Ark Royal Class

Designed in the narrow period towards the end of the Organian Conflict in which fightercraft were en vogue, the Ark Royal Class was commissioned too late to see combat in that war, although her fighters did prove useful at overcoming the ships of the Interstellar Concordium during the subsequent War of Pacification and the great expedition to the Galactic Fringe.

## Development

By the time of the Organian Conflict, the concept of short-ranged Fightercraft carried aboard larger starships was not a new one. Indeed, they had first been deployed during the Earth-Romulan War, although the fighters deployed during that conflict had little in common with those deployed by the Hydran Royal Navy in 2285.

The Hydran Royal Navy had conceived of and introduced Fightercraft as a way to bring more weaponry to bear against their numerically superior opponents, the Imperial Lyran Navy and the Klingon Defence Force. The Hydran Kingdoms had been all but wiped out a century before, and the Hydran people subjugated by Klingon and Lyran overlords. The majority of the Hydran government escaped and formed a government-in-exile, and finally returned to reclaim their ancestral homes during what had been a minor Klingo-Federation border skirmish. Their return however escalated the conflict into all-out galactic war.

The Fightercraft of the Hydran Royal Navy were a great shock to both their allies and their enemies. Most powers had at some point studied the possibility of up-arming existing Shuttlecraft, but tacticians agreed that such small craft would be too slow and too short ranged for combat operations and would be of limited use. The Hydrans proved however that modern advances in impulse engine drive plates, miniaturisation of power generation systems and their own unique weapons systems could make Fightercraft viable. As always happens with a new technological breakthrough, the other powers of the galaxy raced to make their own versions.

The Klingon Empire was amongst the first to field a Carrier/Fightercraft combination, the B10V Talh'vor (Mother of Death) Class although this was a strange hybrid craft, a Battlecarrier, built on the hull of a Battleship. As such, her fighter-carrying capability was reduced, although she was far more combat capable than a dedicated Fleet Carrier. The Klingon Fightercraft designed to operate from her was the Hegh'GogH (Iron Fist) Heavy Fighter, again more of a light assault craft than a true Fightercraft.

Starfleet had never deployed dedicated carriers, those of the Earth-Romulan War being operated by the UESN. They responded with an update of the Carrier concept from that period. The Carrier would be only moderately armed, and carry a large fighter complement.

Fightercraft however had been deployed since 2203, with the Puffin Fighter. These were fusion powered light craft, designed to operate from fixed installations and from starship shuttlebays. They were very short ranged and were soon obsoletely, although the concept was continued with in 2230 with the first M/AM powered fighter, the Penguin Strike Fighter, mainly serving onboard the Lancaster Class. The Penguin was also designed for planetary defence, including atmospheric flight. Despite these upgrades, advances in weaponry and shielding rendered these obsolescent in the 2240s, but they had continued on as planetary defence craft until the fleet reforms after the signing of the Treaty of Korvat.

The fighters designed for the Ark Royal would be based around the same concept as the earlier Penguin; A balanced design, using speed and manoeuvrability to help evade enemy defences and precision Photon Torpedo strikes to cripple enemy vessels rather than relying on excessive shielding, armour or weaponry. They too would be multi-purpose, capable of operating from carriers, starbases or even surface landing strips. To this end, they also had to function in a variety of environments, including atmospheric conditions. The design chosen became the Hornet Strike Fighter.

The Carrier design was relatively conventional, aside from her great size. Her primary and secondary hulls were designed to connect directly, with a long dorsal spine providing a flight deck for operating her fighter complement. Weapons were minimal; equivalent to those of a Miranda Class Light Cruiser, merely to provide some defence if she were attacked and for the launching of probes. She had sizeable storage holds, containing spare parts for her fighter complement and a considerable armoury of Photon Torpedoes to resupply said Fightercraft. No less than four warp nacelles propelled the leviathan craft, with a pair of warp cores providing the necessary power.

Constraints on shipyard space in 2287 meant that the construction of the prototype of the new Ark Royal Class was delayed until 2289. By the time the USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202) was launched in 2290, the Organian Conflict was long over and the War of Pacification drawing to a close.

## Operational History

Fightercraft had proven to be a new and powerful vector of combat during the Organian Conflict, but that same combat experience had also highlighted their vulnerability. They were easily destroyed with concentrated phaser or disruptor fire, and despite the advances made in miniaturised power systems, were still very short ranged. Most powers had curtailed the large scale deployment of Carriers due to these shortcomings after the end of the war or during the subsequent War of Pacification, but Starfleet tacticians soon found a new use for the recently commissioned USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202). The combined fleets of the Klingon Defence Force and the Romulan Star Navy were sufficient to overwhelm Starfleet, if properly coordinated. Rather than commit more and more costly Capital Ships to the borders of the Neutral Zones, it was proposed to use a small number of Ark Royal Class ships and their Fighter complements. These could blunt the power of any initial assault considerably and give more conventional task forces time to respond, with only minimal losses of manpower and equipment.

It was found that once the major structural components had been completed, Ark Royal Class ships could then be towed to smaller facilities for fitting out and launching. This freed up considerable slipway space for more vital ships such as the Missouri Class and Yamato Class Battleships.

By the beginning of the General War, five Ark Royals were in service, with two each on station along the Klingon and Romulan Neutral Zones and the final ship in reserve. With the great expedition to the Galactic Fringe, three of these ships, the USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202), the USS Illustrious (NCC-2203) and the USS Victorious (NCC-2205) were assigned as part of the task force to defeat the ISC. They also formed part of the vanguard protecting the fleet from Neo-Tholian stragglers in the Galactic Fringe during the Andromeda Strike.

The remaining two ships, the USS Boxer (NCC-2204) and USS Invincible (NCC-2206) fought alongside the Gorn Royal Navy after the Klingon surprise attack in the Pearl System, but with insufficient supporting craft, were unable to assist the GRN in their counter-assault on the Klingon Empire.

## Apocrypha

The craze for Fightercraft had died down by the end of the General War, and with the signing of the Khitomer Accords in 2293, Starfleet no longer had a need to face the KDF and RSN in direct combat. A final Ark Royal, under construction during the later stages of the General War was postponed and finally launched in 2295 as the USS Argus (NCC-2207). Of the six ships in service, the USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202) and USS Illustrious (NCC-2203) were retired and mothballed, with the USS Boxer (NCC-2204) being deactivated (stored until a time of need). The USS Victorious (NCC-2205), USS Invincible (NCC-2206) and USS Argus (NCC-2207) were maintained, although mainly as shuttlecarriers for use in heavy lifting operations, much like the Belleau Wood Class had been used in the mid 23rd Century. They were finally withdrawn in 2315, new transporter technology rendering them obsolete in this role.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Fleet Carrier
* **Hull Type Designation:** FCVN
* **Length:** 792m
* **Crew:** 1290
* **Warp Nacelles:** 4

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 3075 k/s (30.75 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 6.9
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 8.8
* **Hull Rating:** 944 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 1600 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 800 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 3 × Type B Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- 2 × Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Mark VI Probes
		- 12 × Hornet Strike Fighter or 12 × Hornet-B Strike Fighter

## Ships in Service (2292)

USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202)

USS Illustrious (NCC-2203)

USS Boxer (NCC-2204)

USS Victorious (NCC-2205)

USS Invincible (NCC-2206)