After the close of the Dominion War, with the Borg threat dwindling, fringe Starfleet outposts became rife with traffic of all types. The majority of this traffic was civilian cargo and exploratory craft, but also included supplies for Federation colonies and visiting Starfleet starships. As the workload of station traffic controllers increased, a call was made for a better method of policing the starsystems outposts occupied. Pirate raids or illegal activity in these systems were becoming hard to control. The Defiant class, now deployed as a station support vessel, did not accurately fill the role of a systems patrol vehicle. It was a warship that required a full crew and constant maintenance. In 2379, Starfleet Advanced Design Bureau issued a request to its design teams to design a ship to fill the void between shuttlecraft and starship. With a combined design team of Defiant, Sovereign, and Hornet class team experience, the 10 person group began initial design of a spaceframe that utilized a egg-shaped core structure. After simulated warp testing, the design was stretched to resemble an oval with two sharp ends. Warp nacelles and armor were based on previous off-the-shelf technology and did not warrant new discoveries.

The NX Wallace, launched late 2380, fulfilled all of the requirements set by Starfleet. It was capable of being constructed in a spacestation-sized hangar bay with Industrial replicators or could be built in a spacedock if needed. The design was compact, and its intent was for short in-system missions. For this reason, the warp drive is not especially powerful, but rather boasts a modest speed capable of Warp 6.8, well above the average civilian freighter. Weapons systems were also standard components, although to maximize the usefulness of the torpedo launcher, it was placed in a retractable turret on the bottom of the craft, capable of swinging 360 degrees. Mounted opposite the torpedo launcher on the turret is a powerful tractor beam, taken directly from Sovereign designs and connected directly to the ship’s core power supply. The deflector is ringed by sensors based off of the Nova Class sensor suite. The bridge is arranged like a normal starship with a central chair for the Commanding Officer and stations around it. However, the front of the bridge has a combined window, as a shuttle or runabout would, as well as a viewscreen HUD overlay. A ward room in the aft of the ship performs multiple duties as briefing room, transporter pad, a simple galley, and medical bay. The lower deck contains the computer core, Main Engineering, cargo space, and sensor stations. Rooms on the first and second decks hold small bunks that fold down from the walls to be used as bunks. The ship is not, however, designed for long-term missions and these rooms are intended to be used as cargo and triage spaces rather than quarters. The third subdeck contains access to the landing gear and turret, as well as the emergency lifeboat subsystems. Six escape pods are located on the lower deck of the ship, and four are located on the top deck.

Due to the design of this craft, a landing system was included. The engines for atmospheric flight are comparable to the Danube or Talon runabout systems. The landing system also allows the Wallace to dock on external pads on stations and, in some cases, dock directly to the hull of a starship.

Note: The Wallace class has a 3rd subdeck for access to ships systems.

Specifications

Category Frigate
Duration 70 years
Resupply 1 year
Refit 3 years
Personnel
Officers 17
Crew 38
Marines 0
Speed
Cruising Speed Warp 8
Maximum Speed Warp 9.9
Emergency Speed Warp 9.998 (for 24 hours)
Dimensions
Length 188m
Width 103-120m
Height 38m
Decks 8
Auxiliary Craft
Shuttlebays 1
Shuttles Type 11 Shuttle: 2
Armament
Defensive Systems Ablative Armour
Shielding Systems Auto-Modulating Shields
Metaphasic Shielding
Regenerative Shielding
Phasers Type IX Array: 11
Torpedoes Pulse-Fire Torpedo Launcher: 4
– Photon Torpedoes: 57
– Quantum Torpedoes: 85
– Polaron Torpedo: 8

Deck Listing

To be constructed…

Ships of the Line

  • USS Persephone