California class


Revision as of 15:47, 31 December 2020 by Clement (talk | contribs) (Clement moved page User:Clement/Sandbox/California class to California class without leaving a redirect: Class specifications, history, and background approved by admiralty)

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California class.png
California-class
Class Information
Class: California-class
Affiliation: Starfleet
Role: Cruiser
Date Introduced: 2360s
Expected Design Duration: 100 years
Time Between Minor Refit: 5 years
Time Between Major Refit: 20 years
Time Between Resupply: 5 years
Dimensions
Length: 343.5 m
Width: 249.5 m
Height: 77.4 m
Decks: 11 decks
Personnel
Total Crew: 300 persons
Officers: 50 persons
Enlisted: 250 persons
Maximum (Evacuation) Capacity: 1,200 persons
Propulsion
“Efficient” Cruising Velocity: Warp 7
Maximum “Sustainable” Velocity: Warp 9
Emergency Velocity: Warp 9.2 (for 12 hours)
Slipstream Capable: No
Armaments
Energy Weapons:
  • 4 phaser arrays
Launchers:
  • 1 forward launcher
  • 1 aft launcher
Payload Types:
  • Photon Torpedoes
  • Quantum Torpedoes
  • Probes
Shielding Systems:
  • Standard Shielding System
Defensive Systems:
  • Duranium/Tritanium Double Hull
  • Structural Integrity Field
Auxiliary Craft
Facilities:
  • 3 shuttlebays
Support Craft:
  • Mark I ("Galaxy") captain's yacht
  • 5 shuttlecraft
  • 8 maintenance craft
Additional Craft:
  • 4 Argo-type ground vehicles
Other
[ Source ]


The California-class starship was introduced by the Federation Starfleet in the late 24th century. It was created to be a multi-mission utility support vessel and continues to see widespread use.

History

Developed as the last of the ship classes to follow in the similarities with the Galaxy-class in the mid-2300s, the California-class was intended to be a simple design to allow for ease of production and to be a general purpose exploration vessel. While overshadowed by the more successful variants, like New Orleans-class and Nebula-class, it was not because of any shortcoming of the rather unorthodox design. The design team felt it better to have the engineering hull separated from the saucer, and the pylon design was intended to provide better warp performance without requiring a large reactor. While the design wound up being a dead end, it was decided not to change it as a refit would be too much effort.

During its service life, the California-class proved to be a jack of all trades design that was easy to mass produce. It was hoped by Starfleet Command prior to the Dominion War that the class would be produced in sufficient numbers to replace the aging Miranda-class in second line roles. However, between the numbers of the Miranda-class and the Dominion War, this would not be the case, though the California-class did provide valuable roles behind the lines, allowing Starfleet to free up other ships to focus on the frontlines and to hot spots during the war. It would never be a class to hold the spotlight, but it is generally agreed that it still played a role in keeping Starfleet in fighting shape during the Dominion War.

Following the conclusion of hostilities, the California-class would remain in active service, as it was still fairly modern and could shore up the roles of many of the older ships that were lost en masse during the war in various support and mid-range exploration missions. The lack of generalization has cast some doubt on the class in recent years, but many argue that this is a strength of the design, particularly with recent changes to Starfleet’s production priorities. This, combined with the simplicity of the design meant that while it was scaled back in production numbers, it was still possible to produce the class with smaller shipyards with minimal effort. As many California-class captains agree, “average” is not a bad term when applied to this ship.

Mission and Purpose

Content Coming Soon

Shipboard Life

Content Coming Soon

Ships Commissioned

Appendices

Background Information

  • The California-class was created and used in the series Star Trek: Lower Decks, serving as the setting for the USS Cerritos. According to Mike McMahan, the design was inspired by both the USS Reliant (Miranda-class) and the USS Enterprise-D (Galaxy-class). He also indicated the class was specifically intended to be a second-line utility vessel.
  • While the majority of the California-class information was never explicitly stated on-screen, use of on-screen resources, such as the Master Systems Display, allowed the Pegasus Fleet resources team to extrapolate data in order to bring the class into use by the community.

Writing Notes

The California-class was specifically built with second-line duties in mind, and as such, it is going to be more commonly found within Federation space rather than on the fringes or in uncharted territory. In fact, the closer to the heart of the Federation, the more likely it is to see this ship in use. They can be found performing second contact missions, providing assistance and supplies to recently visited worlds, as well as running support alongside more dedicated ships.

In the 2380s, it was common for California-class ships to bear “department colors” on their hull, though this was not a practice that was adopted across the fleet. Yellow trim usually denotes a ship that sees engineering support missions, blue for ships performing medical and humanitarian support missions, and red ships often act as ambassadorial transports or coordinating operations. They are not considered suitable for combat operations, and Starfleet has far better options for tactical-related missions.

Serving on a California-class vessel is something that has mixed feelings. Those who prefer a more active role in supporting the Federation and Starfleet find postings aboard these ships a good move, particularly if they would rather not be in the spotlight all the time. Those who are looking for a fast career advancement, however, find these ships difficult to serve on as their duties are often considered “mundane” and generally requires one to particularly stand out in order to move up quickly.

Senior officers who are relatively new often find serving on a California-class gives them a chance to develop without the pressures of missions found elsewhere on more prestigious postings. Officers who have served for a long time view the California-class either as a good post to finish off their career on or as where careers go to die.

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