8.14 Murmansk and Broadway Class Transports

Service Entry Date (Old Calendar): 2167

The Broadway class starships began life as the civilian Murmansk class cargo ships. The basic design of these post-war craft was far more robust than the pre-war Merchant class, with some thought actually given to systems reliability and creature comforts. The technology boom resulting from the Romulan War also gave these civilian vessels capabilities that would have been unheard-of prior to 2155. They had modern warp engines (military surplus), a six-deck command area, a six-deck crew section, a modern celestial navigational system (military surplus), the capability to make planetary landings, and a real tractor grapple instead of the old pre-war hook-and-latch system. Although intended for use as ore haulers, their ability to be fitted with various cargo containers or customized secondary hulls offered many conversion and operational possibilities. Finally, they weren’t all that terribly expensive, given the recent flood of surplus military hardware and starship components on the starship market. The Murmansk quickly established itself as a reliable design and soon became the new darling of the civilian sector. Their popularity can be judged by a particularly large order for Murmansk class transports being placed by the fledgling Federation Merchant Marine in 2166.

When the Federation Bureau of Education was looking for a starship class to use for its renewed Galactic Cultural Exchange project, the popular Murmansk proved a logical choice. Several ships were purchased and converted to the Broadway configuration in a joint operation with Star Fleet Command. Star Fleet did the conversion and piloted the ships, while the Bureau of Education paid for the conversion and made an extra donation to Star Fleet’s credit-hungry coffers. Yes, it was a political deal, but without it the Galactic Cultural Exchange program was dead in space.

The Broadway configuration replaced the Murmansk’s tractor grapple with a permanent secondary hull. Just under half of this was made of storage holds, while one-fourth was comprised of passenger staterooms and the other one-fourth tailored to the specific needs of the Cultural Exchange Program. The remaining space was used for a four-bay shuttlecraft hanger. Minor changes to the ship itself were also made, such as Star Fleet standard shipboard systems and the addition of an extensoboom navigational deflector.

Just as the original Murmansk had won the hearts of the Federation shipping sector, so too would the spinoff Broadway class. The Broadway class starship USS Hurok was seen all across the Federation during its days with the Cultural Exchange Program. While audiences were wowed with the entertainments it brought with its visits, local starship captains marveled at the near-perfect balance of its mixed cargo capacity. Demand for availability soon became so great that its original manufacturer reverse-licensed the Broadway configuration from Star Fleet and began filling orders as fast as it could. The income from the lucrative Broadway license helped the credit-strapped Star Fleet maintain a semblance of a starship development program in between the intermittent funding grants from the Federation Council during this time.

Not only are both the Broadway and Murmansk class starships still plying the Federation spaceways today (thanks to routine upgrades), but their “little brother” is also doing the same. The “Spacematic,” first introduced at the end of the 22nd century, was nothing more than a scaled-down, Murmansk-derived design aimed at the growing “solo operator” market. Its lines follow that of the original Murmansk; however, the reduced size limits its crew and cargo carrying capability. Like its famous predecessor it has a tractor grapple instead of a dedicated cargo hold, allowing it to mount a wide variety of small-scale specialty cargo containers. The “Spacematic” has since become as ubiquitous in Federation space as its large-scale ancestor, and one can usually be seen (in various configurations) in almost every major Federation port-of-call.

Specifications

• Length: 250 m
• Beam: 51 m
• Draft: 61 m
• Mass: 33,000 DWT
• Crew: 33
• Armament: normally unarmed, depends on ownership
• Cruising speed: warp 3.5 (maximum speed depends on engine upgrades installed)