Changes

| ship name = Rhode Island Nova Class Survey Vessel

| image4 = RIMSD.pngjpg| class = Rhode Island Nova Class Survey Vessel

===The Nova-class was designed as a science and scout vessel, intended for short-term planetary research and analysis as a replacement for the aged Oberth-class. Designed to be small and easy to operate and maintain, the initial design was a rejected proposal for the [[Defiant Class History===]] Escort, the tactical systems stripped out and replaced by advanced sensor suites and tried-and-tested internal systems.

Over four yearsDespite not being designed as a tactical vessel, the Rhode Island was slowly Nova-class is remarkably well-armed for a ship of its size with eleven phaser arrays and meticulously upgraded, spending much a pair of her time in forward torpedo tubes. The single Impulse Engine mounted at the core aft end of the Federation as various upgrades were integrated and perfected. Her sensibleprimary hull is powerful for its size, easygiving the Nova-to-maintain warp core was replaced with a miniaturized version class excellent acceleration and agility for getting into and out of trouble, but at the Intrepid’s Class-9 engineexpense of redundancy. The class' true calling, however, is as a scout or survey vessel; designed with improvements made to the warp coils based off most advanced sensors of upgrades tested aboard the USS Sovereign. Quantum torpedo launchers were fitted time in place mind, and equipped with a pair of powerful computer cores, the singlediminutive Nova-fire photon torpedo tubes and class can survey a planet or solar system at a greater speed than its larger cousins. Four landing legs allow the phaser arrays were upgraded to the latest TypeNova-XII standards. The auxiliary deflector was made smaller class to increase the deck space land on Decks 3 and 4 to accommodate additional power trunks to power the enhanced tactical equipment planet it is surveying and enhanced life support systems for the slightly larger crew needed to maintain themact as a research outpost, if required.

While only ever intended Initially the Nova-class was designed with an LF-47 Advanced Linear Warp Drive with undersized warp coils, limiting its cruising velocity to be a one-off prototype sedate Warp 6 and its maximum speed to Warp 8. A larger unit was not available for other new designsinstallation until, after the Rhode Island herself was one of the fastest and most advanced ships in the fleet by 2382Synth Attack on Mars, a comprehensive refit program for all without Starfleet vessels was ordered to make up for the trouble loss of designing a completely shipbuilding capability associated with Utopia Planitia's destruction. The new spaceframe. Maintenance was an issue–the advanced systems taxed her crew–but core and larger warp coils were installed across the longer she was in serviceNova fleet, and increased the more of these issues became less of a problemclass' emergency velocity to 9. Consequently, Starfleet ordered an initial production run of 60 of these ships in 2383, intending to use them in 92 for a number period of roles where a fast12 hours, well-armed though this would drain the ship with a small profile might be useful's deuterium supply and put immense strain on its structural integrity field.

During Designed for short missions of only a few months, the 2380s and 2390s, these ships proved to be equally capable initial run of deep space tactical assignmentsNova-class vessels lacked dedicated crew recreation facilities. As Nova-class starships were pressed into longer-duration missions, scouting missionshowever, and sustained independent explorationinternal configurations were revisited, thanks usually deleting Crew Quarters to their new armaments, enhanced speedacommodate a dedicated Holodeck or Arboterum; the increasingly-cramped living environment was deemed justifiable for both the morale of the crew, and greater endurance compared but also to engage in studies around the Novaemotional and social health of crews on long voyages. The Despite the longer-duration missions, most Nova remained in production as it had acquitted itself equally-well as an efficient surveyor with class ships operate without a proven designCounsellor, leading to a rare situation in which two designs though the new-generation EMH based on the exact spaceframe were EXEO program is more than capable of acting in production at the same timethis capacity.

Senior officers have individual quarters with a combination living area Pathfinder and bedroom along with a private head. The captain and the executive officer have slightly larger quarters on Deck 1, giving them easy access to the bridge, but these are roughly the same as other officers’ quarters due to the size of the ship. Other officers share quarters with private bedroomsReconnaissance Operations, Scientific and enlisted crewmembers have bunk beds in suites housing up to eight people. There are two observation lounges, two mess halls, a gymnasiumSurvey Operations, Crisis and a recreation area, along with two small holodecksEmergency Response.

!Name !! Registry !! Launched !! Status

|[[USS Philadelphia, FSV-66053|USS ''Philadelphia'']] || [[USS Philadelphia, FSV-66053|FSV-66053]] || 2421 || Fitting OutActive