USS Kodiak Island

USS Kodiak Island navigating the Boralis Corridor.

The **USS *Kodiak Island* (NCC-65490)** was *New Orleans*-class spacecraft, the second in Starfleet. She was named for an island on Earth where an American spaceport complex was located. *Kodiak Island* was launched from Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on stardate 4478.33 and was commissioned on stardate 4524.63.

## Service history

### Taragon Incident

USS *Kodiak Island*’s maiden deployment was responding to a distress call from the Federation colony on Taragon. Upon arrival it was discovered that the Taragon amorphous lifeform, designated in 2267 as LFT1-A, was actively causing significant geological instability in response to a perceived threat. An away team from *Kodiak Island* was able to make peaceful contact with LFT1-A and take a detailed account of its reaction as well as numerous tricorder scans. It was discovered that a recent change in the colony’s weather control system had coincided with a sudden burst of electromagnetic radiation from Taragon’s sun and allowed a significant amount of X-rays through a hole in the atmosphere. These X-rays were able to penetrate the surface of Taragon and damage LFT1-A living in the caverns beneath. LFT1-A sought to create a protective layer of volcanic ash in the air to shield itself from the damaging radiation, but in the process threatened the colonists' safety. The away team estimated that LFT1-A only had a matter of days before it would succumb to the intense radiation bombardment.

Due to persistent storms causing widespread flooding, Taragon’s weather control system had been modified to reduce the build up of vapor in the atmosphere and dissipate cold fronts in the hope that further destruction could be avoided. However, the modifications had the unintended effect of reducing the filtering properties of the atmosphere that blocked a significant portion of the Taragon sun’s x-ray output. Though quickly apprised of the situation, the Taragon Weather Administration found that the controls required several weeks in order to reverse the damage.

After a thorough investigation, *Kodiak Island*’s senior staff devised a plan. The atmosphere’s protective qualities could be restored using a simultaneous release of captured gases native to the planet and a broad spectrum EM pulse to realign Taragon’s magnetic field in the affected area. To accomplish this, the *Kodiak Island* needed 100:1 hypercompression gas collection chambers and an EM generator capable of emitting repeated double exponential pulses. Contacting the Starfleet Corps of Engineers office on Deep Space K-5, the *Kodiak Island*’s science department worked with the station’s personnel during a record breaking 13 hour sprint at warp 9.4 to develop and manufacture both pieces of equipment for the ship to equip and return to Taragon. By the time *Kodiak Island* arrived at K-5 the collection chambers and EM generator had been fabricated by the SCE team, all of which were contained in premade mission pods. The two HcGCCs were attached to the dorsal hardpoints and the EM generator to the ventral hardpoint in 57 minutes, at which point the ship began her run back to the planet.

Setting yet another record, *Kodiak Island* reached warp 9.5 on her 12 hour return to Taragon. Immediately after dropping out of warp, the ship descended into the troposphere to begin collection of unaltered gases. Upon filling the HcGCCs to capacity, *Kodiak Island* relocated to the site of the atmospheric hole and released her stores while broadcasting EM pulses to realign Taragon’s geomagnetic field, preventing the transplanted gases from escaping into space. This process was repeated eight times over the following 49 hours, with *Kodiak Island*’s crew working around the clock to ensure continuous operation in instrument flight only conditions due to the heavy amount of volcanic ash present. On stardate 4537.7, sensors indicated that the atmosphere’s composition had reached levels sufficient to block the lethal x-ray radiation emissions. After a few hours, LFT1-A returned to a dormant state and with it the volcanic activity that threatened the colony. *Kodiak Island* remained in orbit above Taragon to provide support to the colony and LFT1-A for the next five weeks.

Today there is a one-to-one scale sculpture of a *New Orleans*-class starship in front of a Starfleet delta located on Taragon’s highest mountain peak. The creator is unknown.

### 2323-2344

At the end of 2323, *Kodiak Island*’s home port was Starbase 23. From there she conducted patrol and survey duties along the Romulan Neutral Zone for six months until stardate 5379.9 when she was deployed with the USS *Gandhi* Cruiser Group.

With the *Gandhi* Cruiser Group, *Kodiak Island* nominally served as an escort to the *Ambassador*-class vessel though joint operations were few and far between. Most of her assignments between 2324 and 2344 took place in the Eridan Belt where she helped establish, and carry out logistical operations in support of, numerous first-in colonies.

### First Contact with the Zakdorn

In the early 2340s, the Starfleet Intelligence became aware that the Zakdorn system was being targeted by the Romulan Star Empire as a location for future expansion. It was decided that first contact had to be initiated within the next decade to prevent the Zakdorn civilization from being subjugated and to block Romulan attempts at moving their border. As the Zakdorn system was located within the *Gandhi* Cruiser Group area of responsibility, the task of monitoring the situation and starting first contact procedures fell to them.

On stardate 22570.1 *Kodiak Island* underwent a refit to equip her for a signals intelligence role. During her month at the Beta Antares Ship Yards, most of her internal modules were swapped for dedicated information gathering, processing, and analysis spaces. She also received three extremely low frequency subspace antennae mission pods. After the conversion was complete, she spent the next 10 months patrolling the sector blocks adjacent to Zakdorn. Though the exact details of *Kodiak Island*’s activities during this time period remain classified, in 2344 the *Gandhi* successfully made first contact with the Zakdorn, who joined the Federation shortly thereafter.

### Federation-Cardassian War

On stardate 26773.67 *Kodiak Island* was inbound from the Eridan Belt to rendezvous with the *Ghandi* Cruiser Group when she received the fleet wide alert announcing the Detapa Council’s declaration of war on the United Federation of Planets. In response to the commencing hostilities, the *Gandhi* Cruiser Group was reassigned to the Alpha Quadrant. After a brief layover, during which she was equipped with two photon torpedo launcher pods on her ventral hardpoints, *Kodiak Island* moved with the Cruiser Group to respond to Cardassian attacks on Federation worlds.

#### 2347-2348

In the first year of the war, *Gandhi* Cruiser Group was primarily concerned with protecting civilians on planets likely to be attacked by the Cardassians. Because many of these colonies were old, and consequently had high populations, a convoy system was established utilizing purpose built high-capacity transports to evacuate the inhabitants. Starfleet forces were spread thin trying to protect all the convoys, consequently *Gandhi* Cruiser Group was split up into individual starships; each operating semi-independently to provide some level of protection for the evacuees fleeing inwards towards the Federation’s core worlds.

Cardassian tactics evolved after the first few skirmishes with Starfleet vessels. Despite their dedication to peaceful exploration, Starfleet starships were well armed and their modular nature made it difficult to find consistently exploitable flaws in their design. Whenever a potential weakness was found, the ship underwent a rapid refit and the advantage was lost. A shift occurred during the first three months wherein Cardassian captains, working together in squadrons, began to prioritize the civilian transports over their Starfleet escorts. They would send a single of their number to engage a convoy’s defender while the rest would destroy as many transports as possible before escaping to warp. Though the survival rate of these decoy ships was low, the tactic was sound enough to inflict severe casualties on the civilian-carrying vessels.

During this time, *Kodiak Island* escorted 53 convoys of varying sizes from the front lines of the conflict to the safer interior sector blocks. As Cardassian tactics evolved, so did Starfleet’s. In response to these hit-and-run raids, Cruiser Groups developed a rapid response strategy. The more numerous frigates and destroyers would escort the convoys down pre-determined lanes while the larger *Ambassador*-class cruisers would patrol these “highways” at warp speeds. When a Cardassian squadron engaged a convoy, the escorting vessel would transmit a message to the patrolling cruiser who would immediately attempt to drop in and assist. One non-capital Starfleet vessel was a match for the Cardassian squadrons, but an *Ambassador*-class cruiser was a force multiplier that significantly tipped the scales. However, even this response didn’t prevent the Cardassians from destroying large numbers of transports.

#### 2349-2354

Emboldened by their relative success, the Cardassian Central Command stepped up efforts to demoralize the Federation by attacking refugee waystations deep along the convoy routes. Though suffering losses much the same as before compared to Starfleet, the attacks caused a surge of unrest within the evacuees who came to distrust Starfleet’s priorities; believing that they were being sacrificed by Starfleet captains in order to save their ships and crews. *Kodiak Island* and other escorts reported a growing number of transports that would break from the convoys in an attempt to make a run on their own when attacked. Logs show that in at least two instances, she was forced to hold a transport with her tractor beam to prevent them from colliding with other convoy vessels.

In addition, escorts were often forced to make decisions about whether to respond to distress calls from waystations under attack or continue to guard convoys. Cardassian forces exploited this by feigning assaults on waystations or convoys, while diverting the bulk of their squadrons to attack the other.

In early 2351 *Kodiak Island* received a distress call from Outpost Whiskey Lima Two Nine while escorting Convoy TP 843. The message indicated that the outpost was under attack by eight *Galor*-class warships and that defensive shields were failing. Believing this to be a ruse, and suspecting that Convoy TP 843 was the actual target, *Kodiak Island*’s commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Ernest Jones ordered the ship to make a high warp jump approximately 113 AU away while masking her energy signature. Sensors continued to monitor the transports at long range. After 18 minutes a Cardassian squadron composed of six vessels dropped from warp onto the convoy. *Kodiak Island* immediately returned and engaged the raiders with extreme prejudice. All eight torpedo tubes in the dorsal pods, as well as those located in the hull, had been preloaded in anticipation of the skirmish and all were emptied upon the Kodiak Island’s arrival. Two *Galors* were disabled by the initial photon spread and a third had its weapons knocked offline. The remaining three warships withdrew. Though the convoy suffered only light damage, Jones was court-martialed for using the unarmed transports as bait in his gambit and was subsequently removed from command.

By the end 2354 nearly all the civilians on threatened worlds had been evacuated, and Starfleet was able to begin preparing for an offensive campaign. After reviewing reports on actions such as Convoy TP 843, Starfleet found that the most effective results were produced when escort vessels were able to concentrate their firepower on individual warships and score early disables in the opening salvos of a skirmish. Building off of this information, the Advanced Starship Design Bureau began experimenting with trading escort vessel’s wide coverage phaser arrays for narrow arc, but more powerful, phaser banks. Simulations indicated that the smaller vessel’s maneuverability would compensate for the loss of global weapons coverage and the added difficulty of bringing weapons to bear. A handful of ships, including the *Kodiak Island*, were refitted with weapon loadouts appropriate for this tactic.

#### 2355-2359

On stardate 33583.1, *Kodiak Island* was deployed to Starbase 310 near Alpha Trianguli along with her sister ship USS *Kyushu* as part of Operation Cedar; a series of probing attacks designed to gauge the strength of Cardassian border protection forces as well as evaluate the performance of the ASDB escort refits. After a day of resupplying and receiving intel briefs from Starbase 310, *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu* began a long range patrol into Cardassian territory.

At 1014 hours, six hours into the patrol, *Kodiak Island*’s sensors detected three Cardassian warships moving at warp factor five .02 light years away. Two were identified as *Galor*-class vessels, CDS *Trakes* and CDS *Linyus*, but the remaining ship was of an unknown model that would later be identified in 2371 as the prototype for the *Keldon*-class. Masking their energy signatures, the two *New Orleans*-class starships calculated an intercept point and moved to ambush the oncoming vessels.

At 1059 hours, the Cardassian warships entered weapons range and were immediately fired upon. *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu*’s opening volley knocked the vessels out of warp, but did little damage. The *Galor*-class vessels positioned themselves to shield the *Keldon* prototype while it attempted to make repairs to its subspace field generator. *Kodiak Island* began a series of aggressive maneuvers to close the distance between herself and the Cardassian warships while the *Kyushu* positioned herself for a broadside attack.

At 1101 hours *Kodiak Island* fired a spread of 12 photon torpedoes followed by salvo from her beam banks. CDS *Linyus* was struck amidships and took severe damage to her fusion reactors. CDS *Trakes* engaged *Kyushu* with her spiral wave disruptors in an effort to prevent the two Starfleet ships from being able to focus a single target or the prototype.

At 1104 hours *Linyus* took three direct hits to her bridge from *Kodiak Island*, and was disabled. *Kyushu* continued to engage *Trakes* in a running battle as the *New Orleans*-class moved to circle around the defending warship. At this point the *Keldon* prototype managed to finish repairs to its subspace field generator and jumped to warp, accelerating to warp factor 9.7 and leaving the Starfleet vessel’s sensor range.

At 1110 hours *Kodiak Island* destroyed *Trakes*, still engaged with *Kyushu*, with a salvo from her phaser banks that pierced the warship’s warp core. After beaming aboard survivors from the disabled *Linyus*, *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu* scuttled the *Galor*-class and returned to Starbase 310.

This after action report, in concert with other similar outcomes during the operation, convinced the ASDB that the modifications were a success. Over the course of 2355, nearly all escort vessels were refit with phaser banks and drilled in the aggressive maneuvers required to use them. The steadily increasing Starfleet victories forced another revaluation of strategy by Cardassian Central Command. Distributed squadron organization was no longer seen as a viable tactic, and the decision was made to attempt a combined fleet thrust towards the Federation’s core worlds. Starfleet Intelligence intercepted the details of this plan, and Starfleet Command prepared a preemptive strike code named Operation VOXEL to disrupt the fleet buildup. Though some at SFC wanted to delay the operation until the new *Galaxy*-class starships were ready, the window of opportunity for a surprise attack on the still gathering Cardassian fleet did not allow it and the *Ambassador*-class Cruiser Groups were thought to be more than sufficient for the task.

In early 2356 six Cruiser Groups, including the *Gandhi'*s, crossed the Cardassian border towards the invasion force staging ground at the Chin’toka system. After breaking through the screening force at the system’s edge, the Cruiser Groups engaged the disorganized Cardassian fleet. *Kodiak Island* led the center drive towards the command, control, and communication vessels. Three *Galor*-class warships attempted to intercept her, but were disabled by overwhelming fire from her beam banks. Within 36 minutes, *Kodiak Island* and the *Gandhi* Cruiser Group had achieved their objective and moved to support other vessels. In just over three hours of fighting the Cardassian fleet was scattered. The refit escort vessels proved valuable in clearing a path for the larger *Ambassador*-class cruisers by either significantly damaging enemy warships or outright destroying them.

Operation VOXEL marked the beginning of the end for the Cardassian Union’s ability to project force with its fleet. In the following five months, Cardassian Central Command lost 55% of their combat ready warships. In the next three years, they would lose an additional 18% of the forces they started the war with. By 2359, the war had deescalated to intermittent guerilla attacks and low level skirmishes. The Cardassian Union would not be able to field a fleet of significance again until the Dominion War.

#### 2360-2367

After four years of a nonstop Starfleet offensive, it was clear to both sides that the majority of the fighting was done. Cardassian Central Command adopted a localized focus on the systems adjacent to the border, along with an emphasis on deniable strikes and gunboat diplomacy. This decision was motivated by the significant losses suffered during Operation VOXEL as well as the launch of the first *Galaxy*-class starships from Federation shipyards. As the intensity of the conflict waned, Starfleet Command began to stand down from a wartime footing and return its vessels to their primary missions. Though confrontations between the two governments and their space forces would continue until the Federation-Cardassian Armistice of 2367, it would never reach the level of activity seen in the years 2355 to 2359.

After nearly 14 years of operating at a combat tempo, *Kodiak Island* returned to Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards for a long overdue maintenance period on stardate 38252.41. She would remain there for four years as engineers removed older technology and parts that the war had not permitted due to time constraints. *Kodiak Island* received a revamped and updated systems package based on the *Galaxy*-class which improved sensors, onboard science facilities, shields, and more. Her crew joked that *Kodiak Island* should have received a letter suffix to her registry number given how extensive the update was. On stardate 42037.3 she was relaunched and sent to the Delta Volanis Cluster for her shakedown cruise. After a month and a half of trials and exercises with her new equipment and crew additions she was moved to active duty and deployed to the Arucanis Arm.

For the next three years *Kodiak Island* performed much of the same tasks she had before the Federation-Cardassian war. Her primary duties were exploratory and logistical. During this period *Kodiak Island* was credited with the discovery of eight new systems, six of which were located within a micro-nebula. She also set a new personal speed record during an outbreak of Rogath blight on the agricultural colony of New Harbin, in which she sustained warp factor 9.81 for fifteen hours while delivering much needed antigens.

### Post Wolf 359

On stardate 44002.3, a fleet-wide alert was sent ordering all starships to gather at Wolf 359 in preparation to intercept a Borg cube heading for Sector 001. *Kodiak Island* was three days into an exploration mission within the Arucanis Arm when she received the notice. By the time she arrived, the battle was over. Among the 39 starships lost was her sister ship, *Kyushu*. After action reports noted that the *Kyushu* had attempted to use experimental quantum dissection arrays located in her mission pods as a makeshift weapon after the Borg had adapted to her phasers. Though she had been unable to bring the emitter-beams to bear before suffering critical damage, the idea was intriguing to the Corps of Engineers.

In 2368, *Kodiak Island* was fitted with the set of quantum dissection arrays salvaged from the *Kyushu*. In cooperation with the Daystrom Institute, efforts were made to identify the methodology attempted by the *Kyushu*’s crew to use the emitter-beams in an offensive capacity. The arrays, meant to gather data at extreme range, were powerful enough to destroy matter in the general vicinity of the source. Furthermore the beams took several seconds to triangulate and lock on to the designated target which caused them to sweep across a wide arc along the desired bearing. This had a disastrous effect on everything the beams touched and it was feared that using them in a chaotic situation would result in unintended destruction. After two years of testing the system at an undisclosed location, the project was deemed a failure and the arrays were removed from *Kodiak Island*’s mission pods. No further information was available until the launch of the *Lafayette*-class, which came equipped with Hyper-focusing Trinary Array technology.

Service records between 2371 and 2409 do not exist in official archives.

## Ship Culture

### *Kyushu* Day

Because of flaws in the initial training regimen for the *New Orleans*-class, the plankowners of *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu* spent 12 months side-by-side at the simulation facilities in orbit above Mars. This coincidentally shared experience was said to have created a bond between the two crews. Though *Kyushu* was supposed to be launched a month after *Kodiak Island* was completed, both ships were ready before their crews were. As a result it was thought to be an efficient use of time and resources for both crews to man their vessels and launch simultaneously. Due to a mooring beam malfunction during the ceremony *Kyushu* was launched 57 seconds after *Kodiak Island*, making *Kodiak Island* the "elder sister."

Originally started as a joke by the senior staff, each ship recognized 21 May as a day in which they celebrated the other: "*Kyushu* Day" aboard the *Kodiak Island* and "*Kodiak Island* Day” aboard the *Kyushu*. There were exchanges of well-wishing messages, namesake themed supplies, and tales of shipboard athletic feats between the two crews, though the vessels were never assigned to the same location. Over time, due to plankowner crew rotations and retirements, the tradition faded. However when the two ships were reunited 32 years later during Operation Cedar, the celebration was given new life and meaning as a commemoration of the battle they fought together. *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu* would serve in the same theater of operation for the remainder of the four year Starfleet offensive, though in different Cruiser Groups.

Following Starfleet’s stand down of large scale operations against the Cardassians *Kodiak Island* and *Kyushu*, along with many other vessels, returned to their primary directive of exploration and discovery. On stardate 43592.22 *Kodiak Island* discovered an O-type star system during an expedition into the Arucanis Arm, which the crew designated Kilo Sierra 1069. According to the minutes of the 2365 Federation Astrosciences Authority convention a motion was made to reclassify Kilo Sierra 1069 in accordance with established nomenclature but was withdrawn before a vote could take place.

In the aftermath of Wolf 359, the heavy task of recovering the 39 hulks and their 11,000 dead fell to Starfleet’s remaining ships, aided by Klingon vessels which arrived after the battle’s conclusion. *Kodiak Island*, being one of the first to respond, spent five months working with recovery and salvage teams to clear the graveyard. On 21 May 2367, after the efforts were complete, the senior staff of the *Kodiak Island* hosted a memorial service aboard the ship for the families of the *Kyushu*’s crew before returning to active duty.

### Taragon Sprint

*Kodiak Island*’s dash between Taragon and Deep Space K-5 drew the attention of many across the Federation and bi-quadrant powers. Her speed was unprecedented for a vessel of her time and type. Replicating the run has become a local tradition for colonists and Starfleet vessels stationed in the area. Prior to 2371, *Kodiak Island*’s current commanding officer would send a message of congratulations to new record holders.The “Taragon Sprint” consists of the following steps:

1. Starting at Taragon, the vessel attempts to reach K-5.
2. Upon arrival at K-5, the crew attach replicas of Kodiak Island’s mission pods to the vessel. In most cases, these are holographic as few ships support the appropriate hardpoints or cargo space.
3. Returning to Taragon and reaching the point of friction in the atmosphere.

*Kodiak Island*’s record of 26.95 hours was held until the USS *Galaxy* beat her with 19.04 hours in 2360. This record stood until 2370 when the USS *Intrepid* made the round trip in 9.1 hours. This remained the fastest time until 2409, when the USS *Odyssey* completed the Sprint in 1.5 hours. Some consider these records to be inapplicable due to the starship type differences; and in the *Odyssey'*s case, the use of an advanced quantum slipstream drive.

## Appendices

### Connections

**Leadership:** Commander-in-chief • Joint Chiefs • Chief of Starfleet External Affairs • Chief of Starfleet Operations • Chief of Starfleet Research and Exploration • Chief of Starfleet Tactical

**Agencies:** Operations (Engineering • Judicial • Materiel Supply • Mission Operations • Personnel Management • Records Service • Shipyards Operations • Starbase Operations) • Research & Exploration (Science • Medical) • External Affairs • Tactical (Intelligence • Security • MACO)

**Notable units:** Ktarn Fleet • Task Force 77

**Facilities:** Deep Space K-7 • Deep Space K-13 • Deep Space 9 • Masamichi Array • Starbase 45-Keepsake • Starbase 82-Maat • Starbase 234-Beskerm • Starbase 247-Vershina

**Agencies:** Starfleet • Diplomatic Corps • Department of Temporal Investigations • Federation Security Agency

**Facilities:** 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards • Antares Ship Yards • Beta Antares Ship Yards • Copernicus Ship Yards • Laikan Starfleet Shipyards • McKinley Station • Memory Project • New Aberdeen Shipyards • Proxima Maintenance Yards • Salazaar Shipyards • San Francisco Fleet Yards • TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards • Tranquility Base • Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards