Guide:Of Ship Statistics

Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics

Most of the ship entries in this book are accompanied by a statistics chart. Such a chart lists various properties of each starship class, but by necessity, the results are somewhat averaged over the often widely varying properties of subclasses or upgrade standards or even individual ship configurations. When a subclass or variation of the basic design differs sufficiently from the main class, it is either given its own entry, or its properties given in parentheses within the main class entry.

Let’s examine a typical statistics chart, in this case that of Constellation class cruisers.

Example

1) Constellation -class name

2) Cruiser -ship type/mission class

3) 2284-2372 -service years

4) Completed: 34 total: -number of ships
8 Constellation -completed to date
12 Gangut
8 Tehran
3 Harrison

5) Length: 315.0 m -dimensions in meters

6) Beam: 168.0 m

7) Height: 85.0 m

8) Mass: 1,320,000 tons (Constellation, typical) -mass in metric tons
1,380,000 tons (Gangut, Tehran, typical)
1,352,500 tons (Harrison)

9) Cruise speed: w 7 (original) -basic performance figures
W 6 (adopted after 2316)

10) Max.speed: w 15.0
W 9.0 (adopted after 2316)

11) Endurance: 8.5 years

12) Officers: 46 (original; later numbers vary considerably) -complement

13) Crew: 389 (original; later numbers vary considerably)

14) Weapons: 6 phaser VIII emitters in 3 twin banks on dorsal hull
6 phaser VIII emitters in 3 twin banks on ventral hull
2 phaser VI emitters on dorsal and ventral pylons (NCC-1974, 2081, 2084)
2 phaser VI emitters on aft hull (NCC-1974, 2081, 2084)
5 phaser VI emitters on dorsal hull (other vessels)
2 fwd medium torpedo tubes w/80 photorps or probes on lower pylon junction
2 fwd medium torpedo tubes w/60 photorps or probes on upper pylon junction
1 aft medium torpedo tube w/30 photorps (not in NCC-1974, Harrison)

15) Shields: 2-layer conformal (later 1-layer globular) forcefield
Navigational deflector on fwd hull
Auxiliary navigational deflectors on ventral hull

16) Laboratories: 12, in varying configurations (Constellation, Gangut, Tehran)
2 GP, 4 astrography, 1 astrophysics (Harrison)

17) Transporters: 4 GP (6-pad), 2 emergency evacuation (22-pad), 4 cargo; Mk V
All ships brought to Mk VI standard after 2314

18) Auxiliaries: Up to 12 shuttles and 8 shuttlepods, plus work pods; special mission craft
sometimes carried (Constellation, Gangut, Tehran)
Up to 6 shuttles and 8 shuttlepods, plus work pods (Harrison)

19) Ships of historical interest:
USS Gettysburg (NCC-3890), USS Stargazer (NCC-2893), USS Victory (NCC-9754)

20) CANONICITY: D TNG
N TNG
H TNG, ST6 (Sternbach)

Explanations

Explanation on various entries in the chart:

1) Class name is normally the name of the first ship to be commissioned for the class. Sometimes preproduction vessels differ sufficiently from the production models to justify naming the class after the first production vessel instead of the first ship commissioned under the common class name. For example, USS Constitution was commissioned several years after the precursor vessels USS Constellation and USS Republic, but the latter names were not adopted since they represented experimental conversions that differed considerably from the Constitution production standard.

2) The designation system for ship types largely stays constant throughout the years covered in the book. However, new designations are at times created to accurately describe new mission profiles, while others die away, and some designations get a new meaning with passage of time. For a complete list of ship types (also known as "mission classes", not to be confused with ship classes), see Glossary. Also note that foreign designations for Star Fleet vessels may differ considerably from the official ones, even when there is good general semantic compatibility—Klingons classify many Star Fleet scouts as destroyers, heavy cruisers as battle cruisers, and explorers as battleships, for example. It is also usual for civilians to use the prefix "star" for full starship types (e.g., "star cruiser", "star explorer", "star destroyer"). This is not standard practice in Star Fleet, however.

3) For years of service, two years are given: the year of commissioning of the first production-standard ship (the "class ship") for service in the UE Starfleet or UFP Star Fleet, and the year of decommissioning of the last ship of the class. In case of especially distinct variants, two or more sets of variant-specific service years are sometimes given. A continuous string of upgrades is not divided in this manner, however.

The author understands that the history of a ship class is more complicated than this; however, for simplicity’s sake, further details and important dates are only given in the main body of the entry in question.

4) The figures on completed ships are divided into subclasses or construction batches if necessary. For brevity, all ships in a given class are not listed in detail—see entry 15 for further information. A plus (+) sign after the figure means there was an undisclosed number of confirmed orders for more ships at the time of the writing.

It should be noted that (apart from some early designs in the first chapters of each part of this work) only ships built for UE Starfleet or UFP Star Fleet are counted here, even when the design also sees widespread civilian use. The distinction is especially important in case of transport or auxiliary cruiser designs, for which Star Fleet use typically represents just a small fraction of total numbers built.

5-7) Ship dimensions are given for the main class. If subclass or variant dimensions differ from this, they are given separately and the variant noted in parentheses. The term "height" is used instead of the traditional naval "draft", since the latter would be as anachronistic and illogical as the term "displacement" would be in mass measurements.

8) Mass is given for a ship fully equipped for her primary mission, fueled and crewed, with IMRFs at idling level. No cargo is assumed carried; if necessary, cargo capacity is separately given. This work does not follow the previously common convention of excluding the mass of the warp coils from the ship mass, and may thus appear confusing in relation to 23rd century and earlier reference works.

It should be noted that the figures are always approximate, since in practice no two starships sail out with the exact same configuration or gross weight. Furthermore, the mass of modern starships varies considerably throughout a mission, thanks to mass-reducing subspace fields. It has been suggested that future starships be of zero idled mass for more efficient sublight propulsion and take-off/landing operations. For now, partial mass reduction and localized antigravity application are more efficient than total mass masking.

9) Performance figures are a complicated issue. Usually, "cruise speed" means the speed that can be sustained for days, weeks, or months, and is operationally used for interstellar cruising. However, for several small ship types, the term is meaningless, since they do not "cruise" at warp speed, but use their maximum speed whenever engaging their warp engines. Also, some deep space exploration vessels tend to cruise at speeds far higher than the given optimal-efficiency "cruise speed" figures due to the immense distances they have to span.

10) "Maximum speed" is even more complicated. It is theoretically possible to squeeze very high warp speeds out of even moderate-performance coils if enough energy is pumped into them. "Maximum speed" usually gives the speed beyond which the coils or other parts of the engine system begin to suffer irreversible damage from the high energy levels—the first threshold is normally the durability of delicate power system components like dilithium, followed by the durability of the coils themselves, then by ship integrity and finally by theoretical warp engine performance limits.

The term "Maximum sustainable speed" should only be used in conjunction with an estimate of how long such speeds can be sustained—usually, this refers to 12 hours, but sometimes to time intervals as short as two minutes. Modern warp engine designs can theoretically approach Eugene’s limit of warp 10 indefinitely, if enough power is supplied and warp coils or dilithium crystals do not disintegrate too soon. The current official record for Federation starships is the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) flight recorder reading w 9.9999923 registered on SD 41263.2 during engine tests, just before the ship reverted to non-warp propulsion methods. Recorder data is incomplete, though, and other equally anomalous readings suggest the ship actually never exceeded warp 1.5 in the tests.

Note the change from the old "convenience scale" of [speed=warp factor cubed times c] to the newer "law of nature" with nine natural power minima and the warp 10 conceptual limit, effected after 2304. New research, partially augmented by reports from time travelers, indicates that there may exist further power minima at very high input power levels, but the complex structure of the power curve at these extreme levels is not yet fully understood. Perhaps another change of warp scale is due in the future? In this work, figures are in format wX, where X is the speed in warp factors of the old scale, or in format WY, where Y is the speed in warp factors of the new scale.

Note also that the maximum speed given for solely impulse-powered ships is the total delta-v of their fully-fueled propulsion systems; in practice, such a ship can at most achieve half the given speed, allocating the other half of her delta-v for deceleration. However, proper use of gravitic technology in connection with gravity-well maneuvering may affect the figures considerably, and the given delta-v should be taken as a lower approximation for maximum performance only.

11) Endurance figures assume no fuel replenishment with tankers or in starbases, unless otherwise specified. With various impromptu refuelings often supplementing ramscoop replenishment, deep space exploration vessels may enjoy more than triple the endurance given—in turn, local defense ship types do not profit significantly from ramscoop replenishment, but they seldom operate without tanker support. Few missions of any kind last more than five years without major replenishment in starbase facilities. The use of cryogenics or other stasis techniques may also radically alter endurance. To convert endurance times to maximum endurance distances, one may use the rule-of-thumb that 23rd century and newer craft can travel an average of 1,000 ly per year, while 21st and 22nd century ships travel 500 ly/y on the average.

12-13) Crew complement is primarily given for the main class, and is usually the median or average of all the complements used during actual operations of the main class. More detailed information is given in parentheses. Still, the figures should be taken as very rough averages. Note the trend of decreasing crew size per ship volume as computer systems are upgraded and accommodation standards increased; especially interesting are exceptions to the trend. Complement is divided into "Officers", from Ensign grade up, and "Crew", including NCO and other enlisted rates. However, a large complement of cadets, civilian specialists, and researchers or family members is often carried along, and generally added to "Crew", in parentheses. Also, as life support systems are generally built with 1,000% redundancy, e.g., a ship of 450 crew can theoretically accommodate at least 4500 people until consumables exhaustion, internal volume allowing.

14) Weapon systems are listed according to standard Star Fleet categories. Individual weapon systems are not identified by brand name or manufacturer; lasers and particle cannon are given general power figures, while phasers are given Roman numbers in the following scheme:

Type	Description
I	handheld unit for concealed carriage and self-defense
II	high-powered handheld unit for general use
III	rifle-like unit for heavy ground duty; also available in vehicle/craft mounts
IV	artillery-like unit for heavy ground duty; also available in vehicle/craft mounts
V	artillery-like unit for heavy ground duty; also available in craft, ship mounts
VI	light shipboard unit, aka "corvette phaser" (earlier "frigate phaser")
VII	medium shipboard unit, aka "frigate phaser" (earlier "cruiser phaser")
VIII	medium shipboard unit, aka "cruiser phaser" (earlier "dreadnought phaser")
IX	heavy shipboard unit, also available in ground-defense mounts
X	heavy shipboard unit, also available in ground-defense mounts
XI	heavy ground-defense or station-based unit

If followed by letter P, the unit is optimized for pulse-firing mode that allows for higher momentary power output without overheating.

Projectile weapons are divided into rockets (sublight unguided weapons with specified warhead type), missiles (sublight guided weapons with specified warhead type) and (photon) torpedoes (warp guided weapons with antimatter warhead, unless otherwise specified). The systems for classifying these weapons are not directly based on performance, and are normally omitted here for simplicity. In case of photon torpedoes, the division to microlaunchers for small craft and light, medium, and heavy launchers for starships is often made, although the latter three are in practice largely compatible with a common selection of ordnance.

15) Shield types are divided into EM shields (field strength given in Tesla equivalents) and graviton-based forcefields (type and configuration given). Forcefield systems are not given field strength, since such figures would be meaningless—shields adapt to incoming energy according to energy type within the limitations of the ship’s power or energy supply, whichever limits the output first, and their power functions have a highly complex time dependence.

16) A starship’s scientific capabilities are even more difficult to sum up than her defensive strength. For example, the spectrum of sensors aboard the ships is broad and constantly changing, making it impossible to list all the instrumentation available. To give at least some indication of the scientific potential of a ship, this entry lists the dedicated laboratories available onboard for data analysis and experimentation. A general purpose laboratory provides facilities for containment and analysis of a wide range of samples, for standard chemical and physical synthesis processes, and for engineering experimentation, and comes equipped with versatile expert systems; it thus is a veritable flying university in compact form. Special purpose laboratories are still often needed, e.g., in complex biological studies, in coordination of planetwide survey operations, or in dealing with highly energetic or unstable materials. Even ships without laboratories can gather significant scientific data and either process it with their computers or store it for later analysis by other facilities.

17) Transporter systems are highly standardized across the Federation. Only the generation ("mark"), number and configuration of systems are thus given. The standard range is 10 km for emergency transporters, 8,000 km for medium transporter modules, and 40,000 km for starship modules, unless booster relays are used, while actual performance is highly dependent on local conditions. Currently, standard Federation transporters are in their seventh generation, although Mk VI and even Mk V units are still in common use in civilian and older Star Fleet vessels, and Mk VIII units are in experimental use aboard some new cruisers.

18) Maximum shuttlecraft carrying capacity is given in the form of true operational auxiliary craft complement. Significantly more craft could probably theoretically be squeezed in, but not serviced or efficiently operated. Specific auxiliary craft types are listed according to standard Star Fleet category system, when applicable.

19) Historically-significant ships of a given class are listed here with their registry numbers. E.g., years of service or lists of commanding officers are not given, however—detailed individual ship histories are available through other sources.

20) For those of you who for some reason wish to distance yourselves from the Trek universe: the degree to which the information agrees with things seen or heard in Star Trek episodes or movies is coded here. Letters D, N, and H code properties of the ship; a letter is followed by the source for that property. If any of the sources is in parentheses, that source is not "canonical". If the letter itself also is in parentheses, there is no "canon" source at all for that property (which, of course, does not mean the property hasn’t been well thought out or lacks aesthetic or engineering merit).

D means the design or visual appearance of the ship. As Star Trek is principally a phenomenon of the visual media, this is the aspect of "canonicity" most important to a starship fan. Only sightings of actual models, screen readouts, blueprints, voiced-out descriptions, or comparable material in episodes or movies qualify as "canon". However, if a ship was barely glimpsed in an episode yet the corresponding model is carefully and correctly presented in "non-canon" source material, the latter presentation naturally qualifies as "canon".

Ship statistics, other than external dimensions or number and positioning of weapon emplacements, are almost invariably derived from "non-canon" sources. Mass figures generally are determined by taking the mass suggested in the given "non-canon" source (usually based on volumetric analysis and assuming realistic material densities) as the mass of the hull, and adding some hundreds of thousands of tons for each nacelle (assuming superdense coil materials). The main body of the text typically gives warp coil mass for each engine type; a simple deduction then should reveal the mass figures suggested by "noncanon" sources.

N means the name for the class. Information from episodes or movies that indisputably combines a design with a class name is naturally accepted as "canon", but an extension is made with the most current version of the ST Encyclopedia, the naming schemes of which are also accepted as "canon". It has so far been the case that names given in the Encyclopedia are indeed in agreement with onscreen material, even if this consists of obscure background "Okudagrams" only. The assumption is made that Star Fleet names its ship classes in the manner the United States Navy currently does, that is, using the name of the first completed ship as the class name. Exceptions abound, though, often reflecting the desire of the source material writers to imitate the exceptions common in the real world.

H means class history, namely the service years. Very seldom is "canon" info given on this; but if an episode or movie makes it clear in what historical situation the first ship was launched or the last destroyed, then the date for that situation—as given in the current ST Chronology—qualifies as "canon". The details of the actual history of any class are usually about 95% pure imagination and at most 5% dull "canonical" facts.

Appendix D lists the abbreviations and acronyms used for the various sources. Lamentably, many of these are long out of print and only accessible to the author or the interested reader in partial form via internet.

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• Back to the Table of Contents
• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Star Fleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside