Indomitable-class Cruiser

[Sea Tyger]

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.

[AslanC]

Nice stuff all around Sea Tyger.

2 things though.

1] Why such a small crew when the FASA material calls for 580 - 620?

2] Fasa clearly defines her as a battleship, yet you have made her a cruiser. Why the change?

Other than those I love the back story and everything. Very nice stuff

[Sea Tyger]

Originally posted by AslanC
Nice stuff all around Sea Tyger.

2 things though.

1] Why such a small crew when the FASA material calls for 580 - 620?

2] Fasa clearly defines her as a battleship, yet you have made her a cruiser. Why the change?

Other than those I love the back story and everything. Very nice stuff

That was written up by FASA? Really? I don't ever recall seeing it in the SRM. Where was it published?

1. I was going by size and decks, and the fact that the Indomitable doesn't have the scientific capacity of a Constitution. Thusly, I went with a more streamlined crew for the size (x15 vs. x21).

2. To me, Starfleet has never produced a battleship in its history -- not even at the height of the Romulan War. I give some leeway to "strike" and "tactical" (effectively "battle") cruisers and destroyers for the 23rd Century Starfleet, but I just don't think it's appropriate for a mostly defensive organization (Starfleet usually goes out of its way to not pick a fight) to have a true battleship or dreadnought.

[AslanC]

Originally posted by Sea Tyger
That was written up by FASA? Really? I don't ever recall seeing it in the SRM. Where was it published?

Stardate magazine (I have the issue but not at hand so I can't say which one).

Originally posted by Sea Tyger
1. I was going by size and decks, and the fact that the Indomitable doesn't have the scientific capacity of a Constitution. Thusly, I went with a more streamlined crew for the size (x15 vs. x21).

Interesting. I would up the crew myself since she is supposed to be bigger than a Connie when all is said and done I think. That said I have always had an issue with the crew size numbers you come up with, just one of those places we differ. No worries.

Originally posted by Sea Tyger
2. To me, Starfleet has never produced a battleship in its history -- not even at the height of the Romulan War. I give some leeway to "strike" and "tactical" (effectively "battle") cruisers and destroyers for the 23rd Century Starfleet, but I just don't think it's appropriate for a mostly defensive organization (Starfleet usually goes out of its way to not pick a fight) to have a true battleship or dreadnought.

This ship is designed to be the alternate pitch to the Excelsior, now back in the day (FASA) we called it a battleship, I know you know this BTW.

That said you are also taking a 24th Century stance on this ship and Starfleet. But for me, before TNG Starfleet was never presented as a soley defense force. In fact it was presented as a combined military service. That said I am sure there will be plenty of people who show me I am wrong by citing various sources. That said I only will accept TOS and Trek 1 - 4 as valid to my point, since they are pre-TNG.

As I said earlier, I think you did an excellent job, regardless of our tastes in Trek aside.

Based on your numbers, does she work as a less expensive and experimental than an Excelsior in the 23rd?

[Sea Tyger]

Actually, I didn't build her as an alternative to the Excelsior by any stretch of the imagination (since I didn't use any pre-existing information on the class, I wasn't bound by that requirement ).

Her launch/commissioning date is a full decade earlier than the Excelsior's, and I shifted her to be a third (defnse-oriented) part of the triad between the Constitution (well-rounded command cruiser) and Miranda (exploration-oriented cruiser).

Just one more point on the class issue. Aslan, you should know that I'm a firm believer in a more militant Starfleet of 2266-2293. To me, frigates are what Decipher called "escorts" (and vice versa), the indepentently operating heavy combatants that are as close to pure warships as Starfleet gets (but that doesn't mean they're not powerful combatants...the Chandley can out-fight a Connie one-on-one and the Andor can keep the Connie at arm's length and pummel her from a distance). That's what I meant by the fact that Starfleet, despite its relative militancy in those 27 years, just didn't build true warships. It's a philosophical issue, where the Federation doesn't want to look like an organization that would be the aggressors in a conflict. C'mon, dude, you know I love my destroyers.

[AslanC]

Yes gawd knows you love your destroyers :P

That said I still maintain that it should be a more direct translation of the FASA ship as opposed to a reimagining of it.

But then we already had this talk about your FASA conversions

In the end I may have to take a swing at it myself

[Owen E Oulton]

Sorry, Aslan, but you are incorrect - the Indomotable was an original design by Thomas Sasser of Thomas Models, and was never a FASA design. FASA may have done an ship named Indomitable, but the one you asked for info on isn't it.

[AslanC]

Sorry Owen but it does in fact appear in Jaynz Ships. In Stardate Volume 3, Number 1 on page 35.

Credited to Josh Spencer as the designer.

Now if he stole it, that is not my business. But that is where I saw it first.

As to the one I asked for info on, it was from that FASA page and even he talks about the design being from Janz in Stardate.

I then asked if anyone knew of where to find one that has the Excelsior nacelles on it, since I had seen one somewhere.