Spacebucket

The_Sprinklez

Posted: January 24th, 2023, 12:15 am

Posts: 359
Joined: October 6th, 2018, 2:13 pm
Location: United States
Contact: Website

Banneker Class Survey Cruiser

The Banneker Class was a class of ten survey cruisers built for Starfleet between 2251 and 2260. Designed as a complement to the Constitution Class heavy cruiser, the Banneker Class specialized in planetary survey at the expense of combat prowess and mission duration. Using lessons learned during the first five years of the Constitution Class’s operation, the Bannekers were among the most modern ships in Starfleet at the time of their completion. In order to speed up and lower the costs of production, Constitution Class components were used wherever possible. The LN-45 Warp Nacelles, primary hull, and aft secondary hull were all derived from their Constitution counterparts. The spaceframe was a more compact design, taking advantage of new construction techniques to connect the secondary hull directly to the primary hull. The deflector dish was relocated to a truss structure protruding from the fore end of the secondary hull to allow adequate clearance from the primary hull.

Five vessels were initially authorized in 2248, with the registry numbers NCC-1625 through NCC-1629 reserved. NCC-1630 through NCC-1634 were also reserved, but not authorized for construction. Three of the first five vessels were constructed at San Francisco Fleet Yards, with the remaining two constructed at Tranquility Base Star Yards. USS Banneker, NCC-1625, entered the fleet in 2251 with her first four sisters following in 2252 and 2253.

While trials were generally successful, issues quickly cropped up when the vessels entered frontline service. The most serious of these issues was interference between the planetary sensor dome on the bottom of the saucer and the deflector dish when the sensor dome was operating at certain frequencies. Though the issue was noticeable while the vessels were cruising, using the planetary sensor dome at high power while in orbit could cause a reduction in the capability of both systems by up to 30%. Hasty work by the Advanced Starship Design Bureau determined that software tweaks could partially solve the issue, resulting in reduction of capability in the 15-20% range, which was deemed satisfactory until the vessels could be brought into the yards for a full refit.

The second batch of vessels, NCC-1630 through NCC-1634, permanently solved this issue by relocating the deflector dish to the bottom of the saucer in the same manner as the Saladin Class destroyers, with the planetary sensor dome moved to the bottom of the secondary hull. The first of the Block 2 starships, USS Forrest (NCC-1630) was laid down in 2257 and entered service in 2259, with the other four vessels entering service between 2259 and 2260. In addition to the deflector dish position, the Block 2 starships also incorporated other minor improvements over their Block 1 counterparts including more powerful impulse drives and structural improvements.

Following the commissioning of NCC-1634, plans were made to finally bring the Block 1 starships into the yard for complex overhauls, solving the deflector dish issue once and for all. The first vessel to be refitted, NCC-1628, entered the yard in the spring of 2264, reentering service in late 2266. Three of the other four vessels would also be refitted between 2265 and 2267, bringing them up to approximately the same standard as the Bonhomme Richard subclass of the Constitution Class. USS Ralston, NCC-1626, would be destroyed in 2267 during the brief Federation-Klingon War, having been ambushed by a Klingon patrol while conducting survey work in the Donatu Sector with the loss of all hands. The Block 2 starships would also be progressively updated during this period, resulting in the two blocks becoming nearly externally identical.

The Block 1 starships were suddenly retired in 2268 and 2269 due to budgetary restrictions, only a year or two after their refits were completed. It was believed that fully rebuilding members of the multirole Constitution Class was a better use of funds and would result in starships that were just as capable of planetary survey as the Bannekers, while easing supply and manning issues that had plagued Starfleet during the 2260s as they rapidly expanded to meet the Klingon and Romulan threats. The majority of the Block 2 starships, despite remaining in service through the mid-2270s, were not refitted to the same standards as the Constitution Class, instead remaining in an only slightly updated configuration for the remainder of their operational lives. The exception to this rule was USS Thoreau (NCC-1631), which was refit in 2270 with the experimental 'Fleetwing' LN-52 SNN Warp Nacelles, theoretically enabling her to reach speeds in excess of Warp 8.25, though trials proved this was not structurally feasible. Thoreau would spend the 2270s as a testbed, her planetary sciences facilities being reconfigured into multimission bays for systems testing of new equipment, being finally decommissioned in 2280.

[ img ]