Guide:Enterprise

Enterprise
Class Overview
Category	explorer
Operational	2151 - 2167(2174)
Constructed	16
Dimensions
Length	225.1 m
Beam	132.6 m
Height	; Original 33.1 m; Columbia refit 53.4 m;
Mass	; Original 262,700 tons; 2153 weapons upgrade 263,400 tons; NX-02 onwards 263,100 tons; Columbia refit 267,000 tons;
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 3
Max Speed	; Original w 5.0; Columbia refit w 5.8;
Endurance	; Original 4 years; Columbia refit 7 years;
Complement
Officers	23
Enlisted	; Original 57; NX-02 onwards 73; Romulan War standard 182; Columbia refit 189; ; ;
Tactical Systems
Beam Weapons	; Original 2x plasma cannon (6.0 GW) (dorsal hull); 2x plasma cannon (6.0 GW) (ventral hull); 2x plasma cannon (6.0 GW) (dorsal booms); 2x plasma cannon (6.0 GW) (ventral booms); 2x plasma cannon (4.0 GW) (fwd primary hull w/ dorsal and ventral gunports); 2153 weapons upgrade 2x plasma cannon (6.0 GW) (dorsal primary hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (dorsal booms); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral booms); 2 Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (fwd primary hull w/ dorsal and ventral gunports); NX-02 onwards 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (dorsal hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral booms); 4x Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (fwd hull w/ dorsal and ventral gunports); Columbia refit 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (dorsal primary hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral primary hull); 2x Type A phased particle cannon (500 GW) (ventral booms); 4x Type B phased particle cannon (200 GW) (fwd primary hull w/ dorsal and ventral gunports);
Missile Weapons	; Original 4x fwd missile tubes (w/80 fusion, KE or antimatter missiles) (ventral hull); 2x aft missile tubes (w/40 fusion, KE or antimatter missiles) (ventral hull); 2153 weapons upgrade 4x fwd missile tubes (w/40 fusion missiles) (ventral hull); 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/30 photonic torpedoes) (ventral hull); 2x aft missile tubes (w/20 fusion missiles) (ventral primary hull); 1x aft torpedo tube (w/5 photonic torpedoes) (field stabilizer pod); NX-02 onwards 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/40 photonic torpedoes) (dorsal hull); 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/40 photonic torpedoes) (ventral hull); 1x aft torpedo tube (w/10 photonic torpedoes) (ventral hull); Columbia refit 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/40 photonic torpedoes) (dorsal primary hull); 2x fwd torpedo tubes (w/40 photonic torpedoes) (ventral primary hull); 1x aft torpedo tube (w/10 photonic torpedoes) (ventral primary hull);
Shields	; Polarizable armor on hull and nacelles (original); 1-layer subspace/graviton forcefield bubble (refit 2156); Navigational deflector at bow (Original); Navigational deflector at secondary hull bow (Columbia refit);
Laboratories	; 2 GP; 1 astrophysics; 1 planetary sciences; 1 medical;
Transporters	; 1 GP (1-pad); Mk I (original); 1 GP (3-pad); Mk I (2159 refit);
Auxiliary Craft	; Original 2-4 transatmospheric shuttlepods; 4 spatial pods; Columbia refit 2 transatmospheric shuttlepods; 4 spatial pods;
Historical
Ships of Note	; USS Enterprise (NX-01); USS Columbia (NX-02); Challenger (NX-03); Discovery (NX-04); Atlantis (NX-05); Endeavour (NX-06/NCC-06); Florida (NX-10/NCC-05); Lexington; Constellation; Constitution; Union;
Canonicity
Design	ENT (Columbia Doug Drexler)
Name	ENT (Columbia Christopher Bennett, ‘ST:ENT Romulan War’ and ‘Rise of the Federation’ series)
History	ENT (Christopher Bennett, Michael A. Martin, ‘ST:ENT Romulan War’ and ‘Rise of the Federation’ series) ;

At the end of the 2140s, Earth’s escalation program was fully geared towards reaching what engineers and politicians alike called ‘escape velocity’. Scenarios of pirate hunts or interstellar war were concerns of the distant future, not attainable until a crucial prerequisite had been met: Earth had to have a presentable force of deep space cruisers. Only a vessel capable of challenging the Vulcan voidships in terms of speed, range, protection and firepower would allow Earth to pursue an independent foreign policy. The Tritons inched towards parity in the latter two respects, assisted by frantic work on hull armor and phased particle beam weaponry. Sheer stubbornness would give them the required range as well, just as it had allowed the primitive Boomer vessels to take to the stars. Yet speed remained the master key to interstellar power projection.

The Daedalus ion drive disaster was a major blow to Earthly hopes. Amidst all the specieist sentiments of the era, it was humbling to be reminded that Earth’s bid for interstellar independence now hinged on Vulcan assistance. For three decades now, Henry Archer’s team had been ‘close’ to finding the formula to ‘escape velocity’. The first testbeds had a checkered record, verifying some engineering solutions while proving that others were a danger to life and limb. Full-scale testing was frustratingly delayed, forcing the Tritons to sail out with warp three rather than warp five engines. It was only in 2147 that the final elements were falling in place. With the first successful simulation of the warp five engine design completed, go-ahead was at last given for the construction of an experimental deep space explorer, the Enterprise (NX-01).

The experimental status of the ship was both a harsh fact and a deliberate misnomer. Certainly there was no guarantee that the plasma rechargers intended to boost power output and thus increase field strength would work as planned. The ability of the external field stabilizer to cope with the boosted fields was also in justifiable doubt, as was the rest of the innovative geometry of the propulsive arrangement. Warp propulsion was to be pronouncedly asymmetric, with the 100,000 ton, 98 m PA-1A nacelles riding on support pylons canted up at 30 degrees. Sublight thrust was to be divided in two: main exhaust nozzles tied to the primary power loop fired at the ends of the longitudinal booms that also housed the rechargers and supported the nacelles, but fusion reactors on the primary hull trailing edge next to the booms also had small vectorable exhaust ports of their own, adding to the thrust and maneuverability, and preserving mobility when main drive plasma was de-energized.

As for the novel dilithium regulators inside the raw annihilation reactor, even Captain Jonathan Archer, son of the late designer and an active participant in the program, could but cross his fingers. Fortunately, power generation seemed to work just like simulations predicted. As test flights began in October, 2150, low to medium warp was achieved relatively easily. Impulse thrust resulted in hull buckling and overheating, however, and half a year was spent on getting the dilithium focus to perform at warp 4.0. To facilitate the inevitable modification and upgrade work, the entire power generation assembly was designed to be easily exchangeable: the reaction chamber could be pulled out through the stern and a new one installed in a matter of days. The initial F1.0 flight article gave way to F1.1 before the ship was cleared for operational testing, and F2.0 was already under construction.

Yet there was more to the ship than mere propulsive experimentation. Although initially armed with ten plasma cannon, the ship was from the very beginning hardwired for phased particle beam armament. Her missile arsenal was formidable, with four bow and two stern tubes on the ventral primary hull. Four basic types of missile were available, including two fusion warheads, a KE penetrator and even an experimental antimatter device; a total of 120 shots catered for virtually every contingency. New FTL deflector and sensor systems were under development, even though NX-01 would sail out with a minimally modified Triton package.

In addition to being a competent combatant, the Enterprise was being prepared for the daunting task of deep space exploration. Gear that on the Messiers or Cosmoses had occupied most of the available volume had to be miniaturized so as not to compromise the combat mission – and with shrinking size had to come an increase in capabilities. Earth sensor technology remained as unremarkable as ever, but refinements were made on virtually every other type of exploration gear. Some of these were foolhardy, such as the use of the Erickson one-terminal transporter system for teleporting of live subjects. Others, like the experimental procedures for biohazard containment, were merely bizarre and largely ineffective.

The auxiliary craft docking bay and hangar of NX-01 were the most advanced ever devised. Precision approach aids, rapid recovery booms, air curtains across the ventral doors and between sections of the single-volume hangar plus high capacity air pumps ensured recovery, securing and bay repressurization within 80 seconds of matching of velocities. Single-point refueling and purging systems, in situ debaryonizers, advanced molecular fabricators and an onboard gamma-welding unit kept the craft in top condition despite a limited cache of spares. While standard Varioflight shuttlepods were still the preferred auxiliary type, the bays could accommodate highly nonstandard vehicles, including alien visitors, as long as they conformed to the limiting doorway dimensions of 6.5 x 3.2 x 3.0 meters. Mechanical grappler guns could retrieve velocity-matched objects at a distance of one kilometer; at closer ranges, induction brakes on the multi-monofilament cables allowed the halting of uncooperative targets up to a delta-V of 1 km/s.

Fuel and propulsive stores could be admitted onboard via two stern interfaces compatible with the same standard lighters that served the Triton fleet. Two loading shafts piercing the primary hull provided direct access to main cargo holds, generously sized for whatever items future missions might require. Initially slated to be stocked aboard were field repair items such as hull plates and impulse coils, some surface excursion vehicles and habitats, four spatial pods and a classified selection of ‘special ordnance’.

Loading was still incomplete when, on April 16th, 2151, a Klingon courier crashed on Earth while running from the enemies of the Empire. Against Vulcan warnings, Starfleet chose to promote a contact mission, hoping that returning the crash survivor would break the ice and allow Earth to forge ties with an interstellar force on par with the Vulcans. The only Earth vessel capable of delivering the survivor in a reasonable amount of time was the Enterprise. Launched with just 80 people onboard, the cruiser hit warp 4.4 sixteen hours into the mission – and a complete power failure at the 18 hour mark, when hostile boarding threatened to scuttle the entire mission. A desperate race to relocate and repossess the Klingon survivor was successful, yet yielded very little in terms of cooperation with the Klingon Empire. What it did result in was an exploration mission of far greater scope than intended: sailing out from Qo’noS, the Enterprise eventually loitered some 130 ly away from Earth before returning to Sol two years later.

Meanwhile, the original construction dock was processing NX-02, the Columbia. Again the irony of Earth’s bid for independence was highlighted: for the first time, Earth shipwrights were truly paying heed to lessons taught by alien entities. The Enterprise, Earth’s lone deep space ambassador, kept sending back mission updates and suggestions on improvements, most of them dealing with tactical systems. In the many combat engagements along the mission, the sublight missiles and the heavy Almaz plasma cannon had proven virtually useless, while an innovative overcharge mode had been discovered for the 500 GJ phase cannon, and the transporter platform had been adopted as a landing or boarding party insertion and extraction tool. Also, intelligence had been gathered on foreign shielding devices, stealth technologies and weapons, as well as on alien political systems, physiology and psychology.

Yet the return of the Enterprise in early 2153 was not in triumph of her mission and its significant achievements. Instead, that mission was completely brushed aside for another, more pressing one. Once again, a fact-finding sortie of extreme range was burdened on the vessel. For locating, assessing and hopefully negating the Xindi threat, the Enterprise was stocked with a year’s worth of supplies, equipped with a full battery of phase cannon, and fitted to carry three warp accelerators for antimatter-powered, antimatter-tipped FTL missile weapons dubbed 'photonic torpedoes'. Two of these could be installed within the confines of the hull, with their gunports between the forward sublight launch tubes (which were also made compatible with the new munitions). The third, aft-facing warp launcher had to be squeezed into the field stabilizer pod, and could only be given minimal reloads. Nevertheless, the weapons offered devastating firepower and unprecedented range, and were elemental in realizing the combat potential of the cruisers. A sensor and deflector upgrade had to be delayed to the next overhaul, however – assuming there would be one. Scientists were disembarked in favor of a reinforced platoon of surface combat specialists.

Against all odds, the mission succeeded in thwarting the Xindi designs for Earth. Victory was secured by the very method that the Vulcans had so feared when humans first sailed out: by invoking forces beyond human or Vulcan comprehension. The Xindi hostilities were exposed as minor elements of a grander interstellar, intertemporal and even interdimensional conflict. Leaving that battle to the godlike forces capable of waging it, the Enterprise team satisfied itself with worldlier acts, such as dispersing the vast Delphic Expanse. Removal of the major navigation obstacle rearranged important interstellar borders overnight. Most of the political upheavals that followed were also beyond human comprehension and control – but the more concretely observable local balance of power had also irrevocably been changed, bringing humans to the bright limelights. The primary aim of Project Enterprise had been met.

By the time matters of local politics again began to spin out of control, four additional Enterprises had been completed. Despite their full cruiser capabilities and military assignments, all still bore the NX mission class designation, denoting not so much their research abilities as their exceptionally potent warp drive systems. In the Romulan conflict, they were to be used as a silver bullet force, still among the fastest in Starfleet, and still among the most expensive. Operating with their only true peers, the new cruisers of Dauntless and Christopher classes, the Enterprises were expected to score significant victories in daring offensive maneuvers, compensating for their shortcomings in defensive operations. Andorian shield generators would offset the limited impulse maneuverability, Vulcan long range sensors the warp speed disadvantage against highest-performing Romulan vessels. Multi-species crews were to be the norm, for Starfleet concentrated the cream of its volunteer allies on ships of this type.

Few of the Enterprises made it into the second year of the war. Heroism in the war resulted in many a posthumous decoration, considered by some to be mere consolation prizes: the Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis all perished without achieving a single one of their tactical goals, co-opted as they were by vicious Romulan software attacks to serve on the side of the enemy for the last minutes of their existence. The Endeavour had better defenses against intrusive AIs and went on to fight a great number of more physical battles; further units were completed as well, quickly compensating for the early losses. Yet even those vessels that survived combat were often in a severe state of disrepair after having spent years far away from maintenance docks. Several were at first retired in favor of warp seven–capable Vulcan designs.

The Florida and the Endeavour were in more or less serviceable condition, however; only their powerplants were worn out. In an effort to improve reliability, range and exploration prowess, they were given a drastic modification in which the original powerplant was removed altogether. It was replaced by a much larger and clumsier but also less risky system where annihilation was controlled by the newly perfected forcefields rather than dilithium crystals. The new powerplant was housed in a large ventral pod mounted directly beneath the former reactor bay and connected to it via a thick vertical shaft. Antimatter tanks were now carried in the bulging lower part of the pod for an extra three years of endurance; top speed was also hiked up by almost a full warp factor.

Use was made of the pod in other ways as well. An improved navigational deflector and FTL sensor array was installed at the bow, and small holds for supplies, research gear and cargo were added on the lower stern where they could be easily accessed. A new external access route was needed in any case, as the pod had been mounted in place of the original shuttlebays. No actual shuttle capacity was installed, however; the secondary hull merely sported four docking ports in addition to the small holds, and the primary hull holds now had to accommodate the shuttlepods optionally carried. The IMRF crystal was relocated in the pod as well, and structural supports were extended from the pod to the boom aft ends in continuation of the engine pylons.

The two vessels were at first dubbed the Florida subclass in UFP Starfleet service, but this was soon renamed (along with the Florida) in honor of the Columbia, the first explorer to be lost. The pathfinder-veterans received the registries NCC-05 and NCC-06, as the new interstellar system made no difference between combat cruisers and explorers in pennant lettering. Their mission profile nevertheless very much remained one formerly deserving of an NX designation.

The *Endeavour* undergoing the final stages of refitting, portraying her new secondary hull to advantage. Its forward part houses the new power generation functions, while the doors to the aft cargo spaces are clearly visible here, as are the three structures connecting the pod to the preexisting spaceframe.

The original standard Lexington and Constellation remained in service with minimal modifications. Many of their postwar missions were as amazing in scope as those of the Columbias, but they also took a toll on the high-strung propulsion systems. The dilithium foci of the Constellation finally shattered in 2165, killing Capt. Arkadi Lunov, the last surviving cruiser commander of the legendary ‘escape velocity’ era. Similar accidents had claimed the Constitution and gravely damaged the Union; although these had been wartime losses, they had not been forgotten, and in 2167 Starfleet ordered all dilithium-regulated reactors shut down for an indefinite period of reassessment.

Results of the investigation were not favorable. When the long-idled Enterprises were paid off in 2174, Starfleet had already decided on peristaltic forcefields as the focusing system for all its future cruisers. The resulting slight drop in efficiency was accepted as the price of vastly increased reliability and safety. The Horizon and Advance cruisers that inherited the position of the Enterprise class were content with maintaining rather than challenging its speed records. Starfleet would not return to the dilithium technology until half a century later, and then in greatly altered form. Still, experience would soon show the preferability of dilithium regulation, and one is left to wonder whether Starfleet and the UFP exploration program were unduly held back by the caution of the 2170s.