Guide:2240-2270 - The Final Frontier

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2240-2270 - The Final Frontier

The latter half of the 23rd century resulted in many political changes, but the time between 2240 and 2270 was a relative lull in interstellar politics and warfare. Two potentially disastrous conflicts with the Klingons resulted in a nondestructive if not peaceful outcome in 2246 and 2267. The first effective measures were taken to counteract piracy in the UFP fringe areas. The Federation was firmly established as a balancing factor and a source of prosperity among its member worlds.

But Star Fleet suffered from the results of over-escalation, especially after the Organian Peace Treaty forced upon the UFP and the Klingon Empire by an alien race. Political resistance in the Council increased after the election of Lorne McLaren as the President of the UFP. Some rather ugly counter-reactions also sprung up inside Star Fleet. The Rittenhouse scandal was the first attempt at a military coup within the UFP, and was kept secret with great effort to prevent a public uproar. But this incident paved way for the gathering of other conservative forces, for people who reached for high positions in Star Fleet in preparation of a major restoration of “fighting honor”, of “the proper establishing of Humanity in its rightful place”.

The Organian Treaty was a blessing for the UFP despite its artificial nature. It provided the Federation worlds with enough time to actually study the Klingon culture and to try to understand the motivations of its military leaders (indeed, the whole concepts of “military” and “leader” in the Klingon context). Major reshuffling in Klingon High Council in the late 2260s–early 2270s was still badly misinterpreted by many Star Fleet representatives, who felt a galactic war was inevitable in the immediate future.

Furthermore, the Romulan period of exploring the territory acceded to the Star Empire in the Treaty of Algeron, and assessing the resources inside it, was nearing an end. Soon enough, Romulan efforts would be concentrated on finding ways to break out of the stranglehold of the Neutral Zone. The easy way out, anti-spinwards, only led to a star desert. Rimwards lay the Klingon menace, corewards the Great Barrier. Spinwards there were riches to be taken, debts of honor to be paid – but also a Star Fleet too strong for Romulan forces to challenge, patrolling a fortified and increasingly well monitored stretch of frontier. Only the cloak of invisibility developed in the 2260s would provide the Romulans with the means to circumvent the UFP siege in this strategic direction.

Technologically, the main advances on the Federation side were in the field of warp coil design, resulting in the linear plasma feed coil type and indirectly in the transwarp project. Also, photon torpedo technology was perfected, and small, shuttle-sized interstellar drives put to operation. Unbeknownst to the majority of the UFP, time travel was also made practical for the first time in human history. The technology was kept a closely guarded secret, along with many other dangerous or alien technologies Humanity stumbled into in this century. What was made public of the vast technological advances was sufficient to give the era the grandiose name “The Great Awakening”.

Almost all of the pre-2220 ship types were retired in the 2250s, giving way to a wholly dilithium-powered fleet. Laser armament was replaced by phasers in a fleetwide upgrade program, and warp transporters introduced on the majority of vessels. The development of new destroyer starships was gradually downscaled during this period, and a fleet consisting mainly of frigates, cruisers, and science scouts was formed. Many of the ship classes built in this period still have their representatives in operational reserves, reflecting the advances in shipbuilding technology and ship durability.

2240-2270 - The Ships

Updated to January 2017 version

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