Guide:Poseidon

Poseidon
Class Overview
Category	heavy cruiser
Operational	2159 - 2173
Constructed	17
Dimensions
Length	223.7 m
Beam	132.6 m
Height	37.5 m
Mass	258,500 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 3
Max Speed	w 5
Endurance	4 years
Complement
Officers	23
Enlisted	158
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (dorsal primary hull) 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral primary hull) 2x Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (dorsal primary hull) 2x Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (ventral primary hull) 2x Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (fwd primary hull, dorsal & ventral gunports)
Missile Weapons	4x fwd torpedo tubes (w/40 fusion torpedoes) (ventral primary hull) 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/20 photonic torpedoes) (dorsal pod) 2x aft torpedo tubes (shared loadout with fwd tubes) (dorsal pod)
Shields	Polarizable armor (hull, nacelles) Navigational deflector (bow)
Laboratories	2x GP
Transporters	1 GP (3-pad); Mk I
Auxiliary Craft	2 transatmospheric shuttlepods 4 spatial pods
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Coto (NC-213) USS Homer (NC-216) USS Olympia (NC-209) USS Poseidon (NCC-200)
Canonicity
Design	ST:Legacy computer game
Name	ST:Legacy computer game
History	ST:Legacy computer game

By the time the Dauntless and Helena cruisers were chosen as the affordable way to continue the war, the UESF had already pledged itself to at least four keels of an earlier, costlier approach. The Poseidon class had been Starfleet’s original successor to the Triton cruisers, and was built using the expensive and time-consuming prewar methods. On the other hand, it also carried prewar technology of superior performance, making the Poseidons an eventual fleet spearhead type. Neither technological edge nor production economy won the war in the end; the chance conclusion to the conflict left undecided the question of whether the Dauntless or the Poseidon approach would have been the correct way to proceed. What cannot be denied is that the Poseidon was Earth’s best warship at the time of the Cheron victory.

Built out of Enterprise hulls, the ships had been originally intended as further explorers. Their simplified structure, wherein aft engine booms were replaced by a single aft-protruding hull block, still contained the essentials of an NX-type vessel, including plasma rechargers for high warp performance and a shuttle hangar for exploration auxiliaries. No external IMRF dome was included, as a more stable field configuration could be obtained by placing the nacelles farther forward and, incidentally, also below the horizontal centerplane. Unfavorable AG nodes could also be avoided in the new design, and the saucer impulse engines were now capable of handling sublight propulsion all by themselves, at locations optimal for thrust vectoring.

USS Coto (NCC-213) banks to a relaxed deep space turn, rather unrepresentative of the remarkable maneuverability of the class. The well-braced torpedo launcher with its two plus two tubes is prominently displayed, as are the dorsal plasma rechargers for warp five performance. Dual reactor swapping bays are visible on both sides of the smallish shuttle hangar.

However, combat specifications were quickly issued when fighting against the Romulans broke out, displacing several pieces of exploration gear. The shuttlepod complement was halved, and the space used for an antimatter distribution system that fed a dorsally mounted photonic torpedo launcher. Two forward and two aft tubes were provided. The system had a superior rate of fire compared with Enterprise arrangements. Although it lacked magazine space, twenty torpedo casings could still be loaded, primed and fed into any of the four tubes by the central loader. A more conventional set of four tubes was available in the primary hull, compatible with the older range of weapons. Also, twelve phase cannon ports were provided in the primary hull. The nominal warload was four Type A and eight Type B weapons.

Due to the hesitation on procurement policy after the disastrous first year of the war, only the prototype vessel was completed in time to take part in major combat. For the final battles of 2159, the Poseidon carried a single Type A cannon plus seven heavy lasers, mainly participating with devastating volleys of antimatter torpedoes. The Olympia and the Coto were launched in time for the victory parades, then returned for fitting of mission gear. The remaining three ships of wartime construction left their box docks in 2161-63, freeing the facilities for the completion of two postwar batches of the vessels. At the completion of the production run, the Poseidons sported the registries NCC-200 through NCC-216, already hinting at Earth’s ambition towards a multi-hundred-strong combat force. It would take decades for such ambition to be realized, however.

USS Olympia in late UESF colors. When these vessels became part of the UFP Starfleet, they received a different set of decorations including full pennants. More striking visual change came from the adoption of optically opaque outboard field windows on the nacelles, as with the Columbia conversions.

The Poseidons continued Earth’s power projection program where the Enterprises had left it. Relying on dilithium-regulated power generation, they nevertheless fell victim to the same reliability and availability problems. Also, being slower than the Christophers by a full warp factor, they never quite got to do the most interesting assignments, to sail to the farthest shores, to respond to the most acute crises. Yet their influence on future shipbuilding was significantly greater than that of the Christophers. It is regrettable that despite their technological near-perfection, they are often left in the shadow of the Enterprise class as well, being seen merely as the little sisters of that prominent cruiser type.

Gallery

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• Appendix A: Of Ship Statistics
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside