Guide:Stuart/Siebel/Neptune

Stuart/Siebel/Neptune
Class Overview
Category	Transport/strike transport/surveyor
Operational	2118 - 2193
Constructed	73 total: 5 Stuart (FC-50) 8 Neptune (SV-50) 20 + 40 Siebel (FC-80, 100)
Dimensions
Length	37.5 m (FC-50, SV-50) 42.1 m (FC-80, 100)
Beam	25.2 m
Height	7.9 m (landing gear retracted) 9.1 m (landing gear extended)
Mass	12,100 tons (FC-50) 13,600 tons (FC-80) 14,200 tons (FC-100) 12,500 tons (SV-50)
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 1
Max Speed	w 1.4 (FC-50, SV-50) w 1.6 (FC-80, 100)
Endurance	1.5 years (w/o passengers/troops; SV-50) 4 months (FC-50, w/ 100 passengers/troops) 10 months (FC-80, 100, w/ 100 passengers/troops)
Complement
Officers	2 (FC-50, 80, 100) 6 (SV-50)
Enlisted	8 (FC-50) 12 (FC-80, 100) 16 (SV-50)
Troops	100
Cargo	2,200 tons (FC-50) 2,900 tons (FC-80) 3,500 tons (FC-100) 1,500 tons (SV-50)
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2 plasma cannon (500 MW) on ventral fwd hull (FC-80, 100, select FC-50 and SV-50)
Other Weapons	select FC-50: 4 kinetic cannon (20 mm) on ventral midhull FC-80: 8 kinetic cannon (20 mm) on ventral midhull 2 kinetic cannon (20 mm) on ventral stern FC-100: 10 kinetic cannon (20 mm) on ventral midhull 2 kinetic cannon (20 mm) on ventral stern
Shields	Electromagnetic shield (9 T) Polarizable armor on hull Navigational deflector on dorsal bow
Auxiliary Craft	Normally none; Various atmospheric, aquatic and surface vehicles carried as needed
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Laing (FC-53)
Canonicity
Design	ENT
Name	own
History	own

Despite the best efforts of Starfleet and the commercial interests of the slowly uniting planet, the interstellar transports of Earth suffered from an almost debilitating lack of speed. There was little point in competing against extraterrestrial freight operators on the swift delivery of high credit to mass ratio goods; Earth freighters would have to rely on ore hauling, or then seek their fortunes in the languid-paced long range commerce. However, commerce rights within Sol system were fiercely defended by the native operators, and they certainly possessed the full technological means for this.

The post-WWIII Earth network of spaceports had been built with robust, independent spacecraft in mind. Virtually all the vessels flying from the dusty tarmacs on the equator were aerodynamically stable multi-purpose designs that could take off from and land on unprepared areas if necessary – including those of Mars, Ganymede or Pluto. They consumed common hydrogen isotopes and had sufficient range to shuttle between the inner planets with ease. Addition of warp engines to these ships generally resulted in compromised productivity, though, and the corporations seldom tried to bridge the gap between insystem vessels and those capable of interstellar operations.

Yet the alien visitors to Sol often flaunted just such jack-of-all-trades vessels. While not commercially worrisome, they gave pause to Starfleet, which saw the obvious military applications of such technology. In 2112, the first steps were taken in providing Earth’s protectors with comparable means of rapid insystem and potential interstellar deployment of combat troops and equipment. A request for proposals was sent out for a 10,000-15,000 ton armored vessel capable of moving a fully equipped mechanized platoon at warp 1.4 or better. It was only to be expected that existing spaceframes be used as the starting point, but the novel polarizable armor surfaces and compact warp propulsion systems required so much customizing that the eventual General Space Corp. design could well be considered revolutionary.

When prototyping in 2113 began, toothing problems could thus be expected. Little was problematic about the forward two-thirds of the vessel. A conventional wedgelike bow would house the navigational sensors and deflectors, rapidly broadening to a constant cross section midhull that would serve as the main payload area. Control systems and crew accommodation were neatly clustered atop the hull and amply armored. Lifting engines placed on lateral sponsons were also of proven technology, and the main fusion reactor aft of the holds had seen sterling service aboard Monticello freight drones. However, mounting of the single GSC-1600 series nacelle high astern gave endless headache to the engineers. Choosing the level of radiation shielding would endanger either the onboard troops or the center of gravity. A propulsion system of lesser performance was applied on the initial production keels, with the grudging intent of primarily using these vessels for insystem tasks.

A pair of Stuart transports delivers a containment team to the crash site of a water and fissionables barge, high on the Kunlunshan plateau. Ballistic barges were once considered an efficient method of bulk delivery within the Sol system, but repeated mishaps like this 2129 magnetic drag anchor failure brought the practice to an end. The risky fissionables remained a key Earth industry, though, and rapidly deployable containment and cleanup teams were held at constant readiness at the Del Rey Fleet Station on Luna. Warp-capable Stuarts were an ideal means of deployment, reaching Earth, Mars, the Belt and Jovian moons with equal ease and speed.

The later units were modified to incorporate more extensive stern structures, and sported twin rather than single stern landing support. Their maximum sustainable speed was the originally intended warp 1.6, in contrast to the warp 1.4 of the initial production run. Additional benefits came out of the change, including a rear gunnery control station. The Siebel assault transports were armed with twin multidirectional plasma cannon on the forward lift engine sponsons, and projectile guns near the exits - powerful enough for close-in support of troops, although rather useless in space combat. The initial Stuart batch of lower performance usually omitted both kinds of armament, as they would have few applications in the insystem errands planned for the type.

By 2120, Starfleet had in its possession ten fast Siebel transports to secure Sol against hostile takeover of outer planet assets; by 2125, a full twenty, enough to be spared for interstellar expeditions. Simultaneously, procurement of the Stuart for the odd insystem work continued, adding eight vessels of the special Neptune survey configuration by 2123. Commercial applications came in the wake of Starfleet operations, with half a dozen Stuart units purchased to support mining operations on Mars and with numerous adapted versions sent to outer colonies. Starfleet frequently practiced Sol defense operations, and twice deployed Siebels to Alpha III and Ophiucus in exercises aimed at colony repossession. The latter mission type proved unrealistic, however: a transit time of up to a year put a great strain on the troops and gave far too much time for the invader to dig in. The maximum deployable force of a thousand soldiers would have been pitifully small in any case.

Exercise Deep Sentry underway to Alpha III. Two Ottawa heavy transports accommodate the troops during transit, while the ten Siebels surround the formation at the minimum distance needed to avoid warp field overlap; the Djartanna outriders and the Messier class flagship Resolute maintain greater separation. Exceptional psychological duress during the course of the two-year exercise led to six cases of homicide, nine suicides and a dangerous riot and fire onboard the barracks ship Ithaca. Nevertheless, Starfleet proceeded with Exercise Deep Vigil to Ophiucus five years later, with very similar results.

Far more practical were the ‘tertiary’ insystem operations, including rapid disaster relief, scientific expedition support and garrison supply. Two Stuart units, the Livingstone (VC-51) and the Fawcett (VC-54), were earmarked for support of the Terran Embassy on Vulcan; even though practical reasons usually dictated the use of Vulcan vessels for moving the ambassadorial staff, reasons of prestige necessitated the availability of Starfleet ‘counterparts’ (in a rather broad sense of the word).

By 2156, two of the vessels had been lost: USS Laing (SV-53) on an arctic assignment to an alien force only much later identified as the Borg, and USS Kaiser (FC-87) to structural failure during Exercise Deep Vigil. Production was once again underway, however. To better protect off-Sol human assets against the outbreak of piracy, Starfleet had decided to triple its strike transport force. The well-timed move put little strain on dockyards, as even the most austere facilities sufficed for construction of the robust type. The forty slightly uprated FC-100 transports produced under the Siebel name proved themselves in assorted support roles during the Romulan war. Still, they seldom saw the kind of action they had been designed for. Their slow speed proved a strategic hindrance; their power output was insufficient for mounting advanced weaponry; and ground combat played a minimal role in the Romulan conflict in any case.

The immediate postwar decades saw the Siebel fleet divided evenly across the new, broad theater of UFP Starfleet operations. The vessels no longer plied the interstellar routes, concentrating instead on transatmospheric operations that the significantly faster modern supply ship designs no longer catered for. Numerous vessels were sold or donated to local civilian and government operators, which continued to employ them for SAR, disaster relief and expedition support. The regular insystem logistics role slowly wore through the sturdy spaceframes, though; since no Starfleet successor was forthcoming, civilian operators gave up the type as well. The last Starfleet liaison vessels of FC-100 type were withdrawn from service in the 2190s.

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• Back to Into The Romulan War
• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside