Guide:Hellespont
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| Hellespont | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | escort |
| Operational | 2260 - 2277 |
| Constructed | 60 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 126.9 m |
| Beam | 66.4 m |
| Height | 39.6 m |
| Mass | 325,400 mt |
| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 6.0 |
| Max Speed | w 8.0 |
| Endurance | 1 year |
| Complement | |
| Officers | 12 |
| Enlisted | 55
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| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons |
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| Missile Weapons | 1x light fwd torpedo tube (w/ 17 torps) (ventral primary hull) |
| Shields |
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| Transporters | 2x GP (2-pad); Mk III |
| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
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| Canonicity | |
| Design | Star Fleet Battles (Neale Davidson, Timo) |
| Name | Last Unicorn Games |
| History | Last Unicorn Games, Timo
|
Background: Hobbyist's Guide
The low-cost Remora class was rather obviously but a partial answer to the commerce protection equation. Many commercial routes would extend beyond the range of the simplistic vessels; many shipments could only be subjected to convoy if allowed to proceed at the modern high cruise speed of warp six. From the beginning, therefore, it was hoped that a multi-engined counterpart to Remora could be fielded simultaneously with the single-engine type.
Initial simulations on a twin-engined Remora hull indicated difficulties with maintaining the required cruise speed; indeed, the PB-35 had never achieved sustainable speeds in excess of warp five. Yet installing a PB-45 would certainly result in unacceptable unit costs. It was because of this that Star Fleet decided to go for the rarely utilized three-nacelle configuration. Some of the computations for the field shapes were ready, thanks to work done on the Federation class. But an escort was no dreadnought, and PB-35 was no PB-47 in terms of flexibility and asymmetry control. Vulcan duonetics specialists had to spend two years calculating a customized field configuration before the Hellespont medium range, high speed escort could be put into production.
From there on, the mathematics became much simpler. The three-engined escort could be built in roughly one-third the Remora numbers; thirty hulls were allocated production slots on the yards currently churning out the lighter escorts, and ninety additional PB-35Es ordered. Crew size would be kept more or less unchanged, although a higher number of engineers now held officer rank. Internal volume for accommodating the personnel also remained stable. While the Hellespont primary hull was just 66 meters across, it featured pronounced dorsal and ventral structures, the latter of which now also housed a single-tube Mk 13 light torpedo launcher. Long range tracking and early warning was markedly boosted by the adoption of a ventral sensor dish, outriggered in the fashion of larger destroyers. For combat at shorter ranges, four twin Type IV phaser emitters were again carried, although now mounted closer to bow for better clearance of the warp engines.
Engineering systems consisted of a structural frame of T cross section, with nacelles at each end, and a vertical setup of three parallel containment tubes. The lower forward parts of the vertical section provided main tankage. Hands-on access and dilithium focus were at saucer level, in a slightly broadened midpart of the vertical section. Plasma expanders, surge and antimatter tanks, and main batteries in turn filled the broad horizontal part of the T hull. Crawling in the access tubes was unenviable work: even in standard cruising mode, there were stability problems with the three-engine setup, and the slightest maneuvering called for constant presence of monitoring personnel.
Indeed, whatever complaints a Remora crew had, the heroes who kept the Hellesponts working could file in triplicate. In the hectic half a decade before Organian peace, some six hundred Hellespont escort sorties were recorded, typically featuring just one escort vessel per convoy. There would seldom be time or facilities for proper maintenance either en route or at turnpoint, and uninterrupted eight-month missions were not unheard of. Nominal endurance was set at twelve months, in practice requiring a second crew that would be berthed on the convoy transports for the first half of the voyage.
Unlike the Remora, the heavier Hellespont did not carry extensible shields, but relied on her torpedo firepower for keeping the enemy at an arm’s length. Dangerous weaknesses in aft shielding, endemic of three-nacelle configurations, combined with near-complete obscuring of stern firing arcs to give the type a lethal vulnerability to attacks from astern. Six of the original thirty vessels and two of the similarly sized successor batch of 2267-68 were lost to relatively lightly armed raiders this way before general recall orders were sent in 2273. The last of these was USS Crimea (originally NCC-E882, later NCC-3402), mauled in a 2271 attack that claimed the lives of her bridge crew.
There remained little sense in subjecting the surviving vessels to the rigors of deep space again. Refitting of Remora units with linear-excitation warp engines was producing a new breed of escorts that would propulsively outperform all commercial transport types in service. The multi-engine configuration thus no longer provided any added value. When the last Hellespont, USS Bretha (ex-NCC-E885, now NCC-3425), powered down for good at New Judaea after her notorious misadventure into Gorn space in 2277, a plethora of modern frigate and heavy corvette designs already illustrated a new strategic reality. Economics no longer dictated the fielding of woefully underpowered and undergunned commerce protectors against overwhelming odds.
It may interest the escort enthusiast that no less than four examples of the Hellespont class survive in spaceworthy condition. Their post-Star Fleet employment by private security enterprises involved many internal changes and some external redecorating, but essentially they still exude the historical spirit of convoy service. This is especially true of the former USS Matterhorn, shepherd of the first post-Khitomer Federation merchant convoy into Klingon space.
Gallery
Notes
- I decided the calculation of a customized field configuration for three nacelles most likely began in 2257, when the Remora class first entered service, because fleet operation leaders would intuitively understand the range and speed limitations of that escort. By completing the math in 2259, it can then be applied to the design of the Hellespont in time for production the next year.
- The description of the Hellespont also suggests it is a derivative of the original Remora class, so should be considered when designing the TOS-style of that vessel (along with the Remora refit).
- Last Unicorn Games' Ship Recognition Manual, Volume 4: Starships of the Original Series Era indicated the Bretha accidentally crossed into Gorn space and was engaged by two vessels, sparking a major diplomatic incident.
- The ex-Matterhorn's role as "shepherd of the first post-Khitomer Federation merchant convoy into Klingon space" is presumed to take place in 2293, shortly after the signing of the accords.
- The (early) registry of the Hellespont class is divided by production runs. The second run's range starts after that of the Lenthal, but before the Griffon.
- In regards to the class' switch to standard registry numbers, it appears that the numerical separation between the hulls in the prefix method does not match that of the standard registry assignment and the losses of eight hulls cannot explain it. For example, there was a separation of three for the Crimea (NCC-E882) and Bretha (NCC-E885), but that jumps to 23 under the standard method (NCC-3402 and -3425, respectively). That suggests the assignments were a bit more chaotic than simple production order, at the time of reassignment, and should be considered to be mingled with those of the Remora class.
References