Exploration: Frigate, Medical - McCoy-class

History And Mission Overview

“I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aesclepius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment the following oath:”

Necessity is the mother of invention. That ancient mantra was proven yet again during the Dominion War when countless Federation citizens suffered without proper medical care. What was most shocking, however, was the revelation that Starfleet was not fully equipped to deal with the massive number of wounded that a drawn out full-scale war created. While there were ships dedicated to medical operations, there was a lack of a complete field hospital unit. The McCoy was intended to fill that gap. While designed as a battlefield support craft, it is also capable of civilian mercy operations.

The McCoy-class Medical Cruiser was designed by a team of Starfleet and civilian engineers working at the Arbuckle Ship Yards at Zeta Maxtor. The command team consisted of:

• Project Leader Fleet Captain T’Nira, Starfleet Command
• Engineering Specialist Sesenta Nyan, Starfleet R&D
• Computer Systems Engineer Lt. Cmdr. Linnis, Nyetscape Communications Liason
• Medical Facility Overseer Dr. Lillith Beaumont, Starfleet Medical, retired
• Spin Doctor Groucho Marx, Starfleet Office of Public Relations
• Manual and Documentation by Lt. (j.g.) Tavorak Rhiannen, Starfleet Medical

The primary goal of the McCoy was to provide a mobile medical facility for onsite treatment and for transport. As such, it includes three methods of loading wounded onto the ship. First is the trusty standby; the transporter. The McCoy’s transporters are standard Starfleet personnel transporters. Second is a pair of Medically Equipped Valhalla-class runabouts. These support craft serve to ferry wounded between the field and the vessel, and to extend potential treatment range. The third is the ability of the McCoy to land, thus bringing the hospital directly to ground-based wounded. Combined, these three methods should allow the McCoy to successfully reach almost any potentially wounded personnel.

Structure And Construction

“To consider dear to me as my parents him who taught me this art;”

Engineers looked back at both the Defiant-class and Miranda-class ships in designing this specialized vessel. Like the Defiant, the McCoy’s bridge is dropped into Deck One, making it easier to shield. The McCoy uses a Starfleet Mode II spaceframe, like the Miranda and Soyuz-classes and is a total of 10 decks high.

The McCoy also utilizes variable-geometry warp nacelles. In sub-orbital flight, the nacelles are raised 90 degrees to be coplanar with the main body of the ship, allowing for the emergence of six specialized landing struts. The landing struts, three pairs fore, aft, and midship, extend beyond the hull. The McCoy is able to land and take-off from bodies up to 1.3g. Special atmospheric thrusters are distributed around the ship to allow for adequate sub-orbital flight.

The top rear of the vessel includes a weapons/sensor array, where the photon torpedo launchers are situated.

The hull is comprised of standard starship-grade tritanium. Deck One is given extra protection in the form of a thin layer of ablative armor covering the bridge and primary sickbay.

Science And Remote Sensing Systems

“To live in common with him and if necessary to share my goods with him,”

Sensors

The McCoy is equipped with standard navigational and sensory systems common to most starships. Active scan subspace sensory systems provide a high-resolution range of approximately 5 light-years and medium- to low-resolution range of approximately 17 light-years. Sensor capabilities include astronomical observation, planetary surface analysis, and remote lifeform analysis. The main sensors are in the weapons/sensor array, located above the aft section of the main body.

Computer Systems

Computing facilities on board the McCoy are provided by a DC-8 isolinear computer core, provided by Starfleet partner Federation Micro Devices. A series of 24 bio-neural gel packs augment the computer systems in the Primary and Secondary Sickbays to provide faster branch prediction and analysis for medical operations.

The operating system and software was provided by the venerable Nyetscape Communications. The interface is the standard Starfleet MAJEL visual and auditory feedback interface, present on most starships. The standard interface is situated atop a custom computer system developed jointly by Nyetscape and Starfleet R&D. It is a non-AI highly specialized kernel, which uses Starfleet standard interface methods for an easier learning curve. To most, the computer is transparent and indistinguishable from standard Starfleet computer systems. The system is designed specifically with a medical ship in mind, and contains vast databases of medical knowledge for hundreds of species. The OS development project was headed by Starfleet officer Lt. Cmdr. Linnis, formerly of the USS Seraph. Lt. Cmdr. Linnis was forced to leave the project shortly before completion, however, and the rest of the development team chose to name the final project in her honor, hence the name: Linnux.

Holographic Systems

The McCoy-class does not carry any holographic crew. However, the medical research labs are equipped with a holographic display column to allow for scalable visualization for research and exploratory surgery. The display can be tied directly into any medical sensors in the Secondary Sickbay, including the biobeds and ICU ward.

Probes

The McCoy is equipped with a mixed supply of scientific probes, stored in the weapons/sensor array over the aft dorsal. They are launched through the standard torpedo tubes.

Warp Propulsion Systems

“to look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art if they so desire without fees or written promise;”

The McCoy-class is powered by one 1500+ cochrane warp core powering two variable-geometry nacelles. In sub-light mode, the nacelles hang down below Deck Ten at 90 degrees to the plane of the ship. During warp, the nacelles rise up to between 30 degrees and 60 degrees from their normal position, depending on the subspace conditions of the region. In sub-orbital flight, the nacelles are raised 90 degrees to be coplanar with the main body of the ship, allowing for the emergence of six specialized landing struts. The landing struts, three pairs fore, aft, and midship, extend beyond the hull.

The McCoy is rated for a cruising speed of warp 6. It’s maximum sustainable velocity is warp 8.5. It is rated for warp 9.7 for 12 hours before it begins to experience structural damage.

Impulse Propulsion Systems

“To impart to my sons and the sons of the master who taught me and the disciples who have enrolled themselves and have agreed to the rules of the profession, but to these alone, the precepts and the instruction;”

Two fusion-powered impulse engines supply sub-light propulsion for the McCoy. They are located on the rear face of the main body, one at extreme port and the other at extreme starboard. Together they provide sufficient power to maintain a maximum impulse speed of 0.27c.

Tactical Systems

“I will prescribe regimen for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never to do harm to anyone.”

Since its mission is to help, not harm, McCoy strikes a more defensive, than offensive, pose. It relies more on speed and maneuverability than on weapons systems or heavy shielding. If necessary, however, it does sport four Type X phaser arrays, two Type IX phaser arrays, and two photon torpedo launchers.

Shields

The McCoy-class utilizes a standard deflector shielding system for defense. The deflectors are rated at a maximum graviton load of 2034 MegaWatts with a maximum dissipation rate of 4.2x10^4 kilowatts.

The McCoy is also equipped with metaphasic shields for use in high radiation areas. It should be recalled, however, that metaphasic shielding does not provide tactical defensive protection.

Phaser Systems

Type X phaser arrays are spread evenly around the ship. One array extends around the dorsal port side of the main body, following the contour of the hull. It is mirrored by a second array on the dorsal starboard side. A third array extends around the entire ventral side of the main body, terminating at the same points sternward as the dorsal arrays. The last array stretches across the rear of the vessel between the impulse engines to cover the instance when the ship is being pursued. The outer face of each nacelle is home to a Type IX phaser array, to serve as cover for side defense. The phaser system provides 360 degree coverage with limited overlap.

Torpedo Systems

The torpedo launchers are situated in the weapons/sensor array, above the rear of the main body. They share a single loading and storage bay, but one is facing fore, the other aft. Together they provide 360 degree coverage using standard fire-and-forget targeting. The McCoy carries a standard load of 30 photon torpedoes.

Utility Systems

“To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death.”

Cargo Bays

The McCoy-class is equipped with limited cargo facilities on Deck Ten. These are generally devoted almost entirely to medical supplies. Each cargo bay is equipped with a single cargo transporter.

Tractor Beam Systems

The McCoy is fitted with one primary tractor emitter at extreme ventral aft. It is capable of hauling small to medium cargo and towing of medium-sized disabled vessels, but is not as powerful as those on larger vessels. It is rated at 4,800,000 million metric tonnes for an object 1,000 meters away at a delta-v of 5 m/sec^2.

Transporter Systems

Four transporter rooms allow the McCoy to transport injured personnel directly to either the Secondary Sickbay or the Triage Deck. Transporter Rooms One and Two are located on Deck 2, immediately aft of the Secondary Sickbay. Transporter Rooms Three and Four are located on Deck Nine, in the aft section of the Triage Deck. Each pair shares a pattern buffer for space efficiency. All transporter rooms contain eight transporter pads, and have a nominal range of 40,000 km.

Crew Support Systems

“But I will preserve the purity of my life and my art.”

Sickbays

The McCoy sports multiple sickbay facilities. The Primary Sickbay is situated on Deck One, just aft of the main bridge. It includes the CMO’s office, four standard biobeds, and one with a dedicated surgical support frame (SSF).

The larger Secondary Sickbay is on Deck Two. It provides another ten biobeds, four more with SSFs, and dental facilities. The adjacent Intensive Care Unit contains four completely quarantined units, capable of supporting class M or K environments, temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius, and providing over a dozen different possible atmospheres. Three dedicated surgical suites and a physical therapy facility round out the Secondary Sickbay. Also adjacent are extensive medical research and analysis labs. All sickbay facilities use independent environmental systems to eliminate the risk of ship-wide contamination.

Triage Deck

Deck Nine is configured as a large, open area, with limited storage facilities for removable bulkheads. This “Triage Deck” can be reconfigured using removable and folding bulkheads into a triage center, guest quarters, surgical center, or additional sickbay, depending on the requirements of the mission. A full reconfiguration can be performed in approximately ten minutes. The aft section of the deck has transporter rooms three and four, so that wounded can be beamed directly into what can be used as a triage area. Two gangplanks extend through the rear of Deck Ten to load wounded directly onto the Triage Deck in case of a landing.

Recreational Deck

Recreation for the crew is provided by a pair of holosuites on Deck Six. For those preferring interaction with live people, a small crew bar and lounge is situated at the fore of Deck Six. A small workout room is also present on Deck Six, and both crew and patients are encouraged to take advantage of the substantial health benefits of a regular workout regimen.

Alternate Environment Support

The Intensive Care Unit on Deck Two is capable of class M or K environments, temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius, and providing over a dozen different possible atmospheres. The Triage Deck can also have its atmosphere varied, although due to construction limitations the entire deck is altered at once. Deck Nine is capable of gravity variation between 0.6g and 1.2g.

Medical Modules

Extra medical modules are carried on Deck 10 of McCoy, including science modules designed to provide on-site laboratory testing in quarantined areas and self-sustaining field hospital kits. These pre-fab modular hospitals can be erected in minutes on planetary surfaces. Each comes with a self-contained generator and emergency replicator. Battery packs included with the generator enable the field hospitals to run for up to one week under normal conditions.

Auxiliary Spacecraft Systems

“I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest. I will leave this operation for practitioners (specialists in the art);”

Two Valhalla-class runabouts with dedicated medical modules are housed on Deck Ten. These auxiliary craft can function as an “ambulance in space” to ferry wounded between the ship and the target site or the ship and a larger medical facility, or they can also function as small field hospitals when needed.

Technical Specifications

“In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction, and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.”

Dimensions and Structure

Length

365.3 meters

Beam (Width)

224.9 meters

Height

46 meters

Decks

10

Crew Complement

Officers and Crew

40

Command

5

Engineering

5

Medical

14

Science

8

Security

7

Visiting Personnel

100

Maximum Evacuation Limit

500

Computer Systems

Core

1 DC-8 Federation Micro Designs Isolinear core

Auxiliary Processing

24 bio-neural gel packs located in sickbay facilities

Operating System

Linnux, provided by Nyetscape Communications

User Interface

Standard MAJEL interface system

Warp Systems

Power Plant

One 1500+ cochrane M/ARA cores feeding two variable-geometry nacelles

Crusing Velocity

Warp 6

Maximum Sustainable Velocity

Warp 8.5

Maximum Velocity

Warp 9.7 (12 hours)

Impulse Systems

Full Impulse

0.27c

Accellerate

4.2 seconds
Decellerate

5.8 seconds

Defensive Systems

Shield Maximum Graviton Load (Continuous)

2034 MegaWatts

Shield Maximum Energy Dissipation Rate

4.2x10^4 kilowatts

Offensive Systems

Torpedoes

Torpedo Tubes

2

Standard Payload (total)

30 photon torpedoes

Phasers

4 Type-X Phaser Strips
2 Type-IX Phaser Arrays

Deck Layout

“All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to have spread abroad, I will keep secret and never reveal;”

Deck 1

Sunken bridge (forward)
Primary sickbay (aft)

Deck 2

Surgical area
Secondary sickbay
medical labs
transporter rooms one and two

Deck 3

Officers’ Quarters

Deck 4

Shuttle bay
Conference area

Deck 5

Botanicals
Science labs
Crew quarters

Deck 6

Six Forward lounge
Recreation facilities
Two holosuites

Deck 7

Main engineering
Cargo storage

Deck 8

Power generators
Cargo

Deck 9

Triage Deck
Transporter rooms three and four

Deck 10

Valhalla landing bay
Medical module storage
Cargo

Ships Of The Class

“If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate, may the reverse by my lot.”

Included in the initial construction contract for the still experimental McCoy were (Note: These ships are reserved for active RPG use):

USS McCoy, NCC-64281
USS M’Bega, NCC-64282
USS Boyce, NCC-64283
USS Ogawa, NCC-64284
USS Chapel, NCC-64285

Once the McCoy had demonstrated its ability in the field, Starfleet Command authorized the construction of additional ships, among which would be (Note: These ships are reserved for NPC use and may be recycled):

USS Zimmerman, NCC-64286
USS Morgan, NCC-64287
USS Hopkins, NCC-64288
USS Saulk, NCC-64289
USS Livingston, NCC-64290
USS Dunant, NCC-64291
USS Benton, NCC-64292
USS Grenfell, NCC-64293

Conclusion

– Hippocrates, 460-370 B.C., Father of Medicine

In an era of increased military focus in Starfleet, the McCoy-class seeks to fill a needed gap in the fleet; that of caring for those injured by combat maneuvers. Since its deployment into the field, the McCoy has been credited with a substantial decrease in the number of DOAs registered by Starfleet Medical facilities. Approved for use in both fleet operations and independent operation, the McCoy brings a humanitarian feel back to a Starfleet desperately in need.