Guide:Vanguard

Vanguard class fast transport
Vanguard
Class Overview
Category	Fast transport
Operational	2144 - 2180
Constructed	32
Dimensions
Length	218.0 m (no external load) 260.1 m (maximum external load)
Beam	60.5 m (w/o antennas) 75.1 m (typical transport antenna configuration) 98.7 m (typical command ship antenna configuration)
Height	32.0 m
Mass	25,000 mt
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 2
Max Speed	w 2.3 (loaded) w 2.75 (unloaded)
Endurance	2 years
Complement
Officers	6
Crew	88 (not including passenger service personnel)
Passengers	1000 (maximum, troopship configuration)
Cargo	20,000 tons (maximum, no passengers)
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	4 plasma cannon (2.0 GW) on midhull
Shields	Electromagnetic shield (21 T) Reflective armor over parts of main hull Polarizable armor over command sphere, midhull and aft hull (refitted to select ships after 2153) Twin navigational deflector domes on bow
Auxiliary Craft	2 spatial shuttlepods
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Atlas (FV-304)
Canonicity
Design	SFC
Name	SFC
History	SFC

To meet the heavy transportation needs created by the rampant expansion of Earth’s sphere of influence, UESF needed something more substantive than the modular freighters built since the beginning of the century. In May 2142, the recently instated Fleet Logistics Division ordered the development of a large warp transport capable of warp three when empty and warp two when loaded. The ship that actually emerged from the project could carry a thousand passengers or 17,900 tons of cargo at warp 2, larger loads still at speeds below that, and reached the speed of warp 2.75 when empty of load. Christened the Vanguard class, the cargo vessel had an admirable operational range of 100 ly, or about 12 years of travel time, with full fuel load and ramscoop replenishments.

This theoretical figure was never translated to practice. For the first decade of Vanguard operations, Earth’s ambitions did not extend beyond 20 ly from the home system, and UESF ran very few operations on the outer rim. In the Romulan war, the ships in turn traveled lightly loaded at warp 2.5, hopping from colony to colony. Traveling from Earth to war zone starbases at full load would have taken about six years. Trips like this were rare, as the cargo traffic between the battlefront and the large Earth colonies or Andorian holdings near it was strategically the most important task for the class.

Unlike the standard Earth commercial vessels of the day, but much like the classic Rigelian designs witnessed by Earth observers, the Vanguards relied on a single-piece hull with internal pressurized or semipressurized holds. Cargo volume was divided in two by an amidships section that mounted four impulse engines – one each dorsally, ventrally and to port and starboard. Each impulse nozzle was coupled with a forward-facing ramscoop. Twin main fusion reactors, twin warp coil assemblies and spacious fuel tanks were also part of this section, which could be considered a spaceship on its own right.

Three main types of cargo could be carried. Forward of the drive section, a series of plates covered an unpressurized hold area for vacuum goods and components. A pressurized shaft extended through the hold area to a spherical command center at the very bow of the vessel. Mounted on the shaft were cargo manipulator arms of great dexterity. Aft of the drive section, a pressurized hold twice as large as its unpressurized counterpart was served by a large crane to port and a docking port to starboard. The volume could store both atmospheric goods and bulk, although the latter was rarely carried by these priority shipment vessels. The total capacity of 20,000 tons wouldn’t have been practical for ore shipping anyway. Finally, external hardpoints at stern catered for the carriage of oversize components, standard Type IV or VI containers or liquid or gas tanks. Still, the wide side-loading doors of the midhull were the main loading fixture, and allowed cargo of far greater variety than before to be easily brought on board. Even passengers or troops could be carried, by applying onboard prefabricated elements and life support modules on the pressurized hull section.

The rather large crew of 94 was mainly berthed in the midsection, although there were small pressurized compartments for docking and cargo handling scattered all around the spaceframe. The midhull also held four symmetrically mounted defensive plasma cannon stations. An often carried additional feature was a large subspace communications dish, often bolstered by a variety of realspace EM antennas, depending on the theater of operations and the role of the transports there. Extensive UESPA survey packages were also permanently carried, and a number of specialists dedicated to their operation. At times, the vessels were summoned to act as command posts in addition to their usual role as convoy flagships and tenders.

File:Vanguard.jpg

The freighter being loaded here, USS Titan (FV 309), displays a typical paint scheme of the war years. Flat gray replaces the earlier light gray/blue patterns on titanium brown, and even the twin tanks slung astern as external cargo are in war paint. The only patches of color are provided by the red-glowing ramscoops, running hot as the ship remains on alert during loading. The shade of gray was a carefully weighed compromise between low albedo and low absorptivity, in an era when optical lasers and visual sighting systems still were important elements in space warfare. Tradition dictated that color for later Starfleet thermocoat paints as well, even when the tactical rationale was gone.

Soon after the commissioning of the first Vanguards, the class also suffered its first losses, as USS Atlas (FV-304) fell prey to covert Romulan attacks. Convoying the ships and adding cruiser protection at the outset of open war allowed the continuation of operations, but tied down interstellar-capable warships to escort duty. Still, the Vanguards were essential in providing supplies to the UESF elements operating a hundred lightyears away from home.

The class was retired two decades after the war, never receiving NCC registries, but several classes derived from the design were introduced to fulfill Starfleet requirements. The Vanguard design lineage was continued until the introduction of affordable medium high-warp transports. These advances led to the transformation of transports in the Vanguard size range from primary cargo vessels to specialized long-range carriers of oversize loads. There was no market for the obsolete Vanguard derivates, and all vessels of this type were scrapped before the 2280s. Structurally similar Rigelian types remain commercial successes throughout the quadrant, however.

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• Back to the Table of Contents
• 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