Guide:Watt

Watt
Class Overview
Category	fleet tanker / transport
Operational	2189-2225
Constructed	192
Dimensions
Length	134.1 m 164.2 m (w/ Type IV containers)
Beam	100.2 m
Height	34.0 m
Mass	189,000 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 3
Max Speed	w 3.9
Endurance	4 years
Complement
Officers	4
Enlisted	56
Cargo	30,000 tons
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2x laser emitters (400 MW) (single banks) (port/stbd dorsal fwd hull) 2x laser emitters (400 MW) (single banks) (port/stbd ventral fwd hull)
Shields	1-layer graviton/subspace globular forcefield
Transporters	none
Auxiliary Craft	none
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Chiu Degong (NCC-S121)
Canonicity
Design	SFC
Name	SFC
History	SFC

Starfleet’s initial hopes of sustaining its transport fleet through upgrades proved unrealistic for several reasons. Wartime attrition had hit the pool of large transports suited for the up-engining. The attrition had also demonstrated the poor combat characteristics of the prewar types, mainly their clumsy handling both at warp and impulse. The manpower balance and maintenance, repair and overhaul cycle length of the old designs were all wrong for the late 22nd century environment, where voyages of three years had become exceedingly rare, and repeated trips of three weeks were a more likely assignment.

Yet many Starfleet operations still hinged on logistics scaled for the use of the classic prewar star transport. Using ships of commercial stock to perpetuate these operations was no longer viable, since civilian operators and the SMM had called for, and received, ships of far greater capacity. By the 2180s, Starfleet was forced to design a medium transport optimized for its needs and ill suited for other types of operations. The designing process was an excellent opportunity to correct all the shortcomings of the old models at one stroke.

The Watt medium transport was in every respect a military machine, built for high maneuverability and speed, and taking no shortcuts for affordability where improved structural strength could be sought instead. The classic tug-plus-containers configuration was pared down to the essentials, and those essentials then taken to their limits. The two 60 m, 50,000 ton PB-11 nacelles above and below the spine of the vessel were easily capable of warp three cruising and of a top speed close to warp four. At the ends of the two broad wings of the command sections, Hien-Gou M78 impulse engines provided 800 g accelerations at a full load of 30,000 tons. This load would normally be packaged into two rows of Type II containers, but an important secondary role as fleet tanker would entrust the Watts with two Type IV-sized deuterium or tritium tanks instead. Vanguard style adjustable grapples would accommodate both types of load with ease. Protection of the cargo would be possible both at warp and impulse with four 400 MW accelerated lasers at bow, and with two shield generators embedded in the wing structures.

The success of the design was guaranteed from the outset, since failure was not an option. A solid order for eighty vessels was signed in 2186, before prototyping had even begun. When the first Watt hulls were completed in February 2189, in two batches of three, they entered a simultaneous technical validation and operational testing program, with both tanker- and transport-configured vessels engaged in both supervised regular operations and demanding special maneuvers. Results were quickly fed back to the design process, and the Mk II Watt transport entered full production in March, 2190.

More than 190 vessels were ultimately completed, some seventy of them going to the SMM. The Mk IIa transports and Mk IIb tankers typically served Starfleet in fixed roles, while the more flexible Mk III could switch from containers to neutronic hydrogen tanks in a matter of hours. In the new operational reality of short missions and rapidly changing tactical situations, such flexibility was useful indeed.

Pirate attack! In this rather fanciful holo-entertainment reproduction of a real 2197 incident with Nausicaan raiders, breaching pods are approaching the seemingly crippled USS Chiu Degong, whose steel-nerved captain is ‘playing ‘possum’ till the last moment. In practice, the mere introduction of forcefield shielding had put a sharp dent in such boarding attempts. Only a very foolish pirate commander would risk physical approach in flimsy pods when the switch of a deadly subspace/graviton field could be flipped at any moment. The proliferation of transporter technology in the region would soon alter things somewhat, reducing the time window needed for boarding, and making it necessary to protect valuables against beam-out with suitable scramblers.

In terms of star hours or lightyears, Watt operations never quite attained the scope of prewar Earth transport adventures. In terms of total mass of goods and fuel hauled, they outdid the Hercules operational record eightyfold; in counting individual sorties, more than 700-fold! Importantly, no Watts were lost to piracy or military action – and while the latter was due to there being no such action, the former could be rightly attributed to the agility and shield strength of the transports. Between 2190 and 2218, some 78 foiled attempts at piracy were recorded. During that time, four Watts were lost to technical failure, two to natural phenomena, and one to a game of go in an unconventional, definitely non-regulation but ultimately successful instance of frontier diplomacy. In most cases, the crews could be safely recovered.

With the Klingon onslaught, casualties began to mount, however. Fatal to the tanker and transport fleet was the assumption that Klingon risk/gain analysis on convoy attacks would be identical to Romulan. It took Starfleet more than a decade to discover the correct figures for convoy size and escort strength against this new opponent, who was clearly willing to risk more for less. Also, for the first time in its history of space commerce warfare, Starfleet had to deal with deep-ranging killer flotillas of cruisers, the trademark of the Klingon military machine. Even in the safest regions, only the strongest convoys could feel secure. Starfleet interest thus turned towards larger transports that would minimize the number of shipments and the difficulty of providing protection. Rather than 5,000 tons, the modern double-length cargo container would carry more than a hundred thousand – well beyond the capabilities of the Watt tugs.

There theoretically remained a niche for smaller transports yet, as lone supply vessels of lesser individual strategic value could hide in the depths of space and thus avoid attacks. Starfleet research on the field soon turned out for example the Sherman and Independence series of medium transports for the application. Watt units were withdrawn along with the Type II container in the early 2220s. The mercantile community scarcely noticed, as the smaller containers had been abandoned as unprofitable years before. No Watt resales were made, and the class quietly disappeared to scrap yards.

Demise of the Watt class clearly marked the end of an era, even if an artificially prolonged one. Concurrently with the retirement, the last civilian warp transports of the classic Earth type were removed from UFP commerce registries, as old family businesses either finally abandoned their aging vessels, or sailed beyond the reach of the central government for the very last time.

Gallery

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