Guide:Bering
| |
| Bering | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | cargo drone |
| Operational | 2204-2267 |
| Constructed | 20 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 204.1 m |
| Beam | 54.4 m |
| Height | 115.5 m |
| Mass | 173,900 tons |
| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 3 |
| Max Speed | w 5 |
| Endurance | 10 years |
| Complement | |
| Officers |
|
| Enlisted |
|
| Cargo | 33,000 tons |
| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons | Original
Refit 2255
|
| Shields |
|
| Laboratories |
|
| Auxiliary Craft |
|
| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
|
| Canonicity | |
| Design | TAS (Mark Wilson) |
| Name | Mark Wilson |
| History | Mark Wilson
|
The range and speed of the Horizon exploration and defense cruiser force set requirements for the
entire logistics chain of the modern Starfleet. The operators of the vessels at Defense and
Exploration Commands would have preferred a flock of high speed tenders, repair ships and tankers
to accompany the new cruisers in fleet maneuvers of the sort that had characterized all deep space
action in the past decades. Obvious propulsive engineering problems precluded this, however: there
was no way Logistics Command could afford to equip its entire force with the massive and
expensive PB-18 or even its recent, much more compact and affordable PB-21 derivative. Yet there
was nothing technologically impossible about equipping at least a few key support ships with the
engine and its power systems. And at the very top of the wishlist was a high speed, long range
tanker for frontline replenishment.
The Watt units were in theory a propulsive near-match for the cruisers, yet they were far from ideal platforms in supplying individual starships or outposts. By 2202, the Office of Operations had specified its desired field refueling system: a conical tank some 40 meters long and 20 meters in diameter, with four internal compartments that each could be accessed by a separate fillport. One such load of some 5,500 tons of neutronic hydrogen could keep a starship in action for several months; other fuel types or fluid consumables could also be carried.
The Bering (NCC-G500) high speed tanker designed around this system came to feature six tanks, mounted at the forward and aft ends of three cylindrar hull sections. These sections were each seven decks high, and stacked with the longest one in the middle and the engine nacelle atop. The topmost pod held warp engineering systems, a transporter room, a navigation bridge, a fire control station for the vessel’s defensive armament of two 200 MW lasers (mounted at upper port and lower starboard), and various navigation computer systems. The latter were a key feature of the design, advanced enough to pilot the vessel uncrewed even through relatively demanding flight profiles, such as precision delivery of fuel to a passive starship two star systems over, or automated swapping of tank modules.
Between the upper two sections was a horizontal impulse block, mounting propulsion nozzles to each side aft and navigational sensors forward on stub wings, plus a main deflector/sensor dish on a starboard support pylon. The central section housed workshops and fabricators for in situ repairs; operating and repair crews could board the section through a shuttlecraft hangar and stow their craft in comfort.
The next section juncture again featured a stub wing structure, this time housing port and starboard fuel transfer booms. The lowermost section was dedicated to cargo, which could be loaded via the shuttlebay using a centrally mounted variable-gravity shaft. Were the ships to be operated on crewed mode, up to 48 personnel could also be accommodated in this section. From the beginning, Starfleet also prepared for a mode of operations wherein the deep space drones could act as safe havens for stranded crews of other vessels; the computers had extensive protocols for receiving distress calls, altering course, rendezvousing with survivors and giving them entry access. USS Skagerrak (NCC-G504) put this mode to test when rescuing a Tellarite crew in 2261, but subsequently was claimed by the same calamity that had distressed the Tellarites in the first place – the Delta Triangle otherspace anomaly.
Protocols also existed for evasive maneuvering and defensive use of onboard weapons, but in practice a drone in a combat zone would quickly be outwitted and outgunned by a hostile force. Thus, strict rules of engagement were adopted and readily accepted: in practice, combat shipments were escorted by crewed starships from frigate size up, and the escort crew would closely control the use of drone weapons for convoy defense via dedicated if somewhat rudimentary datalinks. Thanks to the cautionary deployment doctrine, no actual combat losses were suffered. Two convoys did engage the enemy with their newly refitted twin dual phaser IV banks in 2255, in practice contributing little to the barrage fire from the escorting light cruisers but still validating the system and surviving the respective engagements.
Despite showing initial promise, the frontier fuel tank module failed to attain much popularity or longevity. Introduction of dilithium-regulated antimatter power systems threw fuel consumption rate calculations into chaos, and ended up favoring larger shipments than were possible by a Bering. The tank modules remained in use on assorted orbital outposts which featured compatible docking adapters, but their role in starship replenishment diminished quickly. Retirement of the drones began in the mid-2260s, as fully crewed and relatively heavily armed Ishinomaki and Arcadia fleet tanker-transports now met frontline replenishment needs. The de-engined hulks saw further use as sub-impulse fuel barges, constructed by welding together three or four Bering drones and stripping all but the starboard-most one of internal systems; the barges were referred to as the Adriatic class, after the starboard hull of the first bundle completed.
Gallery
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Bow profile -
Dorsal profile -
Port bow aspect -
Port plan -
Fuel pod plan -
A Bering class drone approaches a customer
