KEARSARGE II CLASS LIGHT CRUISER

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Herbert Rogers
5 years ago
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KEARSARGE II CLASS LIGHT CRUISER As the Linear Warp era unfolded and its engineering & other technological advancements began spreading throughout the Starfleet, revolutionizing starship design and

superiority over classes fielded by both the Klingon Defense Force and Imperial Romulan Navy.

the outbreak of the Four Years War (2246-50). Conceived over an 18 month period from late 2270 to mid 2272, upgrading of existing ships and construction of new builds began in earnest in 2273.

1 KEARSARGE II CLASS LIGHT CRUISER As the Linear Warp era unfolded and its engineering & other technological advancements began spreading throughout the Starfleet, revolutionizing starship design and construction, existing ship classes found themselves in line for ambitious upgrade programs that would not only completely transform them inside and out, but help them maintain technological superiority over classes fielded by both the Klingon Defense Force and Imperial Romulan Navy. The Kearsarge II then, was the linear warp upgrade of the original Kearsarge class light cruiser a light cruiser with an emphasis on heavy forward firepower that was hastily developed just prior to the outbreak of the Four Years War ( ). Conceived over an 18 month period from late 2270 to mid 2272, upgrading of existing ships and construction of new builds began in earnest in The primary drawback to the original Kearsarge was the limited power and range (due to the use of the S variant of the PB-32 series warp nacelles) when compared with the fleet s Surya and Loknar frigate classes. That was easily rectified, with the installation of LN-64 series nacelles on Kearsarge II. However, a new complication arose in that recently redesigned torpedo launch system employed on the majority of upgraded designs could not be fitted in the previously customary location either above or below the bridge module. A somewhat unorthodox solution taken by designers was to cut a notch in the forward edge of the sauce and embed twin launchers within. This proved to be a successful and even popular design characteristic that would go on to be incorporated into a number of other designs, including the famed Akyazi/Arbiter/Akula family of perimeter action ships. In addition to the torpedo launchers and standard phaser armament, a pulse phaser turret was installed on the saucer s underside, in place of the normal sensor dome (the navigational deflector and associated systems were relocated in a bulge installed in place of the forward ventral phaser bank). This turret mounted 5 cannons able to be rotated a full 360 degrees. This, combined with excellent maneuverability made the Kearsarge II a deadly force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Despite the Federation Council retaliating against Starfleet in the wake of the Cammel IV revelations (detailing covert Starfleet activity against the Kzinti going back to 2270), conversion was approved for all existing Kearsarges and a full new-build production order was placed. Continuing delays in the design approval, testing and construction process of the Akyazi/Arbiter/Akula family combined with engineering problems surfacing in the Apollo class unique over/under warp nacelle arrangement led to Starfleet placing Kearsarge II in the perimeter action role, even after the former classes began to enter service and problems with the latter were corrected. The ultimate failure o the Soyuz class attack frigate to live up to its potential led to production of the Kearsarge II to expand even further before finally ending in Ships of the class continued in front line service before finally being reassigned to second line/support status in 2324, in deference to the Centaur class. 90 ships were reactivated as front line combat units at the time of the Dominion War, with 65 lost by the time the war concluded in In 2378, the surviving 25 ships were retired, with the Halsey (CL 1548) being restored to original condition for inclusion in the fleet museum.

2 Class Classification Service Number Active Length Beam Height Decks Kearsarge II Light Cruiser m 154m 38m 10 Mass Compliment 588,421 metric tons 140 Armament Defense Systems 5 Type VII Phaser Banks 5 Pulse Phaser Cannons 2 Standard Torpedo Launchers Standard Deflector Shield System total capacity 663,900 TerraJoules Standard Duranium Single Hull

4 Editor s Annotations The logical progression of the Kearsarge lineage, there really was no overriding reason why I chose to do the Kearsarge II, other than I admired the upgraded design (by Neale Vance Davidson). The text itself comes from a draft that I had written, but never published, back in August of Unlike the 2 nd /revised version of my Korolev publication, I didn t bother changing much here. I could ve drug things out and gone into the whole classification issue (Kearsarge II as a light cruiser being even more of a stretch than the original), but with the service history part being as brief as it was, I didn t want to overload things. Keeping Kearsarge II in service during the Dominion War seems like a bit of a stretch to me too as it is fairly similar to the Defiant in concept and capability. In my mind though, logistical/infrastructure/resource concerns would put a crimp on Defiant class production, thereby making these ships plausible combatants.

5 Bibliography Logo Viperaviator (DeviantART) Blueprints Neale Vance Davidson (Jaynz Technology)

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