Guide:2270-2300 - Troubled Homefront

2270-2300 - Troubled Homefront

In the aftermath of the intrusion by the V’Ger entity, Starfleet of the early 2270s lived through an escalation boom, with nearly unlimited resources provided for the prevention of any further invasions of similar kind. The de facto source of these resources, the Organian Peace Treaty, proved but a temporary lull in Klingon-Federation political and military intrigue. Only the stern leadership of Fleet Admiral Robert Conrad and his legendary successor Heiharchio Nogura had kept Starfleet from overreacting to the Klingon threat in the preceding decades, but when these powerful figures retired from Starfleet command, other forces began vying for power in the highest echelons. The infamous coup attempt by Vice Admiral Vaughan Rittenhouse, even though doomed to fail from the outset, cast deep shadows over the public image of Starfleet – shadows the brief return of Fleet Admiral Nogura and the resurrection of the exploration program were hard pressed to disperse.

For the duration of the late 2270s, the militaristic forces inside Starfleet were again technically outnumbered by the more peaceful factions. But despite its official peaceful doctrine, Starfleet continued to prepare a huge fleet of modern cruisers with significant military as well as exploration capabilities. Also, the major programs for production of modern dreadnoughts and so-called ‘space control ships’ were finally providing results. Combined with transwarp development, which required high powered testbeds of gigantic dimensions, they would culminate in the Excelsior class, the next ‘backbone’ vessel of Starfleet and a worthy successor to the famous Constitution heavy cruisers.

The Klingon Empire’s response was to uprate its battle cruiser fleet to the fearsome standard known as the K’t’inga class, and to introduce cloaking capability to most of its naval vessels. But the Klingon economy was slowly descending towards chaos in the aftermath of the mutually disastrous alliance with Romulans. Some visionary leaders foresaw the inevitable and strove for closer diplomatic and ultimately economic ties with the Federation. Others sought for the answer in increased military spending and frantic conquest of new worlds for new resources. No headway could be made in the UFP front, however, not even after it had become painfully evident that the Organian peace treaty no longer was being enforced at all. Yet neither side could back off, not after a series of provocations centered around the Genesis incident that introduced a new potential superweapon of immense power.

To offset the balance of terror, a far-flung conspiracy was engineered by Starfleet hardliners who, under the leadership of Fleet Admiral Anson Cartwright, aimed for an offensive against the Klingon Empire. Simultaneously and perhaps not coincidentally, relations with the Romulan Star Empire grew warmer. These two troubling developments came to a peak in the Praxis incident, where a key Klingon energy production facility exploded and left the whole Empire badly damaged. The conspirators saw the right moment had come, and seized it. A chain of assassinations was begun to pave way for a declaration of war against the weakened Empire.

However, the plan of the hard-liners required support of Klingon and Romulan factions to succeed. And complex plots often end in a disaster, as was luckily the case with the coup of ‘93. The actions of one man, Captain James T. Kirk, saved the life of president Ra-Ghotarei and the integrity of the Federation. In the aftermath of the aborted coup, relationships between the UFP and the Klingon Empire drastically improved, and a thorough cleansing of Starfleet resulted in changes in doctrine and also in equipment.

Two main fields of technology underwent rapid changes in this era. Warp propulsion inched closer to galactic standard, as the heritage of spool-coil engines was left behind and solid-state warp coils were rearranged to the linear plasma feed configuration that still persists today. Not only has the concept proven its validity, but the early LN-64 linear warp engine itself is still in widespread use in the 24th century. Also rapidly developed in this era, transporter technology moved towards much more dynamic control of the matter stream, thanks to deepening understanding of this originally so alien and mysterious field of science.

Ships deployed during this period have great commonality in construction as well as in propulsive and tactical systems, and many designs have been perpetuated into the latter half of the 24th century. Only the most warlike designs have been totally abandoned, due both to the more peaceful posture of Starfleet in the early 2300s and to the fast pace of weapons technology development in the subsequent years.

2270-2300 - The Ships

• Belknap/Impervious/Excel class strike cruisers (2270-2355)
• Kethkin class lightfleet tug (2270-2321)
• Andor class cruisers (2270-2336)
• Constitution refit class heavy cruisers/cruisers (2272-2337)
• Cygnus/Cochise/Amerind class diplomatic couriers/destroyers/scouts (2272-2299/2283-2318/2288-2330)
• Northampton class strike frigates (2272-2321)
• Kolm-An class interdiction ships (2272-2323)
• Tangent class frigates (2272-2275)
• Larson refit class destroyers (2273-2351)
• Miranda refit class heavy frigates/frigates (2273- )
• Lynx class timeship (2273-2289)
• Chesapeake class light cruisers (2273-2298)
• Lotus Flower class heavy tankers/transports (2274-2354)
• Huntington class tankers (2274-2319)
• Ticonderoga class light reconnaissance cruisers (2274-2328)
• Daran class frigates (2275-2356)
• Akula class destroyers (2275-2287)
• Constellation class through-deck cruisers/cruisers (2276-2284)
• Draco/Athabaska class galactic survey cruisers/strike cruiser (2276-2349/2284-2311)
• Federation refit class dreadnoughts (2276-2295)
• Ariel/Fredrikstad class shuttlecarriers (2277-2312)
• Balson class command ships (2277-2306)
• Ascension class dreadnoughts (2278-2299)
• Chandley refit class strike frigates (2279-2321)
• Proxima refit class dreadnoughts (2279-2302)
• Menahga/Mitannic/S'harien class battle cruisers (2279-2322)
• Ishtasse class cruisers (2280-2324)
• Niffen class buoy tenders (2282-2354)
• Kirov class dreadnoughts (2283-2299)
• Aleo/Jenshahn/Youngblood/Chosin class through-deck cruisers (2283-2316/2283-2327/2290-2338/2292-2325)
• Odysseus class fast cruisers (2283-2316)
• Constellation refit class reconnaissance cruisers/cruisers (2284-2372)
• Excelsior class transwarp testbed/space control ships/explorers/heavy cruisers (2284- )
• Sydney class medium transports (2285- )
• Ianar class fast frigates (2285-2325)
• Nineveh class large exploratory cruisers (2287-2339)
• Continent class assault ships (2289-2316)
• Mockingbird class scouts (2290-2338)
• Laweya/Phobos class medium transports/troop transports (2290-2361)
• Amchitka/Kearsarge refit class light cruisers (2290-2311)
• Doppler/Dollond class tugs/tenders (2291-2358)
• Grin'ki class combat tenders (2293-2351)
• Polaris/Constant class heavy destroyers/scouts (2293- /2295-2356)
• Lng'we Chi class exploratory cruisers (2294-2358)
• Hornet class support carriers (2295-2327)
• Hensley class support frigates (2295-2347)
• Deneva class light transports (2296- )
• Lexington class command ships (2296-2341)
• Overfield class heavy transports (2297- )
• Reigate class cruisers (2298- )
• Hardin class destroyers (2299- )

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• Back to the Table of Contents
• Back to Part I: Starships and Other Large Vessels
• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside