11.10 Abbe Class Torpedo Destroyer

ABBE CLASS TORPEDO DESTROYER SERVICE ENTRY DATES (OLD CALENDAR): 2273

Starfleet has always tried to maintain a starship class dedicated to the heavy firepower forward concept ever since the Marshall class destroyer of the Romulan War. The Abbe is the contemporary version of that concept, a starship class who can count in its ancestry such storied starship classes as the Marklin class heavy destroyer of the Four Years War and the Sigma battlecruiser prototype of the Pax Federationis. It brings the heavy firepower forward concept into the linear warp eneration of starships. g

Lessons learned from the Marklin were applied to the Abbe’s esign. The weapons-heavy secondary hull was replaced by a d tops ll. ide weapons pod mounted over a minimal engineering hu This configuration, suggested by the Baton Rouge era Ranger class survey cruiser, allows Abbe to maintain the Marklin’s abilit y to remain a combat-capable starship, vis-à-vis multiple phas er mounts on its primary hull, in the event it has to jettison its w eapons pod. The top-mounted, routine-detachable weapons pod t also gives Abbe more multi-mission potential than it migh have otherwise had. Reconfiguring Abbe for a special mission is just a simple matter of changing out its standard weapons pod for one of a design more befitting t he mission it had been assig ed. It was this multi-mission potential that finally n convinced the Federation Council to fund Abbe, although it has yet t o realize its full potential.

Ther r e a e at present only two versions of the Abbe routinedetachabl the standard heavy weapons e pod. The first is rsion, consisting of no less than eight photon torpedo tubes ve ard and aft) complete with support systems and (four each forw e second is the scout pod, somewhat larger than magazines. Th the heavy weapons pod. It retains only two photon torpedo tubes but adds a sophisticated sensor/scanner suite that is the equivalent of that found on an uprated Hermes or Nelson class scout. The photon tubes are used primarily for the launching of sensor probes; even so, a limited number of photon torpedoes carried for defensive purposes. Other Abbe pod types have are been discussed; however, none as yet have been implemented in fleet service.

The primary mission of the Abbe is that of first response. It is designed to be sent into a contested area of space with minimal support (more frequently none at all) and hold it until other fleet units arrive. This also applies to an Abbe reconfigured for the scout role: it stays on station for as long as possible gathering as much information as possible until it is either forced to withdraw or additional Starfleet units arrive on the scene.

While the Abbe class has yet to see fleet action in a major battle, it has not stopped it from proving its worth on a smalle r scale. In 2274 the class lead ship U.S.S. Abbe (NCC-5300) surprise d 4 Orion pirate vessels while they were enroute to a secret supply base. On e of these was a decommissioned Klingon D-7 battlecruiser that had been bought by the Orions and converted for their own use. The Abbe engaged all four vessels at once, and with its first photon torpedo salvo so badly mauled the D-7 that it was forced to withdraw. As the other three ships circled around and attempted to attack from the rear, the Abbe then let loose with a full aft photon salvo. A second Orion vessel caught the full brunt of the spread and was destroyed instantly, while Captain Mordan of Andor brought the Abbe about and immediately attacked the two remaining Orion vessels. Skillful phaser fire combined with a third photon salvo forced the last two Orion vessels to withdraw after suffering significant damage. The Abbe herself received only minimal d amage during the encounter, and shortly thereafter located and des troyed the Orion supply base.

Starfleet proposed 39 Abbe class heavy destroyers in its 2270 appropriations request. The Federation Council cut that number down to 20. All but one remain in service. The sole exception is the Xe (NCC-5309), which was lost in the line of duty.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Length: …………………………………….. 261 m Beam: ……………………………………… 141.7 m Draft: …………………….………………… 53.5 m Mass: …………………………………. 165,750 DWT C rew ………………………………………….… 401 Range: …………… ………….…….. 16 years at L.Y.V. Cruising speed: ………………….………….. warp 8 Maximum speed: ………………….………… warp 12 Armament: ….. 12 phasers (6 banks of 2 on primary hull) 8 photon torpedo tubes (heavy weapons pod) 2 photon torpedo tubes (scout pod)

SCHEMATIC:

ABBE DESIGN COURTESY OF ERIC KRISTIANSEN (JACKILL’S ) VISUAL COURTESY OF THE “DUCT TAPE WONDER” SCHEMATICS COURTESY OF NEALE DAVIDSON (PIXEL SAGAS)

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