Ships of 2271-2305

Ships of Starfleet from 2271-2305.

## Bradford

* Years: 2276-2330
* Numbers: 420

With the aging of the Ptolemy Class transport and the growing of the Federation, Starfleet asked for a newer transport design. Utilizing the base Miranda-Class hull and its modern equipment The Bradford-Class could carry by default twice the cargo of the Ptolemy-Class at overall higher speeds and more efficiently. To enable the carrying of the larger cargo capacity, the nacelles were placed above the saucer to balance the loads at warp. The Bradford are a very successful cargo vessel found in the interior of the Federation for decades until they were decommissioned.

## Centaur

* Type: Frigate
* Built: 89 (by 2305)
* Years: 2293-Present
* Crew: 315
* Dimensions
	+ Length : 381.87 m
	+ Beam : 230 m
	+ Height : 58.54 m
	+ Decks : 10
* Speed (TNG Scale):
	+ Normal Cruise : 6
	+ Maximum Cruise : 8.5
	+ Maximum Rated : 9.6 for 12 [3] hours.

In the later 23rd century, Starfleet investigated the feasability of using the newer Excelsior platform in other configurations, as a possible supplement or replacement to the current Miranda class frigate. This led to the Centaur Class ship, featuring an underslung dual photon torpedo launcher. The ship was well received, and was faster, more powerful, and more capable than the Miranda Class, though at a higher construction cost. This led to a situation where crews often preferred to be assigned to a Centaur, but would find themselves on the Miranda Class due to the lower cost to produce the ships. These ships are overall more capable in all roles than the Miranda Class.

## Constellation

* Type: Heavy Cruiser
* Built: 36
* Years: 2283-2302

After the release of the Miranda and Constitution Class ships, Starfleet sought to improve on the Miranda-class in relation to combat, resulting in the Centauri Shipyards' attempt at a Heavy Cruiser version of the Miranda, using four nacelles in the design, one of a series of ships of this time period with the feature. The ship did add improved shuttle and cargo capacity, and 15 decks as opposed to 10 on the Miranda, allowing 520 crew on the ship, though the design did fail to balance warp power effectively, resulting in 'unique' ship behavior in the field that crews had to compensate for until several hardware and software revisions worked out the design flaws by the 2290s, at which time newer ship designs had already made this class obsolete.

Despite this, Starfleet kept the ship around, and by the 2330s, these older ships had begun to be looked at with fondness of a bygone era, and had becoem quite reliable.

## Constitution

* Type: Cruiser
* Built: 45
* Years: 2271-Present

After the V'Ger incident, the Enterprise conducted a proper shakedown cruise, proving the new systems' worth, and showing Fleet Command the viability of the new designs and systems. All existing ship designs on the drawing boards were halted and converted over to the new design language at the various ship construction companies, and many existing ships that were still operational were to be rotated into spacedock for refit to the new systems. This version of the Constitution class would serve as the backbone of the fleet for nearly 70 years.

## Durrett

* Type: Light Cruiser
* Built: 108
* Years: 2272-2289

The Durrett Class Cruiser was created based on a shorter Miranda-Class upgraded spaceframe, though with a single nacelle, limiting the cost of the ship, and extending the use of the existing design methods in a smaller frame. The ship had more limited recreation options as opposed to the Miranda, though the ship would less often be seen in extended combat operations, but frequently in support roles.

## Excelsior

* Type: Battleship / Heavy Cruiser
* Built: 1 (Mark 1); 14 (Mark 2); 390 (Mark 3)
* Years: 2285-Present
* Crew: 705
* Dimensions
	+ Length : 467 m [30]
	+ Beam : 185 m [31]
	+ Height : 100 m [31]
	+ Decks : 28

## Excelsior II

* Type: Heavy Cruiser
* Built: 101
* Dimensions
	+ Length : 467 m [3]
	+ Beam : 185 m [4]
	+ Height : 100 m [4]
	+ Decks : 28

Similar to the original Excelsior, this variant added a more advanced sensor package and maneuverability enhancements to the drive systems, partly to counter the new Klingon cloaking systems, with enhanced plasma-wake detection, and partly to enhance its ability to act as a frontline explorer without the stresses seen on the USS Excelsior during the Khitomer Incident. The original Excelsior remained an important part of the Starfleet through the first half of the 24th century, while this variant proved very capable at stellar exploration and planetary analysis. Facilities were moderately better than regular Excelsior class vessels until the 2310s.

The extra cost to produce these ships vs the benefits offered were negated by the 2320s with newer, more efficient technologies and ship designs, though it was so well remembered that in the 2370s, a newer Lakota-build was authorized on an existing spaceframe featuring all modern technologies. That build was quite successful, though not against the much more agile Defiant-class. Despite this performance, Starfleet did authorize the refit of a limited number of older Excelsior II ships to make up for post-war ship deficits using the most usable ships still in service. This policy would see the refit of 57 ships, allowing this century-old design to continue into the 25th century.

## Lantree

* Years: 2273-2299
* Function: Transport

Two competing designs went into the making of the upgrade to the Anton-class cruiser. Some of the design team at Salazaar Shipyards wanted a modern research cruiser, while some wanted that cruiser to have the firepower to act near border regions. So the team decided to construct both ships. The Lantree-Class ship is more of a research vessel with 3 dorsal and ventral phaser banks, but has its photon torpedo system near the bottom of the saucer section, reducing some interior space that was used for labs and quarters on the Miranda Class. Over time, the 82 Lantree-Class Cruisers were re-designated transports and most sold to civilian service by 2320.

## Miranda

* Type: Research Cruiser
* Built: 809 (total); 384 lost/destroyed
* Years: 2273-2344
* Crew: 280
* Dimensions:
	+ Length : 233 m [2]
	+ Beam : 140 m
	+ Height : 64 m
	+ Decks : 10 + 3 (rollbar)
* Speed (TNG):
	+ Normal Cruise :5
	+ Maximum Cruise : 6
	+ Maximum Rated : 9.2 for 12 hours.

When the USS Miranda returned for refit to Spacedock in 2272, Starfleet decided to refit the ship with the new Constitution Refit technology, with the slightly smaller FWF-1 warp engines and FIE-2 engine systems. After the Klingon attempts at Organia, Starfleet saw the need to rearm its research cruisers, leading to the 'roll bar' weapons pod, allowing more internal room for research labs.

As the Federation expanded, these ships were often seen near the front, but due to the lower speed, could not often keep up, leading to the Centaur Class, a much faster and more capable ship replacing it along the leading frontiers of the Federation, while the Miranda was placed in more of a support role, which it would inhabit the vast interior of the Federation for most of its service life.

## Peregrine

* Years: 2280-2320
* Function: Cruiser
* Dimensions
	+ Length: 190 m
	+ Width: 225 m (141.7 m hull)
	+ Draft: 47 m (33 m hull)
	+ Mass: 144,500 metric tons (empty); 156,500 metric tons (mission load)
	+ Decks: 10
* Crew: 355
	+ Officers: 85
	+ Enlisted: 270
* Arms:
	+ Phasers: 3 dorsal and 3 ventral banks fore/port/starboard; port, starboard dorsal and ventral banks on warp pylons
	+ Photon Torpedoes: 2 fore, 1 aft.

By the mid 2270s, Starfleet was attempting to utilize its various assets to increase the size of the fleet with new designs to fill niches left void by advancing Klingon and Romuland designs, when one engineer, Lt. Cdr. Taggert, postulated the use of the Miranda hull but with Romulan Bird-of-Prey wings. After a few preliminary sketches and feasability studies, the ship was ordered, and the USS Peregrine NCC-1936 was commissioned in 2280, and showed promise in low-warp situations for improved maneuverability due to the nacelle spacing. At higher warp speeds, however, this was not as pronounced. A total of 22 of the ships were ordered and fielded, and performed admirably in service. They were roughly comparable to sending a Miranda-Class cruiser, and were often sent on the same kinds of missions, their research labs being of the same quality, and their nacelle configuration giving it some better atmospheric handling than most starships. The ships are named for various birds of prey from Earth.

## Soyuz

* Type: Research Cruiser
* Years: 2284-2299
* Built: 104

Dorsal ViewVentral ViewAft View
The Antares Shipyards had produced the already useful science vessel, the USS Oberth, but had fallen behind in major contracts without a new ship design. With the success of the Miranda Class, the Antares Shipyards felt the pressure to deliver a new design. The modular Oberth influenced the new design, bringing a very similar Miranda-Class saucer, with upward-swept nacelles reminiscent of the Oberth, upscaled to provide more power to the vessel, which also featured an underslung mission module. This mission module, upscaled from the much smaller Oberth Class, provided in the basic module with a large shuttlebay and research labs accessed more easily via the connecting dorsal pylons, a complaint from the Oberth Class, whose pylons could not provide simple turbolift access to their mission module. Aside from the basic module, a shuttle carrier module, landing colony module, cargo module, full research module, long range sensor module, and a tactical module.

Starfleet ordered an initial run of 18, for trial runs during the 2280s. The less expensive Oberth was shown to be outclassed by the newer Soyuz-Class in every respect. The ship's engineering was simpler than the Miranda, and less expensive, though the use of mission modules meant theoretically more flexibility, though the ships often struggled when presented with unknowns, something other ships like the Constitution, Excelsior, and other non-mission-specific ships often showed they were more than capable of adapting to. This said, the ship performed very well with their mission-specific modules, often moreso than Oberth class ships, which were often relegated to more limited support roles.

## Texas

* Type: Long-Range Destroyer
* Built: 29 (Mark 1); 36 (Mark 2)
* Years: 2293-2321
* Crew: 610
* Phasers: 5 dorsal (f, f/p, p, f/s, s), 5 ventral (f, f/p, p, f/s, s), 2 aft dorsal and 2 aft ventral

With the increase in tensions with the Romulans, Starfleet chose to use the now proven Excelsior-class as the basis for this ship, removing the interconnecting dorsal, and using a four-nacelle design, and shorter engineering hull. It features 3 impulse engines, two shuttlebays, and modified FWG-3 nacelles. Like with other proven 4-nacelle designs, the engines experienced longer service life, and less wear on the nacelles, and gave the ship longer range and more efficient energy generation for other systems with the 4 nacelles, features that would later be discovered in newer warp engine designs, negating the need for 4 nacelles in ships past 2336.

## Tudor

* Type: Heavy Cruiser
* Built: 15 (Mark I); 32 (Mark II)
* Years: 2294-2320
* Crew 585

Utilizing hull configurations from the Excelsior class, this is a sleeker heavy cruiser with a higher phaser capacity in more directions due to its slim profile. The Mark II version of the ship added an extended secondary hull, which greatly increased the capacity for scientific exploration in addition to its defensive assignments.

## Union

* Type: Long Range Cruiser
* Built: 32
* Years: 2289-2301
* Crew: 525
* Width: 186 m (due to saucer)

During the 2280s, Starfleet was interested in taking the lessons learned from the Excelsior, Constellation, and successful Constitution refit classes. One of several new classes from this was the Union-Class, a four-nacelle ship featuring a larger Constitution-style saucer section, a slim profile providing a highly efficient warp field, and with four nacelles in a new balanced configuration, extended the operational lifetime of the nacelles by 50%. Unique for ships of the 23rd century, a shuttlebay was integrated into the aft of the saucer section, an innovation later adopted in the Ambassador and Galaxy-class ships.

Unique at the time is the pivoting warp pylons, expanded for warp travel, but compressed for sublight speed, to present a slimmer ship profile during potential combat and hostile situations.