Finally found my old notes, and brought them up to date and filled them out a bit.
I am using a mix of canon, FASA-Trek, and on-line fan stuff to construct this, but trying real hard to keep it from conflicting with, and within the "feel" and scope of TOS.
Here is the history of the "Federation Light Cruiser" reperesented by my model:
SATRAP Class Light CruisersThe origins of the SATRAP class of Light Cruisers lay in the early formation of Starfleet, following the formation of the Federation. At that time, in the run-down of the Romulan War that had led to the formation of the Federation, large numbers of decommissioned medium and heavy cruisers had helped fuel an exuberant period of colonization beyond the core worlds of the Federation.
To protect these new colonies, small warships were assigned to each specific colony world. This need was first met by the TORSK and POWHATAN class Escort Cruisers left over from the war, but they were found to be inadequate for the task, as they lacked the command and control facilities to effectively team up to deter determined attackers.
To secure and protect this expanding volume of space, a new type of ship was needed, a lighter cruiser that could defend a small group colonies by itself, and which could act as a flagship for a detachment of smaller ships, each assigned to a specific colony world, providing co-ordination and leadership for defense of an area, not just a single system.
The GAGARIN class Light Cruisers (in service from 2184 to 2226) replaced the TORSK class (out of service by 2192), and the PARIS class Light Cruisers (2196 to 2233) replaced the POWHATAN class (2201).
By 2220, the Federation comprised some 35 member systems and hundreds of colonies, all of which needed to be defended. Although Starfleet Command had hoped its powerful Heavy cruisers and Semi-dreadnoughts could pacify large volumes of space and deter aggression by their very presence, border incursions, smuggling, and raids on outlying Federation colonies still occurred with alarming frequency.
Because these powerful ships were extremely expensive to build, operate, and maintain, sufficient numbers were never available to patrol the ever expanding borders of the Federation. In numerous instances, raiders or smugglers successfully lured a sector's single capital ship in one direction while carrying out a cross-border raid in another. Therefore, the strengths of a battleship -- speed, power, and endurance -- were strategic liabilities in ships required to monitor and patrol the vast borders of the Federation.
By 2221, the growing costs of defending these scores of new colonies led to a Starfleet Command Directive calling for the development of large numbers of Light Cruisers, Destroyers, and Scouts at or near preexisting colonies along borders with potentially hostile powers. Such ships could quickly challenge and investigate each incursion and summon reinforcements, in the form of Heavy Cruisers held in reserve areas, when necessary.
More Light Cruisers were needed, and for the first time, Andorian shipyards were tasked with building large numbers of Starfleet ships. ARYABHATTA class Exploratory Cruisers had just been ordered from these yards for Starfleet’s Exploratory Command, and a modified version was ordered by Tactical Command, to replace both the GAGARIN and PARIS classes in front-line service. This was the KESTREL class Light Cruiser, which would eventually serve from 2223 to 2286, due to the Andorians’ outstanding design (and the intervention of the Organians).
Shortly after Starfleet began the CONSTITUTION class project, they decided to use common parts of the design for new lighter ships, and design began on the SALADIN class Destroyers and HERMES class Scouts*, using a slightly reduced main hull and a single warp nacelle. Tactical Command also felt that a new Light Cruiser should also be designed to match the new ships and eventually replace the KESTREL class, and work was begun.
All the previous Light Cruisers, with the exception of the KESTRELs, had featured either an integrated main (command) and secondary (engineering) hull, or ones closely-placed virtually in-line, and this configuration was also chosen for the new class.
Priority was low, however, and the design was not ready for production until 2260… by which time it incorporated the new warp engines and “Variable Transporter” food synthesizer and life support systems that had just been retrofitted into the CONSTITUTION class Heavy Cruisers (doubling the crew size from just over 200 to 430).
The new class, specifically designed for colonial protection, was named after terms associated with old Earth governorship positions… terms which were so disused and archaic that they passed right by the attention of social advocates: SATRAP, BEY, EPARCH, NABOB, and others that were never used.
They first 4 ships had been formally named, and were nearing completion when, in 2267, the Organian Peace Treaty was forced upon both the Federation and the Klingon Empire. This meant that fewer military ships were now needed, as the KESTRELs were proving sufficient for normal policing and command duties.
Construction of the first 4 was completed, but the remaining 20+ ships of the class were first suspended, then cancelled, (at least officially), and the 4 ships completed were then bounced around from command to command, functioning more as “Jacks-of-All-Trades” than in any particular niche.
Rumors abound that some of the incomplete hulls were actually taken over by Starfleet Intelligence, and others were sold off to various influential systems and Mega-corporations, but to date no proof of such “irregular vessels” has been presented to the public information services.
They were replaced in Starfleet’s construction/structure plans by the Reliant/Miranda class Frigates.
Class details:
These ships use two of the standard warp nacelles fitted in Heavy Cruisers, which provides more power than normally needed by ships of this size. As a result, they are faster than most of Starfleet’s larger ships (warp 9 {later 9.5} vs 8 {later 9} for a CONSTITUTION), and more heavily armed than even the Constitution class**.
Three twin phaser banks are mounted, two in the normal port/starboard locations on the underside of the “saucer”, and the third at the aft end of the dorsal equipment fairing atop the engineering section (just aft of the bridge). This provides virtually complete coverage with at least one phaser bank, so that the only significant zone not covered by a SATRAP’s phaser banks is “ahead & above”. This area is covered by a pair of photon torpedo bays at the forward end of the dorsal equipment fairing, and another pair of photon torpedo bays is located at the aft of a small fairing below the engineering section, just below the shuttlecraft bays. Between the forward photon torpedo bays is a large launch bay for long-range probes and “heavy torpedoes”.
This addresses a flaw in many other designs, which have large areas where the phasers and/or photon torpedoes are blanked by the hull, requiring changes in attitude to fire on some targets (the CONSTITUTION class is notorious for this, as no phaser banks are able to fire “above” the ship, and its photon torpedo banks are only able to fire forward and “up”, leaving the entire aft upper quarter as a “dead-fire” zone).
This class omits most of the survey & scientific research facilities normally found on Starfleet’s larger ships in favor of enhanced communication & command facilities.
Below the standard shuttlecraft bay is a smaller bay, normally used to launch shuttlecraft while the upper bay is used for landing and for larger craft. Three armed Combat Shuttles are carried in addition to the normal 6-10 standard shuttles.
* Both from Star Fleet Technical Manual
** Three twin phaser banks, two pairs of photon torpedo bays, and one heavy torpedo bay vs three twin phaser banks and one pair of photon torpedo bays
Specifications
Standard displacement: 140,000 mt
Complement: 230, 35 officers + 175 crew
{~20 civilian specialists, diplomatic/cultural/scientific are also normally aboard - 2019 edit}Weapons: 12 phaser turrets in 3 pairs of twin mounts, 4 torpedo tubes with 104 photon torpedoes,
1 heavy torpedo tube with 24 anti-matter torpedoes and 24 long-range probes
Embarked craft: 10 - 12 transatmospheric shuttlecraft
Velocity: Warp 7.5 [8.2], standard; Warp 9 [9.5], maximum
Units commissioned: 4
Info in this write-up based primarily on
www.starfleet-museum.org/index.htm with changes & new ship class details by me.
