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2DAsgard class Tactical Cruiser

GregGreg0 Posts: 0Member
edited February 2017 in Finished Work #1
This is a redesign of one of the very first ships I ever did in Trek, back in 2002/2003. I've been very sporadically working on it over the last few years until finally finishing it this week.

Asgard-DORSAL.jpg
This album has all 5 views, along with a few internals, size comparisons and the original Asgard done in MSPaint.

ASGARD CLASS

Type:
  • Tactical Cruiser
Commissioned:
  • 2374, Beta Antares Ship Yards
Unit run:
  • 3 Vessels Total
  • U.S.S. Asgard NCC-78400
  • U.S.S. Migard NCC-79101
  • U.S.S. Vanaheim NCC-79102
Dimensions:
  • Length: 428m
  • Width: 190m
  • Height: 57m
Crew:
  • 250
Deck count:
  • 14
Armament:
  • 2 Type-XII phaser cannon
  • 14 Type-XII phaser arrays
  • 4 Pulse-fire Quantum torpedo tubes + 448 torpedoes
Defenses:
  • Regenerative shield system
  • Ablative Armour plating
  • SIF Reinforcement plating
Warp speeds:
  • Normal cruise: 8
  • Maximum cruise: 9.9
  • Maximum Rated: 9.95 for 20 hours
After the Borg attack in 2367 and the devastating losses taken in the Battle of Wolf 359, Starfleet found itself at a tactical and technological disadvantage to a foe for the first time in over a century. The extended period of peacetime had allowed Starfleet to become complacent on matters of defense, content only to keep pace with the Klingons.

Starfleet Command ordered the immediate development of three new heavy, medium and light starship designs with a focus on tactical operations. The existing Sovereign design program, originally intended as an eventually Galaxy successor, was retasked for the heavy role. This dramatically cut down on the design time a ship of that size would normally take, and along with an accelerated development program allowed the first ships of the class to be launched in 2371 and commissioned a year later.

The light ship design became the Defiant program at Utopia Planitia and proceded at a unusually rapid pace, with construction on the prototype vessel completed by 2368. This quick design process resulted in a number of flaws and ultimately the Defiant program was mothballed.

The medium starship design brief was assigned to the Beta Antares yards, who decided to produce two designs in parallel, hoping that the competition between the two teams would result in a stronger final design. Unlike the heavy and light designs, both teams, designated Asgard and Prometheus, would be starting from scratch with a projected development duration of seven years.

The design brief called for a ship in the 400m range, capable of warp 9.9 maximum cruise speed, capital ship level armament and the ability to operate at extended ranges.

Work progressed without incident over the next 7 years, un-affected by the (temporary) cancellation of the Defiant program. On schedule, both teams submitted a design for construction and the two prototype vessels were launched in early 2374. Both ships shared characteristics such as Type XII phaser arrays, bio-neural gel packs, ablative armour and a regenerative shielding system.

Of the two designs, Asgard was the more traditional. A pair of low slung warp nacelles and wide saucer gave it an air of agility, while two pairs of impulse engines suggested impressive combat acceleration and large power reserves. Firepower was provided with 14 phaser arrays and 4 torpedo tubes, 2 fore/2 aft with a large supply of quantum torpedoes. Uniquely, two 2 phaser cannons were built directly into the hull, flanking the deflector dish. These provided excellent first strike capabilities, allowing the ship a powerful forward salvo for opening combat or sustained heavy phaser fire on stationary targets.

Hull defenses were covered through a mix of ablative armour over the entire ship and SIF reinforcement plating over key areas. Initially developed for the Sovereign, a state of the art regenerative shield array was supplemented by a system allowing the computer to automatically re-route reserve power from the saucer impulse engines. When incoming enemy fire was detected, this power would be used to instantly reinforce the affected shield arc.

However it was the Prometheus that made the biggest impression, with it's innovative multi-vector assault mode, extensive automation and narrow, dagger like design. Going into trials, Prometheus was the initial favourite.

This began to change as the trials progressed. Prometheus, as a result of the considerable internal space taken up by the complex MVA Mode, was cramped and restricted in internal space. She offered facilities not that much more improved over the Defiant. Use of ship-wide holoprojectors and a brighter internal colour scheme did little to hide this. She could also only hold enough supplies and fuel for a 10 month deployment.

In comparison the Asgard's convential design offered extensive internal space, letting it carry normal-sized crew quarters and a complete set of recreational facilities, including a pair of holodecks, on the whole being on par with the Intrepid class. 6 standard cargo bays and 1 massive cargo bay allowed for extensive supplies to be carried, allowing the ship to go for up to 4 years without resupply. It was her shuttlebay that truly showed off her internal volume though, a cavernous space almost six times the size of the Prometheus bay. The maintenance bay beneath the shuttlebay floor alone offered greater capacity than Prometheus.

Prometheus was not beaten yet though. Her armament was a match to the Asgard, with comparable defenses, although murmurs about what would happen if the middle hull were destroyed in combat were slowly eating away at her standing. However, Prometheus still had one surprise left.

When warp trials began, Asgard, after some minor adjustments, reached her maximum cruising speed of warp 9.9 on her third full power run. This matched the Sovereign class in warp capabilities, with just a slightly shorter maximum warp speed duration of 9.95 for 20 hours vs. 36 hours for Sovereign. While this technically made the Asgard the third fastest class in Starfleet, it was quickly overshadowed when the Prometheus began her tests. At the start of her first full power run, she easily hit warp 9.9 and didn't stop there. First she matched the Intrepid class U.S.S. Wanderer shadowing the run by pushing straight to warp 9.975, the Wanderer's maximum cruising speed, then carried on to her own maximum cruise speed of 9.985, a figure the Wanderer could only match for an hour. Prometheus then completed her amazing performance by managing to hit 9.99, although it was estimated she could only hold that for an hour or two at most.

Thanks to her stellar warp speed performance, Prometheus' standing rose considerably in the competition, with the two designs considered about equal.

This all changed four months into the evaluations when the Prometheus, on long range warp trials, was captured by Romulan agents, who attempted to fly the ship into Romulan space. Thankfully, the advanced prototype was narrowly recaptured, but the event caused a great deal of consternation to Starfleet Command. Outside of the obvious security implications over a Starfleet vessel being attacked and captured by a supposed ally, there was the possibility that detailed information about the Prometheus had been obtained by the Romulans during the attempt theft. The thought that the Romulans could have the full design specifications of one of Starfleet's most advanced warship nearly caused the outright cancellation of the Prometheus' development. The surviving team leads of the Prometheus team (a number of which had been killed when the ship was stolen) desperately argued against the cancellation of the project, an argument that seemed hopeless when two more Asgard prototypes were ordered in advance of the expected competition end.

Things changed three months later when the final report on in the Prometheus incident came back. Detailed analysis of the ships automated logs and records showed that no information about the Prometheus had been transmitted to Romulan hands, this presumably was considered unnecessary due to being in control of the actual ship. With all the members of the Romulan infiltration unit captured or killed, this meant the technical security of the Prometheus was intact and development was allowed to continue.

It was still looking good for the Asgard though, the design was still considered to be ahead of the Prometheus, particularly with the extra hulls ordered. However, the Prometheus design team had not been idle in the 3 months between the hijacking and the report. They unveiled a alternate version of the Prometheus that had been designed alongside the MVAM version. The design was a conventional ship with no separation capability. This changed the internal structure of the ship considerably, allowing the ship comparable standards to the Intrepid. While the Asgard still retained greater internal volume, this was only really evident in her shuttle and cargo bays. In addition, the changes to the Prometheus simplified it's warp core and power-transfer design, allowing for a more efficient version to be installed. These changes allowed Prometheus to go without supply for up to a now reasonable 2.5 years.

When the final decision on the competition came through, it was the redesigned Prometheus that was chosen, with her exceptional warp speed listed as the deciding factor. Prometheus herself retained the MVA-mode, due to the prohibitive cost of rebuilding the ship and to allow for future study of the concept. The ship was permanently transferred to the First Fleet, in defense of the Federation's Core Worlds.

As for the Asgard, even though she lost the competition, she had successfully completed her trials, so Starfleet Command saw no reason not to commission her into active service. She was actively engaged during the final months of the Dominion War, being one of the few ships to escape intact from the Second Battle of Chin'toka and part of the Federation fleet at the Battle of Cardassia.

Construction continued on her sisters, but when the war ended, they were less than 50% completed. With the [/I]Prometheus[/I] class going into full production it was decided to experiment with role and design of the two ships.

The Migard had her phasers reduced to Type X arrays and the phaser cannons replaced with powerful sensor arrays. Extensive science facilities were installed throughout the ship, covering all aspects of study. Her shuttlebay was filled with a number of highly specialized craft for use in studying unusual locations and phenomena. Her hull lacked the ablative armour, but kept the overall reinforced structure and the regnerative shield system remained unchanged. When launched, the Migard became the most heavily armed science ship in known space, a fact that heavily influenced her assignments.

One of her most notable accomplishments was in 2380 when she engaged three Gorn cruisers in the process of claiming a working Iconian gateway. Not only was the Gorn attack repulsed, but the ship was able to gain extensive scans of the gateway before a second attack resulted in the gateway's destruction. The Midgard came out of both attacks virtually unscathed, returning to the Federation with the valuable scans of the gateway.

The Vanaheim received the most extensive changes with a conversion into a dedicated diplomatic vessel. All her torpedoes were removed, apart from 8 phaser arrays. If attacked, she was intended to run for help. As part of that, her defenses were improved over the Asgard. With a great deal of available power now that most of her weapons were gone, massive upgrades to the shields were installed, resulting in a dual-layer regenerative shield system that was stronger than that of any other ship in the fleet. Large numbers of VIP quarters were installed, along with expanded recreational facilities and four large conference rooms. The biggest structural change was the removal of the primary impulse engines and cargobay at the ship's stern. A massive shuttlebay was installed in their place, capable of handling runabout sized or larger craft. Externally, the ship's hull was completely white, with blue trim and prominent Federation seals. Once in service, the Vanaheim was used extensively by the diplomatic core and was the prefered vessel for the Federation President to use when traveling around the Federation.
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