3.4 Declaration Class Starliner

The name starliner is something of a misnomer. It was Utopia Planitia’s term for UESPA’s first purpose-built starship, designed to explore those star systems nearest to Terra. The only thing that held these elegant ships back was their early ion impulse engines, which confined them to sublight speeds. All were built and dispatched to every single star system within range of Terra known to have habitable planets. All save one (Enterprise) would turn back and return to Terra before completing their missions, having been passed enroute by faster ships. Since the Enterprise was already over halfway to Alpha Centauri its crew decided to complete its mission anyway. It arrived in the aftermath of the first Kzinti attack on Alpha Centauri, providing much needed relief and supplies to the damaged UES Icarus. The starliner Enterprise is preserved as a museum ship at the Star Fleet Proxima (Centauri) Shipyards.

Service entry date (old calendar): 2035.

Specifications

• Length: 300 m
• Beam: 210 m
• Draft: 210 m
• Mass: 52,700 DWT
• Crew: 100
• Range: 20 years at 0.35c
• Maximum speed: 0.75c
• Armament: 2 laser turrets, 50 fusion missiles

Innovations/Experiments

• First Terran starship design
• First Terran starships to carry on-board small craft

Searcher Class Scout

The Searcher class was designed as a budget-sized version of the Declaration class. They were assigned to travel to the less prestigious (and more numerous) systems on UESPA’s exploration list. The ship’s small size meant that it carried no auxiliary craft for planetfall. Instead, its forward section was designed to detach from the rest of the ship and act as a planetary lander. It would relink with the main body of the ship once a planetary survey was completed. This was the only novel item in the design of the Searcher. The class itself was unspectacular and would have been forgotten had it not been for the Sakharov’s terrible first contact experience with the Kzinti. It came out the other side a flying wreck with over half of its crew dead. The class as a whole was retired shortly after the end of the first Earth-Kzin War.

Service entry date (old calendar): 2036.

• Length: 162 m
• Beam: 90.3 m
• Draft: 90.3 m
• Mass: 21,750 DWT
• Crew: 45
• Range: 20 years at 0.35c
• Maximum speed: 0.80c
• Armament: 2 forward lasers, 25 fusion missiles

Innovations/Experiments

• First Terran vessel with a detatchable forward hull
• First Terran vessel type encountered by the Kzinti