Olympic Class Hospital Ship

STARSHIP
Olympic Class Hospital Ship
Class	Olympic Class
Allegiance	United Federation of Planets
Specifications
Type:	Hospital Ship (HOS)
Length:	200 Meters
Beam:	93 Meters
Height:	96 Meters
Mass:	300,000 Metric Tons
Decks:	23
Crew Compliment:	Standard: 30 Officers, 130 Enlisted, plus up to 250 additional Medical Personnel. Emergency: 2,000
Warp Speed:	Type: 2 Main Warp Engines (Type 6D) Cruise Speed: 6 Sustainable Speed: 8 Emergency Speed: 9.6 (12 hour automatic shutdown)
Impulse Engines:	Type: 2 Main Impulse Engines (MIE), 1 Secondary Impulse Engines (SIE) Speed: .93 C
Defensive Systems:	Type 1 Main Shield Generator (MSG-2)
Other Defensive Systems:
Armament:	Phasers: 2 Dorsal Type-3 Phaser Turrets (Primary and Secondary Hull) 2 Ventral Type-3 Phaser Turrets (Primary and Secondary Hull)
Computer System:	Daystrom Industries HSCS-2
Tractor/Repulsor:	2 Main Tractor/Repulsor Beams, 6 Docking Tractors, 2 Shuttle Tractors
Shuttlecraft:	1 Bay (A), 8x Type 1 MEDEVAC Runabouts.
Sensors:	Andorian Industries FSMSA-2

Most prominently known for its hospital ship sub-type, the Olympic-class cruiser is a large Starfleet and Federation civilian vessel that specializes in moving large numbers of people from place to place quickly and safely, especially within Federation space. The most common configurations manufactured are passenger transports, hospital ships, and research vessels. They can be seen throughout the Federation healing the sick, transporting civilians, and furthering the pursuit of knowledge.

Class History

Towards the middle of the 24th century, an increasing number of older vessels were being repurposed from frontline roles to auxiliary roles, including a large number of Miranda-class ships. These vessels were frequently turned into transports, science vessels, or medical vessels. Starfleet Medical had been lobbying for decades for dedicated hospital vessels, but it had never been a priority for the fleet, given that all Starfleet vessels were generally competent in most humanitarian duties and starships like the Ambassador or Excelsior-class were generally able to get patients to starbases when needed. This was becoming increasingly inefficient as the size of the Federation grew. On top of this, these converted vessels often simply weren’t very good in their new roles, especially when it came to transporting passengers long distances.

In 2355, Starfleet tasked the ADSB with designing a large vessel that would have a total capacity of at least 1,800, but which would omit the tactical systems found on larger explorers along with most of their science facilities, in favor of a design that could be configured as a personnel transport or as a hospital vessel. The design process for this vessel took approximately five years, as it was never a high priority, but what emerged was a solid, dependable design that took the best of what had worked in earlier classes and a few innovations from contemporary designs like the Galaxy and Nebula-classes, but mostly avoided innovation in favor of reliability.

With a type-six warp drive, she would have impressive speed given her lack of bulk compared to the Ambassador, but boasted facilities for 2,000 passengers or 1,000 patients, depending on the configuration, while only requiring a crew of 150 to operate in normal situations.

Starfleet initially ordered 24 hospital ships and 8 transports, with other Federation agencies ordering a further 30 transports, mostly for colony transport duties. During construction, Starfleet Science began to take an interest within the vessel and proposed a research cruiser that could be deployed within Federation space, without needing to be significantly reworked from the transport variant. This interest was shared with the Daystrom Institute and the Vulcan Science Academy as well, leading to a third variant, which Starfleet ordered 8 of for itself and a further 8 to be allocated between various research agencies.

The first units of the Olympic class began to leave the yards in 2364, with full commissioning by 2365. These ships became a rare but welcome sight in the Federation, serving with special valor in war zones during the Dominion War in the mid-2370s, continuing in conflict and crisis zones well into the 2390s and beyond.

Shipboard Life

Olympic-class ships are quite comfortable to serve on. Demands on the command, engineering, and support crews tend to be low, as the ships are largely automated. Ships configured for medical or science duties have large crews of doctors and scientists who operate in a very collegial environment, typically with a captain drawn from the appropriate branch of service. There are a dozen holodecks and two dozen holosuites, which can also be used as medical facilities should the need arise, along with multiple lounges, an arboretum, gymnasia, and a library. The corridors are wide and bright, both to accommodate gurneys and to help the crew deal with extended periods in space.

A standard sickbay module is located near the center of the primary hull in all three variants, equipped with an EMH and substantial supplies. All Olympic-class ships have been upgraded to use full-ship holographic projectors, which can also be used to turn the cargo bays into medical facilities.