Starlight Class Science Ship
| Starlight Class Science Ship | |
|---|---|
| |
| Class Overview | |
| Class type: | Science Vessel |
| Class name: | Starlight Class Science Ship |
| Preceded by: | Unmanned Probes/Viking Class Cruisers |
| Succeeded by: | Ericson Class Science Vessel |
| Operated by: | The Phoenix Militia |
| General Characteristics | |
| Length: | 115m |
| Width: | 85m |
| Height: | 50m |
| Complement: | 6 fleet officers, 6 science officers and 42 men |
| Powerplant: | One Type 2 Mod 5 Warp Core with Emergency Fuel Cell System |
| Drives: | -2 Nacelle-mounted Warp Engines rated at warp 8 (2 hour burst at 9) -4Impluse Sub-Light Engines -16 thrusters |
| Weapons: | -3x Type 1 Type 1/Block IA Naedion Disruptor Turrets - 38x forward torpedo tubes, 12 aft - 1x type-7 phaser array |
| Shields: | Primary Energy Shields, Secondary forcefields |
| Armor: | Type 3 Riveted Tritanium Alloy Armor Plating over Titianium skeleton |
| Auxillary Craft: | 4 shuttles, 2 shuttle pods, 6 probes |
- "Starlight" Class Science Ship
The Starlight Class Science Vessel was purchased to supplement the warships of Phoenix Fleet and to perform menial tasks such as ferrying personnel, surveying asteroid and debris fields, mapping planet surfaces and so on. Although it was not designed for combat, the defensive weapons --only 6 forward and 2 aft torpedo tubes and a single phaser array-- were determined grossly inadequate. Therefore, multiple torpedo launchers were installed as well as 3 of the now-obsolete Type 1 Naedion Disruptors in underside turret mounts. The Phoenix Fleet had never seen phasers before buying the 2 prototype Starlight Class Ships and the blueprints from an alien trader and although they are not as powerful as a disruptor, the type-7 phaser was found to be very accurate and as such inspired the creation of the Black Talon Phaser array which transformed the Phoenix fleet. Although it was somewhat similar to the disruptor beam type weapon which was used on the Viking Class Cruiser, the phaser array system was totally new to the Phoenix Fleet's engineers. The first test of a Black Talon Phaser array occurred on a very heavily modified version of the Starlight Class. Although all Starlight Class Science Ships were taken out of service in 2498, several Corvettes, which were obviously derived from the same basic design, still serve in the defense forces, but of course with much better weapons.
