5.5 Messier Class Cruiser
A profile of the Messier class, Star Fleet’s first major postwar warship and the first Terran ship with subspace radio and integrated crews, paired with the multi-mission Cosmos (and later Huey) class scouts that helped chart the New Territories.
The Messier class starships, the most heavily armed starships of their time, were Star Fleet’s first major warship class since the end of the Earth-Kzin Wars. Everything save its engines reflected the angular design philosophy prevalent among Terran starship engineers at the time. The engines, however, were provided by Cochrane Warp Dynamics of Alpha Centauri. A total of 28 ships were built between 2078 and 2100, and with periodic refits continued to serve as the backbone of Star Fleet well into the Romulan War era.
This was the first Terran starship to include the new subspace radio. Its only drawback was that it was useless outside of the Local Group subspace net. This drawback was partially offset by the addition of temporary subspace transponders, which it could drop every two light-years outside of Local Group transmitter range as needed.
Service entry date (old calendar): 2078.
Specifications
- Length: 258 m
- Beam: 113.8 m
- Draft: 72.1 m
- Mass: 110,000 DWT
- Crew: 183
- Range: 4 years at L.Y.V.
- Cruising speed: Warp 2.75
- Maximum safe speed: Warp 2.9
- Armament: 8 laser banks, 2 particle cannon, 55 fusion missiles
Innovations
- First starship with subspace radio
- First Star Fleet starship class with integrated crews
Cosmos Class Scout
The 38 vessels of the Cosmos and later Huey classes together make up one of the more unusual starships of their era. They were designed from the onset as multi-mission capable. A variety of different sensor pallets, ranging from heavy to light, could be fitted to the ship’s cylindrical nose depending on the mission at hand. Most of the time these carried the heavy Explorer sensor pallets for exploration and survey of new star systems from a distance. They entered service just in time for the War with the Vegan Tyranny and often served as intelligence gathering ships. Their most notable accomplishment for UESPA after the war was helping to complete the initial surveys of the New Territories, from which the first navigational charts of the region were made. All were retired by 2120.
Service entry date (old calendar): 2082.
Specifications
- Length: 229 m
- Mass: 36,700 DWT
- Crew: 100
- Range: ? years at L.Y.V.
- Cruising speed: Warp 2.5
- Armament: 2 forward lasers, 50 fusion-style missiles (Huey)