F5S pIH (Suspicious) Class

Built to fulfil a need for a scouting in the Klingon Defence Force, the pIH was designed by designed by Hogh Batlh, later the designer of the B11 qeyLIS bet'Leth (Sword of Kahless) Class Battleship, as a cheap, cookie-cutter ship, and easy to mass-produce. But because Hogh Batlh was such a skilled designer she is surprisingly good. Her interiors are highly modular allowing
for easy construction and reconfiguring, which is one reason why this particular class has so many variants. This modularity also makes for easy repairs, which allow her to be serviced and returned to duty in a minimal amount of time.

## Development

In the various border skirmishes that had occurred between the Klingon Empire and the Federation in the 2230s, a requirement emerged for a vessel that could serve as the eyes and ears of the larger Cruisers. This was further highlighted in the disastrous raids of 2244, officially denounced as the actions of rogue Captains. A design soon emerged, essentially a shrunken D5A Qa'HoS (Relentless) Class Light Cruiser. This continued the traditional "boom and wing" design of the larger Cruisers, although a problem arose in that the ship was too small to mount the usual Photon Torpedo armament. This was not considered much of a concern, as she would be largely used for scouting rather than direct combat. (not that this was a concern either, given the high honour that the Klingons put on dying in battle).

Instead, the pIH Class was fitted with four Disruptors, for attacking lightly defended targets, and powerful impulse engines, giving her an impressive turn of speed. Warp capability was provided by a single nacelle on the centreline of the ship.

In 2249, the Klingon Empire under the leadership of Chancellor Durak, signed the Treaty of Korvat with the Federation, a treaty that both powers knew was temporary at best. This led to an arms race, with production of all ships increasing greatly. The introduction of the pIH Class began in earnest in the following year. In 2258, after the acquisition of Cloaking Technology from the Romulan Star Empire, the pIH was refit to include a Cloaking Device and given the new designation of F5A.

Starting in 2260, the pIH Class hull was modified into several variants, taking advantage of the modular nature of the design. One of these variants was the F5S, designed to fulfil an unusual requirement (for the KDF); a Science ship. Although often considered by outsiders to be none-existent in Klingon society, there was considerable scientific impetus in the Empire beginning in the 2260s, partly to try and solve the chronic energy and resource shortages suffered by the Empire throughout her history, but mostly to try and tip the balance of power along the Federation border back to the Empire's favour (pure firepower and tactics having been found insufficient to overcome the technological advantage Starfleet possessed over the KDF). To this end, the pIH-S was designed with a powerful and multi-purpose sensor array, allowing her to detect particles and energy waves beyond the scope of most Klingon vessels of the time.

## Operational History

Shortly after her introduction and assignment to scientific duties in 2266, the KDF realised that the powerful sensors onboard the pIH-S could be turned to military applications. Giving the pIH-S greater scouting ability than her progenitor, these sensors could also be tuned to provide Electronic Countermeasure functions, and even to function as communications and sensor Jamming Equipment. Further pIH-S Science Frigates were constructed to act as fleet scouts, although they quickly found utility in a variety of combat support roles.

The F5S Science Frigate was first used (along with her F5B sister) to probe Federation defences, under cloak, in the years after the Organian Peace Treaty was forced upon the Empire. No ship, Klingon, Federation or Romulan was to be detected violating the Neutral Zone, although many did under cloak or using other methods to hide their presence. During the long Cold War between the Empire and the Federation, the pIH-S saw no combat experience, other than KDF fleet exercises. She was first bloodied in the Organian Conflict that began in 2285. By this time the F5B had largely been supplanted by the E12 B'Rel (Bird of Prey) Class as a light attack ship, and she was employed mainly as a command ship for Bird of Prey "Wolfpacks" , with 2 or 3 B'Rels being led by a pIH. These were often accompanied by an F5S, serving as a "Jamming Cruiser" (referred to as a Cruiser to deceive enemy intelligence) to prevent the enemy from reporting an attack and calling in reinforcements. Militarily, it was in this role that the pIH-S excelled, although her pure scientific endeavours also helped the Empire immeasurably.

These wolfpack tactics were again deployed during the War of Pacification, although against ISC echelons they were less successful, simply being overpowered.

During the Ormong of 2291, the pIH-S fought on all sides and as a result, combat losses for the type were high. One utility of the pIH design was that all her variants could be quickly be converted into any other variant, and so numbers of the Battle Frigate generally decreased as the need for more Science and Cargo Frigates rose.

In the General War that followed Melkor's seizing of power, production of the pIH-S Science Frigate was restarted to help make up for losses taken and to bolster the number of warships under his command. These were ultimately outclassed by their Gorn opponents, but the type remained in service after the end of hostilities and the return of Chancellor Gorkon to power.

## Apocrypha

By the signing of the Khitomer Accords in 2293, the pIH was beginning to show her age. The rapid advances in starship design during the Organian Conflict and beyond had outpaced her, and the lighter and cheaper E12 B'Rel (Bird of Prey) Class and the larger and more powerful F15 QuD (Insurrection) Class took over her duties, with the Battle Frigate variant being withdrawn in the 2310s. The pIH-S proved to be the most long-lived of the variants, her unique sensor jamming capabilities keeping her in service till the 2330s.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Science Frigate
* **Hull Type Designation:** KFS
* **Length:** 153m
* **Crew:** 35
* **Warp Nacelles:** 1

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 4200 k/s (42 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.0
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 8.5
* **Hull Rating:** 170 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 317 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 800 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 4 × Disruptor Cannon
	+ Secondary
		- None
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Klingon-Type Cloaking Device
		- Sensor & Communication Jamming Equipment
		- Plasma-Detecting Probes
		- Electronic Countermeasures (ECM)

## Ships in Service (2292)

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