Ranger Class

A variant on the Constitution Class Refit, the Ranger Class Galactic Survey Cruiser was introduced in 2274 to explore new regions of space and perform science missions, leaving the Constitution Class Refit for patrols and diplomatic missions. This delegation of duties hearkened back to the earlier days of the Asia Class Exploratory Cruiser and the Valley Forge Class Cruiser, and although seemingly a step backwards, dividing these duties between two classes allowed the more heavily armed Constitution Class Refit to remain on station near the Klingon and Romulan Neutral Zones whilst not impacting on Starfleet's scientific programmes.

## Development

With the return of the Romulan Star Empire to the galactic political stage in 2266, Starfleet found herself in a situation where she could potentially be outnumbered by a combined Klingon and Romulan offensive. Later that year, with the outbreak of the 4-Day War, this became a very real prospect, although fortunately the war came to an end before any Romulan vessels entered combat, leaving it as a purely Federation and Klingon affair.

To try and offset this problem, the construction of further Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers was mooted. However, by this time she was showing her age, and indeed plans were already afoot to refit her. Constructing new ships only a few years before they would become obsolete seemed wasteful. A number were constructed to make up for losses sustained, but plans to expand the fleet were shelved.

A further issue arose however when the first refit, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), was completed. Given rising tensions, the refit had been designed with more military functions in mind, and this naturally meant a reduction in the number of science labs, scientific probes, long range scanners and other pieces of survey equipment the class had previously carried. As more and more Constitution Class ships were refit (and new Constitution Class Refits constructed), Starfleet's ability to carry out her primary mission; scientific research and exploration, was waning.

To counter this, an alternative layout for the Constitution Class Refit was proposed. Not intended to replace, but to supplement the existing refit, these new ships would have a reduced Primary Weapons array in return for enhanced sensors, basic Electronic Warfare Equipment (ECM Only), an increase in science labs, a stellar cartography suite and a host of other pieces of scientific apparatus. Whilst designed for peaceful uses, these ships could also prove to be useful fleet scouts and sensor pickets, if the situation arose. Given sufficient time and shipyard space, they could also be converted into Constitution Class Refits, or vice versa.

As part of a disinformation campaign, this scientific variant of the Constitution Class Refit was named the Ranger Class, and officially designated as a Galactic Survey Cruiser. Due to her sharing the majority of her systems with the Constitution Class Refit, she entered service quickly after the launch of the USS Ranger (NCC-1781) in 2274 and without incident.

In 2291, the Ranger Class was refit with new Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tubes and the newly designed Mark VI-S Probes, these being designed to detect and study gaseous anomalies.

## Operational History

Being essentially a non-combat ship, the Ranger Class saw little action during the Organian Conflict, although several were drafted in to act as long range sensor platforms, detecting enemy fleet movements at long range. During the War of Pacification, the Oberth Class Escort proved increasingly vulnerable when serving in large fleet engagements, and many more Ranger Class ships were commissioned explicitly for use as fleet scouts.

They continued in this role during the General War, with their long range and additional science equipment being of huge benefit in the distant Galactic Fringe. Starfleet used this expedition to a distant part of the galaxy in the war against the Interstellar Concordium to study the strange anomalies and scientific phenomena, and the Ranger Class ships in the Federation Prime Fleet were the vessels that enabled them to do this.

## Apocrypha

With the coming of the Khitomer Accords in 2293, one of the political compromises made was the retirement of the Constitution Class Refit. The Ranger Class, being essentially a subclass of that type, was also retired. Her scientific duties however were quickly taken over by increasing numbers of Excelsior Class Battlecruisers.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Galactic Survey Cruiser
* **Hull Type Designation:** FGSC
* **Length:** 305m
* **Crew:** 500
* **Warp Nacelles:** 2

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 3750 k/s (37.5 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.5
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 9.3
* **Hull Rating:** 250 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 523 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 1000 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 2 × Type B Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- 2 × Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Mark VI-S Probes
		- Electronic Countermeasures (ECM)
		- 2 × Type 2 Shuttlecraft

## Ships in Service (2292)

USS Ranger (NCC-1781)

USS Talavera (NCC-1298)

USS Salamanca (NCC-1782)

USS Villafranca (NCC-1783)

USS Benavente (NCC-1784)

USS Albuera (NCC-1785)

USS Badajoz (NCC-1786)

USS Ciudad Rodrigo (NCC-1787)

USS Lisbon (NCC-1801)

USS Tortuga (NCC-1802)

USS Valencia (NCC-1803)

USS Cartagena (NCC-1804)

USS Santiago (NCC-1805)

USS Antigua (NCC-1806)

USS Grenada (NCC-1807)

USS Tripolitania (NCC-1808)

USS Caracas (NCC-1809)

USS Venezuela (NCC-1810)

USS Maracaibo (NCC-1811)

USS Jamaica (NCC-1812)

USS Haiti (NCC-1813)

USS Puerto Rico (NCC-1814)

USS Bermuda (NCC-1815)