Starship Design Notes, Part 2

Introduction

I stumbled on the Starfleet Museum site by accident and found it very interesting. This site rekindled the urge from when I was a kid to draw and design make believe starships, although none I did were as good as these. Since Masao already had very interesting outsides done, I contacted him and asked if he would mind it I would try to design the insides. I agreed with him that while the Enterprise NX-01 looks good, it has the wrong look for a ship that is supposed to predate NCC-1701 by 100 years. However, the ships at Starfleet Museum have just the right look, and the history to go along with them is great. Masao has been a huge help in this effort. I consult him often about the layouts and he critiques all of them.

These notes detail and contrast how the internal design of the ships changes with time, technology, and species and my personal progression and philosophy how I designed them. This document is a work in progress. Ships at the bottom haven't been designed yet!

Allen Rolfes

Notes on Each Ship, since 2200

The number after each ship is the launch date of the lead ship followed by the ship type/function. They are in Masao's Star Trek universe chronological order, but not necessarily the order I designed them. In general the notes for each ship apply to future ships of the same type until the technology changes. The first ship has more notes than most since it describes the systems and technology for the first time. Each set of ship notes then describes how technology and design differs from the ships before, and also design differences between species. I also describe any significant deviations I made from Masao's online pictures or specs, then list ships stats and specs which are different from or in addition to those in the main online writeup:

• Ship size: Metric ton size of the ship normally loaded. Used to calculate LY range and many other specs.
• Subspace efficiency: A measure of how ‘streamlined' the ship is at warp. Higher numbers mean lower deuterium usage. 100% is defined as Amarillo. Used to calculate LY range.
• Propulsion efficiency: A measure of how efficient in deuterium usage the warp engine, nacelles, Bussard collector and plasma accelerator are. Higher numbers mean lower deuterium usage. 100% is defined as Amarillo. Used to calculate LY range.
• Amount of deuterium: Given in cubic meters and metric tons. Used to calculate LY range.
• Cruising/max speed: Cruising and maximum warp factor. Cruising speed used to calculate many fuel related specs.
• LY range: Range at cruising speed from one tank of deuterium.
• Months of deuterium: Months to consume deuterium if operated continuously at cruising speed.
• Warp engine size/type: Fusion or M/AM engine, size in cubic meters.
• AM bottles: Number of AM bottles if ship has any. This does not impact range.
• Escape pods: Number of escape pods if ship has any.
• Container cargo: Number of standard cargo containers. Used to calculate cargo duration.
• Bulk/bin cargo: Cubic meters of bulk or bin cargo spaces if ship has any. Bin cargo used to calculate cargo duration.
• Months of container/bin cargo: Months the consumable cargo will last the crew.
• Crew compliment: If different from main writeup. Used to calculate cargo duration.
• Number/type of missiles: If different from main writeup.
• Number/type energy weapons: If different from main writeup.
• Number/type shuttles: If different from main writeup.

It has been over a quarter century since the last Romulan heavy cruiser, Cataract. The overall layout was similar to Cataract. The upper primary and secondary hull had most ships crew functions. Descending through the rest of the primary hull was weapons, deuterium, cargo and shuttle bays. The secondary hull had the main fusion engine and impulse engines. misc. support systems were in the secondary hull but also in odd shaped spaces of the primary hull. The Romulans had made significant advances in starship and component design and construction since Cataract:

• The overall shape was a much sleeker design than Cataract that improved subspace efficiency.
• The main fusion engine was a much improved design. It was roughly the same size as Cataract's but the quality of plasma was far superior which eliminated the need for plasma accelerators. The engine efficiency was even marginally better than Cataract's. This, combined with the smaller weight of Cracker meant it could carry only a little more than a third of the deuterium as Cataract, but still have a marginally better range. The range was not equivalent to Earth M/AM ships of the day, but was in the same general ballpark and very respectable for a fusion based ship.
• The nacelles were no longer oval in shape but straight cylinders like Earth's. In fact it was commented that they were so similar to Moskva's nacelles that espionage may have been involved. These nacelles were much better suited to handle the higher energy plasma the fusion engine could deliver enabling Cracker to reach comparable speeds to front line earth ships of the day.
• The plasma cannon is of slightly different design. It is still fed directly from the fusion engine, but through a smaller port into a separate accumulation chamber associated with the gun. This chamber is in the engine room. Pervious models had no accumulation chamber. The main engine itself served as the accumulation chamber and after firing the cannon, the main engine was depleted of plasma. Now plasma can be bled slowly enough from the engine so other ships functions such as impulse are not affected. Plasma can be held in this chamber for quite some time so the gun is ready to fire when entering a battlefield. Only if caught completely unaware with no plasma in the accumulation chamber is the ship at a tactical disadvantage for a couple minutes until the chamber can be filled. After firing the cannon, the engine is still at normal operating conditions. Plasma in the accumulation chamber is discharged through a two stage acceleration tube. These are smaller than the single stage in previous models but is still just as or more powerful. The second stage can change the direction of the plasma exiting the barrel so the cannon still has a small firing arc.
• Laser cannons are included in a frontline heavy cruiser for the first time. Previously, lasers were only in much smaller Romulan ships that were too small to mount a plasma cannon. The lasers are very large and powerful and are fed from plasma from the engines. The conversion from plasma to laser power is not as efficient as the plasma cannon, but as long as the main reactor is running, the lasers can be fired at a second's notice. This partially offsets the tactical disadvantage if the ship is caught with an empty plasma cannon accumulation chamber. The plasma cannon acceleration tubes and laser cannons are on a large weapons room just fore of the engine room.
• The bridge and main computer are still of similar design to previous ships but smaller and more powerful.
• Sensors have advanced considerably. The bridge mound now had sensors ringing it. A large ‘tail' was added on the top rear of the ship that contained a row of very powerful omni-directional sensors. This row of sensors would ‘resonate' in all directions and it didn't matter that the bulk of the ship was in the way to sensing in below and forward directions.
• The missiles have shrunk in size and one missile now fills offensive and defensive roles like earth ships of the era. The dual missile launchers are still large powerful devices that can launch missiles at high velocity.
• Cargo transporters are included for the first time. They are of similar design to Earth cargo transporters introduced less than 10 years previously which again raises the possibility of espionage. Cracker enjoys the same design advances that cargo transporters allowed earth ships (see Hyperion for a list of these):
  • Hallways could be narrower
  • The wide cargo elevator network could be eliminated. The small personnel turbolift was retained.
  • Cargo could be beamed directly to odd shaped holds in ‘nooks and crannies' throughout the ship instead of needing to be physically moved there in cargo containers. As with earth ships, some amount of cargo continued to be stored in standard size containers, but these containers could now be beamed as well. The cargo transporters were still in close proximity to the shuttle bay just in case some cargo entered by that route.
  • Shuttle bay size and shuttle craft size and number were reduced since the cargo load was mostly taken over by transporters.
  • In Romulan ships, the large and heavy dual docking port was eliminated. Personnel could enter through small personnel airlocks on the rear face of the primary hull or via personnel shuttles.
• The impulse drive was a long rectangular deck similar to earth ships rather than the cone shape. It was still fed off the main fusion engine which was the only engine on the ship.
• There were still dual separate shuttle bays accessible through belly doors, but they were much smaller than Cataract. A bulk cargo storage room was attached to the shuttle bay that could be used for additional shuttles or other odd shaped cargo.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 190%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 351%
  • Amount of deuterium: 7,700 M3, 1,515 MT
  • LY range: 24.4 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 6.3 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 3,600 M3, fusion tokamak
  • Container cargo: 64
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 680 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 14.4 months
  • Crew compliment: 190
  • Number/type of missiles: 120 offensive/defensive
  • Number/type energy weapons:3, 1 plasma cannon, 2 laser cannons in fixed housings
  • Number/type shuttles: not specified

Since this fighter is so small (much smaller than Minotaur) I originally thought about drawing it at a larger scale than all the other ships I have done. However, after starting this design, it went smoothly, and while ‘pixilated' you still get a good idea of how the ship is arranged. So it was left at the same scale as all other ships.

Puffin was the most advanced M/AM fuel cell warp capable fighter of its day with the following internal arrangement from front to rear of the very sleek shaped ‘fish' or ‘penguin' shaped hull:

• The front half of the hull was more heavily armored (and thus a thicker hull) than the rear half. This protected the vital cockpit area from direct frontal attack. Various other shapes like the nacelle, impulse drives, laser cannon blisters, and fins were attached to the main hull shape and were not heavily armored. The rear of the fighter was protected from attack only by the shields and the fighters superior speed and maneuverability.
• The nose cone contained the forward sensors with the central point of the dish sticking outside the ship.
• Behind that the structural support and utility transfer core began which, although it changed shape as it went, ran all the way to the tail cone.
• Behind the forward sensors around the core was misc. support systems space.
• Above this the forward impulse thrust drive was attached to the outside of the ship. A utility space ran from the forward central core up to the front part of the drive to provide power to it. The entire drive unit could swivel port and starboard through a large an arc. Maneuvering fins inside the exhaust outlet could direct the thrust very slightly up and down.
• Next was the tokamak fusion reactor which powered the laser cannons and impulse drives. The engine was oriented standing on its edge perpendicular to the main axis if the ship. The central core went around the engine on port and starboard and rejoined immediately aft of the engine.
• The cockpit and main computer were next above the central core. The crew accessed through an overhead hatch. The cockpit did not eject, but the crew wore spacesuits while aboard and left out the hatch if absolutely necessary. The crew sat three across. The main computer was contained in the instrument panel in front of and on either side of the crew seats. Armored view ports and the external indents for them for port and starboard seats extended to just above the fusion engine. The view ports were actually a backup means to see outside. Mostly the crew looked at their tactical and visual displays. On either side at the rear of the cockpit were small equipment lockers.
• Outside the main oval, just where the fusion engine ended, the laser cannon blisters started. Utility transfer spaces on the extreme port and starboard just below the cockpit ran to the laser cannons to provide power.
• Below the cockpit the warp nacelle started centrally and on either side were misc. support system spaces.
• Behind the cockpit was the missile hold which contained 20 mini missiles and two launchers. The missiles were not stored in a rotary drum as mentioned by Masao online but rather in stacked clips in an upside down ‘V' shape. Small indents in the external hull which ran outside the hull along the cockpit marked where the missiles exited. Beneath that the warp nacelle and misc. support system spaces continued. The laser cannon blisters and misc. support system spaces ended at the rear edge of the missile hold.
• Next, above the utility transfer space were the six M/AM warp fuel cells. These were in three rows across by two long. Three access panels on the top of the ship provided external access for each row. These fed through the utility transfer space which was expanded in cross section due to the increased amount of conduits it carried to the warp nacelle still running along the belly of the ship. The warp nacelle had extra equipment attached in a small blister on the bottom where the plasma from the fuel cells was fed into it.
• Port and starboard of the fuel cells were shallow bays for the landing legs. The belly of the ship was now rising up so that the central utility core was resting along the belly. The warp nacelle extended in a straight line outside the main contour of the ship.
• Just aft of the fuel cells, the port and starboard impulse drive units were attached. The entire units could swivel up and down through a large an arc. Maneuvering fins inside the exhaust outlet could direct the thrust very slightly port and starboard. This, combined with the nose drive unit which could swivel in opposite directions as the rear units provided exceptional thrust and maneuverability.
• Just aft of the fuel cells along the belly of the ship the utility transfer core had arms that went out to feed the rear port and starboard impulse drives. After this, the utility transfer space reduced to a narrow cross section since it no longer had to carry many conduits.
• Just aft of the M/AM fuel cells above the now narrow utility core was the deuterium storage tank.
• Above most of the deuterium tank was the deflector sail. This could be used in place of a navigational deflector dish in small ships.
• The narrow utility core ran up the remainder of the ship's belly under the deuterium tank to the rear nose cone which contained aft and lateral sensors. It also connected to the rear of the deflector fin here.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 175%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 800%
  • Amount of deuterium: 10 M3, 2 MT
  • LY range: << 1 LY
  • Months of deuterium: NA, has M/AM fuel cells for warp
  • Warp engine size/type: 6 M/AM 56K fuel cells, 9 M3, fusion tokamak for impulse only

Asia was a test ship for many radically new designs, components, and fabrication methods in starship construction. The technology that allowed all this to occur was the transporter. Using the transporter to move cargo was only its first use and even this alone had large implications in star ship design first realized in the Hyperion. This new use of the transporter first begun to be realized in the Asia was its use in manufacturing.

Star Trek shows and other canon material only hint at using transporters in manufacturing but never mention it outright or the impact it could have on manufacturing. The food synthesizers often seen were mentioned as being based on transporter technology and would take basic organic building blocks from bulk storage and assemble them into the desired food. In a sense, the food was ‘manufactured' by the transporter. Non-organic components have also been manufactured this way. In one episode, Worf was looking for a gift to give someone and after viewing a catalog of items, had a device that looked like a tabletop version of the food synthesizer ‘manufacture' him a crystal goblet. Apparently this device took non-organic components from bulk storage (silicon, carbon, lead and other elements that would go into a crystal goblet) and assembled them on a molecular level to make the goblet. These are tantalizing hints that transporters could be used to manufacture almost any item from its base elements.

The ability to use transporters in manufacturing should come about very soon after cargo transporters are perfected. This has huge implications in manufacturing. Since a transporter assembles items on the molecular level, items can be designed on the molecular level. For example, metal alloys, carbon composites, and other materials can be combined on the molecular level to give composite materials with strengths, weights, and other properties far superior to any composite materials traditionally manufactured. Even materials that are 100% metal alloys can be made far stronger. The atomic metal crystal size, shape and orientation can be precisely designed. Even today it is realized that if the crystal structure of metals could be precisely controlled, metals could be an order of magnitude stronger, or more flexible, or both than they currently are. Starship components could be designed that are far stronger, lighter, and smaller than ever possible before. Everything from the structural supports, warp and impulse engines, support systems, plasma conduits, warp nacelles could be built with parts that are far superior to anything before.

Of course, the first attempt at using these components in a starship was far from perfect. The components would be extremely expensive and inefficient to make. This would prevent their immediate and widespread use and was the reason why Asia was so expensive and so few were built. The components themselves were not as strong or light as they potentially could be. Many decades of refinement would follow as these components became better and cheaper and gradually worked their way into mainstream manufacturing. But nevertheless, Asia was the first attempt to use transporter manufactured materials in a starship.

Other design notes and changes in Asia:

• For many years it was known that dilithium crystals had the odd property of being completely ‘transparent' to a plasma stream of a certain power level. If fired at the crystal at a certain angle, the plasma stream would pass right through it. Most impressively, this property also applied to an anti-matter plasma stream. The electrical/magnetic fields common to all materials were aligned just so in the unique structure and composition of dilithium to align the stream to pass through the crystal structure without touching any of the atoms in the crystal. The crystal was also extremely robust to heat and other severe conditions. It was determined that this unique property could be used to react a normal plasma and an AM plasma stream. If each stream was fired at opposite sides of the crystal, the streams would be aligned precisely so each atom would collide exactly head on in the center of the crystal and the resulting extremely highly energized plasma stream would exit the crystal at a right angle to the original entering streams, all without touching the crystal. As in a normal M/AM reactor, excess matter would be used to form the basis of the exiting plasma stream. The fact that each atom collided exactly head on caused the efficiency and power output potential of an engine based on this to be far superior to any existing at the time.
• The problem that prevented practical use of this type of M/AM engine was the energy level of the plasma fed into the crystal needed to be higher than previously used. Lower energized plasma would not align itself properly and would strike the crystal structure and scatter throughout the crystal. AM plasma would therefore destroy the crystal. If sufficiently powerful plasma was fed into the crystal, the resulting super energized plasma exiting the crystal was also far more powerful than generated by the M/AM engines of the time. An engine could not be built strong, small and light enough to mount in a ship that could operate in this fashion.
• Transporter manufacturing technology changed all this. A new type of engine could now be built that used a dilithium controlled M/AM reaction that was strong, small and light enough to mount in a starship. The engine was a tall cylinder. Matter and AM were fed into opposite ends of the cylinder. They were compressed, heated and accelerated to sufficiently strong plasma. This feed stream preparation to reach the plasma state was itself a major change from previous M/AM engines. In previous engines, the fuel was fed to the reaction chamber as normal unexcited matter or AM. So even though the AM fuel needed magnetic containment, the fuel feeds were relatively uncomplicated. It was the reaction chamber that needed strong magnetic containment and was the bulk of the engine. In this new dilithium controlled engine, the feed preparation is the complicated function and takes up the bulk of the engine. A large amount of energy and engine bulk is needed to get the feeds to the proper plasma state. This made starting up this engine particularly complicated as the startup energy had to come from another engine, usually a separate fusion reactor. Once started, energy from the M/AM engine itself could be used to prepare the feeds. By contrast, the ‘reaction chamber' was now relatively small and simple. It was just a shielded dilithium crystal held in a mounting bracket. The feed streams struck the dilithium crystal at the center of the engine cylinder and the super energized plasma stream exited at the center of the cylinder at a right angle the main cylinder axis. The plasma transfer conduits and the warp coils in the nacelles themselves were also made using transporter manufacturing so they were strong enough to contain and convert the plasma to a warp field.
• The first generation dilithium controlled M/AM warp engine in Asia was not as sophisticated as the design would eventually become. Dedicated fusion reactors were built into the top and bottom of the warp engine to provide the power needed for startup to turn the feeds into plasma. The top fusion engine worked on 100% AM so the resulting plasma stream formed the basis of the plasma fed into the warp engine. These continued to supply some power to the main warp engine even during normal operation as the feedback loop to allow the power from the main engine to compress the feeds was not sufficiently developed yet. The quality of the dilithium crystal was not as high as it would be later resulting in a ‘messy' plasma stream from the engine. The stream did not leave the crystal in a tight beam and oscillated in frequency fairly badly. As a result, the plasma had to pass through a wide conduit into a device mounted in the bulge on top of the secondary hull that aligned and dampened out the oscillations in the plasma. Even though the engine was more complicated than it would eventually become, this first generation engine was still superior to the standard design. It potentially allowed higher warp speeds (although warp nacelle design still had to catch up to the engine's capabilities to actually allow faster speeds) and the engine took a large jump in efficiency over the old designs despite having two fusion engines attached to it running at low power.
• Many systems were substantially upgraded used transporter manufacturing technology besides the warp engine. These including impulse and navigational maneuvering, structural support and utility transfer systems, photon torpedoes, phasers, main computer, communications, sensors, misc. support systems such as life support and deuterium tanks, and even the transporters themselves:
  • The fusion impulse engines were much more powerful for their size resulting in faster impulse acceleration.
  • While navigational thrusters were always part of ships, they were previously very small components not shown on the diagrams. They were only used while maneuvering at low impulse speeds near docks and the like. High impulse speed maneuvering was left to exhaust veins in the main impulse drives. However, new thrusters were powerful enough and still small enough to be able to affect maneuvering at medium and high impulse speeds. These combined with the still present impulse exhaust veins made Asia extremely maneuverable for a ship her size in combat situations.
  • Higher potential warp speeds and faster impulse acceleration meant higher stress on the space frame. While the structural support and utility transfer areas are about the same size as previous ships, they were much stronger. There is a central core in the primary hull running from under the bridge to the lower sensor dome. It then travels aft along the bottom of the saucer, forms a ring around the AM injection head assembly, travels down the front and back of the neck where it connects to two vertical cores in the secondary hull. The front core is just behind the dish and the rear core is in front of the shuttle bay with the nacelle struts connecting to the top of it. The two vertical cores are connected through four shafts at top and bottom, port/starboard.
  • The newly introduce ‘Thor's Lighting' missiles, the forerunner to photon torpedoes, were due partially to transporter manufacturing technology.
  • The new phasers were a retractable design that when not firing were hidden behind doors.
  • The main computer was more powerful and had a new look with a central oval core with modular semicircular components attached to the ends.
  • The subspace transmitter continued to be reduced in size and was now located in a compartment immediately behind the main navigational deflector dish which still served triple duty as partial forward sensors and main subspace transmitter dish. To boost the range of subspace transmissions there is a separate partial dish in the form of an exposed ring mounted a little ways behind the main dish and visible around the secondary hull circumference.
  • To aid in forward sensing there were four improved sensor pallets mounted around the main dish. Additional aft/lateral sensor pallets were mounted further back in the secondary hull.
  • The deuterium tank was a new stronger design which was thin walled but still high pressure. This eliminated the need for the dual thick walled cylindrical tanks used in Paris. The tanks could be irregular or thin shapes without compromising strength.
  • The AM bottles are of a new design. They are slightly larger, more square shaped, and hold more AM at the same higher pressure as the new deuterium tank. The bottles and the ships that hold them are also designed to be easily swapped out in many smaller Starbase facilities, not only in major shipyards. The conduits that connect them could be easily removed and the bottles taken out hatches in the AM room. The bottles are still filled at the manufacture site. AM is not yet transported in bulk and bottles are refilled in place.
  • There is only one cargo transporter, but it is an improved model with 4 pads and dual operating assemblies at either end to function as backups for each other. It was still associated with the shuttle bay so shuttles could be used as a backup means to move cargo.
• Many of these new systems still had bugs in them. The original phasers on Asia were swapped out for older laser models. Due to the high cost and lingering bugs with these upgraded systems, while they overall performed well on Asia, they were all not immediately used on ships being designed at the same time such as Lancaster, or ships designed immediately thereafter. Only as cost came down, bugs worked out, and performance continue to improve did completely technology manufactured components gradually find their way into every aspect of starships over the following decades.
• The new internal components affected the overall external look and shape of the ship. The main difference was due to the tall warp reactor extending through the neck of the ship. Because of this, the neck was tall and more vertical, and not leaning so far forward as on previous ships. This and other internal components gave the ship a look similar to Constitution 40 years in the future. Since all these improvements were not immediately adapted in subsequent ships such as Lancaster, the look of the ships somewhat reverted to a more forward sloping neck.
• For the first time since Wasp, the primary hull could disconnect from the secondary hull in an emergency. This measure was used due to the revolutionary nature of the warp engine. Even though the AM injection head and AM bottles were in and above the plane of the primary hull saucer, they were connected to the secondary hull via the neck and after separation, this whole assembly stayed attached to the secondary hull. Once separated, the hulls could not be reconnected except in space dock. The primary hull had limited ability as a lifeboat with deuterium tanks and impulse capability to reach nearby safety. Most of the escape pods were in the primary hull should evacuation of that hull become necessary or that separation from the secondary hull was not an option.
• Because of the increased complexity of the warp drive and that the secondary hull might need some functionality after an emergency separation, the secondary hull has a separate engineering computer for the first time.
• Because of the hull separation and in case the top of the primary hull is severely damaged, for the first time there is a backup bridge in the engineering hull. However this is very basic in function. It is manned during normal operations as an engineering command post so is called the engineering bridge.
• The turbolift and hallway networks are more complicated. In addition there is a main stairwell in the primary hull, the secondary hull has two main ladders on either side of the main turbolift shaft, and the warp engine room and AM bottle room have a dedicated ladder system to reach all decks without having to leave the engine/AM compartments.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 340%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 3305%
  • Amount of deuterium: 1,600 M3, 315 MT
  • LY range: 46.1 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 7.5 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,600 M3, M/AM SSWR-VII-A dilithium controlled
  • AM bottles: 9
  • Escape pods: 54
  • Container cargo: 128
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 1,823 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 23.9 months
  • Number/type of missiles: 36, 21 offensive/defensive, 15 photon torpedoes
  • Number/type shuttles: 13, 3 small assault landing, 4 micro personnel, 6 fighters/bombers

A larger ship based on the now familiar saucer/neck/cylinder /struts/nacelle configuration:

• Even though all the advancements due to transporter manufacturing technology of the Asia were not included in Lancaster, some or parts of some were. The main computer system, phasers, transporters, anti-matter bottles and containment generator were of similar layout to Asia and had most of the same advancements. The warp and impulse engines, structural support and utility transfer, laser cannons, missile systems, deuterium storage tanks, force field and tractor beam equipment, subspace generator, and sensors were of older designs.
• Although the phasers were of similar design to Asia, they no longer had retractable emitters, but were permanently mounted in the skin of the ship.
• Lancaster was the last front line ship to use an engine coolant intercooler mounted as a thin heat exchanger close to the surface of the ship to dissipate heat by radiant energy to deep space. This was the circular bulge on top of the impulse deck. In later ships the same function was performed by more efficient internal units.
• There are three cargo transporters, and for the first time some of them are in the primary hull. Also for the first time, a significant amount of cargo is kept in a saucer shaped primary hull in a ring in one of its lower decks. This represents a trend of less reliance on shuttles to move cargo. The containerized cargo is all in the primary hull in this ring, however there is no habitable containerized cargo bay. About half of the cargo containers can be accessed directly through doors lining a circular hallway in the primary hull. This is if it is necessary to retrieve small amounts of cargo without using the cargo transporters. The third cargo transporter is in the secondary hull close to the shuttle bay which represents the shrinking, but still present desire to use shuttles as a cargo backup.
• Like Asia, Lancaster has a subspace transmitter generator, the main navigational dish serves as the transmitter dish, and there is a booster ring just behind the main dish.
• The online writeup mentions personnel transporters were introduced ~10 years after Lancaster was introduced putting it at 2215. So the initial Lancaster only had cargo transporters.
• To make room for as many shuttles and fighters as possible, the secondary hull phaser emitters and the blow away warp engine ejection plate were moved further forward from the online drawings. Even with these changes, there is no way I could have fit the 37 shuttles/fighters mentioned online. The most I could fit was 21. I also added personnel airlocks on either side of the secondary hull, and there are more missiles than mentioned online. There are 4 decks of shuttlecraft, three in the shuttle bay and a forth below the shuttle bay accessible by a shuttle elevator.
• There were no escape pods in the secondary hull. This is because the older design of the warp engine was not seen as requiring them as in Asia for quick escapes. All the escape pods exited the top and bottom of the primary hull as this is where most of the personnel were.
• The lower sensor dome is very large. This combined with the upper sensor dome eliminates the need for additional upper, lower, and lateral sensors. There are still some separate rear sensors mounted below the shuttle bay doors. As usual, the main navigational deflector dish also serves as forward sensors.
• The decks in the upper and lower saucer dome are a little shorter than the rest of the ship.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 300%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2105%
  • Amount of deuterium: 4,200 M3, 826 MT
  • LY range: 74.0 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 8.0 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,800 M3, M/AM SSWR-VI-B
  • AM bottles: 10
  • Escape pods: 56
  • Container cargo: 80
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 2,850 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 24.3 months
  • Number/type of missiles: 40 offensive/defensive
  • Number/type shuttles: 21, 6 mini assault landing, 5 micro personnel, 10 fighter/bombers

I made many small changes to the external pictures so they were consistent between them and also to accommodate the internal arrangement. The more significant changes were:

• I had to guess on how the rear end in the side view (with nacelles removed) looks. It was mostly determined by the horizontal lines on the rear view and where the rear wing roots attaches, but I tried to give it a little undercut like on D-2/3. It's a very clunky looking rear end, but I guess that's OK since the entire ship is sort of clunky looking. The D-4 is the height of Klingon clunkiness before they begin to look sleek!
• The Bussard collector opening on the top view was made smaller to match the side view and the curved bulge that it is on.
• The plasma reflux tunnels were made to overlap the central bulge a little.
• The plasma cannon housing was made large on the front and back views to match the side view.
• I couldn't figure out a good use for the broad mounds on the top of the wing root. So I extended them out over most of the wing root instead of closer to the front edge. In this way the main function becomes holding the utility corridors as they transition from the body to the wing, with the additional space as more deuterium.
• The wing root on the side, front and back views was modified to wrap around the curved hull.
• The writeup said the ship was ‘filled to capacity with heavy weaponry'. But aside from the plasma cannon, no weapons are really visible. So I made the two bulges on the front sides of the head into missile launcher cowlings. I put energy weapons in bulges on the underside ‘wings' of the head similar to those on D-5 and later.
• Added a small hatch at the back of the secondary hull just above the impulse engines to change AM bottles.
• The writeup says the plasma cannon was powered by ‘large dedicated fusion reactors'. These would not fit, instead it gets power from either of the warp reactors.

There were many changes and upgrades from the D-3, although some components were kept the same:

• All areas of the ship retained similar functions to D-3. The head contains the bridge, main computer, forward sensors, officer areas, missiles, and energy weapons. The neck contains most crew areas and docking hatches in addition to the new plasma cannon. The engineering hull contains all engines, impulse, Bussard collector/plasma reflux tunnels, AM, shuttle bay, and cargo bays. Due to the new plasma cannon blocking the neck, the cargo bay no longer extends in the bottom deck all the way into the head. Wings still contain deuterium.
• The head, neck, main body, and wings are still separated from one another by thick internal hull plating.
• The same bridge and main computer cylinder and officer areas oval were kept, but the computer was a little taller and another deck at the base of the oval was added.
• New types of forward sensors were put in the nose. The central dish was designed to detect cloaked Romulan ships.
• The large disruptor cannons were removed and replaced with smaller newer technology early phasers. These were in small blisters which protruded from the underside wings in the head. There operation requires an exhaust grill on the back of the head. This area would house energy weapons in all later mainline Klingon ships.
• The two offset bulges on the front of the head are concealed missile tubes. The launchers and missiles themselves are similar to D-3.
• Cargo transporters were included. By studying the transporter signal, it is clear these were knockoffs of Earth designs or even outright Earth transporters bought used from 3rd parties.
• Since cargo transporters were intended for use when the ship was being designed, the hallways were made narrower and most of the cargo turbolifts removed. The smaller personnel turbolift still generally only go vertically. Horizontal travel is by hallway.
• Even though cargo transporters are included, all cargo is still moved in the standard cargo boxes. None of it is beamed directly to bulk cargo bins to save space on the ship.
• The heavy duty docking ports are now on the side of the neck instead of the top. They can still extend and can carry shuttles externally attached at high impulse or warp.
• The new plasma cannon is a large contraption at the back of the neck. The accelerator barrel is a long large oval. The accumulation chamber is vertically above and at the back of the barrel. The chamber can be fed by either warp engine.
• The plasma conduits and structural support for the engines run under them. The dedicated impulse fusion engine was removed. The impulse drive is instead powered solely by the warp fusion engine.
• The main structural support and utility corridors to the nacelles travels down the top center of the wing. There are only very narrow areas on the leading and trailing wing edge for additional structural support.
• The AM bottles are above the fusion engine. There are many more vs. D-3 since D-4's M/AM engine is expected to provide power 50% of the time.
• The Bussard collectors/plasma reflux tunnels were divided into separate assemblies. One centrally mounted Bussard collector feeds dual plasma tunnels on either side.
• The dual level shuttle bay and cargo bay are below the warp engines. There is more cargo and it is a little better organized, but still in the same size cargo boxes. There is a cargo turbolift just between the cargo bay floors with dual cargo transporters on the bottom floor. You have to walk through the cargo bay to reach the shuttle bay. The shuttle storage shelves can hold a wide size range of shuttles depending on the mission. The shuttle bay now has a small control room mounted near the ceiling and internal and external tractor beam emitters.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 170%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 376%, from fusion and M/AM engine each running 50% of the time
  • Amount of deuterium: 14,600 M3, 2,872 MT
  • LY range: 13.0 LY, from fusion and M/AM engine each running 50% of the time
  • Months of deuterium: 4.8 months, from fusion and M/AM engine each running 50% of the time
  • Warp engine size/type: 2,000 M3, fusion tokamak, 3,550 M3, M/AM based on SSWR-III-C/D
  • AM bottles: 19
  • Container cargo: 2,966
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 13.9 months
  • Number/type of missiles: 106 offensive/defensive
  • Number/type energy weapons:3, 1 plasma cannon, 2 smaller disruptor cannons in individual housings
  • Number/type shuttles: not specified

Swordfish is a heavily modified Lancaster where the neck was removed and the secondary hull attached directly to the rear of the primary hull similar to the Paris. It is equipped with a large fighter bay to carry the latest Puffin warp capable fighters. There were many small and some medium changes made to Masao's original pictures to accommodate the interior design:

• The original pictures were lacking a navigational dish. One was added to the front of the saucer offset from the vertical centerline in a similar fashion to Paris. Swordfish also has a subspace transmitter generator in between the deuterium tanks and the main dish served multiple functions, although it is fairly short range as the dish is not very big. The subspace generator is the same design as Asia's as it has become economical enough to put this small design in all ships.
• The front of the saucer is almost identical to Lancaster with the exception of only one phaser, different placement of escape pods, and a few more windows for some large common crew rooms that were displaced from the rear of the saucer in Lancaster.
• The bridge dome was made identical to Lancaster and moved from the original forward location back to the center of the saucer. The central location does not interfere with the fighter bay and the forward location made an unnecessarily complicated interior. The lower saucer sensor dome was also moved to the saucer centerline.
• The personnel airlocks on the saucer rim were moved to the saucer centerline. The aft sensor pod was shortened a little to make room.
• The line where the saucer fattens to accommodate the fighter bay was moved very slightly aft. It is now very slightly aft of the saucer centerline.
• The same size cylindrical, slanted flat top deuterium storage tanks as Lancaster were used. This is a change from the much bigger diameter domed tanks. The location was also moved further aft and closer to the centerline. The original tank placement was in the way of the fighter bay doors.
• The shuttle bay doors and housings were made a little taller. The Puffins wouldn't fit otherwise. The entire housings were also moved up to line up with the internal shuttle bay. They now don't extend below the bottom of the saucer edge.
• The warp engine blow away plate was moved from the bottom to the top of the secondary hull since the engine is mounted high in the hull. It was moved aft a little to line up with the engine and made smaller to be the same size as Lancaster's plate since it is the same size engine.
• The impulse exhausts were made into three squares instead of a long vertical rectangle to be more Lancaster like. Swordfish has the same impulse reactors as Lancaster except they are mounted vertically.
• Masao originally intended for the oval warp nacelle housing to contain two standard cylindrical nacelles side by side. But this made for a very awkward design with short nacelles and very odd shaped space around them. So two versions are shown. The first is the original design with a single truly oval midline nacelle like Romulan war era ships filling the entire original nacelle housing. Perhaps the designers were trying this older style to gain efficiency and while sacrificing speed since this wasn't a front line ship. However after Swordfish's introduction, performance and speed were found to be poorer than computer modeling predicted they would. Swordfish and all later ships of this class carrier were refitted with two Lancaster type nacelles on struts above and below the ship's centerline. This kept the nacelles out of the way of the fighters approaching the shuttle bay doors. The nacelles had some warp coils and other equipment removed so they were shorter than Lancasters so it wasn't quite as fast as Lancaster. The misc. support systems space behind the warp engine was redesigned to accommodate the rear of the secondary hull tapering to meet the nacelle strut. The ship did suffer a slight drop in range, but more than made up for it with increased speed and warp maneuverability. This configuration would become more common in later ships such as the Constellation of Picard's era.

Other notes on the interior:

• The main fighter bay is not centered vertically in the ship. It is a little above vertical so the deck immediately below it can have more headroom to hold the secondary shuttle bay. This holds sub warp fighters and the standard shuttle complement. It accesses the main fighter bay doors via an elevator up to the main fighter bay.
• The cargo transporters are in the same location as Lancaster, but they are larger units since they are the only ones. They are one deck below the secondary shuttle bays and on the same deck as most bin and container cargo. Cargo can be physically moved from the shuttle bays to the transporter rooms if necessary by a cargo elevator but typically it is beamed onto and around the ship.
• Swordfish carries 626 missiles for the Puffins which can reload each fighter almost three times. They are stored in an armory at the same level as the top deck of the fighter bay in between the deuterium storage tanks. The missiles are carried by ceiling mounted cranes on rails to the Puffins.
• Below the missile armory are large two story maintenance shops and storage rooms to support the Puffins. They are not big enough to hold an entire Puffin, but rather large components such as the warp nacelle or impulse fusion engine can be removed and carried to the shop by the same overhead cranes that reload the missiles. The shop is large enough to store a spare nacelle or fusion engine.
• There is enough room just inside the fighter doors for a Puffin to rotate 180º. This means the fighters can land head first and then be rotated once inside the bay for storage and headfirst launching. The space that a Puffin rotates can also hold two Puffins side by side if more space is needed in the center of the ship outside the maintenance shop doors.
• Ship stats and specs, original configuration - single midline oval nacelle:
  • Subspace efficiency: 220%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2080%
  • Amount of deuterium: 4,200 M3, 826 MT
  • Cruising/max speed: 3.4/4.6 WF
  • LY range: 62.4 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 9.0 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,800 M3, M/AM SSWR-VI-B
  • AM bottles: 12
  • Escape pods: 48
  • Container cargo: 88
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 2,156 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 23 months
  • Crew compliment: 270
  • Number/type of missiles: 626 replacement missiles for Puffins
  • Number/type shuttles: 30, 12 Puffin fighters, 12 fighter/bombers, 2 mini cargo/personnel, 4 micro personnel
• Ship stats and specs, upgraded configuration - dual Lancaster type nacelles if different from above:
  • Subspace efficiency: 210%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2025%
  • Cruising/max speed: 4.0/5.6 WF
  • LY range: 58.7 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 11.0 months

Giant is an example of the largest military transport made since the Bison type transports from before the Romulan War, but reflects more recent advancements. The overall layout was similar to the previous Ocean and Constellation military transports:

• The bridge is at the top-center. Most crew and military passenger areas are under the bridge and forward. Two shuttle bays open on the top before and aft of the bridge. Container and bulk cargo bays are lower down in mid and forward areas. Deuterium, AM, M/AM warp engine, impulse, maint areas, misc. support systems, and standard shuttle bays are in the rear and lower areas.
• Since Giant was designed as a military transport, it does not have large windows like civilian designed transports. The passenger and many of the crew quarters do have a small window, and there are three medium size windows in the ceiling just aft of the bridge in the main passenger/officer lounge.
• The large outboard nacelles are in a forward location reminiscent of Tannhaüser. The struts attach further back on the nacelles so the main body attachment point clears the main bulk cargo bay. This gives Giant the profile of a three pronged fork flying forwards.
• A fat ‘keel' extends out the belly of Giant which stores a large number of anti-matter bottles. The AM bottle design first introduced in Asia six years ago has become standard. These bottles and the ships that hold them are designed to be easily swapped out in many smaller starbase facilities, not only those with major shipyards. The bottles are still filled at the manufacture site. AM is not yet transported in bulk and bottles not yet refilled in place. An easy way to transport and store these bottles was needed. The keel is a self contained unit holding bottles plus containment field generators that can be ejected and left at a starbase. The bottles themselves are removed from the keel via two hatches in the bottom. Giant will typically drop off a ‘full' keel at a large starbase and pick up one full of empty bottles to return to the AM manufacturer. At smaller starbases, it may just offload a few full bottles and replace them with empties. Giant also contains its own internal AM bottles and containment generator outside the keel.
• Large fins on top of the impulse engine cowlings contain engine coolant intercoolers mounted as thin heat exchangers to dissipate waste heat from the warp and impulse engines. Most ships of this era use more compact internal units, but due to the non-combat lower performance role of Giant, these larger external and cheaper fins were used.
• The two impulse drives are mounted in large cowlings outside the main silhouette of the ship. Each drive is powered by two parallel impulse reactors mounted just forward of the drives. Forward of the engines are the deuterium storage tanks.
• The two upper shuttle bays (called the forward and middle shuttle bays) are larger than Ocean's and Constellation Cargo's to handle more and larger shuttles/fighters. In addition, the middle shuttle bay is double sized again through a hatch in the floor (these are called the middle upper and middle lower shuttle bays). For example, the combined forward and middle shuttle bays could hold a total of 30 Puffin fighters turned sideways.
• The lower middle shuttle bay also has a collapsible container cargo grid along the walls. Cargo containers can be passed directly from the container cargo bay to the lower middle shuttle bay when the grid is extended. When retracted, the bay can hold more shuttles/fighters. This gives Giant flexibility to increase either container or shuttle storage as necessary.
• There are two rear shuttle bays called the upper aft and lower aft bays. The upper aft bay can hold more large shuttles/fighters as well as some cargo shuttles and connects to the lower middle bay. The lower aft bay contains shuttles for most normal ships functions and access to the starship tender maintenance bays (see next point).
• Giant's primary function is a cargo/passenger transport, but it also has a secondary function as a ‘starship tender'. Starship tenders performs routine maintenance and in many cases extensive maintenance on capital ships without the support of a Starbase or shipyard. Giant has extensive 2 to 5 deck high starship maintenance facilities behind the M/AM warp engine attached to the lower aft shuttle bay. Small to medium components can be removed from a capital ship and brought aboard Giant for maintenance. A small swarm of ‘workerbee' size maintenance craft are also housed in the lower rear shuttle bay (not shown in the layouts). Starship tenders also perform deep space resupply of capital ships, which the cargo function of Giant accomplishes nicely. But there is a slight conflict of interest with the starship tender vs. transport function. Passengers don't want to sit idle in deep space while a capital ship is being tended to and cargo is being delayed which may be needed at its destination. For this reason, transport and starship tender functions are not often combined in one ship.
• Giant is equipped with the largest cargo transporters made. Four pads can each transport a jumbo sized cargo container (a 12'x12'x30' box) or an equal volume of bulk cargo directly to the huge bunk bin compartments. There are also four smaller transporter pads of the size that are on most combat ships than can handle one standard container each (a 6'x6'x10' box). All the transporters are in the center of the container cargo bay so containerized cargo once on the ship can be rolled off the pads and into the waiting container cargo storage grid.
• There is a continuous hallway and turbolift network that snakes through the ship. There are three main vertical stairway/turbolift shafts spaced along the long axis along with several shorter vertical ladder/turbolift runs for remote area access.
• There are limited structural support & utility transfer spaces. Deck 13 contains the main horizontal corridor which in the aft portion of the ship runs from port to starboard between the four impulse engines and anchoring the two impulse drives. A corridor then runs forward passing above the M/AM warp engine to the nacelle struts. Two triangular vertical corridors run down the port side of the M/AM engine to below the engine and into the AM keel. Two vertical corridors run up from the nacelle struts to clear the main bulk cargo hold then run horizontally just inside the hull forward to the nose. Three very narrow vertical corridors run up alongside the three main stairwells.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Ship size: 418,000 MT
  • Subspace efficiency: 140%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 1527%
  • Amount of deuterium: 16,900 M3, 3,324 MT
  • Cruising/max speed: 4.6/5.3 WF
  • LY range: 39.6 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 4.9 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 5,800 M3, M/AM SSWR-III-J
  • AM bottles: 305, 36 in main body, 269 in keel
  • Escape pods: 64
  • Container cargo: 7,851
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 72,600 M3 bulk in main cargo bay, 26,450 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 323 months
  • Crew compliment: 560, 420 passengers in 152 cabins, 140 crew
  • Number/type shuttles: 13, 1 medium cargo, 2 small cargo/personnel, 2 mini cargo/personnel, 8 micro personnel

This was a Giant variant made at the same time as the military cargo variant. It was not retrofitted from an already build cargo ship at some later date, but built from scratch from the keel up as a passenger liner. The overall layout is similar to the previous Constellation passenger liners. The description focuses on the differences from the military cargo version:

• The passenger areas are in place of the main bulk cargo bay, the forward and middle shuttle bays and all the crew areas around them, half the container cargo bay, and most of the bulk cargo bins.
• The upper passenger areas are the common areas:
  • The forward upper passenger area contains the centerpiece passenger atrium. It is a large 8 story open air atrium consisting of an oval open space and an open mall-like central corridor running between shops and smaller passenger activities. The open air space has walkways around the edges on every level and each level is set back a little further than the one below it. Overhead is a single large window for an unobstructed view into space. On the top level is a bridge connecting the short sides where one can walk out on, look down 8 stories on either side and up into open space. The passenger airlocks enter on either side of the middle of the oval atrium through passenger lounges with large 3 story oval windows framing the airlock entrance.
  • The middle upper passenger areas are large open spaces such as fitness areas (including locker rooms, swimming pools, track, racket courts, workout rooms, gymnasiums, etc), multi-level bars, theatres, large activity rooms, etc. The deck layouts don't show the details in these areas but rather just indicate large open spaces. Most of the escape pods are in this area also.
  • The rear upper passenger areas are a large 3 story restaurant with large side windows and attached main kitchens. Above the restaurant is a large 5 story arboretum with large overhead and side windows.
• The passenger quarters are lower on the ship below the common passenger areas. The very lowest passenger quarters are the first class passenger cabins that have airlocks at each room and at the head of the hallways to convert individual rooms or whole floors to non-standard atmospheres. Below these are some escape pods for non-standard atmospheres.
• There are several wide passenger stairwells and groups of turbolift shafts spaced throughout the ship connecting all the passenger areas. There are other crew only stairwells and hallways. The turbolift network is continuous throughout the ship but passengers only have the ability to go vertically in the turbolift shafts. Crew can travel horizontally by entering a code or ID in the turbolift car.
• The crew area under the bridge is expanded. The passenger/officer lounge behind the bridge in the cargo version is now the crew only lounge. The starship tender area is instead more crew area.
• The M/AM engine, impulse engines, deuterium storage tanks, internal AM bottles, and most of the maint. and misc. support systems areas are the same as the military cargo version.
• The cargo transporters are reduced in number and moved down several decks to just below the main horizontal structural support corridor. The civilian liner can still carry some container and bulk bin cargo beyond that which is required for the passengers.
• The AM keel is not installed.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Ship size: 425,000 MT
  • Subspace efficiency: 140%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 1527%
  • Amount of deuterium: 16,900 M3, 3,324 MT
  • Cruising/max speed: 4.6/5.3 WF
  • LY range: 39.0 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 6.8 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 5,800 M3, M/AM SSWR-III-I
  • AM bottles: 41
  • Escape pods: 156
  • Container cargo: 3,197
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 7,900 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 51 months
  • Crew compliment: 1,315, 950 passengers in 345 cabins, 365 crew
  • Number/type shuttles: 22, 8 small cargo/personnel, 2 mini cargo/personnel, 12 micro personnel

A semi-dreadnaught evolved very loosely from the Lancaster:

• The bridge and bridge dome are the same layout as Lancaster. While the radii may be different, the hallway and turbolift arrangement in the saucer is similar to Lancaster. The saucer rim is taller for the shuttle bay. The top saucer cathedral dome is added for additional deck space, and bottom saucer dome is shaped differently to hold most of the escape pods. The impulse drive deck is a different shape. The saucer deuterium storage tanks no longer go all the way through the saucer. They are essentially half spherical tanks sitting on top of the saucer rim. The rear missile/torpedo room is added as a box shape on the outside rear of the saucer. The neck is thicker and not leaning so far forward. The secondary hull is made into an oval shaped vertical cross section instead of round. The mini-nacelle is embedded in the extended bottom of the secondary hull. Additional deuterium storage is added in the annular space around the mini-nacelle. The rear secondary hull undercut is increased.
• Despite transporters being invented in the 2180's, they were not advanced enough to be deemed safe enough to transport living beings as a regular means of travel until after 2210. Once the early cargo only transporters were perfected, they were great for moving non living material, and even for manufacturing. But when living beings were transported in these early machines, they would materialize physically undamaged and identical in every way, except for inexplicably being dead! A side benefit of these early transporters was that all cargo was thoroughly decontaminated of bacteria upon arrival! Strangely enough, viruses would still be active. This added fuel to the centuries old debate of are viruses actually alive. Research with transporting viruses actually led to the breakthrough on how to transport living beings safely.
• In 2206 Moskva was the site of the first successful ship-to-surface transport of a human. Even though this test was successful, transporting people was still too dangerous to be considered a standard means of travel for almost another decade. Improvements were still needed in transporter reliability. Planetary atmospheric or deep space phenomena would still occasionally interfere with transporter signals to horrific effect if a living being was being transported. It was acceptable to occasionally mangle some cargo during transport but not a living being. Transporters needed to be improved to punch through such interference or to be able to recover and rematerialize the person back on the pad unharmed if interference was detected at any stage during transport.
• Transporters were finally deemed safe for regular human travel soon after 2210. Many previously designed ships still in service at the time from Moskva on were refitted with personnel transporters, but Quetzalcoatl was the first ship to incorporate them into its design from the start. While this did not have the large impact that designing cargo transporters into starships had, it still had some effects. Shuttle bays and shuttle craft complement could be further reduced since some of the personnel load was now taken by the transporters.
• So Quetzalcoatl is the first ship to be designed with cargo and personnel transporters. The cargo transporters are in a typical location in the secondary hull between the shuttle bay and container cargo bay. The personnel transporters are in the primary hull. The cargo and personnel transporters can be used to land marines and their heavy equipment instead of shuttle landings if conditions are deemed safe for transport. The cargo transporter has a double sized pad to handle the marines largest vehicles/equipment.
• There are forward and rear firing missiles and torpedoes. The standard fusion missiles are stored in a separate compartment above the launchers and the photon torpedoes are in the compartment below. Each feed through hatches in the floor/ceiling to the launchers which can fire either type of projectile. The torpedoes are the same type as on Asia. The M/AM is already loaded in the torpedoes which are stored in special cradles with an attached AM containment generator.
• There are two slightly different version which carry different shuttle/fighter complements for different mission parameters:
  • The original version is to carry marines and their heavy equipment/vehicles to battle with sublight fighters for close planetary support of the marines. The saucer shuttle bay has 2-3 decks where medium assault shuttles are stacked two high and a large number of sublight fighters stacked three high. The marine's heavy equipment is stored on deck 7 aft of the saucer shuttle bay and brought to the upper assault shuttles by an elevator in the shuttle bay. Each sublight fighter deck area has an attached support area with an elevator connecting them. The aft shuttle bay has three decks. Normal micro personnel shuttles are on the upper two decks along with the external doors. The external doors are in a tight radii clam shell doors which provides additional floor space inside the shuttle bay. An entire shuttle can be staged on the deck outside the force field but inside the shuttle doors. Mini cargo/assault shuttles for marine landings without heavy equipment are on the lower aft deck which is accessible to the upper decks via elevator.
  • The second version focuses more on open space battles with sublight ad warp fighters and less on heavy marine assault landings. It has Puffin warp fighters in place of the medium assault shuttles in the saucer shuttle bay. It has the same number of sublight fighters. The sublight fighters are limited in range so they would attack along the front closest to the mother ship. The Puffins can sneak around to a flank or rear to attack. The lower deck of the aft shuttle bay is expanded to carry additional mini assault shuttles. The same number of marines can still be landed in the mini assault shuttles but in situations where they don't need heavy equipment/vehicles.
• The standard crew is housed mostly in the saucer's cathedral dome. The marines are housed ‘barracks style' in the saucer rim area. There is also some crew area in the neck and near the lower aft shuttle bay.
• Most of the escape pods are housed in a double ring in the angular shaped lower saucer dome. There are also a few escape pods in the secondary hull.
• This was the first ship to incorporate a new turbolift passthrough hatch at the rear of the bridge dome. This allows turbolift cars to pass through a mating hatch now being built into starbases and directly into the starbase turbolift system.
• The main deflector dish/subspace transmitter is a very powerful, long range unit. In addition to the main dish with the characteristic grill behind it, it has a booster ring surrounding the main dish and two additional booster dishes mounted on either side of the main dish. The subspace transmitter generator is a similar unit as Asia and is mounted right behind and above the main dish.
• The utility transfer & structural support corridors continue to shrink in size as stronger and smaller components and building materials are used. There is a narrower vertical core in the center of the saucer, with a narrower horizontal corridor running back from it, under the impulse engines, and down the neck into the secondary hull. In the secondary hull, it splits in two above the M/AM warp engine and runs along the outer hull until it meets the nacelle connection points. There is a narrow vertical core just aft of the main navigational deflector and a thicker vertical corridor just aft of the M/AM warp engine. There are still very narrow corridors in many of the ceiling spaces on each deck.
• There were some minor changes to the original external pictures to match the internal layout:
  • The windows and personnel airlocks were rearranged.
  • The saucer shuttle bay doors were moved a little aft.
  • Two phaser emitters were added to the front saucer underside. The secondary hull emitters were moved very slightly.
  • The number and overall size of the impulse exhausts ports were increased.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 280%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2260%
  • Amount of deuterium: 4,750 M3, 934 MT
  • LY range: 49.5 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 4.7 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 2,900 M3, M/AM SSWR-IX-A
  • AM bottles: 12
  • Escape pods: 98
  • Container cargo: 656
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 5,674 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 39.1 months
  • Crew compliment: 582 plus 400 marines
  • Number/type of missiles: 136, 88 offensive/defensive, 48 photon torpedoes
  • Number/type shuttles: 89, 60 fighter/bombers, 12 medium assault, 8 mini assault, 9 micro personnel
• Ship stats and specs, alternate version:
  • Crew compliment: 598 plus 400 marines
  • Number/type of missiles: 452, 88 offensive/defensive, 48 photon torpedoes, 316 replacement missiles for Puffins
  • Number/type shuttles: 87, 6 Puffins, 60 fighter/bombers, 12 mini assault, 9 micro personnel

A decommissioned military Wasp was resold and converted to a civilian cargo ship:

• As much of the ship that was not necessary for pure cargo transport was removed: parts of the sensors, main computer components, missiles, lasers, most of the escape pods, one of the personnel ladders, and some of the emergency separation thrusters were removed.
• But as much of the original equipment as possible was reused to save money. The main navigational deflector, bridge arrangement, AM bottles and containment generator, the remaining main computer components and escape pods, even the impulse engine/drives, and M/AM engine were kept. While the same M/AM warp engine was kept, it was overhauled and modified to increase speed and efficiency as much as possible.
• All three nacelles were removed and replaced with only two more advanced ones.
• Almost half the decking was removed in the primary sphere to make a large bulk cargo bay accessible through large clamshell doors. Structural support areas were added in the main bulk cargo bay to attach grappling arms similar to Yorktown.
• The turbolift and main ladder were moved further into the central core. The central core was a lot emptier after all the military transfer equipment was removed. This made the central core/turbolift/ladder protrude much less into the main bulk cargo bay.
• One of the shuttle bay doors was removed and the other one was moved 90 degrees. The container cargo handling equipment was rearranged and some removed. Some of it was replaced with bulk cargo bins.
• Most of the small cargo/personnel shuttles were removed and replaced with more modern mini personnel/cargo shuttles and micro personnel shuttles.
• Cargo and personnel transporters were added.
• The crew is a skeleton crew.
• Some extra deuterium tanks were added where weapons and sensors had been for some added range.
• The paint job and two cones on the primary hull are advertising to make the ship look like the cartoon character ‘Astro Boy'.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Ship size: 52,000 MT
  • Subspace efficiency: 100%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 1220%
  • Amount of deuterium: 3,400 M3, 552 MT
  • Cruising/max speed: 3.5/4.6 WF
  • LY range: 39.7 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 11.1 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,200 M3, modified M/AM SSWR-II-E
  • AM bottles: 12
  • Escape pods: 8
  • Container cargo: 276
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 26,000 M3 bulk, 1,330 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 147 months, if consumes all cargo by itself
  • Crew compliment: 35
  • Number/type shuttles: 3, 1 mini cargo/personnel, 2 micro personnel

An explorer/research ship of Andorian design with nacelles embedded directly in the wingtips of a thick crescent shaped primary hull with a tapering oval secondary hull attached immediately behind it. There were several changes to the online pics, most of them subtle:

• The rows of individual escape pods hatches on top and bottom were made into squares instead of rectangles. Each row now contains 8 pods instead of 6 and brings the total number up to the requirements for the crew. This means the pods are oriented vertically in the hull. They are two decks tall and square when viewed from above. This is an Andorian influence on the design and is a change from the standard orientation in Earth designed ships where the pods are one deck tall and rectangles when viewed from above. The actual pods themselves are very similar in either case.
• The interface between the tapering oval of the secondary hull and how it connects to the primary hull and aft sensor bulb were changed slightly to be consistent in all the views. The top view is most different.
• The curvature of the secondary hull was changed very slightly to make it consistent in all views.
• The deck immediately behind the bridge dome in the secondary hull was made full height so a person can access the crew airlock easier.
• The oval deuterium tanks were changed to the same round design of Kestrel and were moved forward slightly. The online writeup said Kestrel had more deuterium, so it didn't make sense for Aryabhatta's deuterium tanks to look bigger on the outside.

Other comments on the internal layout:

• Many pieces of specialized sensor equipment take up a lot of room in the ship. They are:
  • A forward sensor bulb is front center.
  • On either side of this are dual main navigational deflectors/sensors/subspace transmitter dishes.
  • Further outboard from these are small sensor probe launchers.
  • Outboard of the nacelles are the wingtip sensor lances.
  • Running along the ceiling of the shuttle bay is a flat dorsal sensor of a different design.
  • A large omni-directional sensor bulb is in the tail.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 210%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2,580%
  • Amount of deuterium: 2,100 M3, 413 MT
  • LY range: 69.5 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 5.6 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,300 M3, M/AM SSWR-X
  • AM bottles: 6
  • Escape pods: 32
  • Container cargo: 128
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 900 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 21 months
  • Number/type of missiles: 24 photon torpedoes
  • Number/type shuttles: 6 micro personnel

A militarized version of Aryabhatta:

• All the sensor equipment was removed. It was replaced by a centrally mounted main navigational deflector/forward sensor/subspace transmitter dish with additional forward sensors on either side. In the tail is the lateral/aft sensor array.
• Large phaser cannons were added where the dual navigational dishes in Aryabhatta were located.
• The nacelles are new.
• Two more phasers were added to the secondary hull aft of the M/AM engine.
• The shuttle bay is a little smaller and has two fewer shuttles.
• Photon torpedo launchers and torpedo cradles replaced the sensor probe launchers.
• The impulse engine and drives are larger models but still fit in the same impulse deck.
• The M/AM engine is the same size as Aryabhatta but is the next improved model.
• The deuterium and cargo stores are the same as Aryabhatta. This contradicts slightly some of the online text that Kestrel had more deuterium but smaller stores. Kestrel does have two more AM bottles plus an additional AM containment generator to service the photon torpedoes.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 230%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2,580%
  • Amount of deuterium: 2,100 M3, 413 MT
  • LY range: 75.4 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 5.4 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 1,300 M3, M/AM SSWR-XA
  • AM bottles: 8
  • Escape pods: 32
  • Container cargo: 128
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 900 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 23.3 months
  • Number/type shuttles: 4 micro personnel

A more advanced ship with more Klingon designed components:

• The bridge, main computer, AM bottles and generators, container cargo system, airlock/outside shuttle docking mechanism, impulse reactor and drives, Bussard collectors, and plasma reflux tunnels are similar or identical to previous ships.
• The M/AM engine is a new completely Klingon design that is able to function as the sole warp engine. It is not a dilithium controlled reactor (even Earth reactors are not this type yet), but a much advanced open cavity type engine. The reaction chamber is in a hexagonal polygon central to the engine and the fuel injected and plasma extracted through a cylindrical structure attached to the hexagon. Efficiency is much improved and the fusion impulse engine size and deuterium stores are much reduced.
• The cargo transporters are of a Klingon design also of a hexagonal polygon shape. Klingons have now embraced keeping large amounts of cargo in fixed bulk bins instead of discrete containerized packages. This type of cargo is beamed directly into the bins without the need for external packaging and then small amounts are beamed directly to where it is needed. This greatly increases cargo storage efficiency. Even the reduced amount of container cargo is beamed to where it is needed instead of physically moved. This means the containers can be packed closer together without the need to physically reach each one. This has eliminated the need for large cargo turbolifts.
• The ship still does not have personnel transporters even though they have been introduced into Earth ships by this time. This is the reason why there are 5 external attachment points for large personnel/troop shuttles to dock. D-5 was meant to be a combat troop delivery ship in addition to its fighting role. There is large amounts of ‘crew area' on board which is used for troops.
• The online writeup suggests the lower portion of the neck area where the plasma cannon used to be in the D-4 is for cargo and implies the 4 doors on the side of the neck are for cargo. I went a different direction and used the 4 doors for external shuttle docking points. All the cargo is in the fantail close to the shuttle bay and the cargo transporters. The neck area is mostly crew/troop quarters.
• The 5th shuttle docking port is on the top of the neck. There is an identical large door underneath the troop shuttle that is shown docked on top of the neck. The internal design of this troop shuttle was not done.
• The sensors are of a new design that are closer to current Earth design although bigger.
• The missiles and launchers are more advanced, but still based on nuclear warheads, not AM.
• The structural support and utility transfer areas have been slimmed down from D-4. The main corridors travel up the front edge of the wings from the nacelles and connect to each other through a strong arch across the top of the engineering hull. From the top center of this arch forward and aft running corridors connect the impulse and warp engines. From the sides of the arch, two forward running corridors run along the sides of the neck to the command head. Just behind the command head they join together and enter the bottom deck of the head to attach to a central vertical core that runs up to the bridge. All 5 external shuttle attachment points are also anchored in these corridors.
• The AM bottles are accessed and replaced via a hatch in the container cargo bay floor.
• Even though the function is still the same, the shape and arrangement of the Bussard collector and plasma reflux tunnels has been changed and arranged tightly around the impulse engine and drives. This efficient arrangement becomes the standard for most future Klingon ships.
• The command head and deuterium filled wings are still isolated from the rest of the ship by heavy internal bulkheads or blast doors. The neck and engineering hull are not isolated, but are one elongated shape.
• There are still no long horizontal turbolift shafts. Walking is the only means of horizontal travel in the ship.
• I made many small changes to the external pictures so they were consistent between them and also to accommodate the internal arrangement, but they were all minor.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 190%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 1,300%
  • Amount of deuterium: 8,000 M3, 1,574 MT
  • LY range: 48.2 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 8.4 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 3,000 M3, M/AM open cavity of Klingon design
  • AM bottles: 17
  • Container cargo: 936
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 2,665 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 24.4 months
  • Number/type of missiles: 60 offensive/defensive
  • Number/type energy weapons:3, 1 main disruptor cannon, 2 smaller disruptors in individual housings
  • Number/type shuttles: not specified

• The wings and nacelles are cranked up above the main body improving subspace efficiency even further.
• The bridge dome is two levels with the top level containing the bridge and the lower level containing the main computer.
• Personnel transporters are included for the first time. They are of similar design to Earth's transporters introduced 10 years previously. There are four personnel transporter rooms, two located in the deck directly above the warp engine and two in the deck immediately below the warp engine.
• There are now two plasma accumulation chambers between the plasma cannon and warp engine. The first one is associated with the engine and is normally kept full. Plasma going to the warp nacelles passes through this chamber. The second one is downstream of the engine's accumulator and is associated with the plasma cannon. This is only filled during battle conditions. However, if the ship is caught unaware with the second accumulation chamber empty, the plasma cannon can be fired almost immediately with the plasma from the engine's chamber. When the engine's chamber is empty, plasma can still be fed through it without being accumulated there so the warp nacelles still have power. Likewise, in battle conditions when both chambers are full, the plasma cannon can be fired twice in very short time without draining the engine of plasma. Therefore the impulse drive is unaffected by firing the plasma gun and would only be affected if the accumulation chambers were filled extremely fast.
• The main fusion engine improvements continue. It is a smaller engine than Cracker but more powerful with longer range.
• The shuttle bay doors and size of the bay was increased to handle more and larger shuttles.
• Capsize serves a dual role as troop landing ship. It can carry 300 troops and cargo to sustain them for long trips. It can carry more troops for shorter distances. It can insert them in battlefield conditions either with the four personnel transporters or with assault shuttles.
• There is relatively little utility transfer and structural support space for a ship this size (twice the size of Cracker which had a similar structural support layout). Despite this, the ship is remarkably tough and sturdy. There is a thin vertical corridor going from top to bottom and across the width of the ship at the primary/secondary hull seam, and one horizontal corridor under the plasma cannon/warp engine/impulse drive assembly down the center of the ship.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 280%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 455%
  • Amount of deuterium: 11,200 M3, 2,200 MT
  • LY range: 36.1 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 6.8 months
  • Warp engine size/type: 3,100 M3, fusion tokamak
  • Container cargo: 112
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 1,255 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 13.5 months
  • Crew compliment: 470, 190 crew plus 300 soldiers
  • Number/type of missiles: 126 offensive/defensive
  • Number/type energy weapons:3, 1 plasma cannon, 2 laser cannons in fixed housings
  • Number/type shuttles: not specified

Pachyderm is an example of a smaller, more compact, and more advanced military cargo carrier than Giant:

• Similar to Giant, three large shuttle bay doors (two on the top and one on the rear) all connect to the same large internal shuttle spaces. The rear shuttle doors are overly large at 4 decks tall, and they open into a large uninterrupted corridor that extends 2/3rds of the length of the entire ship. In this way Pachyderm could carry the largest nacelles produced at the time loaded through the rear shuttle bay door.
• Cargo transporters are at the forward end of the internal shuttle bay spaces and can access the small container cargo bays on either side of the shuttle bay space. Part of this shuttle bay space can be converted to a container cargo bay by extending the grid mechanism which normally stores flat along the walls similar to Giant. There is also a fair amount of bulk cargo bins scattered around the ship which are filled and emptied by site-to-site transport. Cargo bins are becoming the prevalent way to transport cargo vs. containerized cargo.
• Personnel areas such as the bridge, main computer, crew areas, military passenger cabins, escape pods, and personnel transporters are located in the upper decks and the forward quarter of the ship.
• Extending out the very bottom of the ship are much smaller versions of the bulk cargo bay bulge similar to Ocean (mostly for zero-g storage), and the AM keel similar to Giant.
• The propulsion components are all grouped in a compact area in the lower rear part of the ship. A single midline cylindrical nacelle is partially buried in the very lower aft portion of the ship. Slightly higher and on either side of that are ‘saddlebag' protrusions for the deuterium storage tanks similar to the arrangement on Giant. The Bussard collectors mounted on the front of the saddlebag deuterium tank protrusions. AM bottle storage with a connection to the AM keel is nestled in between the nacelle and deuterium tanks. Immediately forward of these components is the M/AM reactor which is a smaller more advanced version of Quetzalcoatl's reactor. Surrounding and connecting all these components are structural support and utility transfer corridors. Two horizontal support & utility corridors run on each side of the M/AM reactor up to the nose and a modest vertical support & utility ring connects the three impulse engines.
• Ship stats and specs:
• Ship size: 103,200 MT
• Subspace efficiency: 140%
• Propulsion efficiency: 1895%
• Amount of deuterium: 6,000 M3, 1,180 MT
• Cruising/max speed: 5.3/6.5 WF
• LY range: 70.7 LY
• Months of deuterium: 5.7 months
• Warp reactor size/type: 1,400 M3, M/AM SSWR-IX-C
• AM bottles: 82, 12 in main body, 70 in keel
• Escape pods: 40
• Container cargo: 2,554
• Bulk/bin cargo: 7,000 M3 bulk in main cargo bay, 8,570 M3 bin
• Months of container/bin cargo: 179 months
• Crew compliment: 335, 250 passengers in 90 cabins, 85 crew
• Number/type shuttles: 10, 2 mini cargo/personnel, 8 micro personnel

This was a Pachyderm variant made at the same time as the military cargo variant. It was not retrofitted from an already build cargo ship at some later date, but built from scratch from the keel up as a passenger liner. The description focuses on the differences from the military cargo version:

• The only area of the ship that remains substantially unchanged is the lower rear portion housing the M/AM reactor, midline nacelle, deuterium storage tanks, bussard collectors, and internal AM bottles.
• The lower bulk cargo bay bulge and AM keel have been removed.
• Perhaps the biggest departure from standard ship design is the location of the bridge and main computer. They are on the bottom deck of the ship behind a bank of bulk cargo bins and in front of the M/AM reactor.
• The cargo transporters were moved lower in the ship to just in front of the M/AM reactor. There is a small container cargo bay on the port side/aft and crew areas on the starboard side/aft. Bulk cargo bins are spread around the lower and rear areas.
• Only a small portion of the aft shuttle bay remains with some additional crew areas just forward of this.
• Two passenger stair/turbolift clusters are in the forward and mid ship area. Two crew stair/turbolift clusters that open into ‘crew only' areas are in the forward and aft areas. The passenger and crew turbolift systems are interconnected and continuous throughout the ship. Passengers simply don't have the clearance to open the turbolift doors in a ‘crew only' area and are generally restricted to vertical travel only.
• All the above changes were to free up as much of the ship as possible for the passengers. The passenger areas are roughly divided by the connecting hallways and stair/turbolift clusters into front, middle, and aft portions.
• The front passenger portion contains most of the passenger cabins with the larger first class/variable atmosphere cabins at the top.
• The middle passenger portion contains:
  • The main 8 story passenger atrium on the starboard side with a large ‘ballroom' type area on the top center floor. A huge window arcs up the starboard side and over the top of the ship.
  • Most passengers now board the ship via personnel transporters which open onto the atrium's first floor, but there is also a single passenger airlock on this level.
  • Some smaller passenger common areas such as bars, theatres, shops, etc. in the center.
  • Escape pods and some more cabins extend down the port side.
• The aft passenger portion contains:
  • A 3 story arboretum with a large window out one side of the ship
  • A 3 story fitness area (including locker rooms, swimming pools, track, racket courts, workout rooms, gymnasiums, etc). The deck layouts don't show the details in this areas but rather just indicates a large open space.
  • A 2 story restaurant with a large overhead window and attached main kitchens.
  • A 2 story passenger lounge whose upper story is in a transparent bubble on the top of the ship and whose lower story overlooks the atrium ‘ballroom' and out the front of the ship through the atrium overhead window.
  • Some smaller passenger common areas such as bars, theatres, shops, etc.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Ship size: 92,600 MT
  • Subspace efficiency: 140%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 1895%
  • Amount of deuterium: 6,000 M3, 1,180 MT
  • Cruising/max speed: 5.3/6.5 WF
  • LY range: 78.8 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 6.4 months
  • Warp reactor size/type: 1,400 M3, M/AM SSWR-IX-C
  • AM bottles: 20
  • Escape pods: 45
  • Container cargo: 228
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 2,470 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 323 months
  • Crew compliment: 390, 290 passengers in 107 cabins, 100 crew
  • Number/type shuttles: 10 micro personnel

An evolutionary heavy cruiser using more advanced manufacturing techniques which were first tested with Asia:

• Like Asia, Valley Forge has a turbolift hatch just behind the bridge for turbolift car passthrough into the turbolift network of a starbase it is docked at.
• The phaser design is completely new with duel emitters right next to each other powered by the same phaser generator. This design becomes standard.
• The original photon torpedo design when Valley Forge was on the drawing board still had the AM permanently loaded on the torpedoes which were stored in cradles connected to an AM containment field generator. This arrangement had the torpedo cradles lined all along the forward bulkhead of the torpedo bay. The torpedoes would slide aft out of their cradles them move to the launcher. The containment generator was one deck down because there wasn't enough room in the bay for it. However, while still on the drawing board, new torpedo technology was introduced where the torpedo casings were stored empty of matter and AM, and were only loaded immediately before firing. The AM was stored in a bottle with a containment generator also in the torpedo bay. This arrangement took up much less room because the empty torpedo casings could be packed close together and not stored on large cradles that were needed for the AM containment. This arrangement fit the same number of torpedoes, plus the AM bottle and containment generator in the same size bay with room to spare. The torpedo launchers are very long and capable of very high speed torpedo launches.
• All AM bottles and containment generators throughout the ship were of a new improved design. The bottles were more square shaped and came in various sizes to better fit the room. The containment generators were more compact, taller, and also came in a variety of sizes. The lines that transfer AM are also smaller diameter.
• To power the impulse drive and most other ships functions, six smaller spherical fusion reactors in two series of three replace the single large tokamak fusion reactor in previous ships. The small fusion reactors can be easily swapped out and if one of them goes offline, the others can still function with the plasma stream still routed through the non functioning reactor.
• A bank of four new design personnel transporters are in the lower primary hull. Cargo transporters are in the deck just below the personnel transporters. This is also becoming the standard placement of transporters in the primary hull.
• The primary hull can be separated and operated independently of the secondary hull/nacelle assembly. The primary hull has all the phasers and torpedoes, the fusion reactors to power them, a small supply of deuterium, most of the cargo, most of the escape pods, and all the transporters.
• The M/AM warp reactor is mounted high in the secondary hull with a blow away panel for emergency reactor ejection just above it. The AM bottles are just behind the reactor under their own emergency blow away panel.
• The deuterium storage tanks are a thinner walled yet stronger tank.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 350%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2995%
  • Amount of deuterium: 2,300 M3, 452 MT
  • LY range: 71.6 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 4.6 months
  • Warp reactor size/type: 970 M3, M/AM SSWR-XIII-A
  • AM bottles: 6
  • Escape pods: 68
  • Container cargo: 136
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 2,775 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 28.8 months
  • Number/type shuttles: 6 micro personnel

A troop assault transport based of Valley Forge. The main changes from that ship are:

• The upper saucer dome is compressed to just one deck tall (not counting the bridge) and the phasers removed. This deck contains a command overbridge for coordinating planetary landings amongst the rest of the space-born fleet and all ground forces. This is critical because it is unsafe to have all troop control/coordination functions on the planet's surface until a large area of the planet is secured.
• The upper and lower saucer rim decks have more escape pods for the troops. But when the maximum number of troops are aboard, some of them will have to leave the ship in emergencies by shuttle.
• Two full decks were added to the saucer rim for a very large shuttle bay that raps 3/4th of the way around the saucer perimeter and has six shuttle bay doors spaced around the perimeter for fast exit of all shuttles. Masao stated Belleau Wood carried 25 assault landing craft. But for all the shuttle bay space on board, this was too few. The saucer rim bay alone holds 24 small assault landing shuttles that can carry most of the 1000 troops to the surface.
• An additional bank of 4 personnel transporters was added in the expanded saucer rim decks for a total of 8 that can beam a large number of troops very quickly.
• The reworked very large secondary hull has the M/AM warp reactor moved further forward. The reactor emergency blow away panel extends a little way onto the base of the neck.
• The large area aft of the warp reactor contains two shuttle bays. The forward one has 5 medium assault landing craft that can carry ground vehicles and other equipment as well as troops. These shuttles exit two doors in the port side of the hull. There is a cargo room for this military hardware below the shuttle bay accessible by cargo elevator. The cargo bay also has a single larger cargo transporter for beaming equipment directly into combat or even loading the shuttles quicker. The aft shuttle bay carries a compliment of 8 standard micro personnel shuttles that exit via a typical single rear facing shuttle door.
• Because Belleau Wood has the same impulse and warp reactors as Valley Forge, but is a considerably larger ship, warp and impulse performance suffers. This is acceptable since its role is not to be a frontline ship, but a support ship that will always be part of a much larger and well armed task force.
• There were some changes from Masao's pictures such as moving the shuttle bay door placement a little, eliminating the aft shuttle door on the secondary hull, and changing phaser placement.
• Ship stats and specs:
  • Subspace efficiency: 260%
  • Propulsion efficiency: 2995%
  • Amount of deuterium: 4,700 M3, 924 MT
  • LY range: 75.6 LY
  • Months of deuterium: 5.4 months
  • Warp reactor size/type: 970 M3, M/AM SSWR-XIII-A
  • AM bottles: 10
  • Escape pods: 106
  • Container cargo: 136
  • Bulk/bin cargo: 3,405 M3 bin
  • Months of container/bin cargo: 35.8 months, much smaller if troops are included
  • Number/type shuttles: 37, 24 small assault landing, 5 medium assault landing, 8 micro personnel

Penguin was the first fighter with a true M/AM warp reactor that did not rely on M/AM fuel cells to reach warp. It had the following internal arrangement from front to rear and then in the wings:

• The nose cone contains the navigational deflector/sensor/subspace transmitter assembly. Subspace transmission technology has advanced enough to be incorporated into a ship this small.
• Behind the dish, the structural support and utility core starts, running down the center of the ship below the cockpit, M/AM reactor and impulse drive all the way to the back of the ship.
• Above the core is misc support systems space and below it is the start of the Blue Meanie photon torpedo bays. The doors on the torpedo bays opened to release the torpedoes straight down or diagonally to the side before it shoots forward. But the bay doors can open wide enough so the torpedoes could be loaded from the side while the ship is resting on its belly.
• Behind the misc support system spaces is the cockpit. The upper center part of the hull was more heavily armored (and thus a thicker hull) than the rest to protected the vital cockpit area. The control panel/main computer is on the forward cockpit wall. The crew sits four across the front area of the cockpit. Behind the seats is a narrow hallway to the crew hatch at the upper aft of the cockpit. On either side of the hallway are two small storage rooms. These have crew provisions for 1-2 weeks, a small bunk/med center, a small lavatory, as well as the thrusters to eject the cockpit.
• Below the cockpit on either side of the utility core is more misc support systems space and centrally the warp nacelle starts.
• Behind the cockpit is the flat cylindrical M/AM reactor. This reactor powered all onboard systems (warp/impulse/phasers/etc.) as there is no secondary fusion reactor.
• Below the reactor is the duel AM containment field generators for the single AM bottle and all the AM stored on the torpedoes. The Blue Meanie torpedo bay also came to an end under the warp reactor.
• Behind and attached to the warp reactor is the impulse drive.
• Above the drive are two small atmospheric maneuvering fins.
• Below the impulse drive on either side of the nacelle are the rear landing legs. There is no front landing leg as the ship rests directly on its belly. When landed, the ship looks nose heavy as if it would tip forward. This does not happen as the heaviest components (the M/AM reactor and warp nacelle) are in the aft half of the ship. The rear legs are very small and are only needed to keep the ship from tipping back or side to side. Most of the weight rests on the belly.
• The warp nacelle extends out past the impulse deck.
• The port wing contains the phaser cannon in the wing root with two small deuterium storage tanks and the AM bottle outboard. There is enough deuterium and AM fuel for almost a week of continuous warp, although the longest missions could last longer than a week since the ship would not be at warp the entire time.
• The starboard wing contains the mini photon torpedo launcher in the wing root and 5 mini photon torpedoes outboard in the wing. Lines connect the AM bottle, the Blue Meanie torpedoes and the mini torpedoes to the duel AM containment