Carter Class Patrol Cutter 2.4"

Carter Class Patrol Cutter Length: 230 M Width: 125 M Height: 70 M Mass: 150,000 MT Decks: 13 Crew: 210 Cruising Speed: Warp 6 Maximum Speed: Warp 8.75 for 15 hours Armaments: 7 Type VIII Phaser Banks Forward Torpedo Launcher Defense: Deflector Shields, Class 4 Auxiliary Craft: 2 standard Shuttles, 4 Work Bees Main Mission Profiles: Border Patrol and Defense, Anti-Piracy, Search and Rescue, Currier Duties. Vessel History: During Star Fleet’s last period of expansion it was painfully obvious on several occasions that the fleet was spread far too thin. Time and again threats were discovered and there was only a single vessel in the entire quadrant within range to intercept. The heads of Star Fleet knew that as Federation space grew so did the need for a larger fleet. Several ship designs were introduced to supplement the Constitution class ships that were expanding the frontier. The Oberth, Miranda and the Carter classes were all deployed to help back fill the large areas of space and the accompanying work load left behind when the Constitution ships moved forward. The Carter class was designed as a frontier patrol ship, similar in purpose to the coast guard patrol cutters of earth’s history. Its missions mostly consist of patrol, defense and anti-piracy actions, but the ship is able to be deployed for search and rescue and as a currier when needed. While not specifically geared towards scientific research, like most Star Fleet vessels it is capable of limited scientific assignments. A unique feature of this ship is the secondary navigation array that consists of two smaller deflectors that work in tandem mounted on either side of its centrally mounted torpedo bay. These two dishes can allow the ship to move at warp 3 for 10 hours in the event that the main deflector is damaged. The design of this craft borrows heavily from the Oberth class as it was decided that as a patrol ship the secondary hull should be attached by a more robust structure than the standard “neck”. The designers looked at other starships as reference and determined that a structure similar to that of the Oberth’s boom carrier would work on a larger scale. Once this philosophy was accepted the ship came together easily, but the inspiration is impossible to miss. The ship was armed with the proven Type VII phaser system with 360 degree coverage in 12 phaser banks the ship also has a standard torpedo launcher facing forward. During testing it was discovered that the stronger attachment for the secondary hull alleviated some hull stress at high warp and as such allows the vessel to maintain its maximum speed for 15 hours instead of the standard 12. The design performed well in all field tests with the exception of the shielding system. The design proved solid and maneuverable, but the dual struts that attach the secondary hull interfere slightly with overall shield output making the shields somewhat weaker than other ships of similar mass. This was an acceptable flaw as the ship was likely to greatly out class any pirate or smuggler vessel it might encounter and would be deployed as part of a fleet during active engagements giving it vital support in battle. 49 of Carter class ships have been built with 45 in active service. 3 have been destroyed in border skirmishes with the Cardassians and 1 has been lost. Another 20 have been commissioned over the next 5 years.