Guide:Deneb/Defender

Deneb/Defender
Class Overview
Category	defender/battleship
Operational	2265-xxxx Deneb (defender): 2265-xxxx Defender (battleship): xxxx-xxxx
Constructed	14 Deneb: 2 (built 2263-2265) Defender: 12 (built xxxx-xxxx)
Dimensions
Length	534.2 m
Beam	215.0 m
Height	153.9 m
Mass	Deneb: 4,230,000 mt Inaieu: 4,233,000 mt Defender: 4,233,000 mt
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 8
Max Speed	w 11.8
Endurance	25 years
Complement
Officers	Deneb/Inaieu: 95 Defender: 221
Enlisted	Deneb/Inaieu: 645 Defender: 1046
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	9x phaser VIII emitters (triple banks) (dorsal primary hull) 6x phaser VIII emitters (triple banks) (ventral primary hull) 4x phaser VIII emitters (twin banks) (aft secondary hull) 4x phaser VIII emitters (twin banks) (ventral tertiary hull)
Missile Weapons	4x fwd heavy tubes (w/ 180 photon torpedoes) (connecting hull) 2x aft heavy tubes (w/ 70 photon torpedoes) (secondary hull)
Other Weapons	8,000 mines (aft secondary hull)
Shields	3-layer forcefields 2x Navigational deflectors (fwd tertiary hull) 8x Auxiliary navigational deflector emitters (fwd dorsal and lateral primary hull)
Laboratories	6x general purpose
Transporters	6x GP (12-pad); Mk III 6x emergency evacuation (42-pad); Mk III 4x large cargo; Mk III 8x small cargo; Mk III
Auxiliary Craft	8x medium shuttles 3x heavy shuttles 18-22x work pods various tactical craft (situational)
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Arizona USS Dataphda USS Defender (NCC-7000) USS Deneb (NCC-2002) USS Divine Wind USS Inaieu (NCC-2003) USS M’Hasien USS Rodger Young USS S’Harien USS Yamato
Canonicity
Design	My Enemy, My Ally (Diane Duane), The Wounded Sky (Diane Duane)
Name	My Enemy, My Ally (Diane Duane), The Wounded Sky (Diane Duane)
History	My Enemy, My Ally (Diane Duane), The Wounded Sky (Diane Duane), own

Hanging against a backdrop of the Dumbbell nebula, USS Deneb superbly performs her primary mission of projecting Star Fleet power into deep space. A fleet of just two such vessels might at first not seem like an efficient deterrent, but the high speed at which these vessels spanned the interstellar distances meant that even with very little advance warning, they could stand between an invasion and its target. And like the Federations, the Denebs were quite adept at fighting at warp speeds, a skill seldom matched by the enemy.

The Yamato in action. The third starship to hold not just the name but also the registry number 1305 was lost in 2289, in circumstances seemingly devoid of mystery or glory. The ignominious collision with a fueling lighter was later given closer scrutiny, however, and evidence of hostile tampering of flight control software was uncovered. Whether this really contributed to the loss of the vessel remains a matter of considerable dispute.

The last of the growth designs based on the success of the Constitution heavy cruisers owed its existence to the hard facts of astrography. A top speed of warp 8, often pushed to warp 9 in practice, allowed the heavy frigate and heavy cruiser forces to cross a deep space sector in little less than two weeks. The dreadnoughts could traverse the distance in a week. Yet the two extremities of Federation space, Deneb and Adhara, lay more than a hundred such sectors away from the core worlds. While Star Fleet had a strong presence of nearly a dozen starbases on the "far" side of Klingon/Romulan space, and more under construction, the Deneb region was an isolated cluster of eager and dedicated yet militarily weak UFP members and allies. A relief fleet would take nearly five years to arrive, were the defenses there to fail.

Two of the dreadnoughts, USS Star Union (NCC-2112) and USS Star League (NCC-2101), were initially deployed to protect Deneb and explore surrounding space. The Star League had to be recalled in late 2263 to pacify the Klingon-Orion front in the aftermath of the Ghioghe incident, however, leaving a vast area of space to be patrolled by a single dreadnought and at most five cruisers of the Constitution family. Denebians are not known for their tendency to complain: instead, they are famous for acting. And act they did, so that in early 2265, two dreadnoughts of indigenous construct and design were nearing completion at Deneb Alpha V. The ships had been locally funded, and would be locally operated to defend not only the Deneb Alpha system but the entire region as well – a major tour de force for a society that had been classified as G- in the Richter scale only half a century earlier.

The Denebians could not afford to think small. Their physique alone called for ships with spacious interiors. While adhering to traditional design solutions proven by Star Fleet experience (in lack of native expertise), the engineers multiplied all power and durability figures by a factor of 1.5 at the very least. An immense saucer 215 m in diameter was constructed for each vessel; below and behind the saucer, a secondary hull to match provided space for a radially configured six-core warp powerplant that would feed the four PB-33 nacelles with enough energy to push the ship to warp 11 for several weeks at a time. Two tertiary hulls were mounted side by side below and ahead of the engineering section, and housed the main navigational deflectors and sensor systems. The nacelles branched out of the secondary hull in a staggered cruciform arrangement, the horizontal pair leading on the vertical. Two gigantic impulse engines of local design were mounted at the saucer aft rim, and two only slightly smaller ones at the aft ends of the tertiary hulls.

When not speeding the four million tons of ship through space, the power system would channel energy to eighteen phaser VIII emitters, six on the dorsal and four on the ventral surface of the saucer plus four on the secondary hull and two plus two on the tertiary hulls. Standard Federation class targeting hardware and software was used. Also, standard torpedo launchers of that class were carried, in a configuration of two twin forward tubes flanking the connector hull just ahead of the secondary and above the tertiary hull, and two aft tubes firing from the secondary hull stern and also providing for minelaying needs. Total firepower was deemed equal to that of any three starships of other designs, a trio of Federation dreadnoughts possibly excluded. Navigational deflectors on the tertiary hulls had to be customized for the huge vessels; auxiliary deflector roundels spotted the primary hull rim and dorsal superstructure. Combat shielding, while relying on a Federation layout, received strengthened waveguides so that shield power could momentarily be tripled over that of the Federations.

Given the space requirements of all the weaponry, not to mention that of the mostly Denebian crew, the ships had surprisingly little room for exploration gear. Two shuttlebays in the primary hull usually carried some eight interplanetary shuttles customized for the Denebian physique, while the third (at the aft part of the secondary hull, perhaps best considered a quaternary hull unto itself) held a contingent of fightercraft and service auxiliaries. Six general purpose laboratories were provided, as was standard sensing gear. Six main transporters, each capable of moving twelve Denebians simultaneously, were used for planetary forays or for boarding actions. Seven tractor beam emitters could be fired up to tow disabled ships at impulse or low warp in the depths of frontier space, or to tear apart smaller vessels.

In mid-2265, two commissioning ceremonies were held. USS Hood transported admirals Fitzpatrick and Sha’av to the occasion, establishing trans-Federation speed records for several years. In simple, austere ceremonies, the two vessels received Star Fleet names and registries, becoming USS Deneb (NCC-2002) and USS Inaieu (NCC-2003), respectively. Their official designation was one of ‘defender’, insisted on by the Denebians who found the ‘dreadnought’ reference obscure and confusing. In fleet operations of large scale, the defenders would yield to Star Fleet command. In normal patrol duty, Denebian local defense forces would be in full charge of the vessels.

The ‘normal’ patrol duty would prove to be anything but. During thirty years of operations, the two ships intercepted a combined total of 1,589 spacecraft intruding Federation space, made tentative first contact with sixteen cultures, fought and won 169 solo and 24 fleet battles, and crossed the length of the Federation four times each, to participate in crisis control on the Klingon or Romulan borders and then to return to their assigned patrol areas. Put short, the Deneb and the Inaieu each saw more action than the rest of the dreadnought fleet combined.

Soon enough, Star Fleet was convinced of the worth of the vessels, and was hoping to acquire more. However, the means of doing so did not exist, since the dockyards that had delivered the numbers of cruisers, destroyers and heavy frigates vital for defense could never be adapted for defender production. On this the admirals were in agreement: Star Fleet of the 23rd century was a cruiser fleet, not a battleship fleet. The effort of producing the cruiser, destroyer and frigate arsenal had drained Star Fleet of resources for a good while, yet even without these vital acquisitions the chances of procuring vessels of defender scale would have been slim. For Star Fleet to obtain actual battleships, something big would have to give.

And in 2267, something did, in the small pastoral world of Organia. Due to the intervention of a superior species, the conflict between UFP and the Klingon Empire was put on hold for almost two decades. An antimatter-powered, phaser-armed modern Star Fleet had been constructed at great expense, but now the great fleet was virtually idled. Vast resources were freed for use from operating budgets. But for what sort of use, now that Organian influence precluded any application of force in UFP-Klingon politics?

Deep space patrols were one field of military operations not touched by Organian interference. By conservative estimates, some 400 to 600 unidentified space vessels, ranging from mundane smugglers to advanced alien voyagers way out of Star Fleet’s league, were trespassing Federation space at any given time during the mid-23rd century*. Many considered it fantasy and folly that the Star Fleet of 2260s could claim to patrol the deep range, but equally many were convinced that this was the perfect way to utilize the forced truce – ships built as deep space patrol combatants could serve as flying fortresses if and when hostilities with the Empire began anew.

How many battleships could Star Fleet afford? None, said the adamant few. Ten, said the most optimistic of the supporters. Finally, construction of eight of the immense vessels was initiated, again at distant fleet yards and not in the cruiser- and frigate- geared core world docks. Rigel bore the brunt of the program, completing three battleships, the Arizona, the Rodger Young and the Yamato, between 2268 and 2269. Vulcans sponsored the construction of two, the M’Hasien and the S’Harien, at Aldebaran. The Dataphda and the Divine Wind were completed at Tiburon and Izar, respectively. Yet it was the eighth ship, USS Defender, that first received a Star Fleet commission at her birthplace, the Denebian yards. This time, the production was completely sponsored by Star Fleet, and the original ‘defender’ type description was transformed into a proper class name.

The vessels were constructed in record time considering their bulk and complexity. They were the only major construction project to come to fruition during the early years of the Organian ceasefire. Most such projects remained theoretical, biding their time while waiting for the political climate to change. The battleships left political concerns behind as they headed for deep space, assuming patrol beyond Rigel, Deneb, Mira and Canopus and also moving as far corewards as they dared through the mists of the Great Barrier. No Klingon ships braved such depths of space, and the combat engagements these ships had were with races the Federation had seldom even heard of before. Success in the mission allowed Star Fleet to procure four more of the vessels – the Missouri, the Warsaw, the Shushima and the Kursk – by bleeding off funds mainly from destroyer maintenance programs. After that, the impromptu yards that had enabled the production were struck down everywhere except at Deneb, where a maintenance center was established. Amusingly, this center was never to process a single Defender, since the ships were far too durable and self-sufficient to require dockside maintenance attention.

Although the later Defenders differed from the Deneb and the Inaieu in details of internal configuration only (accommodating humanoids of average physique), the systematic designation ‘Deneb class’ was never applied on them. Some did insist on calling them defenders, for they were no closer to the historical description of battleship than the Star Fleet dreadnoughts were. Anybody who has ever witnessed an old Orion battleship in action could testify on the order-of-magnitude difference between these ogres and the largest ships built by the Federation to date. Some believe that the crew of the S’Harien did – the vessel went missing on trans-Rigel patrol in 2275, and soon components claimed to originate from her were available on Orion market. However, many believe that this was pure Orion propaganda, and that forces greater than mere piracy sealed the fate of the great ship.

The unfortunate fact was that it was not all that difficult to destroy a Defender. The ships possessed superior endurance and speed and an admirable concentration of firepower, but once the enemy managed to engage them at sublight, the weaknesses of the design became apparent. The Defenders featured no advanced technology, just tried and true solutions applied on a larger scale. This was the most evident in shielding technology: the shield-tripling mode could not be sustained for more than a few minutes at most, and it would have been suicidal for a Defender to stay and fight amidst an enemy fleet for a longer time period, with the enemy undoubtedly concentrating its fire on this largest target imaginable. The Defenders simply were no better than battle cruisers or dreadnoughts in fleet battles at close quarters.

There was never any talk about upgrading the Defenders with linear warp engines or modern phasers when these technologies became available. The ships were so over-engineered from their very birth that no modification could have notably increased their capabilities, even if the Federation could have afforded such an attempt. The medium-weight Proxima class did undergo a refit that gave it cruise performance on par with the Defenders, and an edge in dash speed; an improved array of main phasers brought firepower to battleship standard. This gave Star Fleet the required boost at the Klingon front and further ensured that the vessels of the deep frontier would remain unaffected by modern developments.

When the Khitomer peace was signed, the Defenders still possessed the highest firepower, weapons range and endurance of any Star Fleet vessel in operation, easily surpassing even the modern Excelsior variants. They could also operate virtually independent of any support organization, their primary endurance-limiting factor being the lifespan of their crew. What they lagged behind in was shielding, speed and sensor capabilities, all of which were significantly better in the Excelsiors that now took over the patrolling of the deep range.

Despite their political palatability, the Defenders were all retired by 2315 to comply with the chapters of Khitomer treaty limitations that pitted them against the Excelsior and later Ambassador classes. As the Denebians had designed and built their ships to last, they were in full working order at the time of their decommissioning. Both still survive in deactivated state, but reactivation would be impossibly complicated and expensive. Parts of the Inaieu have been turned into a museum exhibit, mostly visited by Star Fleet personnel who now frequent the area. Star Fleet presence has grown in strength with the acquisition of piers on Xindi starbases in 2352 and the construction of a proper Fleet starbase facility in the Deneb F system in 2343, even though plans on acquiring a further base on Deneb G IV fell through in 2364. The locals rarely visit the exhibit, which they in their matter-of-fact mentality consider a derelict, unsuitable for recycling and only mildly interesting as a monument of Denebian ingenuity and persistence.

* _{As of 2375, the figure is estimated at 8,500 unidentified visitors, reflecting both increased Federation volume and surface area, growth of local traffic, and improved detection capabilities – the true figure for the 23rd century, taking into account those visitors not detectable by the technology of the era, would probably have been closer to 1,200-1,400 trespassers. About 8% of the visitors fall into the category of ‘uninterceptables’, representing vessels or beings capable of greatly superior speed, evasion or aggression. This figure is expected to drop somewhat within the next twenty years, though, as Star Fleet hopes to gain transwarp pursuit capability.}

Gallery

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Notes

• In the first paragraph, Deneb is compared to Orion in regards to remoteness and Federation presence. However, using the UFP map as guidance, the Orion to which the text refers exists off the bottom right of the chart, twice as far from the Core worlds as Deneb, and with no indication of how much presence there actually is. Therefore, I've changed Orion to Adhara, which exists on the right side of the chart, with the Klingons and Romulan empires in between, at about 2/3rds the distance as Deneb, and with clear Federation presence on the round-about spacelanes back to the Core worlds.

• The year of 2161, in regards to the Ghioghe incident, was changed to 2163, as chosen for other sources. This necessitated pushing back two other dates: the "early 2263 for "two dreadnoughts of indigenous construct and design were nearing completion" and "mid-2263, two commissioning ceremonies were held", pushed back to their respective periods in 2265. The sidebar was changed accordingly.

• The reference to the 8th Fleet has been removed, since the Fleet Model was not instituted until almost a century later.

References

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