Guide:Sentinel/Armstrong
| |
| Sentinel / Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | scout cruiser / light cruiser |
| Operational | |
| Constructed | 20 total |
| Dimensions | |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 70.0 m |
| Height | 25.1 m |
| Mass |
|
| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 3 |
| Max Speed | w 6.5 |
| Endurance | 3 years |
| Complement | |
| Officers | 18 |
| Enlisted |
|
| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons | Original
Refit 2228
|
| Missile Weapons | Original
|
| Shields |
|
| Laboratories |
|
| Transporters | Original
|
| Auxiliary Craft |
|
| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
|
| Canonicity | |
| Design | ‘Crew: The Bottle’ comic/John Byrne, LUG |
| Name | LUG |
| History | ‘Crew: The Bottle’ comic/John Byrne, LUG
|
The careful and stepwise approach Star Fleet took in refreshing its cruiser force was, in retrospect, the
correct one. Investment in large numbers of, say, Caracal light cruisers during the transition stage
would have held back experimentation on better technologies, especially high speed warp
propulsion systems. Similarly, adopting but one warp engine would have limited the options of
mission class refinement and diversification, needlessly locking cruiser doctrine when experience
on the actual tactical environment was woefully lacking.
Star Fleet’s failure in the 2190s to commit to PB-14 for all its medium vessel needs may not have been the result of recognizing such threats, but it served the organization well. In 2190, an engine was needed for a dedicated scouting vessel, significantly larger in absolute and relative size than the reconnaissance units of the Romulan War. Design specifications included use of twin nacelles, cruise endurance of three years and warp six dash speed. The last condition ruled out PB-14 and gave an opening for PB-17, a down-scaled version of CWD’s monstrous PB-18 ‘Perth’ engines.
Even the PB-17 nacelles were heavyweights compared with the scout and light cruiser engines of the immediate postwar period. The associated 5:1 reactor in turn was half again as massive and bulky as the 10:1 powerplants of the Caracal and Venture cruisers, yet the hull of the scout could still be compacted somewhat by omitting items unnecessary for the scouting mission. A flattened cylinder spaceframe was exactly scaled for the powerplant and fuel reserves for extreme deep space operations, and the GPM impulse engines were cowled outside. The mission hull in turn combined elements from a variety of recent designs: its core was an ovoid built according to Caracal principles, but it was surrounded by a mighty scythe of sensor arrays, giving the bow a rather Triton-like silhouette. Indeed, as reconnaissance, fleet spotting and rapid interdiction were to be the main tasks for the complementary cruiser class, emphasis was placed on sensor capabilities, and armament was pared down. A bay for two shuttlepods in the engineering hull was considered vital gear, but for example a torpedo launcher was not; shields also had to make do with small Type D generators of low performance.
The inaugural USS Sentinel was completed on schedule in early 2194 and at long last launched the 800 range of registries reserved for the scout cruiser mission class. Her designers and purchasers alike had originally considered her a technology demonstrator, and assumed low production numbers. Yet the seeming resurgence of the Romulan threat with the Beta Cersus altercation had altered Star Fleet’s ideas on the composition of its cruiser force, and contracts for a total of fourteen vessels were eventually secured. Unlike the Caracal, which was found technologically lacking yet slated for mass production in a crisis nevertheless, the Sentinel was an immediate engineering success story but was never intended to step out of her operational niche.
In theory, the Sentinel was a formidable fighting vessel, with potent shielding and a powerful battery of lasers and phase beams. Lack of torpedo armament considerably reduced her potential as an independent frontier combatant, though. In an effort to hedge its bets, Star Fleet soon purchased eight examples of a more combat-oriented variant, omitting the sensor scythe and replacing the phase cannon in the dorsal keel with a rather minimal twenty-shot torpedo system. USS Armstrong (NCC- 814) was commissioned in 2197 as a scout cruiser, but had some difficulty finding an operational niche with the reduced sensing capabilities, and was soon re-designated a general light cruiser asset instead.
For the first decade of operations, there were few military challenges to existing doctrines and beliefs. The far-ranging voyages of the Sentinel fleet resulted in some exploratory feats of note, although Star Fleet never could afford to deploy the vessels in missions of actual scientific emphasis; the successes were the result of chance encounters, and were seldom followed up with systematic surveys and assessments. The Armstrongs also exploited their speed in exploration tasks, but in addition put out bush fires, supported colonization efforts, and pestered pirates in sectors closer to the UFP core; USS Tereshkova (NCC-817) was an early deep space loss, at the time considered evidence of a misguided over-extension of light cruiser operations.
The early years of the clash with the Klingon Empire frequently saw the scout cruisers fighting Klingon raiding groups they sensed from afar and engaged thanks to their superior speed. Of these one-on-many battles, none is as remarkable as the last stand of USS Bastion (NCC-811). Fighting against overwhelming numerical odds, she demonstrated rather the inferiority of Klingon preparedness than the superiority of Star Fleet armament, eliminating five opponents before being lost. Yet by 2228, the date of the battle, Star Fleet already had the option of engaging enemies in deep space with proper fighting vessels: high performance warp propulsion with warp four cruise capacity was rapidly becoming standard for the fleet. In light of the improvements, scouting duties could no longer viably be performed by vessels of Sentinel ilk.
The scout and light cruisers could have been upgraded with more modern engines of comparable dimensions, such as the PB-24 or eventually even the PB-35. Instead, Star Fleet opted to keep the sensor platforms operational in their existing guise, patching up holes in the survey operations with the slower design and introducing the Hermes class for the front lines; the light cruisers were duly retired. The scout cruisers continued to score discoveries and contacts in the less contested areas of frontier space, huddling under the protection of an improved laser main battery, but un-installing the outdated plasma cannon defenses and particle beams.
The final Sentinel casualty was USS Fortune (NCC-805), self-destructing in 2243 to defeat raiders later assessed to have been of Ferengi origin or employ. The last members of the class were retired in 2252, with bountiful scouting resources available and a new wave of advanced surveyors about to assume operations. The scout cruiser category went extinct, and the 800 range of registries was given over to perimeter ships. It would not be until the late 2280s that reconnaissance would again be specifically burdened on vessel types mounting multiple cruiser-standard engines.
Gallery
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Sentinel -
Armstrong
Notes
- The number of Armstrongs produced (as in the column) has been increased from 6 to 8, to match the text.
- The Constructed dates have been jumped up four years (for both), to reflect the start of construction.