The Warp Nacelles of the Bonaventure Test Program

The immediate jumpstart of the dilithium-focused annihilation core testing came about for three reasons: 1) dilithium was proven to be a naturally occurring element and the Federation had a source, 2) a new type of computer (duotronic) capable of the precise calculations to ensure safe & consistent dilithium focusing was on the near-horizon, and 3) Star Fleet was keenly aware of its inability to ward off a massive invasion. As to the third reason, the key to solving this was the ability to project firepower far beyond the core worlds and the sooner a viable cruiser could slip the ways in meaningful numbers, the better.

That was the main reason for the Bonaventure’s design. Never intended to become a production class itself, the intent of the test was to resolve not the ability to annihilate dilithium focusing for all of Star Fleet, as the faith in duotronics was solid. It was to skip straight to the expensive spaceframes of a dilithium-powered fleet and get the cruisers going. By focusing on the interactions of warp fields and hull geometries needed by a long-ranging cruiser design, the sooner those cruisers would be out there proclaiming the Federation’s endurance. The smaller ships-of-the-line and auxiliaries would follow, of that there was no concern.

So, the intent was to get the data necessary to develop a potent design for as heavy a cruiser as possible and do it right the first time. The testbed ship—again, not intended for production—would therefore be unconventional in its dimensions, as it would be testing the influences of the hulls, the pylons, and the nacelle shapes themselves on the potential warp fields the available nacelles would provide. The best candidate nacelle for the test program would be the adaptable PB-14, most often utilized by the Venture and Caracal light cruisers. A number of advances had been made in both warp coil production methods and their layouts within a nacelle; as the PB-14s were largely made available with the older classes retiring, this gave the machining labs plenty of candidates with which to work.

The nacelle that was used to establish the ultimate pylon configuration to best test the concept of multi-lobed warp bubbles around a general heavy cruiser design was designated as PB-14-099, a minimally modified mainline PB-14. Sensors were added directly to the nacelle to determine both baseline field results and deviations from the differing pylon lengths and placements. At least 8 such nacelles were altered to the same specifications, different only in the weld locations for the external connections to the pylons.

The PB-14-100 never actually entered the workshop’s doors, remaining conjectural. Based on the initial flight tests of the Bonaventure in her baseline configuration, it was realized that the interspersed nature of the -100’s coils would be slower to achieve the multiple warp field lobes and was dropped.

The PB-14-101 was seen as promising, with two examples completed and ready for mounting. The warp fields in the labs were strong and, most importantly, stable. Every step of the way of design and production development indicated this warp nacelle would move the test ship steadily through each of the warp factors with nary a shudder, providing a moderately safe, moderately performing warp experience. But they would never be mounted.

The ultimate nacelle to be tested, the PB-14-102 was seen as a high-risk nacelle, but it provided something the -101 could not: an in-flight capacity to adapt the emulations of the possible heavy cruiser design permutations, as well as the heavier field loads and stress patterns such a ship might be expected to encounter. This came about because of the addition of an oversized off-axis field controller. Because of the importance of developing a production heavy cruiser sooner than later, it was decided to recognize the pylon angles and lengths had been fully explored and instead focus on nailing down these multiple mission factors. This is the nacelle pair with which the ill-fated Bonaventure is most associated.

Author: RevancheRM
Original Source: DeviantArt - "Bonaventure dilithium testship (Config #4) (2230)"

Last Updated on 2403.16 by admin