Oberth Class

Designed as a replacement for older Scout Frigates such as the Davids-S Class, the Oberth is the smallest unsupported craft employed by Starfleet. Armed only to give some modicum of self-defence, the usefulness of the Oberth in wartime conditions comes from her powerful sensors and high impulse speed, allowing her to survey enemy positions from long range and to evade attempts to engage her.

## Development

During the 2250s, the new Davids Class Frigates were proving a great success at freeing up larger Cruisers for exploratory work and for various menial tasks within the Federation herself. The usefulness of these very small and inexpensive starships was not lost upon the more military-minded officers in Starfleet, and many were requisitioned into Cruiser Squadrons and Destroyer Flotillas to act as scouts and sensor pickets. For this role, Davids Class ships were often refit into dedicated Scout Frigates, trading their Photon Torpedo Tubes for powerful long-ranged sensors and Electronic Warfare Equipment. During the 4-Day War of 2266 these ships proved invaluable at providing early warning of Klingon fleet movements, allowing Federation Destroyer Flotillas to outmanoeuvre the heavy KDF strike fleets.

By the mid 2270s both the Davids Class and her scout variant were in need of refit or replacement. The growing tensions with the Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire, and increasing border incidents and hostilities with smaller powers (due to Federation expansion near their borders) meant that the new generation of Frigates would need to be faster, tougher, and better armed. Similarly, the technological improvements made by the Klingon Empire (and the already superior nature of Romulan sensor technology) meant that a new scout would need even more powerful sensors to remain competitive. The introduction of vessels such as the E12 B'Rel (Bird of Prey) Class also meant that Davids Class Frigates could no longer rely on their higher impulse speeds to escape enemy engagements, and indeed the widespread adoption of Cloaking Devices by the KDF meant that often the crew of a scout would have no clue they were being pursued until it was too late.

Initially a replacement for the Davids Class was planned that could perform both tasks with little modification, as the earlier class had done. It soon became clear however that the two missions profiles could no longer be performed by a single class; If the new design were powerful enough for military needs, there was insufficient power and space available for a scientific sensor suite and Electronic Warfare Equipment. If the new design had powerful enough
sensors for scouting and scientific surveys, there wasn't sufficient room for a torpedo room. If it were big enough to accommodate both roles, then it was almost the size of an Akula Class, and Starfleet had no desire for another Destroyer design.

In the end, two new designs were tendered. The first became the Okinawa Class Frigate. The second, the Oberth Class Escort.

The Oberth was based on earlier theoretical (i.e simulator only) designs of a separate series to the earlier Type II programme. This series was known as the Type S and used a compact hull, direct mounted nacelles and underslung "canoe" for sensor equipment, along with a specialised type of warp nacelle known as the S-I. These features gave the Oberth unprecedented range for a ship of her diminutive size, which in turn gave her the turn of speed at impulse required to outrun even a Bird of Prey. Her sensors were of unmatched sensitivity and range, and were designed with future expansion in mind (indeed Starfleet Intelligence had a new system on the drawing board at the time it was eager to see deployed)

A trade off of course was in weaponry. The Oberth was never designed to face direct combat, and was fitted with only a pair of Type B Phaser Emitters in addition to a single Photon Torpedo Tube (Mark VI at the time, although mainly intended for launching Mark VI Probes.). As with earlier Scout Frigates, her main weapon would be speed.

Beginning in late 2291, the Oberth was upgraded with the Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tube and a number of ships were also fitted with the Enhanced Sensor Plasma Detection System, or ESPlaDs. This set of extremely sensitive sensors, paired with highly advanced data analysis computers on board Monitoring Stations, allows cloaked vessels to be detected at a considerable distance. ESPlaDs was the brainchild of Starfleet Intelligence, and had already been deployed on Federation Sensor Probe Nets along the Klingon and Romulan Neutral Zones. At the same time, the probes deployed on Oberth Class ships were upgraded to Mark VI-S standards, being designed to detect and study gaseous anomalies.

## Operational History

In an unfortunate combat debut for the type, the USS Grissom (NCC-438) was completely destroyed in only a single shot by the IKS Qel'Poh, an E12 Class Bird of Prey, in orbit around the Genesis Planet in 2283. Logs retrieved when this vessel, captured, rechristened the HMS Bounty by the crew of the late USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and crashed into San Francisco Bay in 2284 after returning to Earth, indicated that this occurrence had been (in the very words of the Klingon Gunner) a "lucky shot". The Grissom had been caught with her shields down and was struck by a Photon Torpedo that penetrated the warp core. (although per these same logs, the Gunner had been ordered to target the Grissoms engines with Light Disruptors. He was apparently summarily executed for his disobedience and the loss of the Grissom, from which Commander Kruge had hoped to take prisoners).

In scientific pursuits, the Oberth proved exceptional (one of the reasons the Grissom was sent to the Genesis Planet, rather than a larger Cruiser). Her sensors and scanning equipment allowed readings of unparalleled detail, allowing the study of many phenomena that had simply been too complex for earlier studies to take accurate readings of.

The Oberth went to war in 2285 with the beginning of the Organian Conflict. She proved able to repeat her predecessors performance in the scouting role, evading most combat situations whilst still providing detailed reports on Klingon fleet movements. Against the Romulans however, she proved less able. With no method available at that time to reliably track Romulan ships (fitted with updated and almost undetectable Cloaking Devices) Oberth crews could provide at best a 20 second advance warning, during which time the Romulan vessel was reaching peak charge in her Plasma Torpedo Tube and preparing to decloak.

During the War of Pacification, the Oberth fared better as the Interstellar Pacification Force deployed by the Interstellar Concordium did not deploy cloaking technology of any kind. Again, actual combat engagements were few, as she still had the edge when it came to pure impulse speed. At this time she was proving a little vulnerable in large fleet engagements, and in the role of a fleet scout, she was being replaced by increasing numbers of requisitioned Ranger Class Galactic Survey Cruisers.

By the outbreak of the General War, some Oberths had been fitted with the ESPlaDs system. This allowed them to see through even Romulan Cloaking Devices within their sensor range. Most Oberths however had not yet been fitted with this system, although given as the Federation Prime Fleet was away fighting the Interstellar Concordium, this wasn't a problem. The Oberth also proved invaluable at mapping and cataloguing the many strange phenomena in the Galactic Fringe.

## Apocrypha

The Oberth remained in service long after most of her contemporaries had been retired, mainly due to the lack of a need to replace her with anything better. Further developments in Romulan cloaking technology rendered the ESPlaDs system obsolete by the mid 2310s, and the Oberth ceased operating as a scout after that time. Her scientific and exploratory missions continued however.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Escort
* **Hull Type Designation:** FEC
* **Length:** 107m
* **Crew:** 45
* **Warp Nacelles:** 2

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 4650 k/s (46.5 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.8
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 8.5
* **Hull Rating:** 130 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 252 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 1000 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 2 × Type B Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- 1 × Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Mark VI-S Probes
		- Electronic Warfare Equipment
		- ESPlaDs

## Ships in Service (2292)

USS Oberth (NCC-437)

USS Grissom (NCC-438-A)

USS Armstrong (NCC-439)

USS Carver (NCC-440)

USS Glen (NCC-441)

USS Banting (NCC-442)

USS Aamot (NCC-443)

USS Freedom (NCC-444)

USS Mercury (NCC-445)

USS Gemini (NCC-446)

USS Gagarin (NCC-447)

USS Lovell (NCC-448)

USS Haise (NCC-449)

USS Mattingly (NCC-450)

USS Aldrin (NCC-451)

USS Anders (NCC-452)

USS Bailey (NCC-453)

USS Boe (NCC-454)

USS Bassett (NCC-466)

USS Aldridge (NCC-456)

USS Swigert (NCC-457)

USS Canaveral (NCC-458)

USS Baikonur (NCC-459)

USS Foale (NCC-460)

USS Langstrom (NCC-461)

USS Einstein (NCC-462)

USS Manheim (NCC-463)

USS Soong (NCC-464)

USS Cochrane (NCC-465)

USS Arden (NCC-467)

USS Curie (NCC-468)

USS Pasteur (NCC-469)

USS Galileo (NCC-470)

USS Copernicus (NCC-471)

USS Archimedes (NCC-472)

USS Pythagoras (NCC-473)

USS Diomedes (NCC-474)

USS Plato (NCC-475)

USS Machiavelli (NCC-476)

USS Kant (NCC-478)

USS Marx (NCC-479)

USS Rand (NCC-480)

USS Amstrad (NCC-481)

USS Packard (NCC-482)

USS Westinghouse (NCC-483)

USS Whitney (NCC-484)

USS Carterton (NCC-486)

USS Allerton (NCC-487)

USS Ziber (NCC-488)

USS Burgess (NCC-489)