Dreadnought Class
The Dreadnought-class heavy explorer, colloquially and erroneously referred to as the Galaxy Refit, is a fully-fledged warship design built out of the existing Galaxy-class spaceframe. Starfleet's first attempt at a true space-based dreadnought since the Federation class of the 2270s, she was built first and foremost to combat the looming Borg threat of the late-2360s, though she only emerged on scene in time to handle the Dominion threat the next decade. Built in small numbers, the Dreadnought was highly effective in the final engagements of the war, but struggled to find a place in a post-war Federation. During the Romulan evacuation of the early 2380s, the Dreadnought was used to great effect as an escort and evacuation vessel, but the class was decommissioned and placed in reserve starting in 2387, when Starfleet's capability to deploy and support large vessels was stretched precariously thin, and this process was completed by 2390.
In 2401, Starfleet faced an onslaught of threats, including the Lost Fleet, the Borg at Frontier Day, and an emergent Underspace crisis. Following this, Fourth Fleet command lobbied for the Dreadnought class to be reactivated. Over the course of the last months of 2401, the remaining vessels of the class were brought back into service with enhanced primary weapons. Requiring a crew as large as an Odyssey just to maintain core mission functionality, the Dreadnought is a resource-intensive but extremely effective weapons platform. Considered something of a dinosaur—or even a myth by some—the Dreadnought is an over-engineered relic of a bygone era, but a relic that is ready to stand and fight in the modern era.
Exploration and Science
Though sharing the overall shape of the Galaxy-class explorer, much of the interior volume reserved for scientific systems and future expansion from the Galaxy have been given over to tactical and structural systems aboard the Dreadnought. While any Galaxy-class starship can host hundreds or even thousands of scientists performing secondary and tertiary missions in expansive, bespoke labs separate from the ship's core science department, the Dreadnought lacks this capability and has only cruiser-level scientific facilities organized around Starfleet's core scientific areas: life sciences, space sciences, planetary sciences, and social sciences. Similarily, the huge bands of lateral sensor arrays that could normally hold many specialized instruments for hundreds of ongoing experiments are fitted with Starfleet's basic sensor assortment, with every other centimeter of that space used for tactical and intelligence-gathering sensors.
Compared to an escort like the Defiant or a destroyer like the Achilles, a Dreadnought-class starship is perfectly capable of performing scientific surveys and even exploratory missions, should the need arise and should it not be tasked with a defensive mission. In practice, these ships might be diverted to investigate something interesting when on the way back from a patrol mission, but it's unlikely that these vessels would ever be sent on multi-year deep space exploratory missions, given their role as Starfleet's de facto battleship. They will, however, support deep space squadrons by providing additional tactical heft, as well as their robust medical and logistics capabilities.
Diplomacy
Dreadnought-class starships bring to bear the single-largest spaceborne weapon ever developed by Starfleet: the Type-XV phaser cannon. Not only is it a terrifyingly-capable weapon intended to punch holes in Borg cubes, but it is also the most obviously cannon or gun-like appendage on any Federation starship. In other words, there is no concealing what the purpose of a Dreadnought is intended to do. As such, it is not an ideal diplomatic platform purely from an optics standpoint, at least most of the time. For races like the Klingons, Gorn, and Tzenkethi, the Federation Diplomatic Corps has indicated a willingness to use these newly returned to service battleships as a way of meeting strength-based cultures where they are. Even the captain of a mighty Negh'var-class warship would have to admit that a Dreadnought is not only a formidable vessel in its own right, but a ship glimpsed in the legends of the Dominion War, thought lost from the galaxy. In other words, some races would find a certain poetry in negotiating with a ship of this class.
In terms of facilities, Dreadnought-class starships have much the same layout of recreational facilities that Galaxy-class starships do: a full range of lounges along the rim of the saucer section, and enough conference lounges to handle most types of negotiations. Because of the position of the ship's additional torpedo launchers, the bridge conference room is not considered ideal for negotiations, however, as its windows point directly at two massive torpedo launchers. Again, depending on the culture involved, this might not be a negative, though. Another small difference between the Galaxy and Dreadnought is that the Dreadnought does not carry an integrated captain's yacht, as this area is taken up by the primary phaser cannon.
Engineering
The core structural and propulsions systems aboard the Dreadnought are the same as found on the Galaxy, but additions have been made across multiple areas. Most notably, the Dreadnought is one of only three designs that has ever used a three-nacelle configuration, and the only other design with that configuration also in service is the Niagara-class fast cruiser. As the Dreadnought's huge main weapon and other systems make it literally more massive than the Galaxy, the primary purpose of the third nacelle is not to provide additional motive force but to further reduce the ship's mass to make the other two nacelles more efficient. Under normal flight conditions, the third nacelle effectively emits a static warp field that compensates for the mass of the ship. When the ship needs to sprint, the three nacelles can be used in concert to create a tri-lobed warp field that allows all three of them to exert their full power potential. In addition, the third nacelle has survivability benefits: should one of the other nacelles be damaged, the third nacelle can operate alone to move the ship at significantly reduced speeds, thanks to its position on the ship's center-line.
The warp core itself is an enhanced version of the one found aboard the Galaxy, tuned for high power output. It is a tempermental system, though, that requires a lot of active maintenance. Its cooling requirements are also significantly higher than the Galaxy. Fuel storage is identical to the Galaxy, which means that the Dreadnought has much lower theoretical endurance at cruising speed, meaning they need more regular fuel stops than other large Starfleet vessels, something that must be kept in mind if the ship is sent out with exploratory groups.
Impulse systems are also enhanced, with the main impulse drive being moved further up the spine of the ship in a dual module that splits thrust to either side of the third nacelle pylon. Unlike the Galaxy, the saucer's impulse engines are always in use, to improve manuverability and power generation.
The Dreadnought retains the ability to separate its primary and secondary hulls and return to a unified configuration on its own. To do so, the main cannon is decoupled from its power conduits, and then the standard magnetic latch system is used to release the saucer. Reversing this process is the same as on the Galaxy at first, but recoupling the main cannon to its power conduits takes up to 12 hours to ensure that the system is properly aligned and calibrated. This procedure is intended to be used in emergencies only, when one section of the ship must be used as a lifeboat. It is considered a poor choice for tactical situations, as the ship's primary weapons are in the saucer section, and the cannon itself would be disabled by this procedure.
Dreadnought-class starships are equipped with extensive fabrication facilities to make spare parts, including an industrial replication complex. This was intended to allow them to serve not only as a flagship for a tactical group, but as its own logistical supply chain. While their weapons systems are still dependent on several non-replicable components, the rest of the ship's systems can be kept going indefinitely without needing to hold aside multiple cargo facilities to store parts. These facilities are also used to support smaller ships, including the ship's own starfighter complement.
Tactical
Dreadnought-class starships were built to fight the Borg and their baptism by fire came in the Dominion War. Even moreso than the Federation-class dreadnoughts of the 23rd century that were more correctly "command cruisers," the Dreadnought is a fully-fledged warship with multiple advanced weapons systems that remain undisputably powerful at the dawn of the 25th century. While built on the skeleton of the Galaxy-class, they are optimized for combat against other large vessels and are meant to serve a tip-of-the-spear function in fleet combat scenarios.
In addition to all of the weapons arrays found aboard the Galaxy, there are an additional five phaser arrays: one on each of the ship's three nacelles and one extra on the port and starboard nacelle pylons flanking the stabilizer fins. Two heavy phaser cannons are mounted above the bridge, their power systems and targeting mechanisms taking up a signifcant part of the upper cargo holds, including the upper four decks of the cargo elevator shafts in the center of the primary hull. This configuration is meant to allow them to be quickly removed and swapped out, should they be damaged or should better technology come along. Additionally, there is module directly aft of the bridge that contains two class-twenty burst-fire torpedo launchers, each capable of salvos twice that of the standard Galaxy-class launchers, and unrivaled by any subsequent burst-fire system. Because of the angles involved, these launchers can only fire forward and at a slight upward elevation from the ship's saucer, meaning that they can't be used well at point-blank range.
The centerpiece of the Dreadnought's armaments is the Type-XV phaser cannon, which is housed in a spinally-aligned mount under the primary hull that connects to the ship's neck section. This massive weapon is directly forward of the ship's large main impulse reactors and it draws power directly from a bank of capacitors there. These capacitors are also connected directly to the ship's warp core, and the ship's computer makes intelligent decisions about which power source to draw from based on the target and the amount of firepower desired. This weapon system has been proven to be highly effective against Dominion battleships, though it has thusfar not been deployed against its intended target: a Borg cube. Unlike a pulse phaser cannon, this system emits a solid beam of energy that resembles a lance, rather than a bolt, which applies concentrated power to a target for multiple seconds. At full power, the beam requires at least sixty seconds to recycle, so captains will often use it at half or lower power, to be able to score mutiple hits. Either way, a vessel caught in the path of this cannon is unlikely to survive for long, unless it is far beyond the Federation's technological capabilities.
The ship's defensive potential is concentrated in its redundant regenerative shields. When first developed, they were the prototype for the system used aboard the Sovereign, and now have been updated to the latest standards. The Dreadnought's hull is not armored, however. It can shrug off several hits thanks to its shields, but its meant to apply its overwhelming firepower to end situations quickly, not to get into painful dogfights.
During the reactivation process for this class, all of the phaser arrays were updated to Type-XIV standards, and updates were made to the ship's targetting systems and other related systems. More or less, the ship is as it was built during the Dominion War, and so fewer systems are automated and it otherwise might feel a little more "analog" than more modern vessels. Thus, both captains and tactical officers need to be aware of the various quirks of this older design and understand how to circumvent issues as they occur. Under the hands of the right crew, this ship is capable of going toe-to-toe with almost any threat. Starfleet is careful about what situations it sends these ships into at this point, as it is not desirable for the class's existence to be widespread knowledge. As such, they are now being deployed on patrols within the Federation, escorting exploratory groups on deep space missions, and participating in war games exercises.
Small Craft Facilities
While the weapons of the Dreadnought provide 360 degree coverage, this class is primarily a linear combatant, like a lance or a spear sent towards a large target. To provide point defense, these ships rely on frigates and escorts, as well as an embarked complement of two starfighter squadrons. Starfighters are housed and launched from a bay beneath the ship's third nacelle which has port, starboard, and aft-facing doors. In a combat situation, these doors are opened and carefully-calibrated maglev launch systems in both the deck and the ceiling allow for all twenty-four fighters to be sent out with great efficiency. While this bay can accept landings as well, mass landings are accomplished in the main shuttlebay instead, and the fighters are returned to their launch bay when the ship is out of combat, either by flying them down or using tractor beams. This system is optimized for Valkyrie-class starfighters. By the numbers, the Dreadnought is the most capable carrier in service, other than its contemporary, the Typhon-class carrier, which it often works in tandem with. These fighters are primarily intended to defend the mothership rather than to serve as a strike force on their own, as a Dreadnought is at its most vulnerable when it is swarmed by smaller ships.
Shipboard Life
Most officers who have served on a Galaxy-class starship would say that life on a Dreadnought is not entirely that different. The ship still has a Ten Forward lounge, multiple holodecks and holosuites, even a family or two are allowed onboard during peacetime operations. The noticeable difference is in the amount of crew. Whereas the Galaxy normally boasts a crew of about 1,000 souls, the Dreadnought-class usually hovers around 2,000, to account for the ship's greater maintenance needs and its embarked fighter wing. This is well within the spaceframe's capacity, but it means that it's harder to find somewhere totally silent most of the time. The upper and lower edges of the saucer section, as well as the rim of the secondary hull, have many small lounges that are used much more heavily than on the Galaxy—while Ten Forward might be everyone's neighborhood bar on a Galaxy, Nine Forward, Ten Starboard, and other such facilities turn into the favored hangouts for various departments. In addition, most Dreadnoughts have an expanded lounge in the center of the saucer across decks two and three (called Two-Three-Fore on a least some vessels) to help accomodate their large crews. This is even larger than the standard crew of the larger Odyssey, so things can feel a little tight, especially as the corridors are still in late 2360s or mid-2370s style, depending on when the ship itself was built, rather than the wider halls common aboard newer ships. Though still large vessels, there is still sometimes a feeling of being packed in that's not helped by the absence of conveniences found on new ships, such as being able to request a replicated item anywhere without going to a replicator slot.
As many Dominion War veterans have begun to return to service after Frontier Day 2401, Starfleet is prioritizing assigning returning officers to Dreadnought-class vessels and other war-era designs as they are themselves returned to service. So far, this has led to many Dreadnought-class starships having a command crew and body of officers familiar with older systems—having used them first-hand in service—combined with a crew of green recent graduates and enlistees, leading to some interesting crew dynamics. This can lead to both stratification between older and more experienced officers with their junior counterparts as much as it can lead to family-like bonding.
One non-tactical area where the Dreadnought exceeds the original galaxy is its medical facilities. Though now considered somewhat out of date, the Dreadnought has hospital-grade facilities that are intended both to treat the ship's larger crew, but also to serve as a triage facility for wartime situations. In peacetime, these facilities make the Dreadnought second only to the Odyssey and to dedicated hospital ships in terms of its ability to respond to medical emergencies. These ships have full access to an EMH program, but lack other supplementary long-term nursing or medical programs, and so their staffing requirements are higher than more modern ships.
Class History
The encounter between the USS Enterprise-D and what would soon be known to be the Borg Collective in 2365 was the first real, overwhelming challenge the Federation had faced in nearly one-hundred years, and as a result, Starfleet began work on programs designed to counter it. One such program, focusing on how the Galaxy-class had performed against the Borg and its limitations, would become the Defiant-class. But there were those that felt that moving towards a larger, battleship type design was the answer. While the Defiant design project got underway, the Battleship program looked for ways to beat their competitor to production. As such, it was decided to build upon an existing capital class platform instead of working from the ground up. The Galaxy-class design was chosen, as the final six of the initial production of 12 vessels had been left incomplete and in storage.
The Galaxy-class vessel designated USS Yorktown was chosen for the refit and taken from storage to Utopia Planitia Shipyards in orbit of Mars. As the Yorktown had been taken only as far as the final framework stage of construction, to call the program a refit would be somewhat misleading. Most vessel refits are mostly focused on the upgrade and replacement of core systems, while much of the vessel infrastructure is left intact. The Yorktown, however, offered the design team a nearly blank slate to work from, and as such the difference between the new design and standard Galaxy lead the designers to designate the project the Dreadnought-class, with the class lead being renamed USS Dreadnought. Tactical systems were revamped from the ground up, and the new Type-XX phaser was integrated into the lower saucer. All primary systems were designed with full triple redundancy backups in order to increase survivability and tactical endurance in large scale engagements. This even included the installation of a third nacelle configured in a split internal arrangement, with an eye towards increased performance and efficiency as well. Her combat coordination systems were on par with those installed in most starbases, allowing the Dreadnought to serve a command and control function in large fleet groups. In short, she was designed as the ultimate combat flagship.
However, as the Borg threat lessened the project was scaled back somewhat. While the Defiant project was canceled, the Dreadnought limped on with the backing of a smattering of “Battleship Admirals” at Starfleet Command. However, even with that support, the Dreadnought herself was the only ship of her kind until 2371 and the destruction of the USS Odyssey. Starfleet was once again faced with the reality of their best ships being outclassed by the enemy and geared up production. As the Defiant-class project restarted, Avalon Fleet Yards was chosen as the new construction yard for a series of Dreadnought vessels. A production run of 11 additional ships was authorized by Starfleet.
As the Dominion War dragged on, however, the pace of the program lagged behind that of other classes, notably the revitalized Defiant-class. While those ships that reached the front lines and saw combat during the war performed admirably, their overall impact was mitigated by their rarity. Also, newer classes such as the Sovereign-class were able to build upon what had been pioneered by the Dreadnought, and the combat-oriented subtypes derived from that design would leave the Dreadnought behind. The last of the original 12 vessels ordered would leave the production line in 2378 four years behind schedule, a victim of shifting resource allocation and general disinterest. Following her christening, the program was quietly canceled by Starfleet amidst little fanfare or notice. By the early 2390s, all of the remaining vessels of this class were mothballed against future use; even with the lack of stability in the quadrant caused by the destruction of Romulus, Starfleet's tactical ethos had never found a suitable niche for these vessels once the Sovereign and Inquiry classes were available in large numbers.
In 2401, Starfleet suffered a series of crises in short succession: the emergence of a mysterious portal, the attack by the Lost Fleet, and the devastation of the First Fleet at the hands of the Borg on Frontier Day. With many ships destroyed, Starfleet ordered the decomissioning of several designs, including the Ambassador and Niagara to be halted and for those vessels to remain in service to shore up the fleet. At Fourth Fleet Command, quiet but intense discussions began about what to do with the fleet of Dreadnought, Typhon, and Achilles -class vessels that had been laid up at Avalon Fleet Yards for decades. In ready reserve, the ships were all preserved with onboard stasis generators and were inspected on an annual basis to ensure that they remained spaceworthy.
In the middle of that year, it was decided that if there was a time to reactivate these designs—if there was ever an emergency to break the glass for—it was rebuilding the fleet in a post-Frontier Day world. Engineers at AFY began inspecting and upgrading these vessels. For the Dreadnought-class, this meant fitting them with the latest model of phaser arrays, using upgrade plans developed for the Galaxy. Leaving the rest of the ship's systems largely untouched meant that getting them out of the surplus yards was done by the beginning of 2402. While never receiving a formal designation other than "explorer" in the past, they were classified along with the Odyssey as "heavy explorers," as "Dreadnought-class dreadnought" would have been redundant.
Now, the Dreadnought class is poised to help safeguard Starfleet's key installations and to give its fleets an added degree of tactical flexibility. While some see this as a slip back towards a warlike mindset, Starfleet Commands sees this as a pragmatic decision: it would be illogical to continue to waste these vessels, when there is now a clear need for them. How long they will remain in service is unclear, but they will surely be assets as the fleet continues to rebuild.
Europa Subtype
Of the 12 Dreadnoughts ordered, 4 were completed to the specifications of the USS Europa and would be known as the Europa subtype. These ships did away with the split nacelle in favor of two additional standard nacelles instead. This would end up yielding decreased performance over the standard models, and by 2380 the last of the four vessels had been dry-docked and reverted to standard specifications.
The Dreadnought Class In-Play
- The Galaxy-X, the Galaxy Refit, or the Dreadnought, this class has played a controversial role in Bravo Fleet since its inception. For some, it is a symbol of "more is more" coolness. For others, it can be considered quite a toxic symbol of remnants of Bravo Fleet's old marine culture or, more simply, an emphasis on blowing stuff up that isn't completely compatible with Star Trek's ethos. We've tried to capture that controversy in an in-universe sense as well: this is a capable warship design that is likely necessary in Starfleet's current situation, but it's also a symbol of toxic miltiarization that many in Starfleet resent. Indeed, labeling it as a "heavy explorer" is also meant to further call attention to the tension between Starfleet's ideals of remaining a defensive force only, versus the realities that even a psuedo-navy probably needs to have big battleships to shoot at big aliens, sometimes.
- These are antiques. There are no "new" Dreadnought-class ships. This is like the US Navy dusting off its Iowa-class battleships after letting them sit in mothballs for decades. They are fully functional, but someone who joined Starfleet in the 2390s might be amused or even baffled by how less automated they feel. They do still have carpet, too, so that is something a character might remark on. All of their tactical prowess is centered around having big guns that need to be pointed straight at a target and fired, more than clever systems or subtlety.
- This is a great opportunity to write with a crew of Dominion War veterans returning to service and using equipment that they would have used in their prime. Pair them with a group of new, young officers, and there are lots of cool ways to make those character dynamics interesting.
- A captain of a Dreadnought could very easily become overconfident when they think primarily of the power of this ship's weapons and not the way that it could be swarmed by smaller ships, or the way that novel weapons systems or clever tactics could be used to trap or evade this ship. There's a lot of story meat to explore there. As a writer you should keep this in mind—this is not an invincible ship that can stand up to a whole fleet on its own. Rather, it's a particularly powerful warship that is meant to take on other big warships like itself.
- Some of these ships would have had other names than the ones they have now, thanks to their original names being used by other vessels while they were in mothballs.