Guide:Doppler (scout)
| Doppler scout | |
| Doppler | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview | |
| Category | scout |
| Operational | 2157 - 2177 |
| Constructed | 94 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 150.0 m (w/o sensor dish) 162.0 m (w/ sensor dish) |
| Beam | 46.1 m |
| Height | 36.5 m (w/o ventral cannon) 45.0 m (w/ ventral cannon) |
| Mass | 99,100 tons |
| Performance | |
| Cruise Speed | w 3 |
| Max Speed | w 4.1 |
| Endurance | 6 months |
| Complement | |
| Officers | 8 |
| Enlisted | 42
|
| Tactical Systems | |
| Beam Weapons |
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| Missile Weapons | * 2x torpedo tubes (w/20 photonic torpedoes) (optional ventral turret) |
| Shields | |
| Auxiliary Craft |
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| Historical | |
| Ships of Note |
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| Canonicity | |
| Design | SFC |
| Name | SFC |
| History | SFC
|
The less than stellar record of the Mercury scouts in obtaining information from behind Romulan lines was a major problem for the UESF. With the introduction of the Marshall and Cavalry classes, admirals finally had the tools to wage offensive war against the Romulan forces. But without detailed information from scouting missions, the enemy could not be located. Clearly, a more survivable scoutship type was needed to replace the Mercuries.
In 2157, modifications were performed on an as yet unnamed Mercury hull to boost its weapons capacity. The whole fire control system was changed, beginning with computer hard- and software upgrades and later expanding to a refit of all fire control sensors and laser emitters. Laser power conduits were redesigned for better endurance and peak power transmission. The three decks below the bridge were all omitted and the bridge buried deeper inside the main pressure hull. Bow lasers were doubled in number, and the navigational deflector replaced by a far larger assembly, capped by a sensor dish at the extreme bow. A rotating phased particle beam cannon turret was slung under the hull and provided heavy fire support in multiple directions.
The redesign grew to include an engine upgrade where the reaction engines were better encapsulated and blended to the pressure hull for extra protection, and the warp engine gained two more coils within the same nacelle structure. Crew requirements went down to fifty, but accommodation standards could not be improved as total volume had gone down even more radically. Four lifeboats were still available in the new design, and a 8.5-meter reconnaissance pod with full atmospheric capability was added, berthed on the upper stern of the pressure hull. A landing party of eight plus two flight crew could be stealthily inserted near enemy surface installations, or a boarding team breached into an enemy hull, yet no such party ever returned to tell of the true nature of Romulan physique, let alone of tactically more significant issues.
The final and most important survivability-increasing modification was the installation of an Andorian subspace shielding device, far humbler than the Marshall units yet still far better than the heaviest EM shields or hull armor. The shield generator system was mounted in two side sponsons flanking the forward hull. [Note: apocryphal for game.]
The new scout was a much more survivable design than the original Mercury class. The prototype was quickly named USS Doppler and sent to scout on Romulan carrier fleets on the Hydra area. She was soon followed by more than fifty sister ships. The increase in tactical and strategic information brought by these ships was decisive. Earth admirals now went for the offensive, sending large hunter fleets into Romulan space to search for naval bases, based on hints gleaned from the observing of Romulan naval movements. One such expedition paid off in 2159, when the old cruisers Halsey, Gorshkov and Yamamoto managed to cripple a major offensive force replenishing on a planetary base. Others met with disaster in Romulan ambushes, but Earth was finally on the move now. After 2159, Romulans were on the defensive, and the war became a race of finding and destroying enemy fleets and command outposts hiding in space. Planetary assaults and attacks on shipping dropped down to almost nil for the final stages of the war.
The historically most significant representative of the Doppler class by far was the vessel that revealed the position of a Romulan forward command post at Cheron. Although not realized at the time, the base served as the main subspace communications relay station for forward Romulan forces, and the raid mounted against it virtually paralyzed Romulan attacks and collapsed their defense structure at a crucial moment. Curiously, there is disagreement as to which Doppler scout made the historic observation: USS Cordwainer, USS Miramar and USS Selyan’a all were operating in the area, all sent back coded reports, and all were lost with all hands before their next report. Moreover, UESF Forward Observation Outpost 22 receiving the reports was destroyed only two days after relaying the information.
The Dopplers suffered lighter losses than their Mercury forebears. Of the 94 ships built, only 22 were lost in action. Eighteen of the best-preserved survivors received NCC registries and forcefield generators for service in the joint UFP Starfleet after 2161; others were sold to allies as local defense vessels. Upgrades were harder to come by, since the technology aboard the Dopplers had become outdated already during the war. The last Dopplers ended their service in 2177, and were succeeded by small numbers of Placido scientific scouts. No specimens were saved for the Fleet Museum, but several ships were converted for civilian use. These can still be found in various planetary surplus depots in the UFP core area, in varying states of disrepair – although again, a few examples have been refurbished for competing in the Bolian regatta.