Federation U.S.S. Ascension class Dreadnought (Star Trek):

From: Starfleet Prototype

This design is meant for the times between the movies Star Trek Two: Wrath of Khan and Star Trek Six: The Undiscovered Country. This could easily also be used in Next generation times as ships pulled from Mothball / Reserve fleets to cover the huge losses incurred while fighting against the Borg and Dominion.

The Federation experimented with a type of vessel they designated Dreadnoughts. These vessels are designed around cruiser and frigate designs but add a third nacelle for greater warp speed and the vessels usually have greater shields than cruiser and frigate designs. These ships are considered heavy combatants and often operate in sectors which engagements are considered very likely. Their high speed also makes them often the first ships dispatched to a trouble zone. The various dreadnought classes were replaced in service by the Excelsior class battleship which was generally considered to be more flexible and more capable. Still, many captains and crews preferred the dreadnoughts over the Excelsior class.

The Ascension class dreadnought is designed from the Belknap class strike cruiser as a less expensive supplement to the Federation class dreadnought which the latter is very similar in design to the Enterprise class heavy cruiser although the Federation was rebuilt from an older Federation class dreadnought similar to the way that the Enterprise was rebuilt from its Constitution configuration. The Belknap and the Ascension classes have about an eighty percent compatibility with components. It carries equal shields to the Federation class and has the same top speed as the Federation class. The Ascension's only real weakness is that the vessel only has two photon torpedo launchers. The Ascension class carries a similar Phaser bank layout to the Belknap class although the Phasers mounted behind the warp engine are not carried due to being the location for the support strut for the third warp nacelle. The vessel has a total of nine Phaser banks which each has two Phasers. Six of the Phasers banks are mounted on the vessels primary hull with three on the top and three on the bottom of the dish. Three Phaser banks are mounted on the secondary hull with one bank under the hull forward of the warp nacelle supports, one bank under the hanger, and one bank above the vessel's hanger. The Ascension carries heavier shields than a Belknap class and are about equal to those carried on other dreadnought classes.

Most Ascension senior officers come from serving on Belknap class cruisers. There is a strong comradery between the crews of the two classes even though the Ascension class often pulls the best crews from the Belknap crews. There is also a strong rivalry against Enterprise and Federation class crews. It could easily be called a simple "Us and them" attitude. The Ascension class is slightly more crowded than the Belknap class due to carrying a larger crew and more equipment. Most crew relaxation equipment is identical to the Belknap class and have facilities to act as flagships although not as extensive as those carried on the Federation class. As well, research facilities are reduced compared to the Belknap class. These ships have limited hanger facilities and carry no fighters and can only carry two shuttles.

This design is written to be able to interact with modified phase world rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details. There is a lack of hard detail on this ship. Some materials have suggested accelerations that are simply beyond scope. I have taken a moderate level in writing up this starship for Phase World because otherwise the ship would be far either too powerful or far too weak for Phase World. Warp speeds are far slower than the FTL speeds for Phase World but they are very close to those from the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. Also, a note on the mass of starships. The original sources indicated much smaller masses for starships than Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual does and where possible, both masses are listed for the gamers to choose which one seems most appropriate.

Model Type: NCC-2520
Vehicle Type: Dreadnought (Would be considered a heavy cruiser by Phase World Terms)
Crew: 485 (65 Officers and 420 Enlisted)
Troops: 60 Marines and 10 Shuttle Pilots
Passengers: 10

Vehicles:
Shuttles:

Standard Shuttles

M.D.C. By Location:

	Siege Phaser Cannons (9 banks of 2 each):	800 each bank
	Photon Torpedo Tubes (2):	800 each
	Main Deflector Array:	5,000
	Warp Nacelles (3, Secondary Hull):	15,000 each
	Secondary Hull Hangar Door:	2,000
	Impulse Engine:	6,000
	[1] Primary Bridge:	12,000
	[1] Auxiliary Bridge (Also used as Flag Bridge):	12,000
	[2] Primary Hull (Main Body):	30,000
	[2] Secondary Hull (Main Body):	25,000
	Connection between Hulls:	10,000
	[3] Variable Force Field:	8,000 a side (48,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. This ship does have an auxiliary bridge. Even if both bridges are destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but the ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridges that do not penetrate the ship’s integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridges.
[2] Depleting the M.D.C. of the primary or secondary hull will put the cruiser out of commission. If the secondary hull is destroyed, the primary hull will remain capable of sublight travel and weapons may still be fired. If the primary hull is destroyed, all internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.
[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (2,400 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Atmosphere: Cannot travel within an atmosphere efficiently.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent the speed of light. The starship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.75 percent of light per melee.
As an alternative, the starship can reach .99 of the speed of light but is normally restricted to slower speeds so that the starship is not affected severely by the time attenuation that occurs at the higher sublight speeds.
Stardrive: Uses a warp engine that allows the ship to travel at Warp Factor 8.7 on cruise (0.075 light years per hour), Warp Factor 10.8 Flank (0.144 light years per hour), and Warp Factor 12.8 Emergency (0.239 light years per hour). Warp speed is raised to the third power to figure out how many times the speed of light the ship travels. These speeds are very slow when compared to Phase World ships, so if used in that universe, they could be increased enough to operate within Three Galaxy speeds but should not exceed them.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. The ship carries about 5 years worth of supplies on board and a small hydroponics section.

Statistical Data:
Length: 980.3 feet (298.8 meters)
Height: 255.2 feet (77.8 meters)
Width: 464.90 feet (141.7 meters)
Mass: 245,000 metric tons standard (241,000 mt light, 247,000 mt full load) [Starfleet Prototype]
Power System: Primary power system is a Matter/Anti-Matter Reactor with a 20 year lifespan. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 11,000 tons (10,000 metric tons) of cargo in addition to the standard compliment of supplies and ammunition.
Market Cost: 5.9 billion credits to construct. As far as it is known, the Federation does not sell their starship designs to other interested parties.

Weapon Systems:

Siege Phaser Cannons mounts: Has nine twin banks of siege phasers with three bank on top and three banks on of the primary hull, one bank on the bottom of the secondary hull in front of warp nacelle supports, one bank below hanger, and two above the ship’s hanger. The weapon's damage is about equal to the laser cannons used by the CAF but the Phasers have a greater rate of fire. The Phasers are also slightly shorter ranged but only slightly. Both Phaser Cannons in each bank can be linked or can be fired separately. They cannot be used when traveling faster than the speed of light. Weapon systems have half the normal penalties to hit fighters and small targets.
Maximum Effective Range: 12,437 miles (20,000 km) in space and 12.4 miles (20 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 2D4x100 M.D.C. each or 4D4x100 for both in a bank.
Rate of Fire: Maximum of Three (3) times per melee for each cannon.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Photon Torpedo Launching Systems: Both launchers are mounted on the secondary hull in a forward facing direction above the main deflector array. While the launchers are older than those used on the U.S.S. Defiant and other next generation ships, they can use new torpedoes and quantum torpedoes if used in later Next Generation times. Newer photon torpedo warheads carry more anti-matter.
Effectively very similar to Phase World cruise missile launchers but instead of having groups of multiple launchers, Starfleet has concentrated on launchers that can launch more than one torpedo at a time. Once a spread of torpedoes has been launched, the launchers must reload and rearm before launching another spread of torpedoes. In the early service of this ship, it carried photon torpedoes which are matter/anti-matter warheads but they can carry quantum torpedoes when they are available. Torpedoes have a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship). When the warhead's drive system goes dead, the torpedo will travel in a straight line unless preset to self destruct or receives a destruct code but has a very low odd of hitting a starship (great for hitting bases and planets because the targets don't move, and Torpedoes when dead are -25% to detect). See modified starship rules for more details - torpedoes have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. Launchers can launch on multiple targets each.
Maximum Effective Range: Powered torpedo range is 8000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere, and 4 million miles (6,437, 376 km/21.5 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage & Properties: Photon Torpedoes (Matter/Anti-Matter Warheads): Old Series inflict 2D6x100 each, Star Trek Movies One through Six inflicts 3D6x100, and Next Generation inflicts 4D6x100 each. Quantum Torpedoes: 8D6x100 each.
Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2 per launcher, per melee round, for a maximum of 4 torpedoes per melee. Launchers are reloaded on the same melee and can fire again on the next.
Payload: 200 torpedoes (100 per launcher, launchers are mounted in pairs and can use the other launcher's magazine if that launcher is damaged.

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Technical information sourced partially from Starfleet Prototype.

I would like to recognize Henning Rogge as giving assistance with the revision of the Star Trek starships.

Image drawn and copyrighted by Mischa (E-Mail Mischa). Click on line drawing for a better view.

Mischa has no art home page at present but many other items on my site.

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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