Guide:Ranger (courier)

[[|250px|Ranger courier]]
Ranger
Class Overview
Category	courier
Operational	2264 - 2324 Flight I (2264 - xxxx) Flight II (2269 - xxxx) Flight III (2272 - xxxx)
Constructed	264 total: Flt I: 102 (built 2264 - 2268) Flt II: 108 (3 refitted from Flt I and 105 built 2269 - 2271) Flt III: 54 (built 2272 - 2274)
Dimensions
Length	68.0 m
Beam	43.5 m
Height	16.0 m
Mass	Flt I: 81,300 mt Flt II: 85,150 mt Flt III: 89,300 mt
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 5.0
Max Speed	w 7.1
Endurance	18 months
Complement
Officers	4
Crew	Flt I: 19 Flt II/III: 23
Passengers	10 - 50
Cargo	Mk II:
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	Flight I: 2x phaser III emitters (single banks)(port/stbd of bow deflectors) Flights II/III: 4x phaser IV emitters (twin banks)(port/stbd dorsal hull)
Missile Weapons	Optional: 1x fwd light torpedo tube (w/ 10 torpedoes) (ventral hull) 1x aft light torpedo tube (w/ 10 torpedoes) (dorsal hull)
Shields	1-layer globular forcefield 2x navigational deflectors (primary hull bow)
Transporters	2x GP (1-pad); Mk III 1x emergency evacuation (paless); Mk III
Auxiliary Craft	2x shuttlepods (Flt I only)
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Francis Marion (NCC-7168) USS Strider (NCC-7141)
Canonicity
Design	FASA (Timo)
Name	FASA
History	FASA

Background: Hobbyist's Guide

VXT wasn’t the only company interested in making use of the new PB-60 engine, and Federation Customs Service wasn’t the only organization interested in purchasing the resulting vessels. Yet the market niche remained a narrow one in the 2260s, as antimatter powerplants remained expensive to operate. People capable of securing a private warp five yacht could well be assumed to have powerful backers of possibly shady repute, and to utilize their high speed craft for dubious purposes. Larger vessels with more obvious utility value were the safer bet for the designers and marketers, and in 2263, Panastris took on the challenge.

The market Panastris aimed at was not the generic warp five transport, since PB-40 was already giving maximum performance for the Tavares class, and the newer engine would only generate deadly field gradients if semi-internally mounted onto the compact vessel. A higher-performing vessel would need to mount the engines on long pylons, in such a configuration as to rule out landing capability. So a thoroughbred starcraft was built instead, with a clean 36 meter saucer hull that mounted a powerful deflector and sensor array at centerline bow and twin impulse engines on the trailing edge. The reactor sat in the very middle, atop an IMRF crystal that completed the propulsive ensemble of the craft. Reactor control spaces and the flight control center were combined into a compact facility just ahead of the reactor, atop the bow arrays.

The bow quarters of the hull were left for crew and passengers, with wraparound window slits and shutterable dorsal and ventral portholes. The spaces could be configured for various purposes, including separate cabins, communal areas or various functional facilities. A single transporter pad was provided on each side, and the initial model also featured compact dorsal berths for threeperson shuttlepods. The discerning customer could add centerline launchers for light torpedoes and two phaser III emitters on the lower corners of the bow array.

A rare Ranger to Ranger meeting in deep space. The craft often operated in groups of three in local defense missions, but courier or scouting tasks were handled solo. These Mk I craft fire their original bow phasers to good effect. Note also the field constrictors and modified ramscoops on the PB-60s, optimized for the rare high endurance role of the engine here.

More than a hundred of these large craft were sold as couriers to various Federation customers; Panastris was unable to secure rights to offer the PB-60 to foreign markets, and there would have been no point in offering the craft with a lesser engine. Government orders followed after a more heavily armed and provisioned Mk II variant was introduced. The most visible change was replacement of pod berths with twin Type IV phasers, giving the model serious firepower for gunboat missions. A final batch of fifty was added in the early seventies, before the benefits of linear excitation warp drives began to trickle down to this size range of starcraft.

Starfleet Training Command made use of fifteen of the craft (NCC-T6000-T6014), gradually selling them forward to the civilian market in a stripped-down configuration until just three were left. These soldiered on until 2324, providing practical training in high speed astrogation and allowing for extended missions involving large numbers of trainees. Forty more saw brief service in armed light scouting and courier duty, with regular registries in the NCC-7140-7179 range. These were attached to border starbases and outposts, and continued the work of the smaller Archer scouts under their commercial class name Ranger, despite name conflict with the frontier cruisers from the beginning of the century.

A different kind of Ranger to Ranger encounter. In theory, USS Ibn Rustah of Pytheas subclass kept the cruiser class name Ranger in active Starfleet use till the 2290s, creating terminological overlap with the small craft. In practice, confusion was unlikely in every respect.

Up to thirty Mk II and III craft are also known to have been operated by Starfleet Intelligence at various times, presumably also taking part in corsair operations. A corresponding number were dedicated to combat tasks in regional fleets and mercenary organizations, both of which met with federal disapproval in the early 24th century and had to downscale their operations.

USS Strider in distress.The offensive action taken by the scout against the Klingon Empire in 2273 was never given a satisfactory public explanation, nor was the timidity of the Klingon response. The mysteries are typical of the era of clandestine operations and counteroperations that was supposed to culminate in open war.

Gallery

Other Images

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  Ranger class
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  Darwin on assignment

Notes

• The complete Flight I production run will be assigned the NCC "courier" registry, while part (and maybe all) of the Flight IIs will, as well. The Flight III production run will fall under the standard registry.

References

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