Anaconda Class

One of the oldest Gorn designs still in service, the Anaconda lacks a Type G Plasma Torpedo Tube, being designed prior to the invention of Plasma technology by the Gorn Confederacy. A refit has seen her fitted with the Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon, which keeps her competitive as a Destroyer-class warship.

## Development

The Gorn Confederacy first encountered the Romulan Star Empire in 2190. At that time, the Romulan Star Navy used relatively primitive vessels armed with the Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon‏‎ (CFDIC) as an Alpha Strike weapon, with a back-up of fusion-tipped missiles. Gorn weaponry at the time was similarly basic, consisting of Lasers as Primary Weapons with the Particle Accelerator Cannon as a Secondary Weapon. The two powers fought to a stalemate twice, in 2190 (1st Gorn-Romulan War‏‎) and in 2230 (2nd Gorn-Romulan War‏‎) with the Gorn Confederacy marginally ahead in technological terms during the 2nd conflict having upgraded to Phaser weaponry. Both sides determined that to overcome the other, superior weaponry would be required. In an example of convergent evolution in design, both powers opted to invest in plasma-based weaponry, however it would be many years before either had any practical breakthroughs.

In the meantime, the Gorn Royal Navy saw a need for a fast patrol craft to defend the borders of the Confederacy. Falling back on a robust Primary Weapons array of Phaser emitters, backed up by the venerable Particle Accelerator Cannon, the new Destroyer was intended to outrun what she could not outgun. Gorn designers were adept at using multiple warp nacelles and overpowered impulse drives to propel craft at high warp and sublight speeds, at a cost of range and manoeuvrability (a principle that Starfleet engineers later called the "warp powered brick"), but against Romulan designs, this brute force concept worked remarkably well.

By the end of the 3rd Gorn-Romulan War‏‎ of 2248, the Particle Accelerator Cannon was beginning to show it's age, proving less and less effective as a Secondary Weapon against modern designs. Although a breakthrough in 2258 provided heavier warships with the new Type G Plasma Torpedo, this powerful weapon was too energy intensive to fit to the Anaconda. The Particle Accelerator Cannon soldiered on in service for several more years, until in 2263, a new avenue in weapons research yielded an unusual replacement; the Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon. The GHRC functioned using the ships Tractor Beam Emitter to piggy-back a constantly shifting tractor pulse that, in essence, shook the target object apart at the molecular level. Although requiring some hull modification to fit the Anaconda, the new weapon was a significant improvement over the old Particle Accelerator Cannon.

## Operational History

Entering service in 2240, the new Anaconda Class was the first Destroyer-class warship in the Gorn Royal Navy, forming the core of a new border reaction force. The volatile nature of the Romulan-Gorn border saw her in action within a few months, although full scale fleet manoeuvres did not occur until the renewed hostilities of the 3rd Gorn-Romulan War‏‎ of 2248. The next large scale deployment of the Anaconda was after her refitting with the Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon during the 4th‏‎ and ‏‎5th Gorn-Romulan Wars of 2282 and 2284 respectively.

It was during the Organian Conflict beginning in 2285 that the Anaconda saw her greatest challenges, facing new foes such as the Klingon Empire, the Lyran Star Kingdom and, after the return of the Organians in 2289, the Interstellar Concordium. Against the varied and often far more modern warships deployed by these new combatants, the venerable Anaconda understandably suffered, although when supported properly could still hold her own, Gorn vessels being remarkably strongly built.

The Anaconda once again saw service in the General War, when the Gorn Royal Navy was called upon to liberate occupied Federation systems from Klingon control and to wrest control of the Klingon Empire from the hands of the Warlord Melkor. One of the oldest vessels to serve in the conflict, the Anaconda never the less acquitted herself well.

## Apocrypha

Due to the lack of a suitable replacement, and the duties of border patrol and defence being taken upon by the more modern (and in terms of raw firepower, stronger) King Snake Class Frigate and Viper Class Pseudo-Fighter, the Anaconda and her larger derivative, the Rattlesnake Class Light Cruiser remained in service with the Gorn Royal Navy until 2325, when the Gorn Confederacy joined the United Federation of Planets and the defence of Gorn territory was undertaken by Starfleet. Most native Gorn ships then passed to local defence militia, although by then the 80-year old Anacondas were all but life expired, and most were simply retired.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Destroyer
* **Hull Type Designation:** GDD
* **Length:** 168m
* **Crew:** 75
* **Warp Nacelles:** 2

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 4425 k/s (44.25 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.1
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 9.4
* **Hull Rating:** 380 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 220 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 800 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 4 × Gorn Type Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- None
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- Gravimetric Harmonic Resonance Cannon (GHRC)
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Probes

## Ships in Service (2292)

GNS Throkiss

GNS Hocthkiss

GNS Glomrsnt

GNS Hekfstrk

GNS Hedreskt

GNS Thornax

GNS Forskith

GNS Horkinrask

GNS Fasiknache

GNS Glomsfftsk

GNS Dronaksk

GNS Sakrlenst

GNS Skarlsk

GNS Szurra

GNS Sardithsword

GNS Champion

GNS Eaglebane

GNS Scorpion

GNS Crusader

GNS Twinskuthset

GNS Thunderbeast

GNS Tenacious

GNS Justicar

GNS Freedom

GNS Unity

GNS Harmony

GNS Excellence

GNS Perfection

GNS Tyrex

GNS Draconiad

GNS Drakonorbus

GNS Golitho

GNS Crotalian

GNS Flame

GNS Thundersnake

GNS Szkor

GNS Szurrazan

GNS Talonsklor

GNS Thunskitth

GNS Lakathsonr

GNS Thomskwmat