Guide:Cochrane
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| Cochrane | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | colonizer |
| Operational | 2241-2327 |
| Constructed | 368 total: |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 330.1 m |
| Beam | 182.0 m |
| Height | 96.7 m |
| Mass |
|
| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 5 |
| Max Speed | w 6 |
| Endurance | 6 years |
| Complement | |
| Officers | 5 |
| Enlisted | 31
|
| Passengers | 2,400 |
| Cargo | 240,000 mt |
| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons | 2x Phaser V emitters (dorsal/ventral fwd hull)
|
| Shields |
|
| Laboratories | Standard: none |
| Transporters | Batch 1
Batch 2
|
| Auxiliary Craft |
|
| Canonicity | |
| Design | FASA |
| Name | FASA |
| History | FASA
|
Star Fleet’s transition from the spooled warp coil to solid-state technology in the 2240s was a
godsend to SF Colonial Operations. Struggling to make a meaningful contribution to the ongoing
expansion of Federation settlements, the organization was hampered by the lack of high speed, long
range transports.
The last time Star Fleet had operated vessels large enough to found a viable colony at one stroke had been in the 2180s; the Murmansk class of heavy transports had been barely capable of warp three cruising, and could carry less than 50,000 tons of cargo, but had by-and-large met the needs of the era. The civilian counterpart, the Merchant class, still existed in marginally upgraded form, but could no longer reach the outer colonization zone within reasonable time and expense limits. Updating hinged on the availability of warp engines – and the ambitious, Fleet-wide introduction of the PB-31 meant that a whole generation of preceding designs would now be donating their spool units to the cause.
The first PB-29 engines were made available by the Siva destroyer conversion program in early 2239, and swapped dock boxes at Martian orbit. The recipients were immense monohull transports 330 meters long, built to press the PB-29 to its limits. A wide-chord ventral pylon connected the nacelle to a set of four dilithium-regulated reactors within a two-deck engineering section. Twin navigational deflectors flanked the control facilities at the midpoint of the section. At the forward end, 180 degree panoramic doors protected a wing of ten light and medium auxiliaries. Astern were the twin nozzles of the impulse propulsion system.
All this was support infrastructure: the payload – accommodation for 2,400 colonists and 240,000 tons of equipment – rode atop the ventral section. A stressed-skin duranium hull, very similar to the Chiokis saucers in construction but curved in elegant slipper shape, was manufactured by Shintoi Heavy Industries to exacting, super-lightweight standards. Two gigantic loading bays athwart-ships provided direct access to the vast cargo holds, and featured large platforms as approach aids in place of precision tractor beams. Adjacent to the platforms were radiator surfaces for the life support equipment. The forward parts of the hull contained principal accommodation, the aft parts the equipment and supply holds. Above the aft holds was a tall but narrow third loading bay, also serving as a maintenance hangar for a dozen heavy cargo shuttles. Atop the almost featureless smooth forward hull, a superstructure one deck high housed those parts of the operating crew and systems that were not held within the ventral engineering spaces.
The bridge module riding on the superstructure was of full Class One standard, and served as the nerve center of shuttlecraft and transporter operations in addition to being the navigation nexus of the vessel. The shuttles themselves were to be flown by the colonists, who would also operate virtually all onboard systems pertaining to their own sustenance. This division of labor was Colonization Ops’ concession to the testy attitudes and independent views of colonial hopefuls. The Star Fleet crew strength of just 36 also stood testimony to the reliance the organization placed on dilithium focus technology at this point of time. Far less faith was put on modern stasis technology; it had all but replaced cryosleep aboard small colonizers by the turn of the century, but only because such ships by design lacked the infrastructure to cope with awake passengers across meaningful colonization ranges. Indeed, the massive Star Fleet colonizers were partially a response to the 2225 Osceola disaster where brief stasis synchronization failure had cost the lives of 277 colonists.
The first colonizer of the new Cochrane type was laid down in 2237, received her engine in 2239, and was launched in 2241. Production picked up pace soon thereafter. By 2245, the supply of PB-29 engines from the destroyer and fleet control ship conversion programs and their spares stockpiles had been exhausted, resulting in forty Cochrane class vessels. Manufacturing of PB-29 units continued, however; up to ten Cochranes per year could be constructed and assembled at Mars, and the goal was set at an ambitious hundred vessels. This was well beyond the existing needs of Federation colonizing programs, but Star Fleet expected the vessels to last for at least a century, probably closer to two. In that time, new engine technology would be introduced to the hulls, keeping the ships apace with the hoped-for expansion of the Federation.
The suddenly renewed Klingon onslaught in 2246 rearranged Star Fleet priorities. However, manufacturing of the PB-29 was now virtually disconnected from Defense Command acquisition programs. Production of duranium exceeded consumption many times over. The docks dedicated to Cochrane construction would not produce warships; even after reallocation of facilities to transport construction, including the so-called Liberty ship conversions of warship wreckages into impromptu freighters, Mars could churn out ten Cochranes per year. It helped matters that the Cochrane was a superb troop and vehicle transport, pressed to duty on multiple fronts. However, the colonizer was not properly shielded, and her armament of two single phaser V emitters was far from sufficient for frontline duty. The experiences of the ‘Four Year War’ were enough to discourage Star Fleet from using the Cochranes in real combat.
The Klingon conflict had other consequences for the program. In the fifties, production goal was reset at 200 units, and eight more docks at Ganymede were allocated. Recovery from the conflict freed further resources, including solid state warp engines. A second batch of some 162 vessels was propelled by the PB-31, by far the most numerous ship class to utilize the engine (even if Loknars carried a greater total of engine units).
The last Cochrane slid off Ganymede box dock 25 on January 13th, 2263. Some thirty colonizers had been expended one way or another, ninety sold to commercial concerns, yet two hundred remained in service. The largest single sortie had been the 2255 founding of the Star's End colony, with 42 Cochranes and a hundred smaller cargo vessels shuttling between Izar and the target system. The most tragic loss in turn was that of six fully laden Cochranes en route from Kessik to New Deimos in 2261, fanning two sets of flames: some blamed the disappearance on the mysterious Delta Triangle, some on the enigmatic Gorn. Common now was the distrust on single-stroke colonization efforts, due to the obvious humanitarian risks involved.
Financial risks were not inconsiderable, either. The Star’s End colony project proved a massive failure from the economics standpoint, and its shipping aspect a huge drain on the meager Colonial Ops funds. Maintenance of the military-standard warp engines was beggaring the organization, and by 2270, a third of the Cochrane fleet was idled. By 2275, thirty further Cochranes joined the mothball fleet, and use of the remainder was denied from the 64,000 hopefuls heading for the Occult system to found Belle Terre. However, financing was a complex issue, and the 34,000 people aiming at Ivor were in 2289 quite able to afford a full Cochrane fleet to carry them.
Ultimately, it was not financial issues that killed the Cochrane program, but issues of self-determination and federal authority. The dangers that befell the Belle Terre expedition prompted the Federation to assign Star Fleet escort to any deep space colonization party larger than 500 people. Counter-reaction was swift, with some 90% of expeditions in the 2280s opting for small vessels and batches of less than half a thousand colonists. The subsequent drop in demand was catastrophic to Colonial Ops, whose operating budget hinged on expeditionary income. The Cochrane fleet was pared down to fifty vessels, all from the PB-31–engined second batch; no linear engine refitting was forthcoming. Lighter colonizers of Osprey or Davenport types soon were dominant in Colonial Operations’ arsenal, just as in the commercial field.
The last major Cochrane operation, resupply of Jouret in 2327, was followed by deactivation of the last vessels of the type. Sixteen conversions to Coronet repair ships / tenders continued service till 2341, sporting PB-47 engines and a shield upgrade but omitting all armament. Commercial concerns have purchased a lion’s share of the mothballed transports, putting them to mercantile use. Several are still operated in the heavy goods delivery role, although some dozen have reportedly been converted to fighter-carriers for use in assorted neutral or semi-friendly navies.
Gallery
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Cochrane class -
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2-view
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Notes
- I'm making the decision that the nacelles depicted here (at this moment) represent the PB-31, used on the later batch of Cochranes. The -29 gets to be one Adrasil and I design.
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