Guide:Marklin

Marklin
Class Overview
Category	light destroyer
Operational	2236-2251
Constructed	20
Dimensions
Length	157.4 m
Beam	75.0 m
Height	39.9 m
Mass	219,300 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 4
Max Speed	w 6.8
Endurance	4 years
Complement
Officers	22
Enlisted	89
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	2x laser emitters (700 MW) (dorsal primary hull port/stbd) 2x laser emitters (700 MW) (ventral primary hull port/stbd)
Missile Weapons	* 1x fwd medium torpedo tube (w/ 70 fusion or photonic torpedoes) (ventral primary hull)
Shields	1-layer graviton/subspace globular forcefield Navigational deflector (propulsion hull bow) 2x auxiliary navigational deflector emitters (saucer hull ventral bow)
Laboratories	1x general purpose 1x signals intelligence
Transporters	1x GP (6-pad); Mk II 2x emergency evacuation (22-pad); Mk II 1x cargo; Mk II
Auxiliary Craft	2x light shuttles 2-4x shuttlepods
Historical
Ships of Note	USS Bonhomme Richard (NCC-567) USS Xenophon (NCC-558)
Canonicity
Design	FASA Four Years War/Dana Knutson & The Federation
Name	FASA
History	FASA, SFB, own

Acknowledging the great potential there was in a lightweight vessel equipped with the potent PB-25, Starfleet did not wish to give up easily on fielding one. As late as 2227, plans were put forth to upgrade the Kovaris design to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield. Key to this would be the extension of the propulsion hull to house a higher output warp reactor; this time, it would be the saucer that would be retained, possibly lifted off retiring Kovaris units as is, and merely internally refurbished.

To comply with tactical developments, the saucer would house a more modern torpedo launcher with enlarged magazines, improved computing facilities, C3I rooms and systems, and the sort of accommodation required for missions of doubled duration. This part of the refit promised to be straightforward enough, with the saucer largely a passive piece of ‘cargo’ hanging on to the main spaceframe anyway. In reality, it was going to be a subscale test run for many systems and structures destined for Project Starship, including advanced duotronic fire control and transporter management systems.

Two Marklins home in on a torpedo kill in this simulated scene from the manufacturer’s brochure. In reality, the destroyers tended to operate solo, in tasks calling for their special gear such as shuttlecraft, cargo holds, or even onboard laboratories, of which two were provided.

For the propulsion section, a sturdy new pylon system was devised, featuring additional broad-chord vertical supports flanking the central pillar and reaching far forward for further leverage, with the hopes of fitting presumably massive solid state engines as soon as a suitable design would emerge. Initially, the PB-25 was mounted in a much wider arrangement than the Kovaris one for a new balance between maneuverability and speed; the former could be stressed now that higher overall power levels would be available. The stern section was greatly enlarged aft and now housed facilities for operating multiple shuttlecraft, in yet another attempt to compensate for the shortage of modern deep space survey and scouting vessels. The impulse engine package was moved out of the way, to a pod mounted on the central pylon. The initially fitted SSRW reactor would in time be supplanted by a dilithium foci power system, so plenty of room was provided for upgrades. Chiokis was tasked with both design and construction of the updated type, the promise of almost forty Kovaris conversions implicit in the deal if the initial work on 20 newbuilds panned out.

Yet just a week after work on USS Marklin began, a lawsuit filed by M’Yengh Yards brought the whole program to a grinding halt. Many things spoke against the integrity of Chiokis and Committee of Starfleet: the secrecy concerning the Project Starship contract, the financial interest of a Committee member in Chiokis, the fact that Chiokis still was the only off-Earth corporation to win major Starfleet shipbuilding contracts. It took Chiokis close to six years to convince the Federation Tribunal that the bidding process for the Marklin had been fair and open. By the time the initial newbuild construction was finally completed, the Marklins were hopelessly outdated, as dilithium-powered competitors ruled the scene. Chiokis had little interest in the type at that point, and extended no bids for further modernization when the 2245 defense review sealed the fates of numerous pre-dilithium ship types. The existing destroyers saw brief service on the Klingon front in the 2240s, but Starfleet was dissatisfied with the limitations of the light design in both the escort and patrol roles, preferring the more specialized Remoras and Procyons for those purposes.

The Marklin class was not without historically remarkable representatives, though. USS Bonhomme Richard (NCC-567) of the type was the first vessel to report on the unrest at the secessionist world of Axanar in late 2245. USS Xenophon (NCC-558) in turn was in 2246 assigned to Captain Kelvar Garth for her final mission when a dockside explosion suddenly tore a gaping hole in her engineering section and compromised the integrity of her entire spaceframe. While initial analysis put the blame on the age of some structural components and the antiquated design of the engineering systems, traces of explosives commonly used by Klingon intelligence forces were later discovered aboard the ship. No sound explanation has been found for the fact that Klingon saboteurs targeted the obsolete Xenophon, instead of the more modern Baton Rouge cruisers Connecticut and Saint Louis or the dormant starship Constitution also residing at Starbase 12 at the time. It has been suggested that the attack was actually aimed at the life of Captain Garth, who later proved invaluable to Starfleet in the blockade of Axanar. This naturally presupposes non-causality and time travel, since the historical significance of Garth of Izar was not yet known in early 2246.

Gallery

• 
  Marklin class, bow view
• 
  Dorsal view
• 
  USS Xenophon at impulse
• 
  Dorsal bow perspective
• 
  Dorsal stern perspective

Notes

• Original source (apparently) mistakenly referenced the completion of Kovaris conversions, when those were not supposed to occur until after newbuilds proved themselves. As the conversions did not occur, the reference was changed to reflect the newbuilds instead.

• The 2234 year of late release for the Kovaris upgrade planning was changed to the earlier 2227, to reflect a 2228 start of construction on the USS Marklin, followed by the six-year construction halt and legal dispute, with a re-start of construction in 2234, in time for a 2236 commissioning.

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