3.3 Companion Class Cruiser

The Companion class was the UESF’s first major capital ship class. It was quite popular in the years before the First Earth-Kzin War and could often be found escorting military convoys from one end of the Sol System to the other. Its extensive command and control facilities made it an ideal mobile headquarters platform. Many could also be found keeping a watchful eye over the testing of prototype spacecraft employing the latest advances in fusion reactor design and pre-warp engine technology. The weaknesses in their design did not become evident until the First Earth-Kzin War of 2048-2050. They were simply too slow and vulnerable for effective combat against the smaller and more maneuverable Kzinti vessels. Eight were destroyed in the Battle of the Sol System and another five would be lost in subsequent encounters. The class as a whole was retired in 2080. The UES Fisher, the last Companion class cruiser to be retired from active military service, was later upgraded with warp drive and renovated for use as a diplomatic courier. It is the only vessel of its class that still survives and is preserved at the Utopia Planitia Spaceyards Museum Complex at Mars (Sol IV).

Service entry date (old calendar): 2033.

Specifications

• Length: 156 m
• Beam: 37.9 m
• Draft: 37.9 m
• Mass: 65,000 DWT
• Crew: 20
• Range: up to 6 billion km
• Crusing speed: 6000 m/sec
• Maximum speed: 9500 m/sec
• Armament: 4 forward lasers, 25 fusion missiles

Innovations/Experiments

• First major Terran warship class
• First Terran spacecraft class fitted with extended sensor and communications suites.

Columbus Class Explorer

The Columbus class represented a tremendous step forward in Terran spacecraft design. This was the first true Terran starship class and the first to utilized spiked-antimatter propulsion as its main drive. This new variation on standard impulse drive allowed these ships to reach speeds up to 0.75c. They would be obsolete within two decades once warp drive technology was perfected.

The UES Icarus is remembered as the first Terran vessel to visit another inhabited world (Alpha Centauri VII). It is still preserved today at the Star Fleet Space Flight Museum at Luna. The UES Adam & Eve was to have been the first Terran vessel to visit Barnard’s Star. It was apparently destroyed by the Kzinti in 2049 just short of its goal. There were no known survivors.

Service entry date (old calendar): 2040.

• Length: 120 m
• Beam: 37.2 m
• Draft: 37.2 m
• Mass: 86,000 DWT
• Crew: 40
• Range: 8.5 light-years
• Maximum speed: 0.75c
• Armament: 4 forward lasers, 25 fusion missiles

Innovations/Experiments: First Terran starship to use a spiked-antimatter engine.