Defiant Class Destroyer
| STARSHIP | |
|---|---|
 Defiant-class
| |
| Class | Defiant-class |
| Allegiance | United Federation of Planets |
| Specifications | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Length: | 120 Meters |
| Beam: | 80 Meters |
| Height: | 19 Meters |
| Mass: | |
| Decks: | 5 |
| Crew Compliment: | Standard: 50 Officers and Crew Emergency: 150 |
| Warp Speed: | Cruise Speed: 7 Sustainable Speed: 9 Emergency Speed: 9.5 (12 hour automatic shutdown) |
| Impulse Engines: | 2 Main Impulse Engines (Class 7) Speed: .93 C |
| Defensive Systems: | Type 1 Main Shield Generator (MSG-1) |
| Other Defensive Systems: | Ablative Armor |
| Armament: | Phasers: 4x Type-I Phaser Cannons, 3x Type-I Phaser Arrays Torpedoes: 3 Burst-Fire Torpedo Launchers (2F/1A) |
| Computer System: | Daystrom Industries HSCS-1A |
| Tractor/Repulsor: | 2 Main Tractor/Repulsor Beams, 6 Docking Tractors, 6 Shuttle Tractors |
| Shuttlecraft: | 1 Bay, 2 Shuttlepods |
| Sensors: | Andorian Industries FSMSA-2 |
The Defiant Class starship, officially classified as an "escort-type" ship, began development in 2366, as a small, highly-powered, heavily-armed warship, intended to defend the Federation against the Borg. The USS Defiant was the first ship for a new Federation battle fleet being prepared to counter the Borg. Star Fleet abandoned the project, however, when the Borg threat became less urgent, and design flaws nearly destroyed the USS Defiant during its initial shakedown cruise.
In 2371, the Defiant prototype was pulled out of storage when the Dominion became a threat. After several upgrades, the original ship was deemed worthy of use, and several more ships of the class were then constructed.
Contents
History
The Defiant Class starship was a heavily-armed, limited-role Star Fleet vessel, developed in response to the Borg threat in 2365, and spurred on by the shocking results of the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367. With the knowledge that existing weaponry and defenses would be inadequate to meet this threats, it was recognized that a new type of starship was needed to meet the tactical requirements of facing these superior enemies. Shortly after the massacre at Wolf 359 in 2367, Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko joined the development team at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards.
Design and Construction History
The USS Defiant was the class' prototype (as is usually the case with class names). It was Star Fleet's first dedicated combat vessel, and therefore did not house provision for families, diplomatic missions, science labs or recreational facilities. The Defiant Class was a heavily-armored, stripped-down starship, referred to as a "battle ship." It incorporated the latest in Star Fleet weaponry and defensive technology, also equipped with a class-7 warp drive. The Defiant was considerably smaller than most other Federation starships.
Star Fleet decided to put the Defiant Class into full production. By the end of 2373, there were a significant number of Defiant Class ships in operation. Over the next two years they played a vital role in the Federation/Dominion War.
Dominion War
The original ship, the USS Defiant, was destroyed by a Breen warship in 2375, during the Second Battle of Chin'toka. Another Defiant Class ship, the USS Sao Paulo, was then assigned to Deep Space 9. Given the USS Defiant's exceptional record under Captain Benjamin Sisko's command, the Chief of Star Fleet Operations gave a special dispensation to change the new ship's name to Defiant. On this ship, the shield generators were completely reconfigured, so that they would not be affected by the Breen's energy-dampening weapon. This new Defiant played a distinguished role in the final battle with the Dominion at Cardassia Prime, and remained stationed at Deep Space 9.
Technical Data
- Propulsion Systems: The warp core spanned three decks. The class-7 warp drive was extremely powerful for a ship of this size, and as such, Defiant Class vessels put out a warp signature equivalent to much larger starships.
- Tactical Systems: A total of four phaser cannon assemblies were located in forward-facing locations on board Defiant Class vessels. The cannons were located above and below the nacelle root attachments on the main body on both port and starboard sides of the ship.
- Phaser Beam Emitters: The standard phaser beam emitters aboard Defiant Class vessels served almost as a secondary supplement to the primary phaser cannon array. In all, the Defiant Class was equipped with at least three emitters: one forward and aft, as well as one behind the bridge on the dorsal surface.
- Deflector Arrays could also be refitted into a makeshift phaser emitter, providing one-shot capability in extreme emergency. The phaser emission was generated by the nose/deflector unit.
- Torpedo Launchers: Defiant Class vessels had a total of six torpedo launchers, four forward and two aft. The four forward launchers were located on the hull just ahead of each of the warp nacelles in dorsal and ventral pairs. The two aft torpedo launchers were tucked in near the back end of the warp nacelles.
- Quantum Torpedoes were also capable of firing standard photon torpedoes as well.
- Deflector Shields: Equipped with deflector shields, later modified to be immune to Breen energy dampening weapon technology.
- Ablative Armor: Could rapidly dissipate the energy impacts from directed energy weapon fire.
- Cloaking Device: A special amendment to the Treaty of Algeron allowed the USS Defiant to be fitted with a Romulan cloaking device.
(The Romulans loaned and allowed the limited supervised use of at least one cloaking device. Operation of the cloaking device was to be limited to the Gamma Quadrant and in return, the Federation would provide the Romulans any and all intelligence collected in the Gamma Quadrant and about the Dominion. The USS Defiant was the only Federation ship to be seen regularly operating a cloaking device.)
Interior Design
Due to the militaristic nature of the Defiant Class starship, the interior design is the most spartan in Star Fleet. The Defiant Class has four decks, and two sub-decks.
- Deck 1: main bridge, captain's ready room, transporter room 1, phaser cannons (2), upper main engineering, plasma exhaust vents, upper sensor array, officer and crew quarters, deuterium storage.
- Deck 2: lower main engineering, main impulse engines, computer core, targeting sensors, mess hall, warp coils, sickbay, medical / science laboratory, transporter room 2, officer and crew quarters, warhead control room.
- Deck 3: main impulse engines, warhead impulse engines, shuttlebays 1-3, antimatter storage, cargo bays 1-4, airlocks (2), aft torpedo magazine, warp coils, shuttle and workbee maintenance.
- Deck 4: landing struts, navigational deflector, phaser cannons (2), forward and aft torpedo magazines, aft torpedo launchers (2), forward torpedo launcher (1), lower sensor array, shuttlebay 1-2 exterior doors and elevator system, main tractor beam emitter.
Main Bridge
Though compact, the Defiant class Bridge still had engineering, tactical, science, and navigational stations. The Bridge was sunken into a much larger Deck 1 than on most Federation starships to provide added protection during combat situations. The center of the bridge featured the captain's chair, with no flanking chairs, and was on a raised platform and had a clear view of all bridge stations, as well as of the main viewscreen. Instead of chairs on either side of the command chair, there were separate control panels, allowing the occupant access to virtually every system aboard the ship.
Stations: The engineering station allowed for a direct link to the impulse and warp engines, as well as monitoring of the other various systems vital to the operation of the ship. This single station was capable of mirroring all the readouts and consoles located in main engineering, allowing the chief engineer or another engineering officer to issue commands from the bridge. Flanking both sides of the viewscreen were two tactical stations, which had primary access to the ship's powerful phaser cannons, torpedo launchers and various other special ordinance packages. The purpose of the Tactical II station was to lighten the load on its sister station, particularly in battle.
Some time in 2372, Star Fleet vessels were fitted with the new holographic viewscreen technology. A hologrid on the bridge could create a holo-simulation of the communique.
Medical Facilities
The main sickbay was located on Deck 2 between the mess hall and science labs. Containing four biobeds, this room served as the primary crew support facility during emergency situations. The room was equipped with limited surgical facilities and was primarily intended to stabilize patients until they could be delivered to a nearby friendly starbase medical facility.
Crew Quarters
Each cabin was equipped with one replicator port and one standard computer terminal. Overall, crew quarters aboard Defiant-class vessels were the most spartan when compared to other ships in the fleet. Crewmembers had to share their quarters with at least one other crewmate during normal times of operation. Only the ship's commanding officer was given his own room on Deck 1, which doubled as an informal ready room.
Mess Hall
Ships of the Defiant-class lacked any sort of recreational facilities, and the only place for informal gathering were the two mess hall areas located on Deck 2.
Like all the equipment and materials aboard the ship, the mess hall was spartan and compact. Seating inside the mess hall was provided by four metallic tables arranged in a semicircle at the wider end of the room.
The mess hall doubled as a makeshift meeting area that could be used to conduct crew briefings and mission profiles. A tall screen panel located on one of the walls could be used as a visual aid to display tactical graphics.
