Starship design for critique

[ds9guy]

This is one view (top down) of the Tolkien class science cruiser USS Tolkien.
Let me know what you guys think.

I made this up a long time ago but my brother and I spent some time testerday fixing up the graphic.

If there is enough interest I might do a whole write-up on the class.

[Phoenix]

Call me a pain in the back side, but do you have the fore and port views?

Other than the views, I'm not sure I'd go with calling the design "Tolkien class" especially with that overall shape. It is unique in appearance however.

[JALU3]

Let me guess, the Nacelle stuts bend upwards in the arch?

Would the Warp Field be the most efficient?

What are this vessels dimension?

Why, would you suppose, that this would be a better design then the Nova?
Would it supplement, or hope to replace that class in that nitch?

[Owen E Oulton]

Why not post this image as a .GIF or a .JPG? .BMPs take up a lot more memory, and are not viewable by most browsers.

[toadmage]

A very nice design , the idea of this being a diplomat cruiser or federation conucil menber personal tranports . A very image from the starfleet main line vessal . Starfleet ships are not war ship but they has rep for being good in combat . The lines clearly suggest a federation design . A small cruiser will the able to land planet side .

[ds9guy]

ok, first thanks for the comments.

To address a few questions. First, this is an old design I made up during TNG's run so the Nova hadn't appeared yet. At the time I thought the federation needed a smaller dedicated science vessel/multimission cruiser.

Second, I originally envisioned the class being about the size of the refit Constitution but have since rethought that. I'm thinking about 340 m in length. I have to take a ruler to the picture to figure out the rest.

Thirdly, my brother and I are still working on the other views so they are not done yet.

Four. The file format was a goof. I wasn't thinking when i posted this.

thanks for the interest guys and gals..

p.s. a few notes about my class history for the Tolkien. My backstory was that this was a Magna Roman design that Starfleet adopted. I really like dthe notion of Medusan navigators from the FASATREK stuff so I incorporated this into my design as well. I had intended the Tolkien to have the first bridge with integrated medusan habitat.

[JALU3]

OK, so somewhere slightly larger then the Interpid Class. I see.

I think you would have to rethink the mission requirements of this vessel, otherwise this vessel looks sound.

I guess, the thing about my questions is, that after the Dominion War, I see a big oppertunity for a rebuilding of the fleet. This is due to the massive losses during the war. Although the idea of many numbers of classes is nice from a designers point of view, and don't get me wrong I have drawn up and made stats for quite a few myself. However, as we have seen, replacement parts for repair is a factir one has to consider. And if you have X amount of ship classes, you will need parts for repair of each ship class. However, if you limit X, but increase its numbers you can make more of those parts, rather then making so many of each part. Granted, that many of the internal parts of a starship, regardless of its Class origin are likely to be the same, but there is always the opertuninty for specific parts for each ship class.
This may be one reason for the mass production of the Constitution, Miranda, and Excelsior Class starships. Not only were they good designs, but due to the mass produciton, they shared common unique parts, thus making repairs easier.
A good example of this in the modern day is the transformation of the Carrier Air Wing. Where as in the Cold War Era you had a large variety of specialized aircraft each with their own specific parts, you are now seeing a trend towards a common aircraft(s) for those multiple roles.

But all in all, you design is a good one. The placement of the Nacelles are far safer then if you would place them on outward struts. Furthermore, the forward targetting surface is further minimized depending on how high the Nacelle supporting arch is allowed to go above the saucer/main body. At roughly 350m you would be able to fit a good size crew/passanger load in this vessel.

Let us hear more about this design. We'll be here.

[ds9guy]

If we assume that the Nova and Intrepid classes (which are both newer anyway) have taken the Tolkien class's science role....what other roles might that leave me with?

I've never thought of the class as a warship so thats definately not the way I'd like to go. It might work as a more generic, multi-mission ship. If I do change the mission profile a bit what I might do is say my prototype was built as a dedicated science vessel and that subsequent vessels in the class were built (or modified) to fulfill another (or additional) role.

About the classification, I have to admit to an amount of confusion as to the starship classifications. The term explorer that they use in the TNG technical manual doesn't seem to mesh that well with the other ship classifications that more resemble modern-day (or older) surface navy classifications (i.e. cruisers, destroyers, escorts, etc). How do you guys decide what classification to afix to your original designs?

I was looking through some Jane's books and its seems that historically the real-world navies use a combination of length, displacement and equipment/armament to decide where to fit a design.

Thanks for the input thus far. It's been helping I think...

[Sea Tyger]

From an asthetics standpoint, I have a problem with the aft part of the ship. The nacelles seem out of place in the overhead view, almost asymmetrical. Honestly, the ship really doesn't need the after half at all.

As the design-as-drawn goes, I say that the nacelles would best fit close to the hull under port and starboard fuselages, just outboard and ventral to the impulse vents.

Now, in the universe perspective, it's quite possible that science vessel like this would probably first fall into a second-line scientific role (since the Intrepid has taken the traditional exploration role and the Nova has taken the deep-space surveyor role), then most likely into a diplomatic/courier role, with it's scientific instrumentation and dedicated labs being transformed into briefing rooms and "convention" halls.

Those are my takes from looking at the design.

[Maranthain]

I like the overall look of the design.

I think it would fit in the diplomatic transport/courier role quite nicely. It seems to have something intangible to me that makes it a "speedy" design.

[AslanC]

I like the look very much, but without seeing the rest of her, it is hard to make a call.

From what you have though, looks interesting

[ds9guy]

thanks for all the comments.

I'm off tomorrow so I'll try to get together with my brother and get some more of the views completed.

Here's the rough of my class history as I wrote it in the 80s or 90s (I forget).

The TOLKIEN class research cruiser had its beginnings in Starfleet's search for a new starship design to replace aging MIRANDA and OBERTH class vessels. Interestingly enough, the final design evolved from a heavy cruiser design study submitted by the Magna Romans (see the old Worlds of the Federation). With the success of the new GALAXY and NEBULA classes, Starfleet saw no need for additional ships of heavy cruiser specifications. Designers found however, that the design could be modified to serve as a new sceince vessel. The Magna Roman design team was contacted abd brought to earth where detailed design work was done pending final approval by the Advanced Starship Design group. Work began at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on the prototype, the USS TOLKIEN not long afterwards. At the time of this writing the TOLKIEN is still undergoing trials. Should the design prove a success, Utopia Planitia will complete construction of the second vessel: USS ASIMOV. After this, plans are for the Magna Roman Hephaestus shipyards to take over primary construction of this class in the near future.

There's more but the rest is really outdated so I'll have to rewrite that portion.
A few other tidbits I wanted to mention though. One, I wanted the Tolkien to be one of the first ships after the Enterprise-D had her computer upgrade by the Binars to have a Binar-designed computer system.

Two, I wanted the Tolkien to have a Medusan navigator environment integral to the main bridge. Remember this tidbit from the FASA TNG officer's manual?

thats it for now,

Monty H.

[IceGiant]

The medusan angle is one of the things I really liked about the officers manual. Any idea on how many crew the ship has?
I've always wondered if the inclusion of the dolphins and whales as "navigational" experts was influenced at all by that bit.

[ds9guy]

Well I always thought the Medusan idea was good too, hence my inclusion of it. I am having trouble envisioning how my bridge is going to work though. The Medusan would need to be isolated from the other bridge crew in some kind of isolation room. But I didn't want the Medusan entirely cut-off and only communicating through the ship's com system. What about a holographic interface? The Medusan could interact with the bridge crew that way couldn't it?

About the crew size I was thinking about 200-300 people.

[Street]

Tolkien Class Diplomatic Courier
Fast Destroyer; Commissioned 2375

Hull Data:
Structure- 30
Size/Decks- 6/20
Length/Height/Beam- 340/60/185
Complement- 200

Tactical Data:
Phasers- Type X (x2/C)
Penetration- 4/4/4/0/0
Torpedo Launchers- Mark 95 DF (x1/C)
Quantum Penetration- 5/5/5/5/5
Deflector Shield- CIDSS-3
Protection/Threshold- 15/3

Propulsion Data:
Impulse System- FIG-7 (.95c)(E)
Warp System- LF 50 Mod 1 (9/9.5/9.99[12 hrs.])(E)

Operational Data:
Atmosphere Capable- Yes
Cargo Units- 60
Life Support- Class 5 (F)
Operations System- Class 5 (F)
Sensor System- Class 3 (+3/D)
Seperation System- Emergency Saucer
Shuttlebays- Aft Saucer, Aft Engineering
Shuttlecraft- 6 size each
Tractor Beam- FV
Transporters- 4 Standard, 4 Emergency, 4 Cargo

Miscellaneous Data:
Maneuver Modifiers- +1 C +5 H +1 T
Traits: Luxurious Accomodations, Nimble