Difference between pages "Narendra Class" and "Inquiry Class"

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{{Specification
{{Specification
| image = [[File:Smolboi.png]]
| image = [[Image:Inquiry_class.png]]
| displayName = '''''Narendra'' Class'''
| displayName = '''''Inquiry'' Class'''
| name = Narendra
| name = Inquiry
| affiliation = [[United Federation of Planets]]
| affiliation = [[United Federation of Planets]]
| operator = [[Starfleet]]
| operator = [[Starfleet]]
| status = Active
| status =  
| role = Outpost
| role = Heavy Cruiser
| type =  
| type =  
| precedingClass =  
| precedingClass =  
| succeedingClass =  
| succeedingClass =  
| dateEntered = 2375
| dateEntered = 2390
| productionEnd =  
| productionEnd =  
| retired =  
| retired =  
| expectedDuration =  
| expectedDuration = 80 Years
| expectedRefit =  
| expectedRefit = 10 Years
| timeResupply =  
| timeResupply = 2 Years
| crewComplement = 2000
| crewComplement = 350
| emergencyCap =  
| emergencyCap = 5,000
| civilians = 2000-4000
| civilians =  
| populationCap = 15000
| populationCap =  
| flightCrew =  
| flightCrew =  
| passengers =  
| passengers =  
| length =  
| length = 640.1 meters
| width =  
| width = 320 meters
| diameter = 1,000 meters
| diameter =  
| height =  
| height = 86 meters
| decks =  
| decks = 24
| propulsionSystem = Manuvering Thrusters
| propulsionSystem = M/AM Warp Drive
| cruiseSpeed =  
| cruiseSpeed = Warp 9
| maxSpeed =  
| maxSpeed = Warp 9
| emergencySpeed =  
| emergencySpeed = Warp 9.99 (36 hours)
| energyWeapons = 12 Type-XII Phaser Arrays
| energyWeapons = *11x Type-XII Phaser Arrays
*4x dorsal
| torpLaunchers = *2 forward
*4x mid
*2 aft
*4x ventral
| torpPayload = *200 Photon Torpedoes
24 Type-X Phaser Banks
*200 Quantum Torpedoes
*6x dorsal
| shields = Multi-Layered Shielding System
*12x mid
*6x ventral
| torpLaunchers = 8 Torpedo Launchers
*4x dorsal
*4x ventral
| torpPayload =  
| shields = Graviton Shields
| dockingfacilities =  
| dockingfacilities =  
| shuttleBays =  
| shuttleBays = 2
| shuttles = *Numerous shuttles
| shuttles = 10
*Numerous workerbees
| runabouts = 2
| runabouts = 4
| fighters =  
| fighters =  
| aux =  
| aux =  
| msd =  
| msd =  
}}
}}
The '''''Narendra''-class station''' is a mid-sized Federation space station design that draws design inspiration from the likes of the far larger ''[[Canopus Class|Canopus]]'' and [[Spacedock Class|''Spacedock''-class]] stations. Designed to be assembled at manufacturing facilities within the Federation and then shipped in pieces to their final locations, the ''Narendra'' is essentially a kitset station designed for rapid deployment. If parts are in stock and available, a ''Narendra'' can be brought online in a new location in a matter of months, versus the years or decade it may take for a larger facility.
Designed in response to Starfleet’s defense-oriented turn in the late 2380s, the ''Inquiry''-class heavy cruiser is a fast, well-armed starship deployed in large numbers near the Federation’s borders. As standardization was a focus with the design, they are able to be produced nearly anywhere within the Federation, and so their ubiquity has made them a part of a whole generation of Starfleet officers’ first experiences in the fleet.


The intention was for a class of station to support Federation and Starfleet interests at a minimal cost in border sectors while not appearing as an escalation of assets to Federation neighbours who may take umbrage with a larger, more capable and fortified station. Not without their teething issues upon initial activation, each ''Narendra'' station has contributed to the success of the next station. Upgrades for the first generation are being considered, though this too is likely in the form of kitset compartments being deployed to expedite the work on site.
=== Science and Exploration ===
Taking cues from ancestors like the ''Constitution'' and contemporaries like the ''Luna'', this heavy cruiser design has a full complement of generalist science labs and sensor arrays, giving it the ability to analyze the wide variety of phenomena it will encounter on its missions. Though ''Inquiry''-class was designed primarily for defensive purposes, it still conducts a full range of scientific and exploratory surveys during the course of its normal duties, making initial discoveries that then get followed up on by science vessels.


==Layout==
''Inquiry''-class ships are fully-capable of independent exploration beyond Federation space, though they lack the range of the ''Luna'' or the versatility of the ''Nebula''; Starfleet tends to keep them close to home, though, and anytime they’re found too far from the frontier, it’s a sign that Starfleet is looking for some threat.


[[File:Smolboi construction.png|right|thumb|Narendra-class under construction]]The exterior of a ''Narendra''-class is reminiscent of Starfleet's various spacedock classes - a giant mushroom in space. Compared to the similar ''Canopus'', it could be described as only having half the stem. The dorsal and ventral aspects of the station house large antenna farms, allowing the station to act as a regional communications relay and repeater as required. Dedicated shield generators protect the antenna farms from focused attacks.
=== Diplomacy ===
Like all Starfleet ships of her size, the ''Inquiry'' is capable of a range of diplomatic missions, including multi-party talks and first contact scenarios. As a well-armed and heavily-shielded vessel, the ''Inquiry''-class is ideal for situations where combat may be a result of a failed negotiations. As on the ''Luna'', diplomatic facilities aboard the ''Inquiry'' are capable of supporting a full range of environments for nearly any known species, which makes it well-suited to missions involving races that can’t tolerate an M-class environment.


Designed for forward deployment, the ''Narendra''-class carries a wide variety of defensive screens and weaponry. The surface of the station is dotted with phaser array strips, torpedo launchers and older phaser banks in certain locations to provide focused firepower to dissuade attacks along prescribed vectors. Due to the size of the station, it is not intended or expected to hold off a dedicated attack, but to dissuade raids and rapid strikes as well as buy enough time for reinforcements to arrive.
=== Engineering ===
Taking the majority of its inspiration from the ''Sovereign''-class and sharing design features from the ''Prometheus'', and ''Akira''-classes, the ''Inquiry'' class is an angular cruiser with a roughly triangular primary hull and a truncated, boxy secondary hull, which is meant to both improve warp field dynamics and to minimize the vessel’s target profile. Compared to other heavy cruisers, the ''Inquiry'' class, like the ''Nebula'' class, is much larger and is nearly the size of an explorer; it relies on many of the advances in automation developed for the ''Prometheus'' to reduce the need for a large crew, which further allows it to approach the performance of an explorer with a smaller platform.


The central core of the station houses the primary computer cores as well as truck access for vital services up and down the height of the station. Primary cargo lifts are located here as well to transport materials from the cargo bays to wherever they need to go.
The Class-9 warp drive employed aboard the ''Inquiry'' is finely-tuned for its hull geometry and provides the fastest top speed of any heavy cruiser in the fleet, an extremely impressive Warp 9.99. The power generation systems are all reinforced and have been built with added redundancies to increase its combat survivability. Nearly the entire hull is covered with a substantial layer of ablative armor, even to the point of employing an armored grille over the main deflector dish to protect it from harm.  


This class of station, like many others, is divided into a number of different sections, which take the form of several different bands which house all of the station's facilities of a particular type together.
The impulse engines are located in the saucer section and are oversized for a ship of her size, both to increase sublight speed and to take advantage of larger fusion reactors to power other onboard systems.


===Operations Section===
Auxiliary craft support is provided by a large shuttlebay on the stern capable of handling all manner of shuttles and runabouts, as well as a smaller shuttlebay on the bow of the ship in the saucer, similar to the one found aboard the ''Akira''-class, though there is no conduit within the ship connecting the two bays. While the ''Inquiry'' does not routinely embark fighters, it was designed to be able to handle a squadron of Valkyrie-class fighters which would deploy from the forward shuttlebay for combat and then, in the event of a retreat, could be recovered via the aft shuttlebay under cover of the ship’s weapons.


The topmost levels of the station house the Operations division, typically referred to as Ops. The station's primary command and control functions can be located here as well as offices for the station command staff. Offices and facilities abound for the Starfleet personnel aboard the station to perform their duties. Of note is a large auditorium built into each station, capable of hosting a hundred officers and guests in a single sitting. While a holdover of the original ''Narendra'' design requirements, the auditorium has become standard to the class and can function as a large-scale briefing room to concert hall as required.
Two large cargo bays are accessible via hatches on the underside of the saucer, which could easily carry small craft in a pinch, but which are meant to hold vast amounts of cargo for humanitarian projects.  


===Galleria===
A unique feature of the ''Inquiry'' is a set of mission equipment bays on the aft corners under the saucer section. Round, iris-style hatches cover a large internal bay with power and computer connections allowing for the installation of specialized modules such as sensor pods, weapons pods, or other mission-specific options. In addition, these bays can also be used to deploy experimental munitions, such as long-range torpedoes or drones, as well as small craft such as runabouts, depending on what the mission calls for.


One of the larger sections of the station the galleria functions as the core of station life and commerce, so named because of the twenty massive viewports that offer impressive views of space. Spread over multiple levels, with terraces descending down the levels, and wrapped around the station core, no two gallerias are the same once the stations come online. Vendors and locals alike soon discover that the modular nature of the station is more than amenable to modification across the galleria, by design, and modifications are relatively simple to engage in. Bulkheads in the shopping area can be moved and the terraces shifted with a bit more work.
=== Tactical ===
Combat is where the ''Inquiry''-class truly shines, with eleven Type-XII phaser arrays (six dorsal and five ventral) and four burst-fire torpedo launchers (two forward and two aft). The shield generators are borrowed directly from the ''Sovereign'', and the aforementioned ablative armor covers all critical systems, which gives the ship impressive defensive coverage. In addition, the mission equipment bays give the ship many options for additional offensive and defensive systems.


This tends to result in a quick fashion that each galleria becomes its own architectural marvel. Restaurants, kiosks, salons, parlours and a variety of shops can and will be found across the galleria as local enterprises take root. Most tend to be representative of the galactic neighbourhood they find themselves in, with encouragement to galactic neighbours to take part in order to help build report and economic ties as well as informal diplomatic channels.
Like other ships of this era, there are also additional hardpoints around the ship that can be equipped with additional weapons, such as pulse phaser cannons in the bow and micro torpedo launchers on the superstructure of the hull, as are found on the ''Sovereign'' class. This is meant to allow the ship to be easily refitted into an even more capable tactical platform in the advent of war, thanks to lessons learned from the Dominion conflict.


===Sciences Section===
The ''Inquiry''-class is highly maneuverable and can literally run circles around threat vessels to take full advantage of her many weapons emplacements. Coupled with her shields and armor, which allow her to shrug off most hits, the ''Inquiry'' is an extremely tough ship and a match on her own for nearly anything she would encounter.


Each ''Narendra'' hosts an array of research laboratories, as befitting any generalist Starfleet station. While not as expansive or well equipped as larger stations or dedicated science stations, their modular nature does mean that over time they can be readjusted as local conditions may require on a more regular basis. Each station does host a sizable stellar cartography installation, combined with the station's long-range sensors and telescopes, to help map new regions and collate information from nearby starships. This area of the station does contain its own communication center for coordinating scientific endeavors, backup computer cores, small lecture halls and secure storage facilities.
=== Shipboard Life ===
While this ship has capabilities approaching the ''Sovereign'', automation means that it has less than half the crew complement. This allows the ''Inquiry''-class to have a comfortable standard of accommodations, though certainly not as luxurious of one as explorers, as much of the internal volume is reserved for structural reinforcements, fuel, and munitions.


===Accommodation Section===
A unique shipboard feature is the recreation areas that ring the saucer section. Connected together as a promenade on either side of the ship, these two-story areas provide a sense of space and openness to help address the claustrophobia that can sometimes come from serving aboard a starship, while also providing extra space for triage and refugee accommodations should the need arise. Holographic belts of green space go down the center of the promenade and lounges can be called up as needed for different group sizes. A traditional forward lounge does exist above the forward shuttlebay, though.


Spread across multiple levels is the station's living quarters. Containing hundreds of single-, double-, and family-sized occupancy quarters as well as a handful of diplomatic suites. Recreation centers, game rooms, holosuites, and a small selection of eateries, typically similar to those found on the galleria, can be located in this section of the station. Occupying a large space in the middle, wrapped around the station's support trunk, lies the station's arboretum, a full forty meters in height.  
Unlike other starship classes, there are fewer specialized, physical recreation areas. While there are two gymnasia and a handful of mess halls, all sports courts, theaters, salons, and the arboretum have been replaced by holodecks or holosuites, which further gives the ship flexibility in situations where it might need to house refugees or handle other crises.  


=== Docking Section ===
Medical facilities are state-of-the-art, but compact, as in the ''Sovereign'' class. Two sickbay modules provide support for the crew in the primary and secondary hulls, with large-scale medical events being handled through the multiple holographically-configurable spaces available on the ship.
Located on the lowest levels of the upper hull and comprising the widest part of the station is the docking section. There are twelve docking ports capable of supporting starships of nearly any size.  


===Medical Sections===
As Starfleet moves into the 25th Century, the ''Inquiry'' class has been produced in large numbers and has become for a generation of Starfleet officers their first experience out of the academy on an actual starship. These ships of the line also represent an era in Starfleet Command’s thinking, so crews coming up on these ships have all been trained with the sense that Starfleet’s primary role is to keep threats outside of the Federation’s borders, while still exploring out and seeking the unknown in the process. So, to have served on one of these ships is to learn a very different ethos than on other heavy cruisers, one of duty and service over curiosity.


The medical section of the station contains facilities typically greater than mere starships, but small and ill-equipped compared to larger stations. Six separate infirmaries dominate this section of the station, each equivalent to a large starship, and specializing in its own field of medicine. Counseling offices, wards for a variety of species and isolation facilities accompany cutting edge, at the time of assembly, scientific labs, limited research facilities and cryogenic suspension facilities for cases that can't be resolved on-station. A triage center lies in the heart of the station, with its own dedicated transporter facility and quick access to the primary sickbays. Each sickbay and the triage center all possess their own EMH, though with programming adjusted for their field of work.
== Class History ==
In 2385, everything changed for Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets with the destruction of their most important shipbuilding facility: Utopia Planitia. This not only ended the Starfleet effort to evacuate Romulus but also marked a shift for Starfleet from an outward-looking, exploratory posture to an inward-looking, defensive one. After an evaluation of remaining shipbuilding capacities and fleet needs, Starfleet commissioned the ''Inquiry'' class as a combat-enhanced heavy cruiser design that would shore up the Federation’s borders against the chaos anticipated alongside the imminent destabilization of the Romulan state.


===Cargo Operations and Hanger Deck===
The ''Sovereign'' class was identified as Starfleet’s most successful multi-mission tactical design and the ''Inquiry'' was designed over a shortened period by eliminating unnecessary systems and increasing its level of automation, resulting in what some at the design bureau called a “pocket battleship,” though that terminology has never been used in official parlance. The brief also called for a starship that could be more easily produced at standard starbases than other large-sized ships could be. As such, the ''Inquiry''’s components, while advanced, are also ruggedized, simplified versions of the ones found aboard their more prestigious cousin, meaning that they can be more easily mass produced.


The midline of the station is a cavernous space split into six main bays, or “wedges,” with reinforced support bulkheads dotted with pressure hatches and forcefield backups that enable any of the six wedges to be isolated from the others as needed. The internal configuration of stationary hatches and pass-throughs could allow a small craft to enter one wedge and exit out the opposite side of the station, though this is rarely encouraged in practice given the extensive traffic in and out of the station. The available internal volume of the wedges contains significant space for cargo pallets and shipping containers, short-term and long-term repair bays, propellant stores, warp coil stacks, impulse engine spares, and secured armaments facilities for any armed small craft.  
Unlike other classes, which are largely dependent on a small number of advanced fleet yards to construct them, the ''Inquiry'' could be and was produced at a large number of facilities across the Federation, allowing for proliferation at a scale not seen above the size of a frigate in Starfleet’s prior history. With their modest crew complements, they were just as easy to deploy as they were to build.  


===Engineering Complex===
Mass production, however, meant standardization. While many other starship classes had variants as the years progressed (with some varying month-to-month as new equipment came online) the ''Inquiry'' was kept to a much more regimented standard. While most ''Odyssey''-class ships were quite different from one another due to their long construction times, ''Inquiry''-class ships could be built in a year and were identical to one another within distinct “block” of subclasses, which kept production simple. The ''Inquiry''-class (Block I) itself was first launched in 2390, with the Block II units led by the ''Ride'' coming online in 2395, followed by the Block III units led by the ''Zheng He'' in 2399. Each of these blocks represented incremental, defined improvements over the original, rather than the more fluid differences found in other starship classes.


The Engineering Complex is located below the midpoint of the station and above the fusion generators. Engineering comprises four large levels and is interconnected via turbolifts, jefferies tubes and humble ladders as required. Engineering contains all the essential services for keeping a ''Narendra''-class operational as well as housing backup computer cores and a hardened auxiliary command center commonly used for damage control but capable of full station control if required.
The starship class has proven to be effective in service, with remarkably few design-related flaws discovered during the course of their service due to so much of the design being derived from older, proven classes.


===Fusion Generators===
== In Play ==


Primary power generation aboard the ''Narendra''-class is achieved by three massive fusion generators located at the bottom of the station. Each generator plant contains four linked fusion reactors that collectively distribute plasma throughout the station. Two of the generator plants are enough to meet the station's power demands which allow for regular rotation in and out of service for maintenance purposes and hardware longevity. Each generation facility can be independently jettisoned from the station in an emergency.
* As described by Captain Riker, this is Starfleet’s “toughest, fastest ship,” though factoring in a little bluster we can amend that to being Starfleet’s toughest, fastest ship in this size range. Broadly speaking, it’s similar in capabilities to a Sovereign-class explorer, but without the redundant systems that would make it suited to long-distance independent exploration.
 
* These ships are pretty common, given their large production run, so if your character entered service somewhere between 2390 and the present, it’s very likely that they’ve served aboard one of these ships.
== Engineering ==
* Because there are so many of them, ''Inquiry''-class captains range from relative novices to grizzled veterans.
Because of their modular nature, ''Narendra''-class stations vary widely in terms of their sophistication. The oldest units continue with their original mid-24th century systems, while the newest ones are built to modern specifications. Being modular means that upgrades are relatively easy to accomplish, but given that they are meant to be deployed quickly, they typically do not come stock with the latest and greatest technologies. Rather, they are tried-and-true, well-designed stations that have few peaks and valleys in their capabilities.
 
== Docking and Cargo Facilities ==
While substantially more capable than smaller stations to service starships, ''Narendra''-class stations are not primarily meant to handle starship construction tasks, as this is suited to dedicated shipyards to Spacedock-type facilities. The twelve docking ports they possess allow for large numbers of starships to come and go on a daily basis, however, and they are more than capable of handling light repair tasks or for patching a ship up to give it the spaceworthiness to proceed to a dedicated repair base.
 
== Defensive Capabilities ==
Many of these stations are deployed in contested areas, and so they are intended to defend themselves, but they are not fortresses. Indeed, one of the strategies Starfleet has in mind with this class is that they should avoid attracting undue attention. Weapons systems are mounted in two bands, one under the galleria and another directly above the fusion reactors. Taking a similar approach to other stations, these wide bands of weapons provide comprehensive firepower--as long as threats don't get too close.
 
== Population & Stationboard Life ==
 
== History ==
 
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px">
File:Smolboi.png|With visitors
File:Smallboi galleria.png|Galleria on show
File:Smolboi visitors.png|With some not nice visitors
File:Smolboi construction.png|Narendra's come in small packages. Same day delivery with SCE Prime subscription.
</gallery>
 
 
==''Narendra''-class stations In-Play==
*While not the largest or most capable of stations, like the larger [[Canopus_Class|''Canopus'']] or [[Spacedock_Class|''Spacedock'']] facilities, the ''Narendra'' are a comfortable forward deployment designed to support the Federation's interest while not posing as a serious concern to the Federation's neighbours. More than adequate at defending themselves from local raiders or pirates, a serious threat to a ''Narendra'' would best be answered with a fleet garrison until local tensions deescalate.
*They serve as important border hubs for travel and commerce as well as providing essential services to outbound Starfleet vessels. While capable of providing servicing to Starfleet ships, outside of general maintenance it can best be described as sufficient to return to a more capable facility for proper repairs.
*Smaller than the ''Canopus'' facilities, a ''Narendra'' has a regular staff of a few thousand, with a capacity for the same again in regular civilian attendance. In an emergency, ''Narendra'' life support systems can accommodate 15000 people, but to call the situation cramped would be accurate.


{{clear}}
{{clear}}
[[Category:Federation Space Station Classes]]
[[Category:Federation Starship Classes]]
[[Category:Heavy Cruisers]]

Revision as of 09:57, 4 July 2022

This article is official Bravo Fleet canon.









Inquiry class.png
Inquiry Class
Information
Affiliation

United Federation of Planets

Role

Heavy Cruiser

Service
Operator

Starfleet

Entered Service

2390

Endurance
Expected Design Life

80 Years

Expected Refit Cycle

10 Years

Expected Resupply Cycle

2 Years

Crew Capacity
Standard Complement

350

Emergency Capacity

5,000

Dimensions
Length

640.1 meters

Width

320 meters

Height

86 meters

Decks

24

Propulsion
Propulsion Systems

M/AM Warp Drive

Cruise Speed

Warp 9

Maximum Speed

Warp 9

Emergency Speed

Warp 9.99 (36 hours)

Armaments
Energy Weapons
  • 11x Type-XII Phaser Arrays
Torpedo Launchers
  • 2 forward
  • 2 aft
Torpedo Payload
  • 200 Photon Torpedoes
  • 200 Quantum Torpedoes
Shields

Multi-Layered Shielding System

Small Craft
Shuttlebays

2

Shuttles

10

Runabouts

2

Template:Specification

Designed in response to Starfleet’s defense-oriented turn in the late 2380s, the Inquiry-class heavy cruiser is a fast, well-armed starship deployed in large numbers near the Federation’s borders. As standardization was a focus with the design, they are able to be produced nearly anywhere within the Federation, and so their ubiquity has made them a part of a whole generation of Starfleet officers’ first experiences in the fleet.

Science and Exploration

Taking cues from ancestors like the Constitution and contemporaries like the Luna, this heavy cruiser design has a full complement of generalist science labs and sensor arrays, giving it the ability to analyze the wide variety of phenomena it will encounter on its missions. Though Inquiry-class was designed primarily for defensive purposes, it still conducts a full range of scientific and exploratory surveys during the course of its normal duties, making initial discoveries that then get followed up on by science vessels.

Inquiry-class ships are fully-capable of independent exploration beyond Federation space, though they lack the range of the Luna or the versatility of the Nebula; Starfleet tends to keep them close to home, though, and anytime they’re found too far from the frontier, it’s a sign that Starfleet is looking for some threat.

Diplomacy

Like all Starfleet ships of her size, the Inquiry is capable of a range of diplomatic missions, including multi-party talks and first contact scenarios. As a well-armed and heavily-shielded vessel, the Inquiry-class is ideal for situations where combat may be a result of a failed negotiations. As on the Luna, diplomatic facilities aboard the Inquiry are capable of supporting a full range of environments for nearly any known species, which makes it well-suited to missions involving races that can’t tolerate an M-class environment.

Engineering

Taking the majority of its inspiration from the Sovereign-class and sharing design features from the Prometheus, and Akira-classes, the Inquiry class is an angular cruiser with a roughly triangular primary hull and a truncated, boxy secondary hull, which is meant to both improve warp field dynamics and to minimize the vessel’s target profile. Compared to other heavy cruisers, the Inquiry class, like the Nebula class, is much larger and is nearly the size of an explorer; it relies on many of the advances in automation developed for the Prometheus to reduce the need for a large crew, which further allows it to approach the performance of an explorer with a smaller platform.

The Class-9 warp drive employed aboard the Inquiry is finely-tuned for its hull geometry and provides the fastest top speed of any heavy cruiser in the fleet, an extremely impressive Warp 9.99. The power generation systems are all reinforced and have been built with added redundancies to increase its combat survivability. Nearly the entire hull is covered with a substantial layer of ablative armor, even to the point of employing an armored grille over the main deflector dish to protect it from harm.

The impulse engines are located in the saucer section and are oversized for a ship of her size, both to increase sublight speed and to take advantage of larger fusion reactors to power other onboard systems.

Auxiliary craft support is provided by a large shuttlebay on the stern capable of handling all manner of shuttles and runabouts, as well as a smaller shuttlebay on the bow of the ship in the saucer, similar to the one found aboard the Akira-class, though there is no conduit within the ship connecting the two bays. While the Inquiry does not routinely embark fighters, it was designed to be able to handle a squadron of Valkyrie-class fighters which would deploy from the forward shuttlebay for combat and then, in the event of a retreat, could be recovered via the aft shuttlebay under cover of the ship’s weapons.

Two large cargo bays are accessible via hatches on the underside of the saucer, which could easily carry small craft in a pinch, but which are meant to hold vast amounts of cargo for humanitarian projects.

A unique feature of the Inquiry is a set of mission equipment bays on the aft corners under the saucer section. Round, iris-style hatches cover a large internal bay with power and computer connections allowing for the installation of specialized modules such as sensor pods, weapons pods, or other mission-specific options. In addition, these bays can also be used to deploy experimental munitions, such as long-range torpedoes or drones, as well as small craft such as runabouts, depending on what the mission calls for.

Tactical

Combat is where the Inquiry-class truly shines, with eleven Type-XII phaser arrays (six dorsal and five ventral) and four burst-fire torpedo launchers (two forward and two aft). The shield generators are borrowed directly from the Sovereign, and the aforementioned ablative armor covers all critical systems, which gives the ship impressive defensive coverage. In addition, the mission equipment bays give the ship many options for additional offensive and defensive systems.

Like other ships of this era, there are also additional hardpoints around the ship that can be equipped with additional weapons, such as pulse phaser cannons in the bow and micro torpedo launchers on the superstructure of the hull, as are found on the Sovereign class. This is meant to allow the ship to be easily refitted into an even more capable tactical platform in the advent of war, thanks to lessons learned from the Dominion conflict.

The Inquiry-class is highly maneuverable and can literally run circles around threat vessels to take full advantage of her many weapons emplacements. Coupled with her shields and armor, which allow her to shrug off most hits, the Inquiry is an extremely tough ship and a match on her own for nearly anything she would encounter.

Shipboard Life

While this ship has capabilities approaching the Sovereign, automation means that it has less than half the crew complement. This allows the Inquiry-class to have a comfortable standard of accommodations, though certainly not as luxurious of one as explorers, as much of the internal volume is reserved for structural reinforcements, fuel, and munitions.

A unique shipboard feature is the recreation areas that ring the saucer section. Connected together as a promenade on either side of the ship, these two-story areas provide a sense of space and openness to help address the claustrophobia that can sometimes come from serving aboard a starship, while also providing extra space for triage and refugee accommodations should the need arise. Holographic belts of green space go down the center of the promenade and lounges can be called up as needed for different group sizes. A traditional forward lounge does exist above the forward shuttlebay, though.

Unlike other starship classes, there are fewer specialized, physical recreation areas. While there are two gymnasia and a handful of mess halls, all sports courts, theaters, salons, and the arboretum have been replaced by holodecks or holosuites, which further gives the ship flexibility in situations where it might need to house refugees or handle other crises.

Medical facilities are state-of-the-art, but compact, as in the Sovereign class. Two sickbay modules provide support for the crew in the primary and secondary hulls, with large-scale medical events being handled through the multiple holographically-configurable spaces available on the ship.

As Starfleet moves into the 25th Century, the Inquiry class has been produced in large numbers and has become for a generation of Starfleet officers their first experience out of the academy on an actual starship. These ships of the line also represent an era in Starfleet Command’s thinking, so crews coming up on these ships have all been trained with the sense that Starfleet’s primary role is to keep threats outside of the Federation’s borders, while still exploring out and seeking the unknown in the process. So, to have served on one of these ships is to learn a very different ethos than on other heavy cruisers, one of duty and service over curiosity.

Class History

In 2385, everything changed for Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets with the destruction of their most important shipbuilding facility: Utopia Planitia. This not only ended the Starfleet effort to evacuate Romulus but also marked a shift for Starfleet from an outward-looking, exploratory posture to an inward-looking, defensive one. After an evaluation of remaining shipbuilding capacities and fleet needs, Starfleet commissioned the Inquiry class as a combat-enhanced heavy cruiser design that would shore up the Federation’s borders against the chaos anticipated alongside the imminent destabilization of the Romulan state.

The Sovereign class was identified as Starfleet’s most successful multi-mission tactical design and the Inquiry was designed over a shortened period by eliminating unnecessary systems and increasing its level of automation, resulting in what some at the design bureau called a “pocket battleship,” though that terminology has never been used in official parlance. The brief also called for a starship that could be more easily produced at standard starbases than other large-sized ships could be. As such, the Inquiry’s components, while advanced, are also ruggedized, simplified versions of the ones found aboard their more prestigious cousin, meaning that they can be more easily mass produced.

Unlike other classes, which are largely dependent on a small number of advanced fleet yards to construct them, the Inquiry could be and was produced at a large number of facilities across the Federation, allowing for proliferation at a scale not seen above the size of a frigate in Starfleet’s prior history. With their modest crew complements, they were just as easy to deploy as they were to build.

Mass production, however, meant standardization. While many other starship classes had variants as the years progressed (with some varying month-to-month as new equipment came online) the Inquiry was kept to a much more regimented standard. While most Odyssey-class ships were quite different from one another due to their long construction times, Inquiry-class ships could be built in a year and were identical to one another within distinct “block” of subclasses, which kept production simple. The Inquiry-class (Block I) itself was first launched in 2390, with the Block II units led by the Ride coming online in 2395, followed by the Block III units led by the Zheng He in 2399. Each of these blocks represented incremental, defined improvements over the original, rather than the more fluid differences found in other starship classes.

The starship class has proven to be effective in service, with remarkably few design-related flaws discovered during the course of their service due to so much of the design being derived from older, proven classes.

In Play

  • As described by Captain Riker, this is Starfleet’s “toughest, fastest ship,” though factoring in a little bluster we can amend that to being Starfleet’s toughest, fastest ship in this size range. Broadly speaking, it’s similar in capabilities to a Sovereign-class explorer, but without the redundant systems that would make it suited to long-distance independent exploration.
  • These ships are pretty common, given their large production run, so if your character entered service somewhere between 2390 and the present, it’s very likely that they’ve served aboard one of these ships.
  • Because there are so many of them, Inquiry-class captains range from relative novices to grizzled veterans.