Andromeda class

## SPACECRAFT CLASS

Forward ventral view (Thomas Marrone).

Port aft view

Class development project patch (Thomas Marrone)

The ***Andromeda*-class** was a type of spacecraft developed by Starfleet in the early 25th century as part of the *Galaxy*-class lineage.

## History

Following the success of the *Pathfinder*-class, designers at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards began work on updates of other core ship designs in the Federation fleet. The *Andromeda*-class was a compromise between various viewpoints at Starfleet Command. While some pushed for ships built for combat, others advocated for a multi-role exploration cruiser. The final design was a well-armed, exploration cruiser.

The voices calling for a more combat-focused starship were appeased with the development of the *Yamato*-class (Block IV/D), a dreadnought cruiser created alongside the *Andromeda*. Elements of their design would also be used in other derivatives from the Century Cruiser Project, such as the *Lafayette*-class.

## Technical specifications

### Physical arrangement

The *Andromeda*-class was 695 meters in length with a mass of 5,040,000 metric tons. Holding an M-class environmental standard, starships of the class carried a complement of 830, with a maximum evacuation capacity of 15,000. The decrease in required crew over previous vessels in the *Galaxy* lineage was due to high efficiency in the *Andromeda* design prompted by a push from Starfleet Command for starships requiring less personnel.

Like its parent design, the *Andromeda*-class was developed with the ability to reversibly separate the primary and secondary hulls in what was called saucer separation, often truncated sau-sep. In this maneuver, the primary hull would disconnect near the top of the stardrive. The concept was that in dangerous or emergency situations, non-essential personnel could be evacuated to the saucer and the secondary hull could be commanded from the battle bridge, located on Deck 11. In order to serve on the bridge of an *Andromeda*-class starship, officers had to pass the Saucer Separation Clearance Exam in addition to the standard Bridge Officer's Test.

#### Deck plan

Due to the modular nature of the design, there was great variation in *Andromeda*-class vessels outside of core systems. The following was the internal layout of fixed facilities.

### Command systems

#### Main bridge

The main bridge of the *Andromeda*-class was located on Deck 1, centered on the dorsal side of the primary hull. It was connected to the rest of the starship by two primary turbolifts and to the battle bridge by an emergency turbolift.

#### Auxiliary bridge

Located on Deck 11 in the secondary hull, the auxiliary or "battle" bridge of the class served both as a redundant control center for a starship, in the event that the main bridge was unusable, and as the control center for the stardrive section after saucer separation. It was connected to the main bridge, main engineering, and other vital areas of the starship by an emergency turbolift.

### Propulsion systems

A Yoyodyne 47A Matter/Anti-Matter Reaction Assembly (Class 18M) powered the *Andromeda*-class and was connected to two Cochrane Type 11K7 Eco-linear Warp Drive Units and the starship's three impulse engines, its primary HeliosCorp G90 Hyper Subatomic Unified Energy Impulse Drive Unit and two secondary Inline Flux Mk45 Subatomic Unified Energy Impulse Drive Unit.

The class also carried a single Rigel Labs X06-A quantum slipstream field projector, which allowed each vessel to travel at slipstream speeds exceeding 300 light years per hour. However, due to power limitations at the time, the drive could only be operated for 30 minutes before needing a 60 minute recharge.

An Ithra IT-6 Transwarp Coil allowed *Andromeda*-class starships to connect to the Federation Transwarp Network and jump to gateways within the network at speeds of 360,000 light years per hour. The system had massive power needs, even more than the quantum slipstream drive. To power the coil, starships had to divert energy from weapon and shield systems. Due to strains on the IT-6 coil, it could only be used once every 20 hours.

### Science and remote sensing systems

To add to the sensor capabilities of the class, the design made use of Multidifferential-multispectral (MDMS) Passive Sensor Vanes. Eight were located on the dorsal side beneath the secondary shuttlebays, and nine on the ventral of the secondary hull.

### Tactical systems

#### Defenses

The hull of *Andromeda*-class starships was a neutronium alloy with a duranium nanomesh coating reinforced with micro-ablative generators. Based upon technology brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the USS *Voyager*, these generators helped to dissipate energy across the hull and to regenerate damaged portions of the ablative hull coating.

Three Yoyodyne 960-A unified field emitter deflector shield arrays projected unimatrix shields with regenerative, multi-spectrum, covariant, and metaphasic properties around the vessels. Nexus Defense Screens, that protected the crew from the effects of the Nexus and similar phenomena, were also integrated into the shield systems.

#### Armaments

The class mounted ten Annular Confinement Beam-jacketed Type-X phasers arranged strategically around the outer hull. The arrays integrated the Molecular Cohesion Nullifier Field (MCNF) system to amplify the power of phaser beams. This allowed *Andromeda* starships to inflict enhanced damage on a target for brief periods of time, as the extreme power requirements only allowed the system to be active for a short time. Due to the intricacies of the system it was only ever implemented in the *Andromeda* and *Yamato* designs.

A single Type-VII phaser was placed on the dorsal hull to serve as a close-in weapons system element to defend the bridge, which sat immediately forward of the turret.

Each vessel also bore six variable-payload Mk 112 launch tubes, one facing fore and five facing aft, that could deploy a variety of torpedoes and probes. Quantum torpedoes were carried as standard ordnance, but *Andromeda*-class starships also carried a complement of tricobalt devices for the bombardment of heavy targets.

### Auxiliary systems

Holographic projectors were equipped throughout *Andromeda*-class vessels, which allowed for emergency holograms to be quickly activated at any location in a time of need. Each starship's Zimmerman HS-5.3 photonic core stored the programs for 5 Emergency Medical Holograms, 5 Emergency Engineering Holograms, 18 Emergency Security Holograms, and a single Emergency Command Hologram.

The transporter system was connected to seventeen emitter pads on the cruiser's exterior.

### Auxiliary craft systems

The *Andromeda*-class was equipped with a ventrally docked support craft: the VAR-5 *Mollard*-class captain's yacht. Use of the craft was left at the discretion of a vessel's commanding officer, with the intended purpose being for diplomatic and personal use of said officer. The cruisers could also accommodate 32 shuttlecraft and ten workpods between their three shuttlebays. They also had 368 ejection berths for evacuation pods.

## Derivatives

### Block II - *Cygnus*

At the Battle of Empersa the USS *Cygnus* was heavily damaged. After it returned to the Sol system, it was picked for refit to new Block II specifications and entered McKinley Station. The new design improved upon the defensive and tactical systems of the base *Andromeda*. The most significant external differences were the addition of a secondary deflector at the forward edge of the primary hull, updated warp engines, and more curved nacelle pylons.

## Appendices

### Connections

**Project groups:** **Union Station** (*Geneva* • *Concorde* • *Presidio*) • **Century Cruiser** (*Springfield* • *New Orleans* • *Challenger* • *Niagara* • *Freedom II* • *Galaxy* • *Nebula* • *Cheyenne*) • **Multi-Mission explorers** (*Brigid* • *Esquiline* • *Palatine*) • **Deep Shadow** (*Eclipse* • *Phantom* • *Scryer*) • **Miracle Worker** (*Scott* • *Daystrom* • *Tucker* • *Gagarin*) • **Aeronaut** (*Mercury* • *Ajax* • *Icarus* • *Shran*)

**Other named classes:** *Aegian* • *Aerie* • *Akula* • *Atlas* • *California* • *Centaur* • *Challenger* • *Cheyenne* • *Constellation* • *Constitution III* • *Crossfield* • *Curry* • *Daedalus* • *Dauntless* • *Excelsior II* • *Freedom II* • *Gemini* • *Glenn* • *Guardian* • *Inquiry* • *Iwo Jima* • *Jupiter* • *Lexington* • *Niagara* • *Obena* • *Okinawa* • *Parliament* • *Perseus* • *Pioneer* • *Ranger* • *Sagan* • *Solanae* • *Springfield* • *Turing* • *Ulysses*

**Auxiliary craft:** *Aero* • Class C • Class F • *Danube* • *Flyer* • *Gondola* • *Kodai* • *Mollard* • *Peregrine* • *Selenic* • Type 4 • Type 5 • Type 6 (Type 6A • Type 6S) • Type 7 • Type 8 • Type 9 (Type 9A) • Type 10 • Type 11 • Type 14 • Type 17 • Type 19 • *Valkyrie* • *Venture* • *Waverider* • *Yellowstone*

**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

### Sources consulted

* Andromeda class (25th century) article at *Memory Beta*.
* Andromeda Exploration Cruiser article at the *Star Trek Online Wiki*.
* *Star Trek Online Starships Collection* issue 03: "U.S.S. Andromeda NCC-92100."