Hannibal Class (2372)

 

History

The Hannibal-class escort was a competitive design to the Defiant and was largely developed in parallel to it. While the ablative hull armor and the type of armament are common to both classes, the Hannibal employs overall more conservative design principles, most notably separate nacelles. Furthermore, the Hannibal class is not only heavily armed, but also has a medical and scientific department and considerable freight capacity all of which are not available on the Defiant. In 2368, when the plans for the Hannibal prototype were ready, Starfleet decided in favor of the more progressive Defiant design which promised a better performance especially in brief but heavy battle situations as they were expected after the first Borg incursion.

When the Dominion imposed a more imminent threat than the Borg, the plans of the Hannibal were reviewed and approved of with minor changes and improvements that were difficult to implement on the Defiant which was already in series production. Construction of the USS Hannibal was pushed through very quickly, and was completed in 2372. The most significant change was that the Hannibal was provided with a shuttlebay in the aft section, whereas the original plans only included a hatch in the bottom for a single shuttlecraft. In addition to the ablative armor, the ships are coated with a novel active hull layer that can disperse up to 95% of incident sensor rays. The coating is therefore equivalent to a cloaking device, until the ship is in visual range, complying with the Treaty of Algeron. Hannibal-class ships are currently the fastest vessels of Starfleet besides the Intrepid class and Prometheus class. Hannibal-class ships were introduced too late to play a major role in the battles of the Dominion War. It has been decided, however, that their construction will continue, and that they will be securing the borders of the Federation together with ships of the Defiant class, Sovereign class, and dedicated scout vessels.

 

Depictions

 

Data

Class specifications
Ship type: Escort
Length: 189m
Width: 122m
Height: 29m
Crew complement: 78
Max. speed: Warp 9.97
Commissioned ships
USS Hannibal NCC-74945
USS Ariane NCC-75063
USS Luna NCC-75064
USS Genesis NCC-75080
USS Kyushu NCC-75081
USS Chekov NCC-75082
USS Wasa NCC-75083
USS Gage NCC-75084
USS Artemis NCC-75085
USS Diamond NCC-75153

 

Credits

Thanks to Michael Chandler for several tips how to refine the design.

 


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