Background
Origins: The Steamrunner was designed by Alex Jaeger at ILM. In an interview during 2009 he went into detail about the design:
Design: The ship was designed, like most by ILM. The ship was supposed to be, along with its counterparts (Akira, Norway, Defiant and Sabre) to be unique and not follow the standard design of vessels (that being the main sourcer section connected by a neck to the main body, usually engineering and the deflector, and then the body being connected to by two nacelles.
The Steamrunner was designed to look similar to the Sabre and Akira and the ships were designed together by Utopia Planetia. The Steamrunner was designed to be very Spartan and durable. The ship surprisingly only featured two torpedo tubes when being classed as a torpedo frigate, the reason behind this was that the tubes had a massive magazine of 250 photon torpedoes and could be fired relatively quickly.
Classifications
The Steamrunner class was built for war as part of the Perimeter Defence Initiative in the 2360's the class was designed to be a heavy frigate (But also a Blockade Runner/Escort in STO) that could respond to incursions on Federation space rapidly and also be able to deal with large threats.
The ship appears to take a likeness to the Akira and NX class ships as it has a detached saucer section from the secondary hull by two diagonal pylons leading to the nacelles. Its design was also heavily influenced by its cousin ship the Sabre class, Starfleet designed the ships to work together in tandem and make up for each other's shortcomings. Starfleet employed the ship as a long-range torpedo frigate in combat and was adept at intelligence gatherings.
Type: Different sources all say its a different class type but I believe it is a heavy escort and torpedo frigate.
Decks: 18
Warp: Since this ship was designed to respond to border incursions as quickly as possible meant that it had a very impressive maximum warp speed of 9.7 for 12 hours, only just under the Sabres 9.8-9.9 for the same 12 hours, the ship had an expected cruising speed of warp 6 when not responding to threats.
Sublight: 2 large saucer mounted impulse engines.
Role: The Steamrunner class was initially designed by Starfleet as part of the anti-borg taskfleet. Starfleet saw the need to build true warships and by the 2360's the ship was well underway. The ship was designed to work in tandem with the Sabre class, each ship making up for the other's shortcomings. Unlike the Sabre, the Steamrunner would be used as a torpedo frigate, firing from mid to long range with almost ceaseless fire while the Sabre would distract and swarm the hostile target.
The ship was not as maneuverable as the Sabre and did not have any aft facing torpedo bays, usually relying on the Sabre to cover its back. In wartime, the ship would be a very useful escort. During peacetime, the ship was mostly seen patrolling the Federations borders with its fast response rate. It was also used for surveillance and intelligence gathering with its sophisticated sensor array. During the Dominion War, the ship was renowned for being extremely tough and deadly. The enemy was often distracted by Sabre class escorts until a barrage of torpedoes vaporized their ship.
Zephyr Subclass: Almost no knowledge exists of the class, all I can find is the fact that it was designed by STO as part of the customization part of the game and is considered canon, The most primary difference is an elevated sensor array and both warp nacelles are no longer directly linked to the saucer section. The saucer itself is even more similar to the NX class than the Steamrunner.
My Thoughts: The Steamrunner class has to be one of my favourite designs, I love to see how competent Starfleet can be after the rude awakening it got after the Cardassian border war. The idea of the ship working with the Sabre class really shows how much attention the ships of Star Trek get for a backstory. I like the nacelle designs as it reflects the purpose of the ship. The only fault I have with the vessel is how little screen time and detail it gets. Unlike the Sabre, the Steamrunner is more of a background ship to fill in a scene across the series than anything else which is sad because TNG and DS9 could have made a lot of use out of the vessel.
Size
Length: 375 meters
Width: 270.9 meters
Height: 79.5 meters
Armaments
4 Type-X Phaser Arrays: Are the most advanced and heaviest type of phaser installed on starships from this era. Each ship would be equipped with a number of phaser arrays consisting of multiple emitters for each type. The Steamrunner had two phaser arrays on the top of the saucer section. And two in the same spot on the ventral side of the saucer section. The phasers are designed to have a large firing arc, allowing the class to fire in almost any direction.
2 Photon Torpedo Launchers: The photon torpedo used shaped charges of antimatter that, when they came in contact with conventional matter or hard energy barriers, released massive amounts of gamma-ray photons, hence the weapon's name. They were developed in part due to the requirement for a weapon, which unlike phasers, could be used at faster than light speeds which made the Photon torpedo very unique, useful and deadly. The Steamrunner class had both torpedo tubes at the front of the ship, leaving the aft somewhat defenceless to a surprise attack.
Defences
Deflector Shields: Most starships are fitted with deflector shields, often projected from a deflector dish, to protect them from particle impacts which, particularly at high velocities, could cause huge amounts of damage. While basic deflectors and deflector beams could provide minimal protection from weapons fire and basic mishaps, the majority of advanced starships were also fitted with more powerful shielding which could be activated in tactical situations. However, these shields were sufficiently powerful that they also blocked out transporter beams. Shields could be configured in two forms; ellipsoid form shielding, common in Federation starships in the 24th century, which projected a shield bubble around a starship; or contour-conforming shielding which was projected much closer to the ship's hull, providing more specifically localized protection. Some shielding systems also allowed shielding over specific areas of a ship to be activated or deactivated to provide protection for a specific area only and presumably reduce power consumption not protecting the entire hull.
Duranium-Tritanium hull plating.
Microfiber Reinforced Ablative Armor: Was a type of protective hull plating used on starships, which possessed a capability for rapidly dissipating the energy impacts from directed energy weapon fire.
Auxiliary craft: 2 shuttlecraft: Are small craft that could be transported or launched from larger starships. The Federation made use of Shuttlecraft during the Dominion war as fighter craft or strikecraft. The Steamrunner launched its shuttles from one main hanger on the rear of the saucer section, just below the bridge. The ship usually was seen carrying 2 Type-9 shuttlecraft.
Bridge: No official images of the bridge for the Steamrunner exist but we can assume that it would be either identical or somewhat similar to the Defiant, there is some artwork for the design of the assumed bridge however, see below.
Known ships of the class
Only one canon example is seen, the USS Hiroshima in the Star Trek Encyclopedia on page 519, but a number have been mentioned on Memory Beta.
USS Adirondack, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2370s-2410
Interesting facts: Was destroyed at the first battle of Chin'toka in 2374 during the Dominion war.
Commission: 2370s-2410
Interesting facts: Was destroyed at the first battle of Chin'toka in 2374 during the Dominion war.
USS Alamo, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2370s-2377
Commission: 2370s-2377
USS Appalachia, NCC-52136
Commanding officer: Ahmed al-Rashid
Commission: 2370s-2373
Interesting facts: This ship has an outstanding service career, only being destroyed when defending a communication relay in the Phicus system during the Dominion War.
Commission: 2370s-2373
Interesting facts: This ship has an outstanding service career, only being destroyed when defending a communication relay in the Phicus system during the Dominion War.
USS Ballista, NCC-52053
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2370s-2410
Interesting facts: Docked at Earth spacedock following the 2410 Undine attack on the Sole system.
Commission: 2370s-2410
Interesting facts: Docked at Earth spacedock following the 2410 Undine attack on the Sole system.
USS Bangkok, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2370s-2377
Interesting facts: Part of a joint Federation-Borg armada made to destroy the Rift Maker in fluidic space.
Commission: 2370s-2377
Interesting facts: Part of a joint Federation-Borg armada made to destroy the Rift Maker in fluidic space.
USS Columbia, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2370s-2375 until succeeded by the Galaxy X-class USS Columbia.
Interesting facts: During the Breen first strike on earth during the Dominion War the Columbia was trapped inside a disabled Earth Spacedock until being rescued by the USS Enterprise-E and joined the fight.
Commission: 2370s-2375 until succeeded by the Galaxy X-class USS Columbia.
Interesting facts: During the Breen first strike on earth during the Dominion War the Columbia was trapped inside a disabled Earth Spacedock until being rescued by the USS Enterprise-E and joined the fight.
USS Discovery, NCC-52333
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: In 2377 the ship was attacked and disabled by the Kam'Jahtea near a black hole called Lycosa. Due to it being disabled the ship could not escape the Lycosas event horizon and was destroyed.
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: In 2377 the ship was attacked and disabled by the Kam'Jahtea near a black hole called Lycosa. Due to it being disabled the ship could not escape the Lycosas event horizon and was destroyed.
USS Gettysburg, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: Succeeded in name by the Excelsior-class USS Gettysburg in 2378.
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: Succeeded in name by the Excelsior-class USS Gettysburg in 2378.
USS Great Smokey, NCC-51967
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: In 2371 the ship engaged Tholian ship at the Federation/Tholian border close to the planet Draconis 9.
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: In 2371 the ship engaged Tholian ship at the Federation/Tholian border close to the planet Draconis 9.
USS Lexington, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commision: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: Part of a joint Federation-Borg armada made to destroy the Rift Maker in fluidic space.
Commision: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: Part of a joint Federation-Borg armada made to destroy the Rift Maker in fluidic space.
USS Orion, NCC-63247
Commanding officer: Lian T'su
Commission: 2360's-2376
Interesting facts: In 2376 the Orion was testing the prototype of the Wildfire device (a protomatter warhead that could ignite gas giants into starts). During one such test over the gas giant Galvan 6, the entire crew was killed and the ship heavily damaged by a non-corporeal species called the Ovanim made of light energy who lived in the atmosphere of the planet.
Commission: 2360's-2376
Interesting facts: In 2376 the Orion was testing the prototype of the Wildfire device (a protomatter warhead that could ignite gas giants into starts). During one such test over the gas giant Galvan 6, the entire crew was killed and the ship heavily damaged by a non-corporeal species called the Ovanim made of light energy who lived in the atmosphere of the planet.
USS Protege, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: The USS Enterprise-E found the ship adrift in deep space but intact, the captain dispatched away teams to investigate, the away team found evidence of borg intruders and it was later found out that the crew had been assimilated after an encounter with the Borg.
Commission: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: The USS Enterprise-E found the ship adrift in deep space but intact, the captain dispatched away teams to investigate, the away team found evidence of borg intruders and it was later found out that the crew had been assimilated after an encounter with the Borg.
USS Steamrunner, NCC-53504
Commanding officer: ???
Commision: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: This ship was the prototype of the Steamrunner class.
Commision: 2360's-2377
Interesting facts: This ship was the prototype of the Steamrunner class.
USS Sutter, NCC-???
Commanding officer: ???
Commision: 2360's-2370
Interesting facts: This ship was destroyed while patrolling the Cardassian Demilitarized zone
Commision: 2360's-2370
Interesting facts: This ship was destroyed while patrolling the Cardassian Demilitarized zone
Scenario
Captains Log: Stardate: 51370.319
"The USS Dallas has been sent with the USS Welshavenger and the USS Avenger... both Sabre classes, to the Hugora Nebula. Our mission is to set up a covert intelligence unit right in the middle of the nebula. Hugora is interesting as it interferes with sensor readings so badly that any ships going through it would be almost undetectable. The USS Dallas will be tapping into the communications of passing Jem'Hadar ships using stolen access codes to see if we can find anything useful. I'm hoping for a real goldmine but my first officer has less... optimistic thoughts, We should be coming out of warp any minute now, I hear when the gasses in the nebula become compressed from the blackholes gravity they explode in colour, making for quite the light show."
The Captain walked out of his ready room excited to complete his mission and get his critical information. The bridge crew reflect his eagerness as they fulfil their tasks. Starfleet hasn't had a win in over 6 months and this information could be a massive blow for the Dominion Alliance.
"Sir we are arriving at our designated coordinates," The ships helm officer informed the now seated captain.
"Understood, broadcast to the fleet to disengage warp,"
"Ey, sir!"
The Stars on the main viewer slowly came to a halt and the bridge was filled with astoundment, the black hole was directly in front of the task force. Colours danced around an invisible mass of suction. The centre was a bright white as the particles where super-compressed and the event horizon was a distorted black void filled with starts.
The Bridge crew was absolutely stunned by what they were witnessing. The tactical officer was snatched out of his trance when his console started beeping at alarming intervals. Panicking stabbing at his console the lieutenant shouted.
"Sir, I'm detecting three Galor cruisers and five Jem'hadar escorts!"
"What!" The captain was momentarily stunned. How did they know about our operation? Was their a leek? A changing that far up the ranks?
His shock was short lived as his years of training took over.
"Tactile, red alert, comms, open a channel to the task force!"
The main viewer was now split between two captains, the USS Welshavengers captain was a Vulcan male who was quite stoic and the USS Avengers captain was a young Human who had barely any experience in a command role. The casualties rates were so high in Starfleet that officers were expected to be promoted monthly.
"Alright we are outnumbered but I think we can use the black hole as a natural shield against any incoming attacks as the gravity will be too much for a phaser to keep its coherence, In the meantime, we will get information for a sword and cannon maneuver... godspeed gents!"
The Dominion fleet was closing at breakneck speed, the fleet commander didn't see the need to have the Jem'hadar escort the cruisers as the Sabres were no threat. The Dallas's captain saw this and ordered the Sabres to hit the Jem'hadar escorts hard enough so that they will ignore the Dallas. The captain hoped to have the entire enemy fleet focus on the Sabres and forget about the Steamrunner as it sneaked around the event horizon towards the aft of the Galor cruisers, meanwhile after the Dallas had gone off sensors due to the distortions the Sabres would focus fire on the Galors so as to wither down their shields. But first, the escorts had to be destroyed.
The Vulcan captain pointed out that the fleet should keep a coherent but loose formation in case of a kamikaze run. Jem'hadar where known to ram enemy ships, destroying their ship but also its target and anyone else who was too close. The captain of the Dallas agreed.
"Sir, the first scarab is in firing range!" The tactile officer announced.
"All guns fire!" The captain demanded.
Soon there where two light shows around the black hole. Purple and orange-yellow beams lanced across space from every angle. Shields flared and glowed heavily under the barrage. Due to the immense gravitational pull, each beam was angled sharply. And each ship had to compensate for it.
Though outnumbered the task force was more heavily armed and armoured than the mass-produced Scarabs and soon the Bridge of the Dallas rocked violently as the first enemy escort was obliterated directly off the bow of the Dallas by a well-placed torpedo. Several large chunks of the hull and one of the nacells spiralled in random directions. until slowly they halted and then were dragged into the mouth of the black hole at ever increasing speeds. The captain saw one of the scarabs maneuvers around the aft of the Avenger, the Sabre had almost no weapons facing its aft and would shortly be destroyed.
"Tactical, concentrate fire on that Jem'hadar!" The captain shouted as he pointed at the main viewer.
The Dallas swung around in a 180 turn as its phasers blasted away at the escort. "Fire torpedoes!" The captain ordered as he leaned ever closer to the main viewer. two tubes at the very front of the ship then lit up as a dozen white photon torpedoes rocketed through space only to meet their designated target with a thundering explosion spelling doom for the Jem'hadar escort before it could inflict any major damage. Its debris zooming through the battlezone towards the event horizon, only to collide with another distracted Jem'hadar warship at close proximity to the explosion, the debris ripped through the engine section and the bridge. For only a few seconds did the ship stay dead in space until it to succumb to the infinite hunger of the black hole.
"Three down, two to go!" the Avengers captain cheered.
"Acknowledged, all ships concentrate fire on the last two escorts, distract them long enough for the Dallas to get behind that event horizon!" The captain commanded as he ordered his helm officer to began the arc around. This maneuver was dangerous as to completely eliminate all sensor readings of the ship she had to be extremely close to the event horizon if the ships go into it than the gravitational pull will be so strong that the ship would not be able to escape its violent fate of being crushed into oblivion.
The Sabres worked in tandem as they focused fire on a scarab which was foolish enough to show its aft to the enemy.
"Are we being pursued?" Asked the captain to his helm officer, for this maneuver to work it will have to be a surprise they won't see coming.
"No sir the others have to do-"The ensign paused as he bent over his console with a worried expression, "One escort has broken away from the battle and is on an intercept course!"
"Rear shields to maximum!" the captain bellowed as the first strikes from the enemies guns where felt hitting the shields. "We can't survive long with the bleed through effect!" the tactile officer informed the captain.
Just as the shields began to fail, the hull buckled and the captain seeing doom approaching did the Jem'hadar ship suddenly explode in a massive ball of fire. Soon both Sabre classes zoomed past the explosion on the main viewer.
"Haha! I owe you two one!" The captain shouted in relief.
Soon the Sabres were whizzing around, through and in-between the Galor line, firing phasers left, right and centre. The Galors responded by closing formation into a tight 'V' shape. The Dallas was now consumed by the dancing lights of the black hole. The ship shook violently as it ploughed through. Soon it had lost all communications and sensor readings of the battle.
The bridge was quiet, dead quiet, only the smooth hum of the impulse engines could be heard. An exact opposite of the display outside the ship.
Minutes passed...the bridge grew more restless by the second. Even the captain was loudly and anxiously tapping his foot on the deck plate. Then a shout.
"Sir! I have gained partial sensor readings...we are behind enemy lines!" The helm officer announced with excitement.
The Dallas burst through a thick and colourfully violent cloud of compressed gas directly above the three Galors at mid-range. The scene was bloody. The farthest Galor had taken severe damage and was breaking apart from the onslaught of... just one Sabre. Where was the Avenger? That was a question that would have to wait for after the battle.
"Tactile target the bridge, engines and weapon systems of the lead Galor with everything we have," The captain ordered as he lept from his chair.
"Sir, torpedo tubes are ready for our 'Mad Minute'!" The tactile officer responded.
"Fire!"
Mad Minute was a call back to WW1 where British troops equipped with the SMLE MK III rifle that, even though was a bolt action rifle, could fire 20-30 rounds in 60 seconds. It was even reported that Germans mistook the rifle fire for machine gun fire. The Dallas's Mad Minuet was to an even greater extent. two dozen torpedoes had been fired before the Cardassians could even react. The torpedoes smashed through the shields of the lead vessel at such speeds that sizable chunks of the hull where smashed into space. In meer moment the ship had been reduced to a vapour cloud and small parts of the hull. The Dallas than focused fire on the most damaged vessel, destroying it in mere moments. The final vessel had started its retreat even before the first torpedoes hit and was soon long gone.
The crisped hull of the Avenger could be seen entering the event horizon and the captain grieved for their loss as he ordered the Welshavenger to withdraw to the nearest outpost for extensive repairs.
The captain flopped onto his chair in his ready room as the Dallas entered Federation space. He was both concerned and angry. 150 lives lost for nothing, no intelligence gained and the Dominion could easily replace their lost ships within a few days. The captain sighed and wondered how the Federation would ever win this war.
Thank you very much for reading my breakdown and a short story for the Steamrunner class. I would like to know your thoughts on the ship and also anything you would like to have been done differently.
Sadly I won't be doing many non-cannon ships like some from the books and comics as the audience, and detail for them is limited. But ships like the Federation Class still count as it is extremely popular and has been seen on multiple platforms.
WRITTEN BY Kirk142
EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com
HEADER AND PREVIEW IMAGE Ships of 2370
