Indomitable-class Cruiser
Indomitable-class Specifications
Production Data
Origin: United Federation of Planets
Class and Type: Indomintable-class Cruiser
Year Launched: 2274
Hull Data
Structure: 35
Size/Decks: 6/20 decks
Length/Beam/Height: 347/141/63 meters
Complement: 320
Operational Data
Atmospheric Systems: No
Cargo Units: 60
Life Support: Class 3 (D)
Operations System: Class 3 (D)
Sensor System: Class 3 (+3/D)
Separation System: No
Shuttlebay: 1 aft
Shuttlecraft: 6 size worth
Tractor Beams: 1fv
Transporters: 3 standard, 3 emergency, 3 cargo
Propulsion Data
Impulse System: RSM (.75c) (D)
Warp System: LN-64 Mod 3 (wf 7/9/12)
Tactical Data
Phaser Banks: RIM-14M (Type VI) (x6/D)
Penetration: 6/5/5/0/0
Photon Torpedoes: Mk 6 DF (x3/D)
Penetration: 4/4/4/4/4
Deflector Shield: PFF 3 (B)
Protection/Threshold: 14/3
Miscellaneous Data
Maneuvering: +2C -1H +3T
Traits: Design Flaw (Impuse, Warp)
The Indomintable-class cruiser was a project built upon the successes of the Constitution-class refit of 2271 and the concurrent Miranda-class cruiser construction.
The Indomitable was designed to be a defense-oriented vessel in a Starfleet that would be geared towards deflecting a massive Klingon assault on Federation territories. Starfleet strategic analysts saw the growing indifference of the Organians as a precursor to an imminent invasion by the Empire, and Starfleet Command decided to begin preparing for "the worst."
The Indomitable is quite similar to the refit Constitution, sacrificing much of the scientific arrangement common to the heavy cruiser for increased structure, more powerful RIM-14M phasers and an additional aft-firing Mk 6 DF torpedo launcher in the ventral secondary hull. This increased firepower gave the Indomitable a focus on combat, and included improved tactical control systems.
The cruiser was literally made to tie up the enemy in an almost skirmisher-like fashion, allowing the lighter vessels to pound the opposing fleet from a distance (a role that it shared with the destroyers of the time).
The Indomitable went through space trials and her shakedown cruise in 2275, passing with flying colors, and the class was ordered into production. USS Superior was launched in 2276, and the keels were laid for two other vessels: USS Indefatigable and USS Infrangible later that year.
In early 2377, the Indomitable suddenly broke up during a routine cruise to Vulcan. Starfleet engineers salvaged the wreckage, which was nothing more than a large debris field, and quickly discovered a fatal flaw in the ship's structure design.
Cumulative stresses from high warp and impulse maneuvers created fractures along the seams of the hull, due to both the complex nature of the spaceframe and previously undiscovered weaknesses within the hull plating itself, causing the ship to simply shatter during the trip to Vulcan.
Starfleet immediately halted construction on the Indefatigable and Infrangible, and "grounded" the Superior, until engineers could study and correct the problem. Structures were eventually reinforced on the Superior, but Starfleet had decided to go a different direction in its strategic planning and cancelled all further construction for the class.
The Superior spent the rest of her service life as a Sector 001 patrol ship, and was decomissioned in 2312, following the Tomed Incident. The Superior is currently a semi-submerged museum along the shores of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Earth.
