Guide:Remora refit
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| Remora / Charger | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | escort |
| Operational | |
| Constructed | 38 total: |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 150.1 m |
| Beam | 109.5 m |
| Height | 41.3 m |
| Mass |
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| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 7.0 |
| Max Speed |
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| Endurance | 1 year |
| Complement | |
| Officers |
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| Enlisted |
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| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons | Remora Flt II:
Charger:
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| Missile Weapons | Charger:
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| Shields |
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| Transporters |
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| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
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| Canonicity | |
| Design | FASA (Timo) |
| Name | FASA, Charger Joshua Spencer |
| History | FASA, Charger Joshua Spencer
|
Background: Hobbyist's Guide
When linear excitation of warp coils was first theorized to have advantages over the classic circumferential method, physicists and engineers alike thought small—and fast. Starships in the 50-70,000 ton hull mass category were the preferred testbeds and likeliest beneficiaries of the technology, with the promise of tenfold increase in maximum speed. Even when experiments with large linear engines in the fifties and sixties ended in disappointment or disaster, faith in the successor to the compact PB-35 remained firm.
The respite of Organian peace made experimentation on small starships especially attractive. Not only were R&D funds released from operating budgets and suitable surplus spaceframes piled up; treaty limitations on new construction of large vessels also steered development towards operational testing aboard light combatants. The leading engine manufacturer in this field was Cochrane Warp Dynamics, with the sleek LN-61 that was to be a scale model of the greatest breakthrough in company history. Repeating the PB-35 development history, the LN-61 would be developed into a cruiser engine and refitted onto as many capital ships as Organian limitations allowed.
First had to come the proof of concept. Escort vessel USS Remora had her PB-35E discarded and replaced by the similarly dimensioned but somewhat lighter linear excitation unit, while major internal changes were made to the engineering systems to accommodate total intermixing within the hull of the ship. Sufficient space existed in the engineering section, and some radiator structures on the escort’s wings even became redundant in the modification. Nevertheless, some ten thousand tons were added to hull mass by the addition of the inboard KR02 intermix machinery, completely new YPS impulse systems, and an experimental new Type H shield generator pair. A bulkier pylon assembly was also required for the warp engine, not so much due to its manageable mass of 75,000 tons nor for the increases in torque and shear forces, but for the now necessary external plasma expander and flushing systems.
There was some disagreement between Cochrane, Yoyodyne and Prentice-Schafer over the rationality of testing all the respective new hardware in a single spaceframe. The former two clearly required the integration experience from the standpoint of propulsive subspace field interaction, but the shield company only needed to tap into the new power system; why was a "live" test bench needed? However, Star Fleet did not want to dedicate a hull solely to the testing of combat shields in the delicate times immediately following the Organian negotiations. In the end, Remora testing did not suffer undue setbacks from the work on the shield generator, and operational experiences could be gathered from early 2268 on already.
The upgraded escort retained her original armament and sensor and communications systems, yet clearly was superior to her previous incarnation and worthy of a “full” NCC registry. There was now power to efficiently operate the weaponry in all tactical situations, as well as added sublight maneuverability and thrust. Operating crew size remained unaltered, while crew morale could not have undergone a greater change. Flying the fastest small starship in the fleet was a prestigious assignment and tall tales of warp 10.5 peak speeds in test runs began to gain in credence with expanded and better publicized test programs.
By 2269, there were nine converted Remoras in operation; by 2270, twenty. Two more would yet leave the slipways, but the first casualties were suffered before completion of the conversion run. USS Grouper (the former NCC-E841, now NCC-3471) exploded without warning in May 2271 when seeing a deuterium transport from Vega to Dinan; no reason was ever discovered. USS Sturgeon (NCC-E853/3472) had to be abandoned after being devastated by the Xindi in August 2272, with light casualties only; USS Pirarucu (NCC-E820/3465) survived to limp to port, but 48 of her crew did not.
On a less tragic note, two Remoras would leave Star Fleet for the private sector in 2274, purchased to escort a twenty-ship settler convoy to Cutting Edge at Epsilon Librae. Building on the two military surplus vessels, the Nightshield mercenary corporation would soon expand to a major commercial success, securing dozens of colonial sorties throughout the late seventies and eighties. Private security enterprises were tolerated well into the 24th century, even if their exploits at times conflicted with general UFP interests.
The Remora Flight II soldiered on till the 2287 détente, at that point replaced by a significantly more qualified holder of the designation "fast frigate", the Ianar class. Although four units were removed from fleet strength in 2279 with the introduction of Daran frigates, no further combat losses were suffered. Then again, the light armament of the type kept it out of the deadliest engagements, now that the triumphant Star Fleet finally could decide where, when, and whether to deploy its anti-piracy forces. Against a determined Klingon anti-shipping campaign, the Remoras would have been useless in any case.
In March 2270, with eighteen unconverted Remoras still remaining in mothballs at Titan, Eckard Collins designers managed to attract the attention of Commodore Joseph R. Holman, head of the Sol VI yards. Holman had to turn down their ambitious plans of rearming the vessels with medium torpedo launchers, but he recognized great potential in the powerplant uprating suggested in these plans. A two-pronged attack plan by Holman involved approaching Fleet command with a white paper on the great potential of linear-engine refitting, as well as cuing ECF to market its refit program mainly as a significant propulsive upgrade.
Combining the new through-flow intermix chamber with LN-61J, the "jauntier" sibling to the now fully operational original was eventually verified to give performance previously undreamed of. After a bit less than two years of conversion work and six months of testing, USS Charger (ex-USS Catfish, NCC-E813, now NCC-3482 to systematically succeed the Remoras) on her maiden voyage in July 2272 achieved warp 12—and sustained it for more than 12 hours. The results were manna for the engine manufacturer and all but secured complete market dominance for the company’s LN-64 series, now undergoing installation on heavy and strike cruisers.
Eckard Collins, in turn, secured contracts for converting fifteen more Remoras into Charger subclass light destroyers, torpedo-armed sisters of the Remora Flight II design. The Mk 14 launchers that would transform the mission class of the vessels were mounted on the bows of the lateral shield generator fairings. A mechanical swiveling system made available broad forward firing angles even at the point blank ranges of convoy combat. Fifteen torpedoes were stored per launcher and medium range targeting was boosted by an all-new sensor cluster. Also new was the Edan navigational deflector. The Type H shields were retained but their secondary bubble mode was lost as the associated coils had to give way to torpedo machinery; a deflector beam added to the aft ventral hull in turn provided extra forward protection for high warp. Upper phasers were changed to RIM-9 Type V units, and impulse propulsion to twin Scarbak FIF engines, whose fuel tanks were reduced in size. More than 6,000 tons of mass could be shaved off by the changes.
The lavishly equipped little ships had less combat value than their initial designation suggested. Their high speed admittedly gave them excellent response times in missions of intercepting border incursions, yet combat resilience was low in comparison with heavier destroyers. Some delightful victories were scored against pirates during the brief resurgence of Orion activity in the mid-2270s, when Star Fleet’s frontier campaigns drove the slave hunters back towards inner UFP space convoys. Mistaken for meek Remora Flight II vessels, Chargers would pounce on unsuspecting raiders with the full ferocity of their namesake, the Centauran antelopoid. For example, USS Agriotês (NCC-3491) managed to render immobile two pirate vessels thrice her size while escorting colonists to the Kessik waystation in 2278; the raiders promptly scuttled the wrecks before their Orion identities could be confirmed.
With the 2287 retiring of the Remora Flight II class, certain maintenance and training resources for the Charger subclass also became scarce. By 2290, the construction of two-engined Babcocks and refits of old Kovaris destroyers had made the Chargers redundant in the role of torpedo-armed contingency escorts. Lifting of the Klingon threat in 2291 was just one more step down a path whose end already was in sight. The last units were deactivated in 2299, with USS Iku-Turso (NCC-3494) listed missing in the direction of 53 Aquarii.
Gallery
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Remora Flight II -
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Charger -
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Other Images
See also
Notes
- Timo had select ships' transporters uprated to Mk 5 "after 2285"; I simplified it and said it happened in 2286.
- It is SFC canon that USS Pirarucu was devastated at the same incident with the Xindi-Feline where the USS Sturgeon is abandoned.
- I've removed Timo's remark regarding CWD and Joseph Holman ("far be it from CWD to name their engine after ‘Joseph’!") from the text, as I just don't get how the reference works and it's just too "cutesy".
References