Speculative History of the Constitution classSpeculative History of the Constitution classIn the late 2230s Starfleet's cruiser fleet primarily consisted of Horizon and Mann class vessels nearing the end of their service lives and the newer Baton Rouge class (and possibly the Ranger class from LUG). One of the Horizon (Archon sub-class) cruisers, the U.S.S. Republic NCC-1371, was docked with the intention of replacing her primary hull with an enlarged version of the saucer shaped hull introduced on the Baton Rouge class. Whilst this conversion was important in the development of the Constitution class the Republic never matched the technological and performance specifications of that class. The Republic became an ideal training vessel for the Constitution class but was not considered to actually be a part of the class.
The U.S.S. Constitution NCC-1700 was commissioned in 2242 with another eleven vessels following over the next six years. A twelth vessel, U.S.S. Kresta NCC-1712, was cancelled before work had begun and another Horizon class ship, the U.S.S. Constellation NCC-1017, underwent a process similar to that carried out on the U.S.S. Republic. The end result was much closer to the baseline spec of the Constitution class, although the Constellation could be distinguised by a basic scan or even a visual inspection.
Technology improves and war breaks out...
The Bonhomme Richard sub-class...
During the war many ships entered dock for repairs and upgrades at unscheduled times. In addition many front line officers acted with greater initiative than would be permitted during peacetime. One consequence of this was that many ships ended up with distinctly non-standard equipment, especially weaponry, fits. After the war many ships retained their unique specifications. This is why the U.S.S. Enterprise had such a different weapons fit to the Constitution/Bonhomme Richard baseline spec.
Following the war, the shipbuilding facilities that had been in use constructing Constitution class starships were instead used to build the Coronado and Federation classes, which at the time were considered more essential to the post war defence of the Federation. Consequently, some of the remaining vessels of the Bonhomme Richard sub-class did not enter service until the 2260s.
Even allowing for the late commissioning of some of the Bonhomme Richard type vessels we are still in excess of that magical 'dozen'. Let's add it up, by 2266 we have the two refits, the twelve Constitutions and an unspecified number of Bonhomme Richards. We're not counting the Republic and the Farragut and Valiant have been lost. There would be between a dozen and two dozen ships like the Enterprise in the fleet. Not ideal but good enough for now.
The Achernar sub-class was intended for construction at this time. These vessels were intended to be more exploration orientated, carrying less armament than the Bonhomme Richard sub-class. They would have served in the largely unexplored sectors spinward of the Federation core, thus freeing major capital ships (Federation, Coronado and Constitution/Bonhomme Richard) for service in the more hostile sectors along the Romulan and Klingon borders. Existing Constitution/Bonhomme Richard vessels would have had their drive and sensor systems upgraded to match the Achernars.
Povisional names taken from the Federation star catalogue were assigned to these ships, 68 in all, later reduced to a more sensible 13. It is debatable whether the ships would have entered service under these names. In the end however technological developments made the Achernar design obsolete before a single ship had been launched. (Some hulls were laid down and were later converted to testbed uses.)
Endeavour sub-class...
Constitution II sub-class...
Enterprise sub-class...
Tikopai sub-class...
A final batch of ship building in the late 2280s...
Last updated April 16th 2002. © Stephen Pugh <steve@pugh.net>
Star Trek™, ® & © by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Star Trek is a registered trademark of and all characters and related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures.