Federation class dreadnought

Federation class dreadnought:

Actual Length: 320m

Actual Height: 87m

Actual Beam: 140m

Arguably the most famous design of Starfleet dreadnought, being constructed in the 2260s and refit in the late 2270s/early 2280s. These starships were the flagships of the fleets up until the arrival of the more advanced Ulysses class and Excelsior class. During peace time, the Federation class starships were docked at starbases for much of the time due to the cost of operation. The Klingon offensive in 2283 saw the refit Federation class justify the time and expense of refurbishng and maintaining them. The refurbishment was done two ships at a time, using the Enterprise subclass Constitution class refit as a baseline foundation for the improvement of the dreadnought. With the Ascension class DNL online by this point, Starfleet felt that they could afford to lose two battleships for refurbishment. This also brought about a change of policy to more one of active deterrence; the Federation class was seen more on deployments training: a dipomatic tool to give potential threatening nations a moment of pause to reconsider their actions.

Author's Notes

The Federation class dreadnought is the Star Trek equivalent of HMS Dreadnought of 1906 - a revolution in defensive technology. The Pacifistic Bloc of the Federation Council will be against the development and construction of warships such as these, but the human and Andorian elements win the argument for defensive technology - especially after the near-run Klingon-Federation War at Organia. The refit into a TMP-style would be something done in the 2280s, giving the dreadnoughts another 20 - 30 years of service.

The Metar Crisis and ISC Pacification Campaign of the 2290s saw the Federation class design holding its own with the newer dreadnought designs, with ships facing these superpower threat forces. The Federation class proved to be a good war horse in the Metar Crisis, where sheer firepower made it valuable. In the ISC campaign the design showed despite the age of the design, the continued upgrading and refitting of the Federation class was holding back the sands of time. Modern dreadnoughts such as Ascension, Komsomolsk, Ulysses, and the advanced explorers like Excelsior class were more resistant to the new weapons but the Federation class was still hardy enough to take the pounding and continue to operate when sometimes the more modern systems on the newer dreadnoughts were still unproven and occasionally vulnerable.

The faith in the design has been such that Starfleet refurbished the Federation class lines at their Jupiter and Andoria facilities and retained them in service even after the Khitomer Accords of 2293 declared that some of the older members of the class were to be mothballed or disposed of. Ship of Komsomolsk class were ordered to replace the losses over the 2280s and 2290s, keeping the numbers of Federation class in service up in the teens. Improvements incorporated into these new-builds were retrofitted back into the older members of the class. By 2312, the design is treated with the reverence afforded the Iowa class battleships in the 1980s. Many apply to serve on a Federation class just to say that they have done so. Starfleet still has a place for these old battle wagons, their legacy being brought into to 24th Century, despite earlier plans to decommission them. Events over the recent decades have conspired to keep them.

Below is a list of Federation class vessels:

NAME	REGISTRY	NOTES
Federation	2100	Prototype vessel of the class. Refurbished 2283 - 84.
Star League	2101	Refurbished 2283 - 84.
Unifactum	2102	Refurbished 2284 - 85.
Compactat	2103	Refurbished 2284 - 85.
Corporation	2104	Lost in the Federation/Mirak War 2275.
Archangelese	2105	Renamed Balson and used as Command Ship prototype.
Konkordium	2106	Refurbished 2285 - 86.
Star System	2107	Refurbished 2285 - 86.
Affiliation	2108	Refurbished 2286 - 87.
Concordat	2109	Refurbished 2286 - 87.
Directorate	2110	Refurbished 2287 - 88.
Organisation	2111	Refurbished 2287 - 88.
Star Union	2112	Refurbished 2288 - 89.
Alliance	2113	Refurbished 2288 - 89.
Confederation	2114	Refurbished 2289 - 90.
Dominion	2115	Refurbished 2289 - 90.
Star Empire	2116	Refurbished 2290 - 91.
Trusteeship	2117	Refurbished 2290 - 91.
Association	2118	Refurbished 2291 - 92.
Consortium	2119	Refurbished 2292 - 92.
Entente	2120	Refurbished 2292 - 93.

Author’s Notes:

The Federation class is the one ‘canon’ class of dreadnought mentioned in the Star Trek prime universe. Introduced in Franz Joseph’s Technical Manual in the 70s, this is the principal dreadnought class of the 2260s and 2270s, with a refit design appearing in the 2280s. With designs such as Ascension, Conquest, Komsomolsk and Ulysses coming online, one can only speculate that this will mean the winding down of the older Federation class. This class are now rather like the Royal Sovereign or Queen Elizabeth classes were in the Second World War, older warships but nevertheless ones with pride and history.

As with the Iowa class in the Reagan years, when these old ships are in use there are many who seek to serve just for the chance to serve on these icons of peace-keeping. They are in the twilights of their careers, but they still have a role to play.