Bravo Fleet
Difference between pages "Ciffao Tharc" and "User:Teylasramar/Sandbox/Constitution class"

Difference between pages "Ciffao Tharc" and "User:Teylasramar/Sandbox/Constitution class"

From Bravo Fleet
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{{Character
{{icons|bfc}}
| image = [[File:Tharc2.png]]
{{Specification
| name = Ciffao Tharc
| image = [[Image:Constitution.png]]
| fullname =  
| displayName = '''''Constitution'' Class'''
| placeoforigin = [[MA:Tellar Prime|Tellar Prime]]
| name = Constitution
| species = Tellarite
| affiliation = [[United Federation of Planets]]
| gender = Female
| operator = [[Starfleet]]
| dateofbirth = 2348
| status = Retired
| dateofdeath =  
| role = Heavy Cruiser
| age = 61
| type =
| precedingClass =
| succeedingClass = Constitution II
| dateEntered = 2244
| productionEnd = 2268
| retired = *2271 (for refit)
*2288 (last original configuration retired)
| expectedDuration = 100 Years
| expectedRefit = 10 Years
| timeResupply = 5 Years
| crewComplement = *450 (standard)
*200 (5-year missions)
| emergencyCap = 2,000
| civilians =
| populationCap =
| flightCrew =  
| passengers =  
| length =  
| width =  
| diameter =  
| height =  
| height =  
| weight =  
| decks = 22
| hair =  
| propulsionSystem = M/AM Warp Drive
| eyes =  
| cruiseSpeed = Warp 6
| affiliation = [[Starfleet]]
| maxSpeed = Warp 8
| rank = [[File:A1-1.png|alt=Commodore|Commodore]]
| emergencySpeed = Warp 9
| posting = [[Starbase 86]]
| energyWeapons = 6x Type-VI Phaser Emitters
| position = Commanding Officer
| torpLaunchers = *2 forward
}}'''Commodore Ciffao Tharc''' is the current commanding officer of [[Starbase 86]] and previous commander of the [[USS Majestic]]. Her early career was in the operations division, but since 2380 she has been a command-grade officer. After seventeen years in command of USS ''Majestic'', Tharc moved from starship service to commanding one of Starfleet's most important frontier defensive stations.  
*1 aft
| torpPayload = 150 Photon Torpedoes
| shields = Graviton Shielding System
| dockingfacilities =
| shuttleBays = 1 aft landing bay
| shuttles = 4 Class F shuttles
| runabouts =  
| fighters =
| aux =  
| msd =  
}}The '''''Constitution''-class''' heavy cruiser is a legendary starship design often considered to be the exemplar of both [[Starfleet|Starfleet’s]] mission and its design ethos. First built in the 2240s, they remained Starfleet’s premiere heavy cruiser until the 2270s, having been refit and overhauled numerous times over those three decades until the changes became so substantial that the class was succeeded by its Enterprise sub-class, known officially as the [[Constitution II|''Constitution II''-class]].


== Starfleet Academy (2358-2362) ==
==History==
Tharc’s formative years at the Academy were defined by an acute sense of homesickness. Hailing from a relatively rural region of [[MA:Tellar Prime|Tellar Prime]], it took her the best part of two years to get used to the institution’s culture of inclusiveness and cooperation. Having grown up treating arguments as a sport, at first she found the even temperaments and agreeability of her academy comrades to be needless social niceties. This all changed in her sophomore year, when a particularly difficult spatial physics exam left her reliant upon a Vulcan classmate for help. Despite her icy, logical exterior, Cadet T’Shona was extremely patient. She showed Tharc through the entirety of quantum mechanical theory, from Planck to Varnegyxx. In later years the content of that exam would seem to Tharc far less important than the understanding of friendship she gained through her Academy years.
===Genesis===
By the 2220s, the [[United Federation of Planets]] Starfleet had established its mission and its philosophy as being distinct both from the [[ma:Earth Starfleet|United Earth Starfleet]] and the stellar services of the Tellarites, Vulcans, and Andorians, but its shipbuilding practices continued to be largely fragmented. Vulcans built science ships, Andorians built warships, Tellarites built trade vessels, and Humans built a little bit of everything. In some ways this was advantageous—national shipyards could excel in what they were good at—but the Federation had yet to truly synergize the strengths of its member worlds into a cohesive technological platform. Named for the idea of the governing documents of a union serving to strengthen its people, Project Constitution was ordered in 2230 as a way of unifying the technological abilities of the Federation’s members into a single vessel that would embody Starfleet’s core missions of exploration, diplomacy, defense, and mercy for missions far beyond explored space.


== USS ''Prince of Wales'' (2362-2370) ==
Starfleet Engineering created the Advanced Starship Design Bureau to design the Constitution, with its headquarters and production facility located in the heart of the Federation at [[ma:San Francisco Fleet Yards|San Francisco Fleet Yards]]. The design process was slow and methodical, taking nearly fifteen years before the first two vessels left the yards. The brief was not just to create a starship that incorporated aspects of various member worlds’ achievements but to go beyond them to create a vessel that innovated in every area. This would be the largest, most elaborate, and most capable starship yet fielded by Starfleet, taking on a crew of 500 humanoids for voyages of five years with minimal outside support.
As an Ensign in the Operations Department aboard the ''Prince of Wales'', Tharc would learn what makes a starship tick. Far from the theories and abstractions that characterised the academy, Tharc would be faced with real situations that demanded on the spot decisions. For her part in coordinating successful resupply missions to colonies along the Federation-Cardassian border, Tharc was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade in July 2364.  


The USS ''Prince of Wales'' was reassigned soon thereafter to frontier patrol duty along the edge of what would, in 2370, become a [[MA:Demilitarized Zone|demilitarised zone]] between Federation and Cardassian space. Tharc was directly involved in devising a set of streamlined diagnostic procedures for a series of sensor buoys deployed along the edge of the zone. This greatly reduced the time required for the Prince of Wales to scan and check each buoy for signs of third party tampering. Despite the signing of the [[MA:Federation-Cardassian Armistice of 2367|Federation-Cardassian armistice agreement]] in 2367, interference with Starfleet sensor equipment from supposedly neutral entities such as the Xepolites was not uncommon. In recognition of her efforts, she was promoted to the rank of full Lieutenant and offered the role of Chief Operations Officer aboard the newly launched USS ''Clarion''.
''Constitution'' herself, NX-1700, and the yet-unnamed NCC-1701 were laid down at San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2234, the former under the supervision of Admiral Matt Jefferies and the latter under then-Captain [[ma:Robert April|Robert April]]. The construction project was a truly multi-species affair, with each systems team purposefully composed of officers from across Starfleet’s own yards and the shipyards of member races. This initially led to conflict, but the management styles of Jefferies and April allowed every member of each team to find their own way of contributing to the project as a whole—this also served as a blueprint for operational procedures and command techniques for managing large multi-species crews, as this was something that Starfleet still lacked significant experience in.


== USS ''Clarion'' (2370-2376) ==
Thanks to the success of the construction process, the order was increased to six vessels in 2238, and ''Constellation'', ''Republic'', and ''Intrepid'' were laid down that same year.
Tensions were beginning to ease in the Alpha Quadrant in the year the USS ''Clarion'' left spacedock. The [[MA:Federation-Cardassian Treaty|Federation-Cardassian Treaty]] had been signed, creating the demilitarised zone. It pained Tharc to learn that some of the colony worlds she had visited aboard the ''Prince of Wales'' had now been ceded to Cardassian control. Magnifying this sense of loss, it was in 2370 that Tharc learned of her good friend Kreylan Botthega’s defection to the [[MA:Maquis|Maquis]]. A colleague of hers since the academy and following a similar career trajectory, she had never considered the possibility that the [[MA:Kriosian|Kriosian’s]] loyalties could change in such a way. Tharc was confused, and feelings of betrayal crept through her. For a time, she struggled to understand how anyone could bring themself to go against the oath they had pledged to Starfleet. She worked hard to suppress her anger, and she dived deeper into her work than ever before. It would be the first great test of her resolve.  


Then, in 2373, the [[MA:Dominion War|Dominion War]] came to the Alpha Quadrant. The ''Clarion'' was recalled from her five year mission of exploration beyond [[MA:Metron Consortium|Metron Consortium]] space, and once again Tharc found herself face to face with the Cardassians. Regularly deployed on scouting missions behind Dominion lines, Tharc was tasked with helping configure ship’s sensors to penetrate enemy subspace countermeasures. On several occasions the ship was caught out, detected by the Dominion’s own sensors forcing retreat at maximum warp back to allied controlled space. Tharc would come to think of those two years of war as the longest of her life. The constant red alerts, lack of sleep, chaos and lost comrades would haunt her for many years to come. In the war’s aftermath, Tharc was part of reconstruction efforts as the ''Clarion'' spent 2376 distributing aid to previously conquered colonies now returned to Federation governance. Later that year, Tharc and the ''Clarion'' would part ways on her acceptance of a posting to the USS ''Vanguard'' as Chief Operations Officer.
As the design evolved, many areas of the ''Constitution''-class spaceframe were built to be modular and easily reconfigurable to allow the design to be upgradeable, something that proved to be prescient as the class would have many minor upgrades and two major redesigns over its service life. The saucer section in particular was designed to be able to handle anywhere from two-hundred to five-hundred crew, with space for labs, recreational facilities, and sickbays alterable to suit different mission parameters and crew sizes. This was made possible by locating the majority of the ship’s larger equipment—the deflector dish, warp core, cargo holds, hanger, etc.—in the secondary hull, so that the primary hull was reserved for crew support and mission-specific equipment. The initial two vessels were configured to support a crew of 450, with a generalist lab arrangement and volume reserved for diagnostic computers to evaluate them during their shakedowns.


== USS ''Vanguard'' (2376-2385) ==
The prototype, ''Constitution'', was launched in 2244 and undertook an extensive six-month shakedown cruise in the core of the Federation while NCC-1701 continued under construction. A year later, the second prototype was unveiled as the first Federation starship to bear the name ''Enterprise'', named after the Earth Starfleet vessel widely considered to be the primary instrument leading to the founding of the Federation. Her launch was followed quickly by Constellation, which was completed more quickly thanks to lessons learned along the way of building the first two.
Now a Lieutenant Commander, Tharc was thrown into an operating environment unlike anything she had experienced before. Under the command of Captain Th’enas, the ''Vanguard'' was assigned to skirt the edges of the [[MA:Romulan Neutral Zone|Romulan Neutral Zone]]. Its mission would include the interdiction and investigation of any vessels entering Federation space from the zone, and the covert gathering of intelligence relating to reports of Reman activity within the Romulan Imperial Senate. For the first time in her career, Tharc was required to attend briefings on the wider Federation-Romulan security situation. Despite these efforts, the [[MA:Shinzon|Shinzon]] incident of 2379 still caught Starfleet by surprise, resulting in the ''Vanguard''’s mission being supplemented with an additional four starships from the [[Fourth Fleet]]’s [[Task Force 86]].


Increased shipbuilding efforts following the Dominion War had now begun to bear fruit, leading to the reassignment of the ''Vanguard''’s First Officer to her own command. Having taken the bridge officer’s test, Tharc became the lead candidate in the search for a replacement. In 2381, Tharc was promoted to the rank of Commander, beginning her tenure as First Officer.  
===Early Service===
''Constitution'', ''Constellation'', and ''Enterprise'' were sent on their first five-year missions in 2245, with Captain [[ma:Garth|Garth of Izar]] commanding ''Constitution'', Captain Robert April commanding ''Enterprise'', and Captain [[ma:Matt Decker|Matt Decker]] commanding ''Constellation'', under the careful watch of Admiral Jefferies. The initial three ships were very successful in their first two years of service, and even as ''Republic'' and ''Intrepid'' were still nearing completion, Starfleet increased the order to twelve total ''Constitution''-class starships. A number of other classes using the same technological base, such as the ''Bellerophon'', ''Radiant'', and ''Archer'' classes were also ordered around this time.


That was when everything changed for the Romulan Star Empire. Following confirmation that the [[MA:Romulan sun|Romulan sun]] was soon to go supernova, Starfleet began drawing up resettlement plans at the request of the Romulan government. This began a tumultuous time for the region as the once monolithic Star Empire began to lose cohesion. Factions hostile to Federation aid made good on their threats to harass refugee convoys in the early stages of the evacuation efforts. As Starfleet’s own rescue fleet continued construction, the ''Vanguard'' was assigned to coordinate convoys of transports requisitioned from civilian and other Starfleet departments in the preliminary evacuation waves.
The concept of a Five-Year Mission was prototyped aboard the original ''Constitution''-class vessels as a new way of managing the command and staffing of starships. It was not uncommon for short-range vessels to have a captain for a few months at a time or even for a single mission and regular contact with starbases allowed for frequent crew rotations. As the ''Constitution'' was intended to be much more independent, a structure was developed that commissioned each captain to a five-year stint aboard their vessel, with a command crew that was intended to be more or less stable. This required new regulations for managing crew advancement in the field, as well as new strategies for making a starship a comfortable and fulfilling place to spend five years of one’s life.


As First Officer, Tharc proved herself time and again in her ability to liaise and coordinate operations across multiple vessels and crews. On one particular occasion, a convoy departing Romulus for the Meslan System was waylaid by two Tal Shiar [[Valdore Class]] warbirds. As the only non-civilian vessel attached to the convoy, the ''Vanguard'' was ordered by Captain Th’enas to engage its [[MA:Multi-vector assault mode|multi-vector assault mode]]. While this was enough to encourage the warbirds to stand down, the ''Vanguard'' would remain in this formation for the remainder of the journey to Meslan. Tharc’s leadership and bravery during the incident was noted by Starfleet Command, and her name was put forward to be considered for her own captaincy.  
===Mid Career===
In 2250, ''Constitution'', ''Constellation'', and ''Enterprise'' all completed their first five-year missions to widespread acclaim. While Garth of Izar and Decker remained at their posts, Robert April was promoted to flag rank and, as the newly-minted Director of Deep Space Operations, became the supervisor of the entire Constitution fleet.


== USS ''Majestic'' (2385-2399) ==
A decade into their service, the ''Constitution'' class received their first major overhaul in 2255, with widespread systems upgrades and a shrinking of the crew by two hundred to optimize them for longer deep space missions. This allowed for larger and more spacious quarters, as well as less strain on the life support systems. The members of this class were absent from the [[ma:Federation-Klingon_War_(2256-57)|Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57]], as Starfleet wanted to keep them in reserve. As the class was a large investment of both resources and crew, Starfleet rush-ordered a leaner variant that would replicate the engine and tactical systems of the ''Constitution'' but with a much smaller crew: and a much shorter construction period the ''Sombra''. Few of these vessels were built, given the short duration of the war, and they were all refit as Constitution-class ships with full exploratory systems by 2260.  
In 2385, the newly constructed USS ''Majestic'' was to become the flagship of the Starfleet’s Task Force 86 in the Fourth Fleet. It was well noted by Command that Tharc had significant experience in the area of operations to which the Task Force would be deployed for the foreseeable future. As a result, Captain Ciffao Tharc embarked on the ''Majestic''’s shakedown cruise at the beginning November of 2385. Then followed nine years of operations in and around the declining and transforming Romulan Star Empire.  


The explosion of the Romulan sun in 2387, despite the inevitability of the event itself, exacerbated the unpredictability of an already chaotic region. More suitable colonies were needed for the flow of refugees out of the area that had steadily intensified since resettlement operations had begun two years prior. The ''Majestic'' was assigned to scout out suitable locations for these colonies for the remainder of the 2380s. At the dawn of the new decade, the security situation on the Federation-Romulan border deteriorated further. Incursions into Federation became more frequent from within a new hive of lawlessness that had sprung up from what was once the Neutral Zone. The ''Majestic'' raced to put out fires. Detection of cloaked vessels was made somewhat easier by a series of tachyon detection arrays constructed by Starfleet from 2391-3. However, these still needed protection. The ''Majestic'' was stretched thin by border incursions, political wrangling and acts of retribution committed by Romulan state actors against refugees settled in Federation space. Tharc’s requests for additional support were heard by a Fleet Command reluctant to commit additional resources to an area in which it already felt bogged down. Eventually, after the loss of two tachyon detection posts in 2395, additional ships were assigned to assist the ''Majestic''. Tharc was vindicated and yet frustrated by a decision she felt had come all too late. Little did she know that Starfleet had other, more pressing concerns.
Following the war, Starfleet prioritized the construction of classes that were derived from the ''Constitution'', including the new ''Miranda'', ''Hermes'', and ''Saladin''-class vessels that were directly built from Constitution-type components. This building program included a handful of ''Constitution'' orders which made up losses in the years following, bringing the total ''Constitution''-class fleet up to 12 by 2265.


In 2399, beginning in the [[MA:Archanis sector|Archanis Sector]], a deadly rampage erupted suddenly. Intelligence from within [[The Triangle]] region had been hard to come by, especially with the redeployment of Starfleet assets towards the Romulan border areas. Starfleet was taken by surprise as forces from the rogue Klingon house known as the [[Hunters of D'Ghor|Hunters of D’Ghor]] stormed out of the The Triangle, laying waste to several outlying Federation colonies. The ''Majestic'' and all other ships from Task Force 86 in the region were scrambled to push the Klingons back into neutral space. Heavy fighting ensued, culminating in a pitched battle at the Legera System. A Starfleet victory was secured, in no small part due to [[bfms_char:16756|Admiral Beckett]]’s last minute brokering of Klingon Defence Force intervention against D’Ghor. The ''Majestic'', heavily damaged, was recalled to [[Starbase 86]] for refit and repair.  
Most ships of the ''Constitution'' class retained their 250-person crew into the 2260s, when the next major overhaul returned the core twelve vessels to a 450-person crew. The hull was also encased in a thin layer of metalo-ceramic armor, which gave them their now-classic, stark exterior. While serving still primarily as explorers, this refit also incorporated fewer but heavier phaser banks as a response to simmering tensions on the Klingon border.


== Starbase 86 (2399-Present) ==
===Later Life===
This would prove to be the ''Majestic''’s final journey under the command of Captain Tharc. She and her crew were lauded by Starfleet Command for their actions in combat. Nevertheless, she was exhausted, and initially saw the promotion to Commodore and transfer to command of Starbase 86 as a welcome respite from fourteen years of frantic action along the Romulan border. This assumption would turn out to be very, very wrong.  
Though these vessels proved to be highly successful in service, ''Defiant'', ''Constellation'', ''Intrepid'', and ''Excalibur'' were all either destroyed outright or lost with all hands during the period between 2265 and 2270. While each of these circumstances was extraordinary and no underlying flaw was found in the class itself, Starfleet ordered an extensive overhaul, starting with the refit of the ''Enterprise'', a project which eventually became the ''Constitution II''-class heavy cruiser.


Later in 2399, Starfleet was rocked by the Omega Crisis. Together with Task Force 86 staff officers [[bfms_char:2187|Captain Erill’Yun Mek]] and [[bfms_char:2208|Captain Francesca Shilo]], Tharc was forced to lead a series of tense negotiations ascertaining the Klingon Empire’s knowledge of the Tkon and the power of the [[Omega molecule]]. The detection of one such molecule in the [[Azure Nebula]] further catalysed a perceived standoff between Starfleet and Klingon Defence Force vessels sent to find and neutralise the threat. The situation was later found to be a bluff engineered by Klingon Defence Force General Metraq, partly to show his dissatisfaction with Starfleet’s insistence on preserving the life of a [[MA:Gormagander|gormagander]] that had accidentally swallowed the omega particle. While an expert in dealing with Romulan subterfuge, Tharc was severely tested by the sheer recklessness and volatility of the Klingon representatives on Starbase 86 during this incident. She looked back to her academy days, and at how few solutions were brought about by her argumentative nature. Now a firm believer in the power of dialogue to resolve disputes, she pressed on.
Throughout the 2270s, the majority of the ''Constitution''-class vessels were upgraded into ''Constitution II''-class vessels, with the exception of the USS ''New Jersey'', which was not launched until 2268 and thus was considered too new to upgrade. ''New Jersey'' was decommissioned after 20 years of service in 2288, having stubbornly resisted a refit, and was placed in the Starfleet Museum, where she remains as of 2401: the last remaining example of an original configuration ''Constitution''-class starship.


=== Service Record ===
==Vessels Commissioned==
{| class="wikitable"
*USS ''Constitution'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|+
*USS ''Enterprise'' (Refit as Constitution II, Destroyed)
!Date
*USS ''Constellation'' (Destroyed)
!Position
*USS ''Cayuga'' (Destroyed)
!Posting
*USS ''Defiant'' (Lost)
!Rank
*USS ''Intrepid'' (Destroyed)
|-
*USS ''Excalibur'' (Destroyed)
|2358-2359
*USS ''Exeter'' (Refit as Constitution II, Active as training ship)
|Starship Operations Cadet
*USS ''Lexington'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|Starfleet Academy
*USS ''Potemkin'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|Cadet Fourth Class
*USS ''Republic'' (Refit as Constitution II, Active as training ship)
|-
*USS ''Hood'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|2359-2360
*USS ''Valiant'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|Starship Operations Cadet
*USS ''Yorktown'' (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|Starfleet Academy
*USS ''Sombra'' (S) (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|Cadet Third Class
*USS ''Peregrine'' (S) (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
|-
|2360-2361
|Starship Operations Cadet
|Starfleet Academy
|Cadet Second Class
|-
|2361-2362
|Starship Operations Cadet
|Starfleet Academy
|Cadet First Class
|-
|2362-2364
|Operations Officer
|USS ''Prince of Wales''
|Ensign
|-
|2364-2370
|Operations Officer
|USS ''Prince of Wales''
|Lieutenant Junior Grade
|-
|2370-2376
|Operations Officer
|USS ''Clarion''
|Lieutenant
|-
|2376-2381
|Chief Operations Officer
|USS ''Vanguard''  
|Lieutenant Commander
|-
|2381-2385
|Executive Officer
|USS ''Vanguard''
|Commander
|-
|2385-2399
|Commanding Officer
|[[USS Majestic|USS ''Majestic'']]
|Captain
|-
|2399-Present
|Commanding Officer
|Starbase 86
|Commodore
|}
 
== Commodore Tharc In-Play ==
* Commodore Tharc is a Task Force 86 NPC, so you can use her anywhere in your own writing, whether it be in your game (RPG) or solo fiction stories.
* The information in this bio is a rough guide only. You’re free to change up some details, as long as it’s not really key stuff like her rank, position, gender, species whether or not she is alive (i.e. don't kill her).
* Tharc a level headed negotiator. Positions of command and negotiation have forced her to tame her argumentative Tellarite ways. She may appear gruff at times, but she is still approachable and polite to any character who might happen to run into her out and about around Starbase 86.
* Diminutive, but nonetheless commanding, Tharc does not waste words. She is a busy person, always appreciative of those speaking with her getting to the point as quickly as possible. Having grown up on Tellar Prime, she’s no slouch when it comes to verbal jousting either.
* As the commanding officer of Starbase 86, Tharc can most likely be found in station ops. A hands-on commander, it would not be uncommon for her to answer a starbase hail directly or personally give orders to ships outside the Task Force 86 chain of command (e.g. patrol ships, maintenance vessels, explorers passing through or freighters).
* Tharc has spent a long time dealing with Federation-Romulan affairs, and is very experienced when it comes to their peculiarities and ways of doing business. During this time, she has developed a repertoire of etiquette and mannerisms with which she is able to quickly demonstrate her sincerity to most Romulans. She is working on achieving the same when it comes to Klingons, not without some hiccups along the way.

Revision as of 00:27, 9 February 2024

This article is official Bravo Fleet canon.









File:Constitution.png
Constitution Class
Information
Affiliation

United Federation of Planets

Status

Retired

Role

Heavy Cruiser

Lineage
Succeeding Class Constitution II-class
Service
Operator

Starfleet

Entered Service

2244

Production Ended

2268

Retired
  • 2271 (for refit)
  • 2288 (last original configuration retired)
Endurance
Expected Design Life

100 Years

Expected Refit Cycle

10 Years

Expected Resupply Cycle

5 Years

Crew Capacity
Standard Complement
  • 450 (standard)
  • 200 (5-year missions)
Emergency Capacity

2,000

Dimensions
Decks

22

Propulsion
Propulsion Systems

M/AM Warp Drive

Cruise Speed

Warp 6

Maximum Speed

Warp 8

Emergency Speed

Warp 9

Armaments
Energy Weapons

6x Type-VI Phaser Emitters

Torpedo Launchers
  • 2 forward
  • 1 aft
Torpedo Payload

150 Photon Torpedoes

Shields

Graviton Shielding System

Small Craft
Shuttlebays

1 aft landing bay

Shuttles

4 Class F shuttles

Template:Specification

The Constitution-class heavy cruiser is a legendary starship design often considered to be the exemplar of both Starfleet’s mission and its design ethos. First built in the 2240s, they remained Starfleet’s premiere heavy cruiser until the 2270s, having been refit and overhauled numerous times over those three decades until the changes became so substantial that the class was succeeded by its Enterprise sub-class, known officially as the Constitution II-class.

History

Genesis

By the 2220s, the United Federation of Planets Starfleet had established its mission and its philosophy as being distinct both from the United Earth Starfleet and the stellar services of the Tellarites, Vulcans, and Andorians, but its shipbuilding practices continued to be largely fragmented. Vulcans built science ships, Andorians built warships, Tellarites built trade vessels, and Humans built a little bit of everything. In some ways this was advantageous—national shipyards could excel in what they were good at—but the Federation had yet to truly synergize the strengths of its member worlds into a cohesive technological platform. Named for the idea of the governing documents of a union serving to strengthen its people, Project Constitution was ordered in 2230 as a way of unifying the technological abilities of the Federation’s members into a single vessel that would embody Starfleet’s core missions of exploration, diplomacy, defense, and mercy for missions far beyond explored space.

Starfleet Engineering created the Advanced Starship Design Bureau to design the Constitution, with its headquarters and production facility located in the heart of the Federation at San Francisco Fleet Yards. The design process was slow and methodical, taking nearly fifteen years before the first two vessels left the yards. The brief was not just to create a starship that incorporated aspects of various member worlds’ achievements but to go beyond them to create a vessel that innovated in every area. This would be the largest, most elaborate, and most capable starship yet fielded by Starfleet, taking on a crew of 500 humanoids for voyages of five years with minimal outside support.

Constitution herself, NX-1700, and the yet-unnamed NCC-1701 were laid down at San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2234, the former under the supervision of Admiral Matt Jefferies and the latter under then-Captain Robert April. The construction project was a truly multi-species affair, with each systems team purposefully composed of officers from across Starfleet’s own yards and the shipyards of member races. This initially led to conflict, but the management styles of Jefferies and April allowed every member of each team to find their own way of contributing to the project as a whole—this also served as a blueprint for operational procedures and command techniques for managing large multi-species crews, as this was something that Starfleet still lacked significant experience in.

Thanks to the success of the construction process, the order was increased to six vessels in 2238, and Constellation, Republic, and Intrepid were laid down that same year.

As the design evolved, many areas of the Constitution-class spaceframe were built to be modular and easily reconfigurable to allow the design to be upgradeable, something that proved to be prescient as the class would have many minor upgrades and two major redesigns over its service life. The saucer section in particular was designed to be able to handle anywhere from two-hundred to five-hundred crew, with space for labs, recreational facilities, and sickbays alterable to suit different mission parameters and crew sizes. This was made possible by locating the majority of the ship’s larger equipment—the deflector dish, warp core, cargo holds, hanger, etc.—in the secondary hull, so that the primary hull was reserved for crew support and mission-specific equipment. The initial two vessels were configured to support a crew of 450, with a generalist lab arrangement and volume reserved for diagnostic computers to evaluate them during their shakedowns.

The prototype, Constitution, was launched in 2244 and undertook an extensive six-month shakedown cruise in the core of the Federation while NCC-1701 continued under construction. A year later, the second prototype was unveiled as the first Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise, named after the Earth Starfleet vessel widely considered to be the primary instrument leading to the founding of the Federation. Her launch was followed quickly by Constellation, which was completed more quickly thanks to lessons learned along the way of building the first two.

Early Service

Constitution, Constellation, and Enterprise were sent on their first five-year missions in 2245, with Captain Garth of Izar commanding Constitution, Captain Robert April commanding Enterprise, and Captain Matt Decker commanding Constellation, under the careful watch of Admiral Jefferies. The initial three ships were very successful in their first two years of service, and even as Republic and Intrepid were still nearing completion, Starfleet increased the order to twelve total Constitution-class starships. A number of other classes using the same technological base, such as the Bellerophon, Radiant, and Archer classes were also ordered around this time.

The concept of a Five-Year Mission was prototyped aboard the original Constitution-class vessels as a new way of managing the command and staffing of starships. It was not uncommon for short-range vessels to have a captain for a few months at a time or even for a single mission and regular contact with starbases allowed for frequent crew rotations. As the Constitution was intended to be much more independent, a structure was developed that commissioned each captain to a five-year stint aboard their vessel, with a command crew that was intended to be more or less stable. This required new regulations for managing crew advancement in the field, as well as new strategies for making a starship a comfortable and fulfilling place to spend five years of one’s life.

Mid Career

In 2250, Constitution, Constellation, and Enterprise all completed their first five-year missions to widespread acclaim. While Garth of Izar and Decker remained at their posts, Robert April was promoted to flag rank and, as the newly-minted Director of Deep Space Operations, became the supervisor of the entire Constitution fleet.

A decade into their service, the Constitution class received their first major overhaul in 2255, with widespread systems upgrades and a shrinking of the crew by two hundred to optimize them for longer deep space missions. This allowed for larger and more spacious quarters, as well as less strain on the life support systems. The members of this class were absent from the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57, as Starfleet wanted to keep them in reserve. As the class was a large investment of both resources and crew, Starfleet rush-ordered a leaner variant that would replicate the engine and tactical systems of the Constitution but with a much smaller crew: and a much shorter construction period the Sombra. Few of these vessels were built, given the short duration of the war, and they were all refit as Constitution-class ships with full exploratory systems by 2260.

Following the war, Starfleet prioritized the construction of classes that were derived from the Constitution, including the new Miranda, Hermes, and Saladin-class vessels that were directly built from Constitution-type components. This building program included a handful of Constitution orders which made up losses in the years following, bringing the total Constitution-class fleet up to 12 by 2265.

Most ships of the Constitution class retained their 250-person crew into the 2260s, when the next major overhaul returned the core twelve vessels to a 450-person crew. The hull was also encased in a thin layer of metalo-ceramic armor, which gave them their now-classic, stark exterior. While serving still primarily as explorers, this refit also incorporated fewer but heavier phaser banks as a response to simmering tensions on the Klingon border.

Later Life

Though these vessels proved to be highly successful in service, Defiant, Constellation, Intrepid, and Excalibur were all either destroyed outright or lost with all hands during the period between 2265 and 2270. While each of these circumstances was extraordinary and no underlying flaw was found in the class itself, Starfleet ordered an extensive overhaul, starting with the refit of the Enterprise, a project which eventually became the Constitution II-class heavy cruiser.

Throughout the 2270s, the majority of the Constitution-class vessels were upgraded into Constitution II-class vessels, with the exception of the USS New Jersey, which was not launched until 2268 and thus was considered too new to upgrade. New Jersey was decommissioned after 20 years of service in 2288, having stubbornly resisted a refit, and was placed in the Starfleet Museum, where she remains as of 2401: the last remaining example of an original configuration Constitution-class starship.

Vessels Commissioned

  • USS Constitution (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Enterprise (Refit as Constitution II, Destroyed)
  • USS Constellation (Destroyed)
  • USS Cayuga (Destroyed)
  • USS Defiant (Lost)
  • USS Intrepid (Destroyed)
  • USS Excalibur (Destroyed)
  • USS Exeter (Refit as Constitution II, Active as training ship)
  • USS Lexington (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Potemkin (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Republic (Refit as Constitution II, Active as training ship)
  • USS Hood (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Valiant (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Yorktown (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Sombra (S) (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
  • USS Peregrine (S) (Refit as Constitution II, Retired)
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