Origins: The Defiant-class was designed by James Martin under the direction of Herman Zimmerman and Gary Hutzel.
Design: It will only take a single glance at the ship to know it was something completely different to anything Starfleet had done before. Much like the Sabre, Steamrunner and Norway classes of the same Anti-Borg taskforce program this ship was designed to be as fast, spartan and deadly as possible.
This was shown in the design of the bridge and warp nacelles among other things, it was one of the first designs to have the bridge in the middle of the ship, buried under a lot of armour in all directions which were odd for a Starfleet vessel as the bridge, (which was so important to the ship that its destruction would completely destroy or disable the ship) was placed on deck one for all of the UFP's enemies to see clearly. The second most vulnerable part of a traditional Starfleet ship is its warp nacelles, destroying them could lead to total ship incapacitation or simply the inability to escape the hostilities.
The warp nacelles are packed tightly into the sides of the hull, keeping the sleekness and also adding a tonne of armour to that area. Unfortunately, the ship wasn't without its flaws, after the Defiants shakedown cruise several glaring issues were discovered, the Defiant prototype was overpowered and over-gunned for a ship of its size - so much so that the ship almost destroyed itself after testing its engines at maximum thrust. After Starfleet paranoia of the Borg subsided and they saw no real need for full-blown warships in its navy they decided to shelve the Defiant project as its role was too limiting for peacetime compared to all its other 'brothers' from the Anti-Borg taskforce.
This all changed when the Dominion showed up and soon the Defiant and several others of the class were put to good use. As stated above the ship had very little diversity to the point were anything that wasn't tactile oriented was either severely downgraded or not included in the ships design such as an abysmal science department. From a crews perspective, the ship would feel somewhat like a compact Submarine, steel armour and compact walkways plagued the entire ship as luxury was thrown out the airlock in the design. The ship was so spartan and militaristic in nature that it only had four decks!
According to Martin, the initial instruction for the designers was that it was a "beefy runabout." His initial designs based on this guideline, however, were not accepted by the producers. Martin next turned to more traditional starship designs, but Zimmerman told him that a completely new look was needed, like nothing ever seen on Star Trek before.
Ultimately, Martin went to a design he had done for a Maquis fighter for the episode "The Maquis, Part II", and he brought it to the producers, who approved it as the basis for the Defiant-class. After tweaking the design a little, Martin gave the schematic to model maker Tony Meininger who, along with his Brazil Fabrications, was given the nod to bring the design to life.
The main problem with the design at that stage was that it didn't look fast enough, so Meininger, a car enthusiast, got some posters of Ferraris and used them to help him design the "streamlined" look of the ship, making it very compact and sleek.
Type: Escort/destroyer.
Decks: 4
Crew: 40-50 with an evac limit of 150.
Warp: 9.982 for 12 hours making the class not only one of the fastest ships in sublight but also warp speed.
Sublight: 2 extremely overpowered propulsion systems capable of ripping the ship in half if on full thrust.
My Thoughts: I think the Defiant is one of the most thought out ships in Star Trek, the designers actually looked at some of the problems with their traditional designs and improved upon them, the entire ship is designed perfectly for its intended job, killing all the things while not being killed itself. I like the fact that the ship at first wasn't a success like the others in its family and how it had its moment to shine in the Dominion War as is wiped the floor with Galors and Scarabs.
The fact that Paramount now actually had money to spend on the success of TNG and VOY on making detailed and well thought out sets helped make the ship feel so more lifelike, looking at images of the corridor spelled military as the walkways weren't the luxurious and family-friendly bright walls of the Galaxy class but these cramped spaces were your creature comforts weren't taken into consideration in the design. I think the ship is very unique and everything about it makes sense because it got such a well-worked backstory. I must say it does score very high on my ship design list.
Length: 170.68 meters
Width: 134.11 meters
Height: 30.1 meters
4 Phaser Cannons: The starship-mounted Federation cannon was classified as an optronically targeted phaser. It was presumably first introduced in the Defiant-class starship. The four cannons of the Defiant-class were usually seen firing phaser bolts simultaneously in short rapid-fire bursts and in only one direction. The cannons could also fire beams. Against Jem'Hadar fighters, the combined firepower of the four phaser cannons of the Defiant exceeded the firepower of two wing-mounted disruptor cannons of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
3 Type X Phaser beam arrays: Phaser array is a devastating weapon comprised of an arrangement of phaser emitters located in strategic areas of a starship, space station, or other vessels. In the 23rd century, phaser arrays had smaller numbers of emitters and were commonly referred to as phaser banks. By the 24th century, Starfleet began to fit its vessels and facilities with phaser arrays that contained much larger numbers of emitters. The arrays aboard a Galaxy-class starship could channel vast energy in a short time frame, capable of cutting through a mile of solid granite in seconds.
6 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.
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.
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: In Extremely compact hangers under the belly of the Defiant-class.
Bridge: Much like the ships 'characteristics' the bridge was compact and fully tactile orientated. set on deck 1, but still buried in the middle of the ship under lots of armour, it was probably one of the safest places to be.
Again only one ship is completely canon and that is the USS Budapest (NCC-64923) which I believe is the only Norway class seen defending sector 001 in First Contact.
USS Alexet Leonov, NCC-64930
Commision: 2375-2381
Interesting facts: During the Borg invasion of 2381, the Alexey Leonov was assigned to defend the planet Korvat along with the USS Gibraltar. Although the USS Enterprise-E signalled the vessels to stand ready for an incoming Borg cube, there was little resistance the vessel could provide without transphasic torpedos. When the Borg attacked the planet itself, the Alexey Leonov followed the Gibraltar's example and put itself in the beam's path, sacrificing itself.
USS Belfast, NCC-75633-C
Commision: 2370s-2409
Interesting facts: The USS Belfast was a Defiant-class escort under the command of Captain Va'Kel Shon in the 2400s. She was destroyed at Facility 4028 in 2409.
USS Defiant, NX-74205 (1)
Commision: 2370-2375
Interesting facts: The USS Defiant as a Federation Defiant-class escort in service to Starfleet in the late 24th century. When commissioned in 2370, the Defiant was the prototype for this new class. The class was originally developed to counter the Borg, however, the Defiant was assigned to starbase Deep Space 9 in light of the increasing threat of the Dominion.
In exchange for intelligence data on the Dominion, the Defiant was equipped with a cloaking device on loan from the Romulan Star Empire. Benjamin Sisko was involved in the development of the Defiant and served as the ship's commanding officer throughout her service. The Defiant was a participant and flagship throughout the Dominion War, until her destruction by the Breen at the Second Battle of Chin'toka in 2375. Her successor was the USS São Paulo, which was renamed and registered to the Defiant's name and registration in honour of the fallen vessel.
USS Defiant/USS Sao Paulo, NX-74205 (2)/NCC-75633
Commision: 2375-2409
Interesting facts: In 2375, the São Paulo was under the command of Vice Admiral William Ross for delivery to Starbase Deep Space 9, where she was transferred to the command of Captain Benjamin Sisko. Sisko received special dispensation from Starfleet Operations to rename the São Paulo to USS Defiant in honour of the fallen USS Defiant, which was lost at the Second Battle of Chin'toka. The Defiant took part in the final battle of the Dominion War, the Battle of Cardassia.
USS Gallant, NCC-74206
Commision: 2370s-2372
Interesting facts: The Gallant's service history was short-lived, as she was destroyed by Cardassian forces in 2372 while performing a covert operations mission along the border.
USS Monitor, NCC-??? (1)
Commision: 2373-2378
Interesting facts: In 2375, the Monitor was lost with all hands while conducting tests on her transwarp drive travelling between Starbases 324 and 718 with a skeleton crew of thirty-eight, twenty of whom were warp engineers/specialists. While conducting the tests the Monitor was swept into Intra-galactic space between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies, 350,000 light-years from the Milky Way with an inoperative Transwarp drive and a centuries-long return trip home, at warp speeds, ahead of them.
Three years later, the Monitor, which was about to be destroyed by a phenomenon the crew dubbed "The Distortion" (later revealed to have been a "projection" of the Totality) relayed a burst transmission to the Federation by way of the Kelvan Expeditionary Return Probes warning them of the threat of the Distortion.
USS Neptune, NCC-???
Commision: 2370's-???
Interesting facts: In 2376, the Neptune was under the command of Captain Landwaring. The Neptune was the flagship of Task Force Javelin that was sent to locate the source of the Genesis Wave. The Neptune discovered a derelict shuttle pod. One of the Neptune's crewmembers went into the shuttle pod. The Neptune was last heard from in the Boneyard. The Neptune arrived at Myrmidon with no crew. Commander Beverly Crusher of the USS Enterprise-E took a skeleton crew over to the Neptune. An unknown lifeform infected the crew and the Neptune attacked Myrmidon. The Enterprise transported the crew aboard and the Neptune was destroyed when the Genesis Wave hit.
USS Sao Paulo, NX-74205-A
Commision: 2370's-2410
Interesting facts: The USS Sao Paulo was a Federation starship, a Defiant-class escort in Starfleet service in the 24th and 25th centuries. Following a retrofit in 2410, the Sao Paulo-A became the prototype of the Sao Paulo-class tactical escort.
USS Valiant, NCC-74210
Commision: 2370's-2374
Interesting facts: The USS Valiant (NCC-74210) was a Federation Defiant-class escort starship in Starfleet service in the 24th century. This ship was in active service around the Dominion War of the 2370s, the vessel was assigned to training an elite cadet corps called Red Squad.
*6 months after the Dominion War the USS Sentry, USS Dallas and USS Welshaven have been posted on patrol in occupied Cardassia while the USS Isacc has been sent to patrol the Tholian Border as relations with the race hit an all-time low*
"The USS Sul has been stationed at Starbase 211 for almost a month now, the crew is becoming more restless every second...the Admiralty predicts that we will be stuck here for another few months as relations cool. I have been stuck in a seminar with the rest of the captains assigned to this area for the past three hours, apparently, these Cardassian fanatics in the Badlands calling themselves the 'True Way' are launching aggressive assaults on any Starfleet ship they come across, I th-"
The ready room door beeped, someone had rung the doorbell.
"Computer pause log entry," The captain commanded as she pulled at her shirt.
"Come in,"
The door hissed open to reveal a lean human in a yellow uniform.
"Ah, James, what seems to be the problem?"
"Well captain, After doing some sensor sweeps I found some...odd characteristics from the nearby nebula," The Chief Engineer reported after only taking a few steps into the captains ready room.
"What kinds of 'characteristics'?" The captain responded, taking a more serious tone.
"Well, at first it looked to be just some elemental reactions from the black hole but after scanning for ion trails I found this," James stated grimly as he passed a PADD towards the captain.
On it was a blurred and somewhat distorted image, in the middle, was an odd shape, it took the captain only a moment to realise what it was, the shape was identical to a Galor or Keldon class warship.
"After investigating further I discovered it had a similar energy pattern to the terrorist organisation in the Badlands," The Engineer added.
"How many did you find?" The captain asked as if she already knew the answer.
"23 similar signatures including 2 unknown in a 5,000 Kilometre radius,"
The captain only nodded in response as the officer walked out of the ready room. Tapping a few times on her personal computer she hailed the sector commander, Admiral Huongvilay.
"Sir, I have discovered a large True Way fleet amazing in the Hugora Nebula, I believe they are using it as a staging ground to unleash a devastating first strike!" The captain reported.
"Understood...I'm placing the whole sector on high alert, we will amass our own force at the closest starbase-"
"That would be Starbase 211, it has limited defensive capabilities, in fact, its primary purpose is repairing starships," The captain interrupted.
"I know that captain but its the closest staging ground that can defend itself in case of an attack before the fleet arrives," The Admiral concluded."Await further instructions."
*Five days later*
"The USS Sul has been patrolling the perimeter of the station, watching as more and more ships of varying classes arrive. So far five Sabre class vessels including the USS Welshavenger, two Akira, one Ambassador, three Steamrunners, two Galaxies and a Springfield class have arrived, the USS Superion marked the final arrival just under an hour ago. Currently the fleet has been preparing to launch a surprise attack on the force in an hour or two, hopefully, we can catch them with their pants down and cripple these terrorists!" The captain reported to her computer screen, "computer, end log."
Slowly, the mass of ships formed an aggressive formation and moved to the edge of the system, the USS Blazer has been marked as the ship in command of the operation and as Admiral Huongvilay's ship. The Admiral gave the message over the fleet-wide comms system to lock onto the terrorist fleets coordinates and engage warp 9. Within a few seconds and a flash of light, the Armada was on its warpath, a determination in the eyes of every officer.
*4 hours later*
The bridge was quiet, all were thinking of what was to face them as they prepared for the engagement until...
"Captain! I'm detecting a True Way vessel..wait another...oh God! Sir, the whole fleet is charging directly towards us, weapons primed and shields up!" The tactile officer yelled from his console.
"What! Alert the fleet! Raise shields, ready phasers!" The captain screamed at several officers.
"Sir, the Admiral is ordering us to engage the fleet head on!" The comms officer stated frantically.
"Understood, helm take us out of warp!"
Deep space was not a good place to get stranded in, nothing for hundreds of lightyears in each direction, it was always known as a peaceful place was nothing eventful happened. That was the view right now, nothing but dark energy and the marvels of the universe in the far distance to gaze at, then a flash. Ships, so many ships and another flash, even more, these ones looked different to the others. There was a second of calmness just before the chaos as the fleets grew ever closer.
The Sul was at the front of the fleet, leading the charge with the faster vessels while the battleships such as the two Galaxies had the rear. Though outnumbered Starfleet was still very much militarized and many of its ships were outfitted with the latest wartime equipment, meanwhile the True Way, though having a numerical advantage did have a technological disadvantage as its ships were the partial leftovers from the war, some had seen so much action that they were in constant disrepair.
The Defiant-class acted much the same was as a Sabre, ducking and weaving through the enemies formations, running circles around an enemy, lowering their shields until making a wide swing to unleash a devastating forward attack. The Sul's shields were holding but were receiving an almost constant barrage of return fire. The Galaxies and the Ambassador smashed through the first line like a cleaver through the meat. There phasers constantly firing in all directions. The USS Welshavenger and another Sabre formed a 'V' formation behind the Sul together they used there massive array of forwarding facing armourments to obliterate ship after ship. The True Way reacted by closing their formation and concentrating all fire on a single target. The Sul and its escorts weaved through the battlefield, firing when possible, one of the Sabres took a direct hit to its right engine and spiralled out of control straight into the bridge of a nearby Galor, the explosion was massive, wiping out the front section of the vessel and sending fiery debris in all directions, several pieces sliced through the belly of another Galor above, causing a chain reaction that made it crumble to pieces as the hull erupted with explosions.
Several Cardassian captains got wise and moved to cut the Sul and the Welshavenger off from the rest of the fleet. Soon the group had nowhere to run and was taking a beating. the Welshavenger lost its shields and the roof of the Sul was engulfed in an explosion from above as metal beams collapsed to the floor, trapping and maiming several on the bridge, the captain watched in horror as the cracked viewscreen showed a Galor moving for the final fatal blow. All was surely lost and the captain braised for imminent impact when the lead ship was struck several times with blue orbs and exploded, the middle of the ship completely disintegrated as the aft and front fell away from each other, the other vessels tried to flee but two were destroyed by the oncoming hail of phaser beams and Quantum torpedoes, the Armada had reached them and the True Way had been defeated.
The Admiral appeared on the screen.
"Just in time don't you think,"
"Thanks for the help Admiral, I owe you one!"
The Admiral was about to reply when the first officer of his vessel whispered in his ear, a face of victory now turned to one of complete dread.
"Captain... I just received intel from Starfleet HQ the Borg have returned!"
Before I end I would just like to add that the original design for the Defiant class was to be a runabout on steroids, pretty cool stuff. It was only when the producers wanted something really different with the design did the Defiant we know and love now get born!
Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger but don't worry, all will be concluded in next weeks issue as we engage... the BORG!
I would like to know your thoughts on the ship and also anything you would like to have been done differently.
Also, big thanks to the editor, I know it must be really tough to edit all my mistakes, without you I don't this SFS would look even half as decent!
Until next time,
Live Long and Prosper!
WRITTEN BY Kirk142
EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com