Guide:Hermes/Monoceros/Indianola

Hermes / Monoceros / Indianola
Class Overview
Category	scout
Operational	2225-2313
Constructed	29 total: Hermes: 15 (built 2224-2228) Monoceros: 27 total 13 (converted Hermes 2243-45 14: (built 2243-45) "Indianola": 8 (converted Monoceros 2249-2253)
Dimensions
Length	226.0 m (Hermes) 242.5 m (Monoceros, Indianola)
Beam	122.0 m (Hermes) 127.1 m (Monoceros, Indianola)
Height	33.2 m (Hermes) 60.3 m (Monoceros) 60.0 m (Indianola)
Mass	308,750 tons (Hermes) 349,000 tons (Monoceros) 352,300 tons (Indianola)
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 4 (Hermes) w 5 (early Monoceros) w 6 (late Monoceros, Indianola)
Max Speed	w 5.5 (Hermes) w 5.8 (early Monoceros) w 8.0 (late Monoceros, Indianola)
Endurance	3 years
Complement
Officers	30 (Hermes) numbers vary for other types
Enlisted	130 (Hermes) numbers vary for other types
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	Hermes: 2x phase cannon (in twin mount) (fwd ventral sensor array) 4x laser emitters (1.25 MW) (in twin mounts) (dorsal hull) 4x laser emitters (1.25 MW) (in twin mounts) (ventral hull) Monoceros: 4x phase cannon (in twin banks) (fwd port/stbd) 2x phase cannon (in twin bank) (fwd of ventral sensor array) Indianola: 4x phaser VII emitters (in twin banks) (fwd port/stbd) 2x phaser VII emitters (in twin bank) (fwd of ventral sensor array)
Missile Weapons	Indianola: 2x fwd medium torpedo tubes (w/30 photon torpedoes, 40 probes) (dorsal hull)
Shields	1-layer conformal forcefield (all) Navigational deflector (nacelle) (Hermes) Navigational deflector (ventral structural support) (Monoceros, Indianola) 3x secondary navigational deflectors (fwd hull) (all)
Laboratories	1x GP, 1x signal processing
Transporters	Hermes: 2x GP (3-pad), Mk I 2x emergency evacuation (18-pad), Mk I All ships brought to Mk II standard after 2230 Monoceros: 1x GP (6-pad), Mk II 1x cargo, Mk II 2x emergency evacuation (18-pad), Mk II All ships brought to Mk III standard after 2250 Indianola: 1 GP (6-pad), Mk III 1 cargo, Mk III 2 emergency evacuation (22-pad), Mk III Select ships brought to Mk IV standard after 2272
Auxiliary Craft	Hermes, Monoceros: 2x shuttlepods 2x work podx Indianola: 2x work pods
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Aeolus (NCC-588) USS Crockett (NCC-600) USS Hermes (NCC-585) USS Lynx/USS Indianola (NCC-608) USS Monoceros (NCC-601)
Canonicity
Design	STII/Franz Joseph
Name	FJ, SotSF
History	FJ, SotSF

Star Fleet’s transitioning from the solo combat doctrine of cruisers back to joint fleet action did not happen easily, nor quickly. Even in the era of relatively practical shipborne subspace communicators, keeping a fleet coherent at warp cruise required significant skill and experience. Also, in order to be efficient, the fleet would have to know where to strike and when – requiring long-range sensor platforms in addition to low-observable scouting systems. Mere fleet navigation at warp factor four stretched the sensor capabilities of cruisers to the extreme, and posed major difficulties for the destroyers. A dedicated sensor ship of high capacity and fleet speed would help alleviate the problems; developing a new spaceframe for the ship was deemed unnecessary when the mission was one of tagging along with existing destroyers.

Destination: Organia. The surviving Monoceros scouts were still an integral part of major fleet deployments in the 2260s, working both as outriders and as so-called fleet coordination ships. With a Monoceros handing over targeting information to cruisers and destroyers, a Federation battlefleet resembled a single organism with specialized organs for every task. Gone were the days when it was thought that a solo survey cruiser would be the most effective combat unit. Fleet action remained important throughout the Klingon crisis, until the end of the century. After that, Star Fleet gradually returned to the practice of operating single independent multipurpose ships instead of large formations, resulting in the death of many small-ship classes; current trend is again turning towards small specialized vessels.

To meet Star Fleet’s requirement for a Deep Space Fleet Coordination Ship with advanced sensors and high speed, the Saladin design was, in 2224, modified to create the Hermes class. The dorsal phase cannons were omitted along with the torpedo launcher and the ventral mount was moved to the forward quarter. The cleared space was dedicated to sensors of various types. Down-scaling of fire control systems in turn provided space for various C3I facilities. Propulsive systems, shielding and life support remained unaltered from the destroyer standard. A shuttle hangar, essential for exploration operations, was still missing from the design, even though solo exploration was to be a secondary mission profile for the vessels if peacetime ever returned. Various plans were made to add an Einstein style dorsal pod, but in the end, the class was fielded with only the two standard shuttlepods inside saucer docking berths.

Fifteen vessels were built to this standard between 2224 and 2228. While the scouts were theoretically to be the tactical-level eyes and ears of defense fleets patrolling the Klingon border, they were often pressed to use as strategic reconnaissance assets as well. But the loss of two Hermes scouts in 2231 to light Klingon ships on such long range solo missions prompted Star Fleet to narrow down the role of these vessels. It became evident that the inflexible one-nacelle engine system made the scouts perfect targets for more nimble vessels – the high top speed of the scouts was of no use in close warp combat. At loss of a remedy to the performance problem, Star Fleet decided never to deploy the scouts outside protective fleets, and instead used them solely as sensor platforms in conjunction with destroyers and cruisers.

As the Klingon threat receded somewhat after the 2240s, Star Fleet began to regret its major investments in the scouts. Destroyer procurement cutbacks threatened to leave many of the vessels without a mission. As all had already received the powerful PB-31 solid-state/dilithium engines, Mk II transporters, expanded primary hulls and superstructures, and the new low-profile bridge modules, the scouts were now virtually new-model Siva subclass destroyers without torpedoes. Also, fourteen newbuild ships of this standard (named the Monoceros subclass after the first of these newbuilds, but sometimes also known as Hermes II) had been constructed just before the post-Axanar moratorium on destroyer production.*

To restore the balance between destroyers and their accompanying scouts, Star Fleet decided in 2249 to modify eight of the Monoceros vessels (NCC-608-615) into Siva II standard. The scouts received torpedo launchers, targeting computers and sensors, and three double phaser VIIs (one simply inserted to the existing phaser VI berth, two requiring the re-installation of berths in place of former sensor mounts). Some internal differences to the orthodox Siva II destroyer remained; but then again, all ships tended to be individuals due to the flexible internal configurations. Thus, rather than go by the subclass name Indianola (the new identity of the erstwhile Lynx), Star Fleet decided to eschew a special designation for the retro-refits.

The fusion of Hermeses into the Saladin main body can be seen as the first sign of the new Star Fleet trend of simplifying ship lineages. Subclass designations and names were quickly falling into disuse, and general class identifiers were used instead. While it may initially have caused some confusion that three different standards of destroyers served under the same name, many of the readers are probably relieved by Star Fleet’s decision in 2287 to collectively call the 15 different standards and seven official subclasses of heavy cruisers Constitution class instead of using specific sub-variant names. After mid- 23rd century, and due to increasing flexibility of technology, every starship would practically have formed her own subclass as far as internal configuration, engine performance and equipment standards were concerned!

Quite the opposite political environment resulted in another mission swap in the early 2280s. Of the eight destroyers converted from Monoceros scouts, four were returned to scouting duty, as the value of their torpedo launchers in self-defense against the newly bellicose Klingons was acknowledged. Corresponding cuts were made in the now highly vulnerable remains of the original Monoceros fleet. The vessels retained the individual names they had earned in destroyer service, but again were absorbed into ‘parent’ class continuity without the systematic Indianola subclass distinction (which is used in this entry merely for sake of clarity). Such painless transfers back and forth stand further proof of the increasing flexibility of the Fleet, as well as of the ever greater degree of technological standardization.

The Hermes design briefly resurfaced in the 2320s in the Merced class scout concept, and later made a more successful comeback in the era of the Border Wars. However, this configuration has not found much use in other Star Fleet roles. The main attraction of single-engined ships, that of low construction and operating costs, still holds – while the main drawback, poor warp maneuverability, also remains.

* A fifteenth vessel, tentatively named Aries and slotted to receive the registry NCC-602, was damaged beyond salvage during construction phase in 2245. What at first seemed like a tragic accident was later revealed to have been just one of several Romulan acts of sabotage on starship construction that year. The events left both the name and the registry of the lost vessel unused for several years.

Gallery

• 
  Hermes subclass
• 
  Monoceros subclass
• 
  Bow plan
• 
  Dorsal plan
• 
  Monoceros starboard cutaway
• 
  Indianola subclass
• 
  Bow plan
• 
  Dorsal plan

• 
  USS Crockett on the frontier
• 
  Scouting out foreign incursions
• 
  "A One and A Two"
• 
  "Unusual Neutrino Emissions"
• 
  Indianola in orbit

External Sources

• Starship Handbook (Combined)
• Vintage Starships: "2242 – Hermes": includes 3D viewer

Notes

• Like the preceding Saladin class to which it is closely tied, the Hermes class will see some objective and critical changes made to the text and sidebar.

• Total numbers of the family build reduced from 50 to 29, to match intent of the article's other facts.

• For clarification purposes:
  • The Hermes class was built using the exact same hull and much of the same equipment as the Saladin subclass.
  • Starting in 2243, the surviving Hermes and fourteen additional hulls were built along the Siva subclass design, but also with scout equipment in the place of some weaponry. These make up the Monoceros subclass.
  • Starting in 2249, eight of the Monoceroses were converted fully to the Siva II standard, becoming destroyers of that line.
  • In the early 2280s, four of the former Monoceroes returned to scouting duty, losing their destroyer title. With no actual changes made, they in essence becoming the Indianola subclass of the Hermes family.

• Original primary laser mounts made phase cannons and the numbers increased to 2 (from 1).

• Some references to phasers are changed to phase cannons.

• The Hermes subclass appears to be names after both fictional and historic scouts, while the Monoceros subclass is named for constellations. The Indianola subclass appears to have been re-named after the US riverine ironclads: Indianola, Benton, Essex, Chillicothe, Eastport, Choctaw, Lafayette and Tuscumbia.

• References to different sidebar stats between "early" Monoceroses and "later" ones for height and speeds has been dropped, due to being unsupported within the text (and the timeline not easily supporting such changes).

• The Operational years were pushed back (from 2224 to 2225) to allow for construction and first completion after the first completion of the USS Saladin.

• USS Essex comes very close to sharing the same commissioned period as the USS Essex of the Essex subclass. Recommend the Indianola one not get converted/re-commissioned until after 2251.

• USS Monoceros (NCC-601) was referenced in Guide: Constitution (refit) as having tested the LN-52 warp nacelle in a dorsal configuration, while still equipped with the ventrally-mounted PB-31, which would be removed in 2270. I've decided the testing took place over the 2268-2269 period.

---

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