Federation U.S.S. Belknap class Strike Cruiser (Star Trek):

From: Ships of Starfleet and 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 Belknap class was original mean as companion vessels for the Enterprise class heavy cruisers when the ships were constructed or refitted but soon after launching the lead ship of this class, the USS Decatur, it was shown that this ship class could do all the jobs of an Enterprise class while constructed in a smaller hull. During the construction of further units of the class, Starfleet decided to change the mission of the ship to combat patrol duties and they became replacements for a vast number of perimeter patrol ships that had been constructed during the four year wars. The Decatur is of a different design then the other ship and to reflect this, the rest of the ships were renamed to the Belknap class. All except the Decatur severed in active duty roles for most of their careers and the Decatur was considered to be an excellent training ship for the crews going to Belknap class cruisers so when enough were commissioned, the Decatur was transferred for training.

The Belknap class are designed for operations at high warp speeds and all except for the Decatur can reach warp twelve in emergency. Due to hull configuration, the Decatur is limited to a speed of just over warp ten. The shields of these ships are designed to withstand a huge amount of damage and except for the Decatur, the shields are equal to those carried on the larger Enterprise class. The ships are heavily armed. The Decatur carries five twin banks of heavy phasers on the saucer section and two single mounts bellow the secondary hull but later ships carry more phaser mounts. Most of the later ships carry seven twin banks of heavy phasers with all but two mounted on the saucer section and a single phaser mount on a spar behind the primary hull over the impulse engine. Two units, the USS Raan and USS Sur Cha have an extra bank of phasers. All Belknap class strike cruisers are armed with two forward firing photon torpedo launchers.

Unlike the Enterprise class, these ships have facilities for only two shuttles and no space to carry fighters. Munch of the reduced ability to carry embarked craft allows the smaller size of the ship. These ships due have facilities to act as flagships. The ships have good but small entertainment and exercise facilities. The ships do have a much smaller crew than an enterprise class cruiser.

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 either be far 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-2501

Vehicle Type: Strike Cruiser

Crew:	Decatur	326 (49 officers and 277 enlisted)
	Belknap	395 (55 officers and 340 enlisted)
	Later Ships	410 (55 officers and 355 enlisted)

Troops: 40 Marines and 10 Shuttle Pilots
Passengers: 10

Vehicles:
Shuttles:

Standard Shuttles (3 for Decatur)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Siege Phaser Cannons (5, 7, or 8 banks of 2 each):	800 each bank
	Siege Phaser Cannons (1 or 2, Individual mounts):	400 each
	Photon Torpedo Tubes (2):	800 each
	Main Deflector Array:	5,000
	Warp Nacelles (2, 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 (Decatur):	4,000 a side (24,000 Total)
	[3] Variable Force Field (All Others):	6,000 a side (36,000 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] Shield's positions can be varied and all can be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,200 Decatur / 1,800 Others total) 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 0.85 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:
Decatur: Uses a warp engine that allows the ship to travel at Warp Factor 8.0 on cruise (0.058 light years per hour), Warp Factor 10.0 Flank (0.121 light years per hour), and Warp Factor 10.5 Emergency (0.131 light years per hour).
All Others: Uses a warp engine that allows the ship to travel at Warp Factor 8.0 on cruise (0.058 light years per hour), Warp Factor 10.2 Flank (0.121 light years per hour), and Warp Factor 12.0 Emergency (0.197 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 ship, 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: Decatur: 912.07 feet (278.0 meters) Others: 951.44 feet (290.0 meters)
Height: Decatur: 220.14 feet (67.1 meters) Others: 221.46 feet (67.5 meters)
Width: Decatur: 416.99 feet (127.1 meters) Others: 464.90 feet (141.7 meters)
Mass: Decatur: 171,000 metric tons standard (168,500 mt light, 174,000 mt full load) Others: 187,000 metric tons standard (183,000 mt light, 191,500 mt full load) [Ships of Starfleet Volume One]
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: 3.9 billion credits to construct due to large amounts of research equipment. As far as it is known, the Federation does not sell their starship designs to other interested parties.

Weapon Systems:

Siege Phaser Cannons mounts: Decatur: Has five twin banks of siege phasers with three bank on top and two banks on of the primary hull and has two single mounts on the bottom of the secondary hull. Most Belknap Class: Has seven twin banks of siege phasers with three bank on top and three banks on of the primary hull as well as one bank on the bottom of the secondary hull. There is also a single phaser mount above and behind the ships impulse engine. Raan and Sur Cha: Has eight 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, and phaser bank above and behind the ships impulse engine. The ships also have one single phaser mount on the rear of the secondary hull.
The weapons 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. Weapons system has 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 inflict 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.

[ Brodkil TM, Bushido Industries TM, CAF TM, Catyr TM, CCW TM, Consortium of Civilized Worlds TM, Coyles TM, Free Worlds Council TM, Gene Splicers TM, K-Hex TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kreeghor TM, Machine People TM, M.D.C. TM, Mega-Damage TM, Metzla TM, M’Kri Hardware TM, Monro TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Noro TM, Paradise Federation TM, Phase World TM, Psylite TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Seljuks TM, Splugorth TM, Sunaj TM, Trans-Galactic Empire TM, Tri-Galactic Military Service TM, United Worlds Warlock TM, U.W.W. TM, Wolfen TM, and Zembahk TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Cardassian TM, Deep Space Nine TM, Jem'Hadar TM, Ketracel White TM, Klingon TM, Photon Torpedo TM, Quantum Torpedo TM, and United Federation of Planets TM are trademarks owned by Paramount Pictures. ]

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).

Return