nd century was a time of rapid advances in Federation technology. Phasers, transporters, and subspace radio were all reaching levels of refinement that would soon allow for mass implementation aboard Starfleet vessels. In addition, ever more powerful warp cores and warp nacelles were being introduced on a yearly basis. Although Starfleet had been satisfied with the performance of the Moskva-class, by 2200 their 20-year-old hulls had neither the space nor the durability to accept further extensive modifications. Clearly, a new class of capital ship was required, which could incorporate the most recent advances in starship engineering. Although the ships of what would eventually become the new Lancaster-class cruisers were to enjoy all the fruits of early 23rd century science, they could not yet do without those of the 22nd. In other words, while Starfleet was all for investing their resources on the development of emerging technologies such as phasers, transporters, and subspace radio, they were, at the same time, reluctant to fully abandon the lasers, shuttlecraft, and warp message torpedoes that had served them dependably for nearly 100 years. For this reason, the new ships would represent a transition from old technologies to new. Technology, however, was not the only engine driving the development of the new class. After the end of the Romulan War in 2160, Humanity sought outlets for its newfound confidence and ambition. Much of this energy was channeled into space exploration and colonization, both through the Federation and by Earth alone. However, colonization was not solely restricted to uncontested regions of space. The rapid expansion of the Federation sphere of influence in the last decades of the 22nd century often led to confrontations with alien races and empires. Human colonists and their influential supporters in the Federation Council demanded that these new "outposts" be protected. Therefore, a new class of cruisers was almost required to fulfill this mandate of safeguarding the lives and assets of Federation citizens, whenever and wherever they might be endangered. However, that is not to say that heightened concern for their civilians was not the sole factor dictating Starfleet doctrine or procurement policy. In fact, many officers throughout the Starfleet chain of command also saw their "prime directive" to be the expansion of Human- if not Federation- civilization. They welcomed the development of a "big stick" with which territorial claims could be both established and protected, either by force or threat thereof. The starship construction industry, too, lobbied for the development of a potentially lucrative new class of ships, as their commission would provide both a steady source of revenue and a glut of construction jobs. Therefore, these converging interests ensured that mere fiscal responsibility and military necessity would not prevent development of a new cruiser class. The ships of the new class promised to be significantly larger than those of their Moskva predecessors. First, protecting distant colonies on the frontiers of Federation space would require a powerful cruiser that could operate at a high state of readiness for extended periods of time without the support of starbases. Because of the great distances that a single ship would be required to patrol, extreme speed was both a necessity and a top priority. Therefore, a large spaceframe was in order to house some of the the largest, most powerful warp reactors and nacelles to date. These large engines would naturally have immense fuel requirements. Ensuring the ability to prevail against any conceivable threats called for massive firepower, supported by command and control facilities, munitions stores, fighters, landing craft, Marines, and a small army of technicians. Furthermore, since these ships were destined to operate on the limits of known space, they carried some of the most advanced scientific facilities at the time. Finally, Starfleet's unwillingness to rely entirely upon emerging technologies required a significant degree of functional redundancy. In April 2201, the Starfleet Ships Specifications Review Board finally issued a request for submissions regarding the design and construction of at least 50 new cruisers. As was to be expected, the new ships had to be substantially larger than their predecessors, with a total hull volume of not less than 125,000 m³ (roughly twice that of Moskva) specified in the initial design parameters. A higher level of performance was also regulated, with Starfleet requesting that this new class of cruiser be capable of sustaining a cruising speed of warp 4.8 for 750 hours, and an emergency speed of warp 6.4 for 50 hours. They were to carry enough fuel and provisions to remain at station for 2 years without resupply. Most major shipbuilding firms affiliated with the Federation immediately recognized the importance of the new contract and began submitting design proposals for the new class. The large projected order of 50 ships could conceivably decide the fate of multi-system corporate empires. In fact, the competition was to be a watershed event in the history of Federation warship design. It perfectly crystallized the different trends in starship design philosophy, and its winner was to set the course for future Starfleet development for the next 175 years. Because of the large numbers of entries and the potential financial windfall that was at stake, the competition was extremely fierce. Numerous allegations of industrial espionage, sabotage, and even assassination were made, though not exactly proven in most cases. Furthermore, substantial sums of money and other gifts and services (some of a rather personal nature) were said to have been lavished upon members of the Review Board, their families, and even casual acquaintances. Despite these many suspected irregularities, a winner was finally announced in October 2203. The winning design, submitted by the Shimata-Dominquez Corporation of Manila, Earth, was likened by many to a "warp-capable brick" because of its stark, almost brutal, contours and thick, relatively short warp nacelles. However, despite the allegations of irregularities during the competition, the Review Board probably made the correct choice. The soundness of the decision is supported by the fact that the prototype for this new class, the USS Lancaster (NX-1209) is generally considered the first "modern" starship, with all primary facilities in the same general positions as in current vessels. As is now standard, the bridge was placed on the top deck, in the center of the primary hull. Although this position has been criticized as tactically reckless and technologically redundant, The top of the primary hull proved to be an ideal location for the bridge, as it was, naturally, where the shields were strongest. Because the primary hull was much larger than it had been in the Moskva-class, it could now properly accomodate impulse deck and corresponding fusion reactor. Deuterium was stored in two huge tanks on either side of the impulse deck. In the secondary hull, innovations included a fully-ejectable warp core, which was separated- along with a large ventral hull plate- from the rest of the ship by chemical thrusters. Because man-rated transporters would only see mass implementation by the late 2210s, the Lancaster and her sisters were built with an extremely large shuttlecraft bay instead. However, unlike in the Wasp- and Moskva-classes, the shuttlecraft bay was placed longitudinally. Lancaster carried an airwing comprising a full fighter/attack squadron of at least 10 ships. Orbital assault capability was provided by 6 assault landing craft and facilities for 120 power-suited Marines. After a relatively brief construction and shakedown period of the prototype, the Lancaster-Class cruisers were officially greenlit for fleet-wide service in February of 2205. A following fifteen cruisers were built in a period of just 2 years. Despite its questionable design, the new class was hailed by both civilian and military analysts as being a significant advance in starship engineering. They also proved to be a runaway success with Starfleet personnel, with their fierce loyalty reflected in the perversely prideful nicknames, such as "Thunderhog" (USS Olympia, NCC-1216) and "Death Slab" (USS Texas, NCC-1252), that they gave their ships. Lancasters, particularly those in frontier areas, were often decorated with unofficial hull "nose art" and kill markings. In fact, many crews were reluctant to give their ships up when the later Valley Forge- and Constitution-class cruisers were introduced. As a group, Lancaster captains were statistically some of the most aggressive in the history of Starfleet, though the leadership style perfectly suited the era. The early 23rd century has been called the "imperial era" of Human history, when territorial expansion was pursued at near-relentless cost. Whenever new star systems were surveyed, they were immediately subject to exploitation and colonization, regardless of official approval by the Federation Council or prior claims by other powers. However, once colonies were established, the Human-controlled Starfleet fulfilled its popular mandate to protect Federation citizens from danger, even if the danger was largely of their own making. Therefore, to defend the ever-expanding borders of the Federation, Lancasters were constantly in combat throughout their service careers. Numerous actions involving ships of the Lancaster-class have helped to cement its place in the history books. In 2208, USS Wolfe (NCC-1217), under the command of Commodore Antonio Saxon, disabled and/or destroyed six Kzinti vessels in the Korrok system before being ordered to withdraw. In 2219, USS Koryu (NCC-1239), under Captain Rodnina Duffy, used repeated volleys of newly-introduced photon torpedoes and tenacious airwing assaults to single-handedly defend the Federation colony on Aeolius VII against three Klingon D4 attack cruisers before the arrival of USS Ursus (NCC-1230) and USS Wah Chang (NCC-400, Moskva-class). In 2223, USS Phantom (NCC-1256), USS Singapore (NCC-1249), and the light cruiser USS New York (NCC-892, Paris-class), under the command of Rear Admiral Lisabeta "Bouncing Betty" Hammerschmidt, fought their way through a protective screen of enemy destroyers and cruisers to subdue and capture a Klingon base on Verruca II. After a long and storied career, the Lancaster-class project was officially discontinued in 2264, with plans to retire the remaining ships by 2279. |
Dimensions
| Length | 227.26 Meters | |
| Width | 100.36 Meters | |
| Height | 57.25 Meters | |
| Decks | 14 |
Personnel
| Officers | 120 | |
| Enlisted Crew | 250 | |
| Emergency Capacity | 500 |
Speed
| Cruise Speed | 4.8 | |
| Maximum Speed | 6.2 | |
| Emergency Speed | 6.4 |
Weapons & Defensive Systems
| Shields | o Standard Shield System (300,000 Terajoules) | |
| Weapon Systems | O Type V Phaser Turrets (8x1 Mounts): 8 O Type V Phaser Banks (Fixed Mounts): 2 O Torpedo Launchers: 2 |
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| Armament | O Photon Torpedoes : 40 |
Auxiliary Craft
| Shuttlebays | 2 | |
| Shuttles | O Class F Shuttlecraft: 6 O Class A Shuttlepod: 5 |