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| {{Sidebar Guide ship | | {{Sidebar Guide ship |
| |image=[[File:Texas (orig).png|250px|''Texas'' class light cruiser]] | | |image=[[File:Texas (starboard).png|250px|''Texas'' (refit) class light cruiser]] |
| |classname= ''Texas'' | | |classname= ''Texas'' (refit) |
| |category= light cruiser | | |category= light cruiser |
| |years= [[2175]]-[[2259]] | | |years= [[2175]]-[[2259]] |
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| |history= SFB | | |history= SFB |
| }} | | }} |
| Block obsolescence hit the young UFP [[Starfleet]] hard in the [[2170s]]. Losing the military scoutships
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| was bad enough for Exploration Command, but at least the drafting of numerous auxiliary cruisers
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| provided an affordable partial remedy. Defense Command was far worse off when the ''[[Guide: Marshall|Marshall]]''
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| heavy destroyers and ''[[Guide: Christopher|Christopher]]'' light cruisers were retired from defending the borders and
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| heartlands of the [[Federation]]. The intended successor, the ''[[Guide: Active|Active]]'' heavy destroyer, was cancelled at
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| the last minute, ostensibly because her performance specifications did not meet Starfleet
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| expectations. In face of continuing Romulan silence and seemingly unshakeable peace, it was
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| difficult to gain support for the design, let alone the construction, of a new heavy combatant. When
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| permission for a successor class was finally given in January [[2172]], frantic engineering efforts were
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| needed to create the required designs and construction methods, lest the gap between generations
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| grow intolerably wide.
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| [[Image:No Photo Available.jpg|left|200px|thumb|The ''Gobi'' (NCC-909) sails out with auxiliary survey cruisers ''Minotaur'' (NAR-24) and ''Alesia'' (NAR-23), support cruiser | | [[Image:No Photo Available.jpg|left|200px|thumb|The ''Gobi'' (NCC-909) sails out with auxiliary survey cruisers ''Minotaur'' (NAR-24) and ''Alesia'' (NAR-23), support cruiser |
| ''Cryghton'' (NCC-122) and the elderly scout ''T’Khian'' (NCC-75). Explorer flotillas of this sort proved an impractical tool in expanding the Federation horizons, yet at least facilitated a better understanding and control of what lay inside UFP territory. Modern Starfleet pennants have been applied on all vessels for this [[2179]] sortie towards the Taurus nebula.]] | | ''Cryghton'' (NCC-122) and the elderly scout ''T’Khian'' (NCC-75). Explorer flotillas of this sort proved an impractical tool in expanding the Federation horizons, yet at least facilitated a better understanding and control of what lay inside UFP territory. Modern Starfleet pennants have been applied on all vessels for this [[2179]] sortie towards the Taurus nebula.]] |
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| By late [[2173]], though, all the elements were ready. The design chosen for the prosaically named
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| New Light Cruiser was not so ambitious as to call for extensive prototyping, and a go-ahead was
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| given for four precursor hulls. Production of at least ten further vessels was also all but guaranteed
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| from the outset. Starfleet’s ultimate aim was to procure fifty cruisers, enough to replace both the
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| ''Marshalls'' and ''Christophers'' at one stroke.
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| The first light cruiser to reach completion was in May [[2175]] launched as ''USS Texas'' (NCC-900). Her
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| lines clearly revealed her lineage. The two-part structure of the vessel featured a detachable,
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| aerodynamic command hull and a slightly larger engineering section, the latter mounting two PB-7
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| warp engines of 70,000 ton mass each. The lifting body structure of the command hull was closer to
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| ''Christopher'' than ''Marshall'' in design, but served the same threefold role of primary weapon and
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| sensor mount, command center and crew evacuation module. The smooth exterior was armored
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| overall, with a dorsal sensor dome jutting out above the main bridge, and a dish array placed on a
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| corresponding ventral location. The bow corners held 800 MW laser emitters; 1 GW units were
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| mounted laterally, outboard of the twin navigational deflector assemblies, giving full spherical
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| coverage. Two forward-firing torpedo tubes were located ventrally. Both the primary and secondary
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| hulls also featured ventral tractor beam emitters.
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| Internally, there was enough room for two autonomous laboratory units on Deck 3, both of which
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| enjoyed direct physical access to the centrally located main computer core. Forward of the lab area
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| were the ship’s secondary batteries; aft of it, the separation engines. Forward of the starboard lab
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| were sensor and probe control rooms, also part of the ship’s rather extensive scientific suite.
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| Forward of the port lab was the transporter complex. Life support systems and officer
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| accommodation were the primary functions on Deck 2; a high ratio of officers to crew was now
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| standard for ships engaged in exploration duty, and twenty-one personnel of Ensign grade or above
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| were required aboard a ''Texas''. Some thirteen of these still engaged in traditional officer work of
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| managing ship’s operations and tactical operations, and had their workstations clustered in the upper
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| part of the ship. Main fire control was located just forward of the main computer shaft, main
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| navigation room aft of it. The main bridge and its sensor dome formed Deck 1 atop the shaft.
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| In classic manner, lower decks were tended by the ratings, although extensive automation and
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| peacetime doctrinal and budgetary choices reduced crew size to a fraction of the ''Christopher''
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| figures. The wide Deck 4 was the main crew accommodation deck, with spacious standard berthing
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| for 85, combat berthing for up to 170, plus storage for consumables. Sickbay, galley and gymnasium
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| were naturally also to be found here. The bow was completely dedicated to forward laser emitters
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| and their support systems, however. Decks five and six were again of limited beam and housed the
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| torpedo launchers and their magazines, as well as shield generators and hull polarizer rotors.
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| The secondary hull housed an auxiliary control room in addition to being home to main and
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| auxiliary power systems, fuel tanks, and cargo transporters and holds. At the center of the hull was a
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| docking bay and service hangar for four light shuttlecraft, again indicating the exceptional
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| exploration prowess of the design. Access was via ventral hatches, and docking was still facilitated
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| by mechanical arms; it would be quite a while until precision tractor beams would take over the
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| approach control role.
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|
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| [[Image:No Photo Available.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Showing how low a cruiser can get, ''USS Harar'' (NCC-941) settles down on the surface of Locus Point, [[Paraagan II]]. Next
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| to the ore transports of the old mining station, the cruiser is a minuscule thing, but soft-landing her safely still takes some
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| skill and effort. The system defense missions of the ''Texas'' class at the turn of the century often involved landings and
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| seldom demanded warp drive, explaining why the nacelles of the ''Harar'' have been removed. Re-installation was a simple
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| enough matter, however, and the simplicity greatly facilitated the later refits that would restore the pride and prestige of
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| the class.]]
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| The traditional placement of the hangar allowed the impulse engines to be placed directly astern.
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| Two reactor clusters were used, but their exhaust nozzles formed a single linear array. Between the
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| impulse reactors sat the main Fairey powerplant, feeding the PB-7s. The conservative compression
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| fusion powerplant of 10:1 m/am spicing did not quite give the design an ''[[Guide: Enterprise|Enterprise]]''-like
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| performance. Warp 3 cruising was easily attained, yet top speed was in practice limited to little over
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| warp 4.1, a significant step down from ''Christopher'' standards. Yet the opponents of the day were the
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| sheer distances to be covered in exploration and patrol work, rather than hostile fleets to be flanked,
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| so cruise mattered more than dash.
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| Test cruises by the four initial vessels were successes both technically and operationally. They were
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| welcome from the public relations point of view as well: the first true postwar capital ship project
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| helped solidify support for Starfleet among the member navies. Getting funding for all the fifty units
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| was an uphill battle, but funds freed from the cessation of all ''Christopher'' and most ''Marshall''
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| operations helped Starfleet attain the procurement goal by [[2182]]. In [[2175]], sequential registries from NCC-900 to NCC-949 were allocated, in anticipation of a full production run. This actually represented quite a discontinuity in the numbering
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| scheme, as even the latest destroyer models were not supposed to go past NCC-400. However,
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| Starfleet hoped to adopt a new numbering scheme wherein mission classes would be discernible
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| from registries, and thus the '''''Texas''''' ships got ‘light cruiser numbers’ in the 900-999 range while the
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| heavy cruisers began with NCC-1000. Registries between 700 and 799 were to be left for projected
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| survey and research units, 800-899 for military scouting and intelligence gathering, 400-699 for
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| additional destroyer programs, and all higher four-digit numbers for future growth. This attempt at
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| making the registries more informative was doomed to fail due to unpredictably changing
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| procurement policies, such as the sudden surge of light cruisers at the turn of the century, or the
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| abandoning of battleship ambitions. But there was no real reason to maintain the practice of
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| allocating running numbers, either, since exceptions and cancellations were inevitably mixing up
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| this type of ordering as well.
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| Military engagements in the last quarter of the [[22nd century]] were rare. The ''Texas'' cruisers were
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| allowed to embark on exploratory cruises, typically as part of a task force consisting of two
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| auxiliary cruisers, a logistics support vessel and sometimes a scoutship in addition to the light
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| cruiser. No ''Texas'' losses were suffered on these relatively short-legged if sometimes years-long
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| missions, although ''USS Gobi'' (NCC-914) had to fight bitterly in protection of her chattel in a [[2191]]
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| engagement against trans-dimensional Tobaki raiders.
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| Even by the turn of the century, the light cruisers were showing few signs of fatigue. Poor relative
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| propulsive performance was the main factor in ending exploration deployments by [[2205]]. Most
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| ''Texases'' became in-system ‘guard dogs’, as Starfleet gradually prepared for the fleet-wide adoption of
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| saucer-type hulls for its long range forces.
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|
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| The Klingon offensive threw all such planning into chaos. The important defensive role of the ''Texas''
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| vessels was acknowledged and retained, yet plans were put to motion to refurbish the ships for
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| greater offensive performance. The [[2230s]] ''Texas'' refit and following advanced subclass construction programs are described in a separate entry later on. Meanwhile, ships that did not participate in the
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| full refit were either withheld from action or modified for lesser rather than higher combat
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| performance. In [[2236]]-[[2237|37]], ''USS Takla Makan'', ''USS Sonora'' and ''USS Taimyr'' had their shuttlebays
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| replaced with large deuterium tanks and extensible fuel transfer interfaces, and were equipped for
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| use as frontline replenishment tankers. ''USS Labrador'' received a ventrally carried subspace antenna
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| for long range tactical scans. All these ships lost their torpedo launchers and heavy lasers in the
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| conversion process, even though bow lasers were retained.
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| [[File:Texas in action.png|left|200px|thumb|The ''Oklahoma'' fires a broadside in a [[2219]] skirmish with marauders intent on pillaging the settlements on [[Agnihotra]].
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| Postwar-standard forcefield shielding easily deflects particle beam fire against the stern quarter of the venerable light
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| cruiser, symbolizing the stubborn perseverance of these second-rate vessels.]]
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| The last unmodified ''Texas'' cruisers were retired ''en masse'' in [[2259]]. Upgraded and successor designs
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| were kept in service much longer, however. The combat record of the antiquated design remained
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| respectable in the [[23rd century]] as well, even if in second-line combat engagements and preemptive
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| deployments. The reluctant [[2172]] investment on the light cruisers proved its worth for Federation
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| security many times over.
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| ==Notes== | | ==Notes== |
| * The active years of the ''Texas'' class has been extended from the 'sidebar' information (2241) in ''Timo's Guide'' to 2259, per the history indicated in the ''Guide'''s body.
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| ==Gallery== | | ==Gallery== |
| <gallery> | | <gallery> |
| File:Texas (starboard).png
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| File:Texas (bow).png|Bow | | File:Texas (bow).png|Bow |
| File:Texas (dorsal).png|Dorsal | | File:Texas (dorsal).png|Dorsal |
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| File:Texas II (starboard ventral).jpg|Starboard ventral view | | File:Texas II (starboard ventral).jpg|Starboard ventral view |
| </gallery> | | </gallery> |
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| ---- | | ---- |
| * [[Guide: Timo's Guide to Starfleet|Back to the Table of Contents]] | | * [[Guide: Timo's Guide to Starfleet|Back to the Table of Contents]] |
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