Constitution Class Heavy Cruiser

The Constitution class was a class of 14 heavy cruisers laid down between 2098 and 2113. Although initially intended for exploration, the Federation-Republic Cold war changed all of that, and all ships were eventually refitted as total warships. Although most never served out their original purpose, the first 4 ships, which were refitted for combat, did not have to be extensively modified again for exploration in the mid 2130s, and as such would spend significant lengths of time away from home. 16 ships were ordered, but only 14 were com

## Class Overview

### Builder(s)

Paris Orbital Fleet Yards, Planitia Orbital Yard, Centuari Starworks

### Operator(s)

Blue Star Federation, Phoenix Empire, Odna Alliance

## General Characteristics

### Displacement

48000 Tonnes (standard) 52000 Tonnes (full load)

### Installed Power

1x General Electric or Genesis Drive Works 1.5TW Matter/Antimatter reactor, 3x Westinghouse 100GW Fusion Reactors.

### Propulsion

4x Nuclear-Ion sublight drives, 2x Linear Alcuberrie Drive warp nacelles

### Speed

.72c (maximum sublight)Warp 5.2 (maximum warp speed)

### Armaments

Primary Armaments: 12x dual mounted Class VI Phased Particle EmittersSecondary Armaments: 24x Class III Phased Particle Emitters

Tertiary Armaments: 8x individually guided Ballistic CIWS VI turrets

Torpedoes and other: 4x (2 fore and 2 aft) flat torpedo tubes, 2x aft mine launchers

### Armor & Shields

Class VII "Second Skin" type shielding, 5 TW capacityClass II central shield, for navigational purposes.

Moderate and Light armor surrounding critical areas of the ship.

### Auxiliary Craft

10 F/A-24 "cobra" fighter craft6 Type III light shuttles

2 Long Range Type IV VIP transport shuttles

100 escape pods with 100 person capacity

### Auxiliary Craft Facilities

1 stern hangar/landing bay, 1 EM driven catapult for atmospheric launches,Secondary hangars within main hangar for maintenance and etc.

pleted by the end of the First Solar war, and the last two ships were scrapped in 2123 and 2124, respectively.

The 14 Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers were the first successful class of cruisers built for the Federation Navy. Much of their design inspiration came from the older, but extremely successful, Javelin Class Corvettes, which began the “Javelin Standard”, which is the standard of design for all modern Federation starships. All ships served through the Federal-Republican Cold war, the First Solar War, and some time afterwards, except for Bill of Rights, which was destroyed with all hands in the Battle of Wolfius. 6 members of the class, built too late to have the original “exploration” layout, and too early to be considered “new” ships, were mothballed during the 2130s and 2140s, although brought back into service during the rising tensions leading up to the Second Solar War.

During the Second Solar War, Constitution Class Cruisers had a high survival rate, although 8 (BSS John Hancock, BSS Senate, BSS Federal Charter, BSS Executive, BSS Rule of Law, BSS Judicious, BSS Union, and BSS Freedom) were destroyed at the battle of Earth L2, when in the confusion, no ship was spared from attack from its fleet mates, and from its enemies. All ships in the Constitution Class are named for Democratic Institutions, or creators and signatories to those institutions. After the Federation was rebuilt, only one remained, and it was the eldest and most storied member of the class, BSS Constitution, which was immediately donated to the Paris Orbital Fleet Yards museum and visitor center.

## Background

By 2095, the Blue Star Federation navy had trialed 4 different cruiser designs, which all were, in essence, failures. Plagued by being underpowered, difficult to modify, and with a host of maintenance problems, it was decided that a new design, based on the older Javelin Class Corvette, which was immensely successful and set a new standard for Federation ship design, would be needed. With no other nations in place, the Federal Navy was much more of a scientific organization than a fighting one, and it needed a class of true long range explorers. Constitution would be designed to meet that goal, and thus she was equipped with extensive scientific facilities, as well as advanced sensor suites. However, combat was not left out of the equation, and the ship was also more than capable of defending itself.

## Design

#### Early Studies

In 2082, the Blue Star Federation looked to expanding the scale of the ships in its fleet. At the time, it was mostly relying on small Gettysburg Class Frigates and Javelin Class Corvettes, which were viewed as too small and with too small of a range for effective exploration and colonization. Even destroyer type ships were viewed as too small and cramped for long (10-18 month) exploration missions. The Federation’s first attempt at a cruiser culminated in BSS Boston (CA-001), which was viewed by many as a “successful failure”, in that despite the ship suffering many problems with range, equipment, and otherwise, much was learned to improve with the next design, BSS San Francisco (CA-002), her sistership, BSS Los Angeles (CA-003).  The San Francisco Class, although technically an improvement over BSS Boston, was plagued by its difficulty of maintenance and modification. Lack of modularity and such meant that both ships were expensive and difficult to repair, and that much harder to upgrade. BSS Constellation (CA-004), was also a technological stride, but had bad defenses and was extremely cramped, although she was somewhat easier to maintain and was extremely fast.

Clearly, the trial and error method of Federation ship design was not working. In 2095, the Federal Congress gave the Navy one more shot at a successful cruiser class, and the Navy asked Commodores Thomas Bane and Aiyakah Novahich to lead the design team, with the goal of making a Heavy Cruiser class that would make a good explorer and combat ship, with the modularity of the Javelin Class corvettes.

#### Design History

In 2095, there was no precedent for a Federation heavy cruiser design. Although there had been previous designs, (the aforementioned Boston, San Francisco, and Constellation classes), the drawing board needed to be wiped clean. The new design request, then, was relatively open ended. It called, simply, for a ship roughly 300 meters long, that weighed around 45000 metric tonnes, and was capable of Warp 4.6, that also met the standard set by the Javelin Class.

Several designs were trialed and simulated. Of these, 3 looked the most promising. Design “A” called for a comfortable, large, and slower ship, which had lots of space and a large crew.  Design “B” was a smaller, cramped, but fast and efficient design with long legs. Design “C” was a much lighter design than the other two, that had almost no armor, and large weapons and high capacity shields.

Of course, the eventual design would be a blending of the three, although Design B was factored in very little, as its only real upside was speed, but with huge drawbacks.

## Specifications

#### Design Overview

As constructed in 2098, BSS Constitution and her sisters are 305 meters long, with a beam of 127 meters. They have 19 decks, numbered in increasing order from the bridge deck to the lowest deck in the ship. Above the bridge are communications equipment and sensors. The ship was relatively fast for it’s size, at a maximum sublight speed of .72c (72 100ths of the speed of light), and a maximum warp speed of 5.2, which would increase throughout her career. The powerful central reactor needed to power the ship was a 10 terawatt matter/antimatter core, built by Genesis Drive Technologies or by General Electric, which utilized a plasma heat exchange to power the ship's systems. The ship was fueled by Deuterium and Tritium, which could be collected when the ship was moving from a star’s Corona, (through Bussard Ramscoops) or fueled directly from a shipyard.

Internally, the ship is laid out around several central passageways on each deck, with two on each deck running fore and aft. As is normal on Navy ships, the passageways are directional, with the direction of traffic on the starboard passageway leading fore and the port passageways leading aft. Internally, the ships are spacious and relatively comfortable. All Constitution Class Cruisers had Linoleum flooring, but finished wall panels and well lit passageways. Many rooms that are up against the hull have portholes made of Transparent Aluminum.

Engineering spans 4 decks amidships, with a large central section comprising the reactor room taking up all of that vertical space. Aft, there is a primary plasma conduit, with smaller secondary conduits running energy to the Warp Nacelles and other systems. Also included within the engineering space are two of the Auxiliary Fusion reactors that power the ship incase of a main power casualty, and are capable of providing enough energy to power the ship to Warp 1.2 if needed. Engineering is the nerve center of essential ships systems, and has many stations to monitor power, engine status, and more.

#### Armaments

Constitution Class Cruisers, although not initially built for combat, were formidably armed nevertheless. Primary Armament, as originally designed, was a set of six Class V Coilguns turrets, with two guns per turret. Alongside these, was a set of Class VI Phased Particle Accelerators, which were mounted in tandem with the Coilguns, they would eventually replace the coilgun turrets entirely after the First Solar War. Secondary armament consisted of 24 Class III coilguns mounted in double turrets, with 24 PPA emitters as well, providing a constant, and unrelenting hail of fire against any attacker. Also armed with torpedoes, Constitution Class Cruisers were equipped with Mark II Antimatter Torpedoes, manufactured by Raytheon or Petracov Defense Corporation. Both companies' torpedoes would be forwards compatible with Constitution’s tubes up until the Mark V, which would require a larger torpedo tube bore. Point Defense was accomplished through CIWS VI systems, which used 30mm gatling coilguns to kill targets.

#### Shielding

Constitution Class Cruisers were initially outfitted with a Class VII central shield generator to provide defense against enemy fire. Although effective at first, and the best technology of its type when designed, it was not quite adequate for defense by the end of the First Solar War. Thus, it was replaced by Second Skin type shields which were more space efficient, lighter, and (due to improved miniaturization) actually more powerful and more reliable due to there being hundreds of small shield generators spread around the ship instead of one large one.

Shield generators were an early technology adopted by the Federation, which allowed the ship to deflect incoming fire without taking physical damage, allowing the ship to be both lighter and easier to maintain. Although not the first Federation starships to have shields, they were some of the first to be built with shields figured into the plans from the beginning, whereas the Europa Class light cruisers of 2091 and the preceding destroyers (the Halsey Class) had been modified to carry shielding, as well as the Javelin Class Corvettes.

Shields worked as a buffer, where any incoming energy above a certain amount was converted into heat, which was then dissipated. The shields acted as a bottleneck, and would collapse if they overloaded and were receiving energy faster than they could get rid of it. The distance from collapse was measured as a percentage, where 50 percent would mean that the shields were at 50 percent of their maximum energy capacity. This would drain off, but it took time depending on how much of a ship’s energy systems were diverted to shield support. Shield Capacity is measured in Watts, usually Gigawatts or Terawatts.

#### Propulsion

Constitution Class cruisers have two primary propulsion systems. One is for superluminal speeds (speeds greater than the speed of light), known colloquially as a Warp Drive. On all Federation Starships, they are Linear Alcubierre Drives, where the coils needed to generate a warp bubble are not in rings but nacelles stretching fore and aft about 1/3rd to 1/2 the ship’s length. On Constitution Class Cruisers, these “Nacelles” as they are known, were designed by General Electric, who, along with Genesis Interstellar Drives, builds the Matter/Antimatter reactor cores that power Federation starships.

The second drive system is utilized for all speeds up to the ship’s maximum sublight speed, .72c. These “Sublight” or “Impulse” thrusters are what propel the ship for most maneuvering. Designed and Manufactured by Genesis Drives or GE, these powerful engines can put out 10.2 billion kilograms of thrust. Smaller engines of the same design also act as an Reaction Control System, as well as similarly sized engines, which act as a spacebrake/reverse thrust.

#### Power Generation Systems

Power aboard the ship was provided primarily by a General Electric or Genesis Drives 500GW Matter/Antimatter reactor, fueled by Deuterium and Anti-Deuterium. It uses a plasma cooling system that then transfers power throughout the rest of the ship. This reactor provides enough power to generate the Warp Bubble, which is technically an exotic gravitational field, and requires extreme amounts of power, as well as powering the rest of the ship’s systems, including its weapons. Weapons cannot be fired while the ship is at warp, and early in their career, could not be fired when the drives were charging. After the 2121-2122 series of refits that most ships got, or the later 2138-2142 refit that the mothballed ships got, this capacity was changed so that the ship could return fire while preparing to escape.

#### Electronics

Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers were equipped with a powerful central computer, which controlled everything from weapons to life support. The computer was manufactured by IBM, and was a quantum computer, which utilized trinary code, which has three states. 0, 1, and 0/1, where it is both on and off, allowing for a more compact and efficient computer.

Orbiting the primary computer were 6 smaller computers which offloaded tasks. These were comprised of a Primary Targeting Computer, a Secondary Targeting Computer, a Shield Coordination and Control Computer (added after 2121 refit), a secondary Shield Coordination and Control Computer, and an Engineering Control Computer.

Communication and control throughout the ship was achieved by a quadruple redundant fiber optic network. Although the runs all went to essentially the same places per piece, no two pieces of fiber optics ran through the same route to their destination. Although messy, this meant that communications, command and control systems on board Constitution Class cruisers were never lost in combat.

#### Armor

Although equipped with shielding as a primary defense, Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers were also equipped with some traditional armor around important areas. The armored “Citadel” of the ship usually contained spaces such as the CIC, Engineering, the auxiliary power generation systems, the Central Computer, and the Magazines.

Armor consisted of a mixture of Composite and Depleted Uranium, depending on the importance of the area, as well as a variety of thicknesses. Engineering, for example, was protected by a nearly 15cm thick sandwich of Composite and DU, designed to protect it even in a worst case scenario. CIC was protected by 5cm of Composite and Ceramic Armor.

The “All or Nothing” armor scheme of a Constitution Class Cruiser only served to increase their survivability, although most cruiser classes after them had little to no armor as shield technology matured and quickly rendered destructible armor obsolete, and at best a expensive waste of money.

## Ships in Class

Constitution Class Cruisers had mostly long service lives, although some, such as the unfortunate BSS Bill of Rights, served for only a short time before being decommissioned or destroyed. However, most served past their designed service lives, with Constitution being the best example of this, having served 87 years before decommissioning (2101-2186).

#### BSS Constitution (CA-005)

Constitution was laid down in 2098, launched in 2100, and commissioned in 2101. She served 3 deployments patrolling Federation territory from 2101-2113, served as flagship of the Earth Defense Force from 2113-2114, and then served in the First Solar war, participating in many large and famous battles such as the Battle of Kalopis, the Battle of Sol, and the Siege of Farah. After the war, she protected supply convoys until 2126, and then explored long distances from Federation space, sending back exobytes of data about the Galaxy at large. After that, she explored Beta Reality from 2141-2149, making contact with a major Federation race. War broke out again in 2151, and she spent the next year on her back foot, until the Battle of Earth L2, which she did not join until the end, when the fleet was already torn apart by the Doomsday Order. After escaping the mutining Federation Fleet, she left for neutral space, where she spent the next 16 years, until forming the Odna Alliance and eventually reforming the Blue Star Federation, in 2181. She was retired in 2186, after 85 years of service, and is now a museum at Paris Orbital Fleet Yards, the only surviving operational example of her class.

#### BSS Magna Carta (CA-006)

BSS Magna Carta was laid down in 2099, launched in 2101, and commissioned in 2102. She served 4 successful patrols of Federation Space between 2102 and 2114. Upon war breaking out, she was being refit at Earth, and upon completion of her refit she made up the backbone of CRUDIV-2, one of the Federation’s 14 heavy cruiser divisions. She served in many important battles in the beginning of the war, ultimately ending up fighting alongside BSS Constitution in the battles of Kalopis and Sol. As part of Operation Federal Glory, she fought her way into RoP territory, and was there during the Siege of Farah. After the war, she helped run supplies, and then, once no longer needed in that role, explored the Galaxy for the better part of 18 years, as well as briefly exploring Beta Reality. When the Second Solar War broke out, she helped defend Sol while civilians and politicians were evacuated, before retreating with the rest of the fleet. Despite surviving the final battle of the war, she, along with hundreds of former Federation starships were sent to be scrapped, although Magna Carta was saved by a sympathetic scrapyard owner, and granted to the Odna Alliance with the hope of making her operational again, although she was actually used for parts. Although she did not serve again, she is currently under restoration at the Centuari Naval Yard, with the hope of making her a static museum.

#### BSS Bill of Rights (CA-007)

BSS Bill of Rights was laid down in 2100, launched in 2102, and commissioned in 2102 as well. She stayed with the Earth Defense Force until 2112, where she was sent on a brief patrol tour. When the First Solar War broke out, she was called to fight at the border, and was pushed back again and again, until her fleet entered the Federation’s core systems, where they began to push hard. At this time, CRUDIV-4, Bill of Right’s battlegroup, joined with Akagi’s fleet, and they were eventually pushed back to the Wolfius System. Bill of Rights’ captain was young, and put in charge of escorting Akagi, she did a relatively good job, but was eventually overwhelmed. Two antimatter torpedoes slipped through her Point Defense, one striking Akagi’s reactor room, and one wiping out the remaining shields on Bill of Rights. Akagi’s reactor detonated, consuming Bill of Rights in the blast. Out of the 8000 serving aboard both vessels, 10 survived. After the destruction of Bill of Rights, CIWS systems on all ships were upgraded to energy weapons, better able to handle point defense without worrying about running out of ammunition.

#### BSS John Hancock (CA-008)

BSS John Hancock was laid down in 2100, launched in 2102, and commissioned in 2103. Between 2103 and 2114, she patrolled border space and the Federal-Republican DMZ, and upon outbreak of war with the RoP, was one of the first ships to wade into the fighting. Unlike her older sisterships Constitution and Magna Carta, she did not see combat in Sol in the battle there. She was one of several of her sisterships who were stationed in other Federation Core territories, ready to go on the offense when the word was given. When the battle in Sol concluded with a Republic retreat, BSS John Hancock  was at the tip of the Federation spear that began driving back the badly wounded RoP fleet. Upon the commencement of Operation Federal Glory, BSS John Hancock had already done much of the preliminary work which set in motion the Federal counteroffensive. Fighting their way through Federation and RoP space, the fleet eventually converged in the Soola system where they laid siege to the RoP, until their surrender in 2121. BSS John Hancock then underwent a refit at Centuari Naval Yard, before being released to be an escort for supply convoys under Project Stardust. In 2126, she, along with Magna Carta and Constitution began a series of Exploration tours, eventually bringing in huge amounts of data and scientific information. Unlike her older sisters, Hancock never set foot in Beta Reality, instead she was refit and served under military patrols until 2150. In 2150, her crew mutinied against command, and she was modified with drives capable of traveling through realities, popping up in both Omega and Omega-1 Realities and attacking convoys, before being stopped by BSS Constitution, BSS Blackfin, BSS Enceladus, and USS Constitution. She was repaired and returned to service just in time for the Second Solar War, where she would be destroyed in the Battle of Wolf 359.

#### BSS Benjamin Franklin (CA-009)

BSS Benjamin Franklin was laid down in 2101, launched in 2103, and commissioned in 2104. Unlike the preceding four ships, Benjamin Franklin was completed to a modified design that lacked the scientific laboratories of it’s predecessors. After completing shakedown, her initial assignment was to patrol Federation Space against incursions by pirate and other undesirable groups. In 2106, she was assigned to the Navy detachment of the Teegarden National Defense force. She served with them from 2106-2117, until being forced to retreat at the Battle of Kalopis. After repairs, she joined with Task Force 1 for the duration of Operation Federal Glory, eventually helping blockade a nearby system to Soola. From 2121-2126 she served by escorting supply convoys and cleaning up the gangs and insanity which ravaged Federation Space. On August 1st, 2126, she fell victim to the Federal Navy drawdown after the war, being removed from commission and mothballed. However, 15 years later, she was refitted and returned to service, in January of 2141. In 2142, Benjamin Franklin was assigned to guarding the Federation’s core military systems Alpha Centuari and Wolfius. 5 years later she was made flagship of the Federation’s 5th fleet, relieving BSS Oberon (CB-003), putting her in command of the security of Sector 010, the Federation’s economic star systems. In 2150, she was assaulted by BSS John Hancock, after her mutiny. Severe damage from that fight necessitated major structural repairs, and she was laid up for 8 months. When war broke out, her repairs were not completely finished, and she was not in good shape to fight. Thus, she was damaged beyond repair in the Battle of Sirius, and although 90 percent of her crew made it to safety, the ship herself would be lost.

#### BSS Manifesto (CA-010)

BSS Manifesto was laid down in 2103, launched in 2105, and commissioned in 2106. From 2103-2110 she served as an escort for BSS Enterprise (CV-001) in CARDIV-1. In 2111 she was transferred to flagship of 10th Fleet, responsible for security of Sector 001, encompassing Sol and its surrounding systems. When war broke out in 2114, Manifesto served under 14th Fleet and BSS Deutschland. She saw action in the Federation’s outer colonies and outer territories, before being recalled to Sol in 2117 after the Battle of Sol. She was then mobilized as part of Operation Federal Glory, and escorted Deutschland in BATDIV 15. During the 3 year Siege of Farah, she was part of the invading fleet, and was severely damaged by RoP Destiny before the Super Dreadnought crashed into the planet. After the war, Manifesto returned to Sol for refit, after which she guarded BSF-RoP supply convoys against splinter factions and pirates. In 2126, she was decommissioned and mothballed, as her particular design and layout made her unsuitable for exploration. In 2143, she was refit again and recommissioned, and saw service with 2nd Fleet, guarding Sector 035, the sector surrounding the Federation’s Reality Warp Gate. In 2151, she was recalled to Sol and relieved BSS Enceladus as flagship of 10th Fleet, guardians of Sector 001. When war broke out in 2152, Manifesto continued to guard Sol until it too, was overrun. Manifesto would be damaged beyond repair at the Battle of Earth L2, where her crew was one of the first to mutiny. Two loyal officers set off the scuttling charge, sacrificing themselves to keep the ship from the mutineer’s hands.

#### BSS John of England (CA-011)

BSS John of England was laid down in January 2104, launched in May of 2106, and commissioned that same month. Unlike many of her sisterships, she was launched with a high degree of fit out completed, making her much faster to completion than many of her sisterships. After completing shakedown in 2106, she was assigned to patrolling the Federation’s middle systems, as flagship of Task Force 18. In 2110, John of England was detailed to the Sirius National Guard, which she would remain apart of until the Battle of Blue Star, where Task Force 9 overtook the system and forced a retreat, in 2116. After the Battle of Kalopis, John of England was dispached to Alpha Centuari to repel the feint attack made by the RoP before the invasion of Sol. After the Battle of Sol, she joined with Task Force 1, brought together by Operation Federal Glory, and served as one of the many secondary flagships. During the Siege of Farah, John of England blockaded Farah’s neighboring systems, helping choke off the RoP capital. After the war, JoH, as she was known, was placed in reserve until 2143. In January, 2143, BSS John of England was pulled from the mothball fleet, and returned to active duty. From 2143-2152 she helped establish colonies and military bases in Beta Reality. When war broke out in 2152 she helped defend the Federation’s Betan colonies from Republican attack, falling victim to the Doomsday Order. Three loyal enlisted sailors manually blew the engine core, destroying the ship and preventing her from falling into the Mutineers hands.

#### BSS Washington (CA-012)

BSS Washington was laid down in 2104, launched in 2106, and commissioned in 2107. After shakedown she was assigned to the Eridani Defense Force, guarding Epsilon Eridani and it’s 3 terraformed or partially terraformed planets. In 2112, she was transferred to 10th fleet, helping guard Sol. When war broke out in 2114, she was dispatched to back up BSS Kirov in attempting to prop up the Federation’s outer colonies. Pushed back over a period of 2 years, she arrived late at the Battle of Wolfius, just in time to witness the destruction of *Akagi* and *Bill of Rights*. She then participated in the battles of Sirius, Wolf 359, and Kalopis, before responding to the RoP’s feint attack at Alpha Centuari. After the realization of what happened at Sol, she made maximum warp for Earth, and although not the first backup received, her fleet was the first significant reinforcements to arrive at Sol. Unlike most of the Constitution Class, Washington did not take part in Operation Federal Glory, instead she took over command of 10th Fleet and guarded Sector 001 for the remainder of the war. After the war, she served under Operation Stardust, helping deliver supplies to the two devastated nations. In 2129, she was placed in reserve. While in reserve, a fire broke out, gutting much of the ship. Repaired and returned to service in 2144, she helped explore Beta Reality and set up colonies and bases before defending them in the Second Solar war. Destroyed at the Battle of Eagle Point, only 18 percent of her 1400 person crew made it to escape pods.

#### BSS Federal Charter (CA-013)

BSS Federal Charter was laid down in 2106, launched in 2108, and commissioned in 2108 as well. She immediately saw service as flagship of the Barnard’s Star National Guard, from 2108-2114. When war broke out in 2114, she was transferred to the Lyrian National Guard, closer to the BSF/RoP border. In 2116, she was the home of testing of a new Federation weapon, which could be used to disrupt a starship’s warp field, preventing it from going to warp. In 2117, she was one of the few starships in the BSFN equipped with these mines, and her capabilities were used to great effect in the Battle of Saturn. In 2118 and late 2119, she helped ensure the routing of the RoP fleet, serving alongside BSS Constitution and BSS Blackfin in small hit and run attacks, keeping the RoP navy on their toes. During the Siege of Farah, she helped blockade neighboring systems, utilizing Warp Disrupt mines to interdict supply convoys and blow them out of the sky. After the war, she was refitted, and then helped rebuild the destroyed Federation outer colonies, and defend them from attack. In 2127, she was refitted with a new configuration that included upgraded sensors and scientific laboratories, and then sent on her merry way to explore the galaxy, going hundreds of lightyears from Earth and sending back many exabytes of data. In 2145, she was refitted again, to a slightly more balanced configuration, and sent to Beta Reality. There she helped establish diplomatic relations with the Dreamer, forging a lasting military alliance. When war broke out in 2152, she stayed to defend the Dreamer homeworld, which fortunately did not come under attack. In 2153, when the Doomsday Order went off, her crew mutinied without a struggle, and was one of only 3 Constitution Class to fall into the hands of the Phoenix Empire without a real struggle. Renamed IPNS Subjugator, she had a short career before saboteurs damaged an PDS conduit, causing her to be torn apart at warp, resulting in a loss with all hands.

#### BSS Locke (CA-014)

BSS Locke was laid down in 2108, launched in 2110, and commissioned in 2111. Upon commissioning, she was dispatched to deal with RoP incursions on the border, and remained stationed there until 2114. In 2114 and 2115, BSS Locke covered evacuations of major Federation territories as the fleet was pushed further and further back into Core Territories. While supporting the evacuation of civilians from Proxima Centuari in 2117, BSS Locke was hit by a large solar flare, disabling the primary fire control computer as well as the secondary navigational computer, along with several other primary and secondary systems, and causing injuries throughout the ship. She limped to Centuari Naval Yard to effect repairs, and missed out on the Battle of Sol. Locke joined in on Operation Federal Glory, and blockaded nearby stars to Soola until the end of the war. After the war, her still buggy systems were fully repaired and she helped defend the core systems of the Federation, before being refit for Exploration in 2132. BSS Locke was one of the first ships in Beta reality in 2140 when it was discovered. In 2148, Locke’s crew was held hostage by a splinter cell of Winter’s Loyalists, who attempted to use the ship to gain leverage over the BSF. In 2150, BSS Locke was detailed to the Teegarden National Defense Force, as their flagship. When war broke out in 2152, BSS Locke fought bravely in several skirmishes, before being badly damaged by a lucky torpedo hit. Although the ship was not destroyed, her repairs were not completed before the Doomsday Order, and the ship was sent to the breakers yard in 2156.

#### BSS Hobbes (CA-015)

BSS Hobbes was laid down in 2109, launched in 2111, and commissioned in late 2113. In 2114, she was assigned to border fleets attempting to keep Task Force 9 contained. 2115 was a year of retreats and many defeats, and in 2116 she returned to Earth for repairs. After a 2 month yard period, she was assigned to CRUDIV-9, and participated in the Battle of Taranga IX. In 2117, she was recalled to Sol after the attempted invasion there, and her cruiser division joined Task Force 1. From 2117-2119 she lead a series of flanking attacks on the Republican Navy, helping beat them into submission. 2119 she was one of the ships assigned to go around Soola and hit the Republic’s forces from the back. 2119-2121 she fought in and around Farah as the war came to a close, but was recalled before the final battle due to damage sustained during a fire. After repairs were effected, she served as part of the occupying force in the Republic’s strategically important Arkus System, an industrial hub. In 2129, Hobbes was relieved as flagship of her Occupation force, and came home at last. Finally receiving her major refit, she received much the same overhaul as BSS Constitution did 7 years earlier. After this refit, she took on several Federation wide demonstration tours. At the conclusion of the last demonstration tour, she disappeared while traveling at Warp 5.6, never to be seen again; on April 20th, 2136. No wreckage was ever found, nor any crewmember’s remains recovered.

#### BSS Senate (CA-016)

BSS Senate was laid down in 2112, and, delayed in construction, she was launched in 2115. Despite being nearly brand new, she was kept away from the fighting, to serve as part of a small detachment of Federation starships that were to be a last resort. Thus, from 2115 through 2122, she was sent outside of Federation space to attempt to gather allies from charted, star faring civilizations outside of the war. Unsuccessful in this venture, she returned home after the end of the war, and was immediately employed as flagship of the Teegardian Defense Force, which had been decimated during the war. This was from 2122 through 2135. In 2136, BSS Senate was assigned to the Ragna System’s national guard, with which she served until 2144. In 2144, BSS Senate was dispatched to serve with the Betan Defense Corps, the detachment of the BSFN tasked with defending the Federation’s Beta Reality assets. She served in Beta Reality until her destruction at the Battle of the Gate. Although several of her crew survived, the ship was completely lost on October 10th, 2152.

#### BSS John Adams (CA-017)

BSS John Adams was laid down in 2112, and launched in late 2113. She would fight valiantly in the Battle of Vega, where she was heavily damaged defending the Federation’s retreating troops, in late 2116. Badly damaged while undergoing repairs during the Battle of Sol, the *Adams* finally returned to service in 2120. Ordered to guard the Federation’s flank during the Siege of Farah, she assisted with the occupations of the Indus, Loche, and Jurad systems. From 2122 to 2140 the *Adams* was engaged as flagship of the Wolf 359 system’s National Guard. In 2142, she was refitted to modern standards, and helped explore Beta Reality. In 2150, *BSS John Adams* was attacked by her sistership *BSS John Hancock* during shared combat excersizes, the first victim of the Hancock Incident. Badly damaged, she sat out much of the Second Solar War, and was captured by the Phoenix Empire without struggle. Renamed *IPNS Iron Fist,* she enforced Phoenix Empire brutality until 2179, when she was attacked, disabled, and captured by BSS Constitution, and subsequently scrapped for parts and technology, in 2181.

#### BSS Thomas Jefferson (CA-018)

BSS Thomas Jefferson was laid down in 2113, launched in 2114, and commissioned that same year. Immediately upon the conclusion of her sea trials, she was dispatched to the Virgil system, to assist in repelling USR assaults on that star system. After it was determined that the Federation could no longer hold Virgil, the *Jefferson* assisted with the evacuation efforts. Assembled as part of the large Federation invasion force of the USR (Operation Federal Glory), *Jefferson* lead the operation to push back the Republic’s 10th Fleet and out-flank the 11th Fleet. This is one of the many examples of Constitution Class Cruisers providing invaluable operational assistance to the main bodies of Federation battle fleets. During the Siege of Farah, the *Thomas Jefferson* established a secondary line of defense and fall back point incase of the USRN breaking through the front lines. Also during this time, *Jefferson* supported invasion forces with precision orbital bombardment, a skill that the crew took great pride in. The Invasion of Axen, the last invasion of a USR planet by the Blue Star Federation Army was also the last time that BSS *Thomas Jefferson* would ever fire her guns in anger. After the end of the war, *Jefferson* returned home. After 6 weeks of Fleet Exercises, Jefferson departed for Sirius on January 10th, 2122. The ship was never seen intact again. 1 week later, after her missed arrival in Sirius triggered a massive search effort, BSFN corvette BSS Barb detected a distress signal from an escape pod. 1 survivor (ENS Julie Maxxen) was injured but alive. After an extensive investigation of the remains of the ship, it was determined that the ship was ripped apart while travelling at warp 3.2 due to a major warp bubble imbalance.

#### BSS Gettysburg (CA-019)

BSS Gettysburg was the last Constitution Class Cruiser completed. Despite being laid down in 2113, she was not launched until 2117, at first due to delays and lack of materials, and later due to the capture of her initial builders (Alpha Centuari United Starworks) in Alpha Centuari. The partially completed hull was towed to Sol with great secrecy, completed at Paris Orbital Fleet Yards, and launched after the Battle of Sol. After completion of Sea Trials, *Gettysburg* departed with the Federation’s Task Force 15 in Operation Federal Glory. After the battle of Orion (2119), Gettysburg distingushed herself with a desperate push to liberate the system from USR forces, while being slightly outnumbered. The Battle of Orion was one of the last great stands of the USRN and the USRA, both of which were greatly reduced in power and prestige after the battle. After effecting some minor repairs, Gettysburg got underway for patrol of Farah’s outlying territories, as part of the Federations layered tactics to maintain the siege of Farah. After the war, BSS Gettysburg served as flagship of 15th Fleet until 2138. In 2140, BSS Gettysburg entered Beta Reality, as part of the “second wave” of colony ships and their escorts. After 6 years, she came home. In 2152, the Gettysburg was stationed at Sol when war broke out. After a year of brutal fighting, Gettysburg and her crew succumbed to the Doomsday Order. Renamed IPNS Iron Fist, she was recaptured by Odna Alliance forces in 2180 fully intact, and served alongside BSS Constitution until the launch of her replacement, BSS Collins, in 2187. She was subsequently scrapped after decommissioning, due to the public’s resentment and superstition surrounding the ship.

#### BSS Republic (CA-020) [CANCELLED]

Canceled in 2123, after numerous delays in construction, BSS Republic languished in Paris Orbital’s storage berth 11A for 8 years, before her primary hull was revived as the first in the Republic Class of Heavy Cruiser. Although in some ways similar to the Constitution Class, the Republic Class was faster, had no ballistic armaments, and had a drastically different interior layout.