Guide:Thofsin

Thofsin
Class Overview
Category	cruiser
Operational	2151 - 2179
Constructed	42
Dimensions
Length	280.0 m
Beam	102.2 m
Height	33.1 m
Mass	280,000 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 3
Max Speed	w 6.2
Endurance	2 years
Complement
Officers	13
Enlisted	53
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2x phased particle beam emitters (50 GW) (primary hull bow) 2x phased particle beam emitters (30 GW) (engine booms)
Missile Weapons	* 2x drone racks (w/ 600 combat drones) (lateral mounts)
Shields	2-layer subspace/graviton forcefield bubble Navigational deflector (bow)
Transporters	* 1x GP (7-pad)
Auxiliary Craft	2 light shuttles
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Haltonsin (AGC-9-12)
Canonicity
Design	Drex Files
Name	FASA
History	FASA

With the fielding of the Taholsin destroyers, the propulsive updating of the Andorian warfleet came to a close. As usual in such situations, though, the Andorian Imperial Guard wanted to go one step further. In 2151, the first four of the advanced Thofsin class cruisers were launched, capitalizing on lessons learned from early Kumari operations. Surprisingly enough, there was nothing wrong with the groundbreaking battle cruiser as such, and production of new hulls continued on schedule. Nor was there a strategic need to introduce a competing or complementary type of smaller dimensions purely for bolstering the numbers. Instead, the new cruiser, albeit indeed more compact and affordable than the Kumari, was introduced to fill an all-new niche of operations.

The Kumari sorties had given the Imperial Guard a taste of the riches available to the audacious taker in deep space. The fledgling space power had no preexisting doctrine of exploration; nor had a culture raised in oases separated by icy wastes found strategic value in controlling the seemingly useless emptiness between its recently acquired interstellar assets. Encounters with Earth adventurers had revealed the worth of cruiser warfare, though – a lesson the Andorians felt they had learned better and sooner than their Vulcan rivals, similarly hobbled by the psychogeography of their native environment. The Thofsin would follow the lead of Earth’s seagoing fighting forces by sacrificing protection and firepower for endurance and reach, and emphasizing the scouting role heretofore neglected. To this end, she also left ashore the heavy wingtip phase guns and instead mounted lateral racks of sublight combat drones, applicable for a variety of reconnaissance roles in addition to delivering explosive payloads. A new type of shuttlecraft was also embarked for more versatile independent scouting tasks, and an aft-facing centerline hangar devised for efficiently operating the type.

In top view, USS Haltonsin reveals some very Xindi-like lines as well as temporary 2nd Fleet markings. UFP Starfleet enjoyed access to the Haltonsin for just three years, embarking UESPA survey teams and Tellarite prospectors on two-month cruises to the unknown, and making several peaceful first contacts.

The latter feature prompted the engineers to split the aft hull into port and starboard instead of more traditional top and bottom propulsive segments, providing the shuttles with a clear stern approach path between the segments. While the primary hull remained a traditional clumsy wedge, the silhouette of the vessel was thus drastically altered.

There were unexpected consequences to these pragmatic engineering and doctrinal decisions. When the battle cruiser Kumari in 2153 engaged in the hunt for the Xindi civilization and its apparent superweapons, Vulcan analysts primarily worried about the interference this would cause with the competing human and Vulcan sorties to the Delphic Expanse. With the unexpected success of the overall mission, though, a deep suspicion emerged on Vulcan that Andoria now possessed the secrets of Xindi weapons technology. As there were clear design similarities to the primary reptilian Xindi warship type, and an unsettlingly familiar emphasis on combat drone warfare, the baseless suspicions gained in credibility when Vulcans first observed the Thofsins.

The Vulcan distrust came to a peak with the launching of fleet action against Andorian outer holdings, a surprise move mirroring the Empire’s own designs. When the role of Romulan information warfare in the heightening of the crisis was revealed, though, Vulcan backed off. With Romulan attentions now again directed at commerce warfare and attacks in deep space, the AIG’s new cruisers found themselves constantly employed. Their respectable top speed of warp 6.2 allowed them to react to commerce raiding with reasonable timeliness, even if the Kumaris still enjoyed an edge here. They also proved durable and maneuverable, their actions severely weakening the effect of the Romulan antebellum offensive.

Joint fleet action with Sevajien light cruisers early on in the open conflict was far less successful, due to superior Romulan intelligence that allowed their attacks to be targeted against locations defended either poorly or then by forces vulnerable to telecapture attacks. With defenses crumbling, the Guard wanted to go on the offensive, assigning Thofsins to escort Legion shipments against recent Romulan conquests such as Denobula. Politicians decided otherwise, withdrawing the Empire from the conflict altogether. Covert aid to Earth continued until the time came to rejoin the action; in 2159-60, Thofsins operated successfully alongside Earth’s high speed strike assets of Enterprise, Christopher or Achilles classes and Tellarite Phindas, bombarding key targets as soon as such could be located, and forcing Romulans into a strategic retreat. This culminated on the raid against Cheron, although Thofsins played a greater role in the simultaneous strikes against Barradas and Draken.

Having found an appetite for cruiser action, Andor assigned few of the surviving Thofsins to Starfleet use after the war. These mainly saw stopgap action until UESPA heavy cruisers could be deployed for frontier troubleshooting and deep space exploration, missions of diminished interest to Andor. Its own Thofsins secured Andorian colonial expansion in directions where the threat of the unknown was the least concrete. Continuing success in all aspects of the operations gave longevity to the configuration: in the late 23rd century, the Andorian Imperial Guard would still be building cruisers with the familiar silhouette.

Gallery

• 
  Thofsin (bow)
• 
  dorsal
• 
  stern

Notes

• I chose not to use the grainy image that Timo included in the article, as it did not seem that Andorian in nature, but also because there were no drawings that could be used as the iconic view of the ship. Instead, I went with a Drex File image that had been modified several times to represent several Delta Quadrant ships, as well as (once) an Andorian ship in Star Trek: Enterprise.

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• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside