Posted by Fleet Captain Fleet Captain James Sinclair (Engineering Director) in Specification Review: Tempest Class Destroyer - Intel Variant - Second Review

Posted by Fleet Captain Fleet Captain James Sinclair (Engineering Director) in Specification Review: Tempest Class Destroyer - Intel Variant - Second Review
The following submission is set for review for a period of two weeks from today, ending May 30th, 2021

Guess I’ll take a look.

TEMPEST-CLASS
CATEGORY: Destroyer

This design is actually, per the Milwaukee Plan, a Battlecruiser, as it has a crew of 200. Similarly, the rest of the specification identifies it as a Battlecruiser. Thankfully, all that needs to change here is the heading.

VARIANT: Intel

I’m going to be looking for anything that actually speaks to this designation.

DESIGNER: Sam Pennington
Mark I
Draft 2
DATE: 19 April 2021
REFERENCED URLs:

HISTORY AND MISSION OVERVIEW

In 2383, Starfleet Intelligence decided it needed a new type of ship to infiltrate and perform surveillance.

This sentence could be misunderstood to mean that Starfleet Intelligence built a ship to infiltrate the vessel, which then leaves a verb without a subject. Try instead, “for infiltration and surveillance operations,” or similar.

Working secretly at a temporary shipyard orbiting Jupiter, they designed the Tempest Class Battlecruiser.

First, right there, we see the vessel identified as a Battlecruiser. I’m not going to call out every instance, but it’s there. Secondly, how, exactly, would one manage to build a fleet of vessels in secret in the same star system as a major Federation planet, especially with active stations orbiting it?

Fast, light, and dangerous, the Tempest Class was equipped for quick infiltrations and subtle maneuvers. Only a decade had passed when the existence of the class became known. No longer Intelligence’s secret weapon, the Tempest Class was authorised for use by all of Starfleet.

Mission Profiles
*Long range exploration and infiltration

Exploration implies the discovery of the entirely unknown; Intelligence is gathering further information on identified targets. Invert the priorities there, and this is workable

Light combat and patrols
Surveillance

STRUCTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

The Tempest has an arrowhead shaped saucer section and a narrow oval-shaped dish with a joined secondary hull that is a horizontal oval at the fore and tapers upward and inward to form a flat two-deck aft section. There are two nacelles attached halfway down the hull by pylons. Assembled in a mix of tritanium and duranium, it was built mainly by transporter welding. It is equipped with landing gear, capable of setting down on most M Class planets or moons. The ship can expand and retract along motorised tracks to bring the saucer section inline with the main body. This creates a compressed look and smaller area to avoid fire and make landing easier.

I like the overall feel of the vessel. Quick question - what shape are the pylons? U-bend like the Ambassador and Galaxy, swept back and up like the Sovereign, back and down like the Luna or the Akira - you get the idea. There’s a lot of variation there, so it would be nice to be more specific. Also, why wouldn’t the designers just stack the primary and secondary hulls permanently? I don’t dislike the concept of a movable saucer section, but if there is no difference to the ship’s performance when the saucer section is forward (e.g. additional tactical equipment, better warp efficiency, the ability to attach mission-specific modules, etc.), then you would be better off leaving the two with a permanent overlapping setup.

SNIP

WARP PROPULSION SYSTEM

The Tempest functions using a class 8 1900+ cochrane MARA core with two nacelles positioned to port and starboard, which are embedded into the body of the ship. The cruising speed is warp 6, with a maximum sustainable speed of warp 9.0. Warp 9.4 is achievable for 12 hours. There is an emergency engine output function which increases output to warp 9.6 for 2.5 hours at the expense of shutting down all nonessential functions. (i.e. holodecks, replicators)

You state above that the nacelles are on pylons. Either works, given the nature of the ship, but clarify which is which.

SNIP

TACTICAL SYSTEMS

The tempest Tempest boasts type IX Shield systems positioned above the main deflector, encased in a tritanium shell. The maximum graviton load is 1598 mW. The energy dissipation rate is 4.2x10^5 kW

Type X Phasers in 6 strips line the body of the tempest Tempest-class, 4 fore and 2 aft. They contain 200 emitters each. Each strip has an output of 5.1 mW with a range of 300,000km.

Two torpedo tubes are present, one fore, and one aft. The compliment of torpedos is smaller than might be expected in a combat craft, holding only 50 photon and 10 quantum. This is to make space for additional probes.

There are 75 probes onboard. Each probe can be converted to a sensor disruption buoy, which creates sensor static. This effect masks all sensors, including the tempest’s Tempest’s.

There is a secondary self destruct system, as a fail safe system in case the ship is critically damaged, the computer is destroyed so that all crew logs and sensor logs are lost.

The deflector dish has been modified to allow masking of the ship on sensors. This effect does not conceal the ship visually, only its power and warp signatures.

There is an electronic warfare room located on deck 4, which is designed to control probes and sensor disruption buoys. This space has an independent computer core, much like one found in a runabout. This section can also be converted into a battle bridge in case of emergency.

Remember to capitalize each instance of “Tempest” in the spec. I will say that I appreciate the inclusion of some equipment that is Intelligence-specific. I would like to see more, especially with computer and scientific systems, but what you have here works.

COMMAND AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS

SNIP

Science Lab/Chief Science Officer’s office:

A laboratory designed for surveillance and intelligence is positioned on deck 9. The CSO’s office is in the back. The office holds a desk, 3 chairs, and standard replicator. Scientific equipment is minimal, providing what is necessary to undertake surveillance missions, but little more. There is a full laboratory and a stellar cartography lab on deck 9.

If I may ask, why is there minimal equipment here? Given what could be done with gathered intelligence, the specification could have a data center, a plethora of experimentation, a lab specifically for analysis of gathered (read: seized/stolen) material samples… It seems somewhat restrictive as a roleplay environment to relegate the Science department on an Intel ship to just, “support people watching things”.

Astrometrics:

For remote tracking and data gathering, a compact astrometrics lab is adjacent to the science labs on deck 9.

I’m not sure how helpful this would be, given that the Tempest, unlike, say, the Intrepid, lacks specialized (albeit well-protected) sensor equipment.

Main Engineering/Chief Engineer’s office:

Main engineering is a utilitarian space. In the very back far aft is the warp core. There is a central “pool table” console for collaborative work. To starboard is the CE’s office. The office contains a desk, 3 chairs, and a replicator.

Is the warp core horizontal or vertical? What deck is it on (and yes, I know that I am able to look for it on the deck listing, but the spec calls out

SNIP

CREW SUPPORT SYSTEMS

SNIP

Officer’s Quarters:

Officer’s quarters are divided into two rooms. The entire residence is located in one room, a standard desk with a computer terminal, a single chair, a queen sized bed, a small couch and coffee table. There is a restroom with a sonic shower, sink, and relief facilities.

Crew Quarters:

The designers saw no reason to differentiate quality of quarters by rank between officers and crew, and thus officer and crew quarters are identical. It is divided into two rooms. The entire residence is located in one room, a standard desk with a computer terminal, a single chair, a queen sized bed, a small couch and coffee table. There is a restroom with a sonic shower, sink, and relief facilities.

The above two sections should be combined into one paragraph, since the specification itself states that this is a distinction without a difference.

SNIP

On deck 9, there is a secure communications centre, designed to be locked down to receive secure transmission with orders for covert operations.

This should be a subsection in the Science and Remote Sensing Systems section. Buried here, it seems like this is a typo. This needs to be visible to the reader especially because of the Intelligence focus of the vessel.

SNIP

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions & Structure:
* Length: 87 metres

Is that fully extended or in retracted position? Denote both, please.

• Beam (Width): 45.6 metres
• Height: 50.6 metres
• Decks: 11

Crew Complement:
* Officers and Crew: 200
** Command: 20
** Engineering: 60
** Medical: 40
** Science: 20
** Security: 60
* Visiting Personnel: 35
* Maximum Evacuation Limit: 500

Is everyone aboard also, by default, an Intelligence officer? Also, I’m going to reiterate that the crew size requires that the ship be defined as a Battlecruiser.

SNIP

Offensive Systems:

• Torpedo tubes (x2)
  ** Standard payload: 50 photon torpedoes

10 quantum torpedoes and 75 probes should also be listed here.

DECK LAYOUT

Deck 1:
Bridge
Conference Room
*Ready Room

Deck 2:
CO’s quarters
XO’s quarters

Deck 3:
Primary Armoury/CoS Office
Brig

Deck 4:
Sickbay
Electronic Warfare

Nowhere in the specification is there an EW suite, much less a dedicated space specifically for electronic warfare. With this being an Intelligence variant, this is a location that needs to have attention drawn to it, and it needs to be hashed out in detail.

Deck 5:
Officer’s Quarters
Holosuite 1

Deck 6:
Crew Lounge (6 Forward)
Counselling Office
Visitor’s Quarters
Captain’s Dining Room

Deck 7:
*Crew Quarters

Deck 8:
*Main Engineering

Remember to include this detail in the larger location description.

Deck 9:
Science Labs
Astrometrics
*Secure Communications Centre

Deck 10:
Transporter Room 1
Cargo Bay
*Holosuite 2

Deck 11:
Transporter Room 2
Shuttlebay
*Warp Core Ejection Hatch

SHIPS OF CLASS

USS Tempest NCC 99763

USS Calgary NCC 99784

USS Abbey NCC 99855

USS Solice NCC 99862

USS Ragnar NCC 99921

I’m guessing that the wide spread of registries and names is in order to conceal their existence among the vast number of Starfleet vessels. SSSF doesn’t require a justification, but it would be nice if there was some explained logic.

CONCLUSION

The tempest class once served as a right hand for intelligence and now offers Starfleet a quick and quiet alternative to the larger battleships.

SUBMITTED 12 December 2020

Sam Pennington

Ok… so I have gone over this a few times. I’m still not seeing what makes this a strictly Intel variant. Can you expand on that here?

James

I saw some Intelligence-focused aspects to the specification, but they were kind of buried in the details instead of specifically called out. There were also some clarifications and grammar fixes that would probably help the spec read better in general.

Nicholas Villarreal
Dockmaster