Civilization III - Star Trek

	Constitution-Class (Enterprise A) Unit Thread

The Constitution class was introduced around 2240. At that time the Constitution class was the fastest and most powerful ship type of the fleet and the only one officially designated as starship. 12 ships of this class were in service by the year 2267. Starting with the USS Enterprise in 2271, a number of Constitution-class ships have undergone a complete reconstruction that included new warp nacelles, modification of the engineering hull and "neck", enlargement of the saucer section and a new bridge module. The ships may have been decommissioned at the end of the 23rd century, one of them is displayed in the Starfleet museum. Source: Ottooo (CivFanatics)

	Galaxy-Class (Enterprise D) Unit Thread

The Galaxy class was developed to replace the ageing Ambassador and Oberth class starships as Starfleets primary exploration vessel. The design was initiated in 2343 with a highly challenging specification which called for a ship based on the Nebula design then being developed, but equally capable of scientific, exploration, diplomatic, cultural, and combat roles all within a single multi-mission hull. In fact, many came to regard the requirement as too challenging; the project suffered from numerous delays due to a wide range of design, manufacturing, and construction problems. The first of the class, the USS Galaxy, was launched in 2357 and commissioned in 2362, nearly two decades after initial approval. The Galaxy class which emerged from the Utopia Planitia shipyard had very similar lines to the Nebula class. The Galaxy is slightly larger in volume, although its less compact design gives it considerably greater length than the smaller vessel. The major change between the two is the lack of a mission specific pod on the Galaxy class, the increased volume allowing sections within the hull to be mission customized. This combined with a more advanced systems level to allow all functions to be performed by the single design. In addition the saucer and engineering hulls are separated by an eleven deck connecting neck section. This separation between the two hulls allows the nacelles to be located outboard and above the engineering hull,16 a position which increases the efficiency of the warp drive field slightly. This gives the Galaxy class warp coils an efficiency of 88% at speeds of up to Warp 7 and 52% through Warp 9.113 - the comparable figures for the Nebula class are 84% and 47% respectively. Source: Daystrom Institute Technical Library

	Sovereign-Class (Enterprise E) Unit Thread

The origins of the Sovereign class date back as far as 2338. At this time relationships between the Federation and the Klingon empire had degraded significantly, to the point where war was considered by many to be imminent.6 The President ordered Starfleet to place a design proposal for a new class of starship with very much greater military capability than current designs. This project was in the advanced planning stage when the loss of the Enterprise-C during the Narendra III incident eased tensions considerably.6 The warship project was initially to be scrapped, but Starfleet was instead asked to continue the project on a research basis only. Dubbed the Sovereign project it became a theoretical starfleet battlecruiser designed only as a computer model, with specimen hardware occasionally produced to test the design principles. The intention was to create a design that could be put into production with no delay, should a future crisis present itself. Source: Daystrom Institute Technical Library

	Defiant-Class Unit Thread

The Defiant class was initiated in 2365 as a crash programm to develop a starship capable of fighting and defeating the Borg. The design incorporated several new weapons concepts, including the Quantum torpedo and phaser pulse cannon. The design and construction teams were briefed to produce a small, tough, simple to build vessel packing the maximum possible level of firepower. A secondary aim of the project was to develop new technologies for implementation in the Sovereign project and possibly into existing starship designs. The vessel which emerged from the design office was unlike anything ever contemplated by the Federation before. In place of the usual graceful structures, Defiant was a compact, boxy, almost ugly design. The central body is a three deck block with the a single deck bridge mounted on the top for four decks in all. The upper deck contains the bridge, engineering support spaces and some crew quarters. Deck two features main engineering, a simple medical bay, more crew quarters and the ships communal mess hall. The third deck includes the transporter room and ships storage and cargo bays and the deuterium fuel tanks. Deck four houses the ships replication storage tanks and systems, the antimatter fuel pods and the small shuttle bay. The single computer core is split between decks two and three. The navigational deflector is located in a prominent housing on the ships bow, which also contains a probe launcher. Flanking the deflector housing are a pair of torpedo tubes capable of firing both Quantum and photon torpedoes. Aft of this the nacelles are fitted directly to the main hull, flanking the bridge. Each nacelle housing includes four warp coils and two of the ships pulse phaser cannon. The nacelles supporting equipment are contained within a fifth deck which hangs below the normal four; this deck is divided into three levels of crawl way spaces. Aft of the nacelles is the aft torpedo tube, and the ships armament is completed by a turret type phaser array aft of the bridge. Source: Daystrom Institute Technical Library

	Negh'Var-Class Unit Thread

Built during the 2360's, the Negh'Var was designed for unparalleled protection and firepower; her sheer size was intended to allow her to carry an armament powerful enough to overwhelm any opponent, present or future. She emerged from the shipyards as the largest vessel ever built by the Klingon Navy, at over twenty two hundred feet long. The main armament of the Negh'Var comprises a pair of huge disruptor cannon, 2 the largest such weapons ever built. Although they are the most powerful mobile weapons on any alpha quadrant ship, the weapons are able to fire over a very limited arc. Since the Negh'Var herself is not exactly a manoeuvrable ship, the intention of these weapons seems to be to deal with the heavy shielding associated with large space installations, fixed defensive systems and planetary arrays. Engaging other vessels falls to the 18 Mark 12 disruptor cannon distributed across the hull; while these are only a fraction as powerful as the Mark 18 weapons, they are at least equal in firepower to the Starfleet Type X phaser array and hence among the most powerful in service. Source: Daystrom Institute Technical Library

	Bird of Prey-Class Unit Thread

One of the most interesting designs of the 2260's, this vessel was designed to combine a very high level of firepower with stealth, small size and manoeuvrability. Unfortunately for the Romulans, this came at the cost of very low speed and limited range. The Bird of Prey was the first vessel in standard military service which was known byt the Federation to incorporate cloaking technology. A force field selectively bends light - and sensor signals - around the ship,1 while a series of measures were taken to reduce the emissions from internal systems to an absolute minimum. The power required to maintain the cloaking device was enormous, and the Romulan vessel was unable to raise shields or fire whilst using this system.1 This difficulty was not helped by the fact that the ship had only simple impulse style fusion generators to power her. While these were of a very high output, they were no match for the matter/antimatter system of contemporary Federation designs. To provide sufficient firepower to destroy heavily shielded vessels and installations, the bird of prey was equipped with a plasma torpedo system.1 This vented the entire output of the ships EPS system into an enclosing force field (see weaponry section for details), creating a large and highly destructive energy bolt. Source: Daystrom Institute Technical Library

	D'deridex class (Warbird) Unit Thread

The Warbird of the D'deridex class is a huge ship used by the Romulans in the 2360s and 2370s. With 1200 meter the ship is almost twice as long as a Federation Galaxy class. It also has an advantage in fire power, but because of it's big size it has a lower maximum speed. Another advantage of this class is it's cloaking device. Only drawback is that a Warbird can't fire it's weapons while cloaked. When cloaked it doesn't affect gravimetric field signatures as usual but does emit a low-level tetryons in the lower subspace bands as well as temporal displacement waves which can affect delta-series radio-isotopes. This is caused by a quantum singularity, which is used instead of the usual matter-antimatter reaction as a power source for it's warp-drive. Source: Ottooo (CivFanatics)

	Norexan class Warbird (Valdore) Unit Thread

Romulan design philosophy has long relied on visually impressive starships and intimidating size as weapons in the arsenals of their fleet. Although the tradition of incorporating a "Bird of Prey" in the hull (a practice dating back to the 2150's or earlier), such markings had little effect on the enemies which the Empire faced in the late 24th century -- most notably the Jem'Hadar. Although the D'deridex-class Warbird was effective in its occasional encounters with the Federation and the Klingons, it found itself at a severe disadvantage once the Romulans joined the Dominion War in late 2374. Outclassed in terms of weaponry, hindered by its massive, underpowered bulk, the D'deridex proved to be too inflexible for all-out interstellar combat. The Romulan High Command realized these shortcomings almost immediately after its entrance into the war, and Praetor Neral quickly ordered the construction of a new class of warbird using the most advanced technologies available to the Empire. Despite a rushed design process and a breakneck construction pace, the new Valdore-class launched too late to see any action in the Dominion War; indeed, the first ships were not launched until two years after the end of the war, in 2377. As the new pride of the Romulan fleet, the Valdores were a key piece in the political turmoil when Reman soldier Shinzon seized control of the government in 2379. When loyalist and reactionary members of the Romulan fleet engaged Shinzon's flagship, the Scimitar, the Valdore's reputation was permanently tarred. Fighting alongside Starfleet's latest in advanced hardware, the Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E, the two Valdore-class warbirds were both disabled within minutes after entering combat, while the Enterprise was able to maintain in continuous, single combat for nearly 20 minutes, sustaining massive hull damage yet still remaining operational. In the aftermath of this embarrassment, the High Command went into a panic. With their best warships utterly outperformed, they went back to the drawing board, eventually developing the D'vorx-class warbird. The existing Valdores in service were relegated to low-priority missions and all production halted. Today, only a small handful remain in service, and are a relatively rare sight. Source: Star Trek: Renaissance "Appendix B: Allied and Threat Force Spacecraft"

	Reman Warbird Scimitar Unit Thread

The Scimitar is a huge vessel built by the Reman rebels on a secret base. Apparently superior to any ship of either the Federation or the Romulans, the Scimitar is capable of firing while cloaked. It is also equipped with a talaron emitter, a weapon that destroys any organic tissue. The talaron emitter is activated by unfolding the wings of the vessel. There is at least one large shuttlebay with dozens of Scorpion-class fighters. Source: Ex Astris Scientia - Romulan Ship Classes