Saturn Project

The Saturn Project is a ship construction projection undertaken by the Utopia Plantia Shipyards in hopes of creating a new breed of starship that would be able to escort deep space science vessels to the Gamma and Delta Quadrants. These new tactical ships would not only serve as an escort, but would provide additional assistance to its science vessel counterpart in missions and experiments. Several prototype ships have been commissioned in hopes of extensive field tests, with several more prototypes being built.

History -

The Saturn Project came about by seeing the vulnerability of deep space science vessels had by them far beyond the range of sending assistance. During the years 2399, 4 different deep space science vessels were lost to mysterious circumstances, the reports that were able to be retrieved about the ships point to coming under attack during their missions. The need for additional security of their vessels caused Starfleet to begin looking for options, seeking different proposals from shipyards and science stations across the Federation.

After a long debate process, a finalist was selected amongst all the different proposals from the Utopia Plantia Shipyards in 2402, the proposal backed by Rear Admiral Cortland. The proposals called for a 4 prototype ship building process to best come up with and improve upon a ship design that would be able to see major deployment in 15 years. 4 different ships would be made, one ship after the other, improving on the designs of the first. Each ship would contain experimental technology and revolutionary ways in ship designs, hoping to come up with an effective design and ship. The ships would see continuous redesign till the 4th stage, which Utopia Plantia hoped to have a ship worthy of mass production and deployment.

In 2407, construction began on the Phase 1 ship, code named Saturn, after the project. This ship took it's rough design from the aging Akira class ship produced by Antares Fleet Yards, modifying it heavily for length deployment. After much design, the engineers at Utopia selected a design where the nacelles of the ship were extended away from the primary hull of the ship, allowing the ship create a much large warp bubble for faster flight. The ship was also outfitted with a large deflector array network on the ship, consuming much of the underside of the primary hull. Utopia Plantia also experimented with a new alloy to construct the ships hull; initial tests showing it could withstand greater stress than previous alloys and was 3.4% more effective in absorbing energy attacks. This alloy, however, was a dark grey color, border lining on black; however the engineers decided to keep the ship with the darker color, instead of changing it to a much brighter grey.

In 2408, with construction of the Phase 1 ship well under way, design began on the phase 2 ship code named Tethys, building upon previous lessons learned with the Saturn. Early tests with the phase 1 ship showed that the warp nacelles, while pulled further away from the ship, became a weak point for the ship, during engagement and during warp speed. This time the engineers decided on moving the nacelles of the phase 2 ship forward and over the primary hull, allowing a greater protection and stability. This fixed the issues of the previous design, however, but a new and very dangerous problem began to appear. During initial computer simulations, it was possible for the nacelles to hit by enemy fire, causing dangerous particles to be bombarded into the ship. Engineers, however, came up with a solution by covering the nacelles that sat over the primary hull with a protection shield. The shield was constructed with similar alloys as the hull and laid across the nacelles, protecting them from incoming fire.

In 2409, the USS Saturn was commissioned from the Utopia Plantia Shipyards under command of Captain Jayce Arygos, the grandson of Cortland’s old Captain during his ensign days. The Saturn was assigned to a 6 month tour of duty of various exploration and patrol missions, wanting to get the feel how the ship was preformed. In anticipation, 2 other phase 1 ships were ordered by Cortland, in hopes of having them stationed in deep space by the end of the year for further testing. Despite the optimism, the phase 1 ship project was ultimately a failure. While the engineers took great leaps in producing a viable deep space tactical vessel, many of the steps were too great for the ship to handle. The Deflector Array, if powered to full, was known to draw so much energy the weapons were inoperable. The positions of the nacelles and the struts that were used to hold the nacelles created wide 'blind spots' where phasers and torpedoes could not reach. The USS Saturn reported various incidents where these blind spots were being used against them. Last, and finally, the amount of space left for crew quarters was deemed too small to outfit a crew for lengthy deployments, taken up by the large deflector array. 3 months into the mission, the Saturn was recalled by to Sol where the Engineers reevaluated the Saturn in hopes of improving her to a point where she was better. After a lengthy discussion, Engineers deemed too much work to refit the USS Saturn to a point where she would be viable and decided to scrap her entirely and the two unmade phase 1 ships.

Exactly one month after the decommissioning and scrapping of the USS Saturn, the USS Tethys was finished and commissioned, Captain Jayce Arygos taking command of the new vessel. The Tethys had learned greatly from the previous construction and design of the Saturn, making sure not to repeat their mistakes from last time. The first improvement was the ships overall size. The ship as twice as large of the USS Saturn, and it's power output much greater. Its weapons mounted in such ways that the ship did not suffer from blind spots like it's sister. The most prominent feature of the ship however, is what the crew calls it's 'nose'. The deflector array lines in the center of the ship running through the middle of the ship. A large protrusion from the primary hall, resembling a nose, contains an advanced array of sensors.

The Tethys has already received rave preliminary results back from it's crew, and the Rear Admiral has issued the Tethys to report to the Omega Force Fleet on the verge of Borg space to help in operations, hoping to give the Tethys a hearty shake down. It is hoping that the Tethys fares well with the fleet and future vessels can be cut from a similar mold.

UPDATE: The USS Tethys ended command by Captain Jayce Arygos on star date 86327.39. The Tethys would report to the Utopia Plantia for lengthy overhaul and upgrade by the shipyard. Captain Earl Hancock has been assigned to her as her new captain seeing the finally of her repairs. The Tethys would then report herself to the Klingon-Federation border where reinforcements are badly needed.

With the completion of the phase 2 design, phase 3 has begun, code named Dione. Little is known about the phase 3 design, other than that it is well under way in its construction. It is likely to see the Phase 3 ship by the end of 2409.

UPDATE: The Phase 3 ship finished construction on star date 86327.39. Her builders had given her the nickname of Aegir, instead of her code name Dione, so that they could speak about her in code and not mention her. The name stuck so much that building directors decided to pass the name on to the ship, instead of taking on her code name like her sister ships before her. Almost all of her systems are deemed classified by Starfleet, most systems seeing their first deployment on a ship ever. Current calculations show that the Aegir's capabilities surpass the Tethys in every field by at least 2.341%. The Aegir's first mission to to rendezvous with the USS James Cook and continue their deep space exploration mission.

Phase 4, code named Hyperion, is only in it's infancy stages, and likely won't see service till 2410.