Constitution III Class

Constitution III Class
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Service Period:	25th - 26th Centuries
Dimensions
Length:	560 meters
Width:	257 meters
Height:	95 meters
Mass:	1,139,705 metric tons
Specifications
Decks:	28
Crew:	500 personnel
Speed:	Warp 9.99
Armament:	Phaser Arrays Phaser Banks Torpedo Launchers
Defenses:	Metaphasic Shields
Auxiliary craft:	Starfleet Shuttlecraft

Primary Shipyards

40 Eridani A Federation Fleet Docks, Vulcan; Consolidated Marine Yards, Tellar Prime; Copernicus Ship Yards, Luna; Imperial Fleet Yards, Andoria; Lagrange Slips, Denobula; San Francisco Orbital Ship Yards, Earth

Overview

While the governments of the Khitomer Alliance were considered the victors of the Dominion War, no nation truly went unscathed. While many members of Starfleet Command wanted to return to building larger, multifaceted craft to make up for Starfleet’s losses, Starfleet’s depletion from the Dominion War was far more serious than anyone wanted to admit. This, coupled with the needs of the Romulan Relocation Effort, led the Starfleet Corps of Engineers to maintain their focus on producing smaller vessels to compensate for the needs of the resource strapped United Federation of Planets and a war weary pool of trained personnel. That was, however, until the attack upon the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2385.

On First Contact Day in 2385, multiple A500 androids went rogue and numerous vessels piloted by the androids began targeting the rescue armada, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, the Mars Orbital Facility, and other Martian facilities. Starfleet dispatched a task group in response but were unable to prevent the destruction of almost the entire surface of the planet. When the flames settled the death toll was discovered to have risen to 92,143 people and the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards were destroyed along with all vessels being constructed there. Further complicating matters was that the synthetic workers, which were initially thought to have had a programming error, were banned by the Federation Council in response to the destruction. Due to the disaster, Starfleet Command began to scale back operations and Starfleet itself took on a more militaristic mission, protecting the Federation as the Romulan Star Empire fell.

Due to the lack of resources and manpower impacting Starfleet, as well as significant morale issues, Starfleet Command issued directives to the Corps of Engineers to begin work on a new class of vessel that would be able to fulfill a variety of mission objectives while requiring less resources for construction. Dubbed the Neo Project and assigned to the San Francisco Orbital Shipyards on Earth, the Corps of Engineers decided that Project Neo would become the rebirth of the venerable Constitution Class and would serve as a symbol to remind the galaxy of the traditions that made the Federation great. As Captain Graarvin Narl, the Project Manager for the Neo Project, said: "We can send her anywhere and she can do anything. The Neo Constitution will carry Starfleet into the 25th century, and she'll do it with style."

Heir to the legacy of the Constitution Class, the Constitution III Class (or Neo-Constitution Class) was designed to be the new workhorse of the fleet, conducting exploratory missions and supporting fleet operations where needed. The help speed up the development process, the Neo-Constitutions were built using recycling components from decommissioned or scrapped vessels. Construction began at San Francisco Orbital Ship Yards, with additional vessels being built at the 40 Eridani A Federation Fleet Docks on Vulcan, Consolidated Marine Yards on Tellar Prime, and the Imperial Fleet Yards on Andoria.

Capabilities

The Constitution III Class follows the traditional lines of its 23rd Century predecessors, closely replicating the design of the Constitution II and the Shangri-La Classes. The vessel features a saucer shaped primary hull and a cylindrical engineering section that feeds twin warp nacelles similar to those of the Sagan Class. Members of the class were designed using modular construction techniques that had come into favor with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers following the Attack on Mars in 2385, allowing for ease of access and maintenance to almost every system aboard the spacecraft.

In times of peace, the Constitution III Class would be assigned to traditional five year missions of exploration in the galaxy, but this was only the tip of the iceberg for its capabilities. Members of the Constitution III Class were well suited for cargo and transportation missions due to its massive Cargo Bays and three Shuttlebays, frequently leading Starfleet to assign these vessels to resupply planets, space stations, and other starships. Due to their streamlined power generation abilities, Constitution III class ships were able to run industrial replicators near non-stop, making these ships excellent choices for missions of mercy or evacuation. In these types of scenarios, the crew were able to convert the ship's large bays into temporary housing in a matter of hours.

Amongst the advanced technology that was standard to the Constitution III included an improved electro-plasma distribution network that was able to handle a greater amount of power and a new dilithium chamber configuration within its Class IX Warp Core which was able to keep the dilithium crystals stable at high warp speeds for longer periods of time. These advancements made the Constitution III one of the fastest vessels in Starfleet and it can maintain a stable velocity of Warp 9.99 because of these advancements. The new Warp Core was also large enough to allow the Constitution III to transfer power to damaged ships or to even extend its shields to protect any ally without impacting its own defenses or systems. Engineers on the Neo Constitution were able to use this additional energy reserve to boost power to other systems, including their tractor beams allowing them to grapple enemy ships, which could easily break away from lesser starships. In addition, due to the automation of the Constitution III, the ship had enough crew to get damaged systems back online quickly and also transport repair teams to allied ships.

In combat, the Constitution III has been outfitted with advanced Metaphasic Deflector Shields and its hull has been reinforced with tritanium alloy, allowing it to stay in a fight longer, even when it faced with a coordinated enemy attack. Featuring a standard loadout of Photon and Quantum Torpedoes, the Constitution III's primary weapons are Narrow-Angle Phaser Beam Arrays, which sacrifice some of their fire arc in exchange for a stronger punch. The most striking feature of the Constitution III Class is its enhanced, albeit overpowered, Impulse Engines – which have been designed to cater to a close support envelope at sublight speeds. This modification allows the Constitution III to have improved handling in and around densely populated solar systems and provides members of this class with the highest sublight power to geometry ratio in Starfleet history, allowing it to run circles around opponents in combat.

These capabilities means that Constitution III Class ships were designed by Starfleet to be the workhorses of the fleet, and while this was the case, other ships were able to outperform the Constitution III in some roles. While advanced, Constitution III Class ships maintain many standard issue systems, meaning that advanced sensors or laboratory modules of a science ship and lacked the heavier firepower of escorts or heavy combat starships have not been included. Despite this being the case, the Constitution III's versatility allows it to perform better in tough situations than more specialized ships, allowing it to handle situations that others were not prepared for.

Refits and Variants

Through its lifetime two separate refit programs were implemented in an effort to improve the longevity of the Constitution III Class. The first generation of refits were designed to improve the vessel’s weapon systems after several members of the class were overwhelmed during encounters with more technologically sophisticated and hostile species. A second refit attempted to overcome the Constitution III’s deficits with scientific exploration, leading to portions of the Saucer Module to be reconfigured to house additional sensor equipment and laboratories at the expense of the already limited defensive suite.

Mission Profiles

Crisis and Emergency Response, Pathfinder and Reconnaissance Operations, Scientific and Survey Operations. Vessels of the Constitution III Class are highly sought after postings due to the legacy of the Constitution Class vessels that came before and their return to five-year missions.

Naming Conventions

Members of the Constitution III Class have names taken from many different naming conventions from throughout the Federation, but are commonly named after historic Federation vessels or vessels that contributed to their construction.

Notable Starships

• U.S.S. Constitution, Class Prototype
• U.S.S. Enterprise-G (U.S.S. Titan-A)
• U.S.S. Excalibur-B
• U.S.S. Exeter
• U.S.S. Intrepid
• U.S.S. Lexington
• U.S.S. Saratoga