USS Saturn

Registry: NX-93052

Dimensions:

* Overall Length: 350 meters

* Overall Draft: 72 meters

* Overall Beam: 128 meters

* Displacement: 990,000 metric tons

Velocity:

* Cruising: Warp Factor 8.2

* Maximum: Warp Factor 9.7

Offensive Systems:

* Fore and Aft Type XII Phaser Arrays

* Fore and Aft Quantum Torpedo Launchers

* Fore and Aft Photon Torpedo Launchers

Crew: 100

Born from the fledgling Saturn Project under works from the Utopia Plantia Shipyards, the USS Saturn was the first and only Phase 1 ship of the Saturn Project. The early concepts of the USS Saturn was to outfit a current tactical vessel with more sensor arrays and science bays to meet the need of it's Deep Space mission. Several different were considered for a 'refit' when the aging Akira class ship was selected for its bulky size and efficient design.

Lieutenant Commander L'Ran took charge of the research and development of the Saturn, tearing down the old Akira design and making vast improvements to bring it up to the 25th century standards. The first improvement made upon it was adding an incredibly advanced state of the art deflector array and sensor array. Due to the size and components that went with the systems, the entire underside of the ship was taken up by the complex, living no crew quarters or research facilities. Utopia Plantia also pushed to have a new experimental warp core design added to the Saturn, but space issues within the ship restricted such a move. Starfleet's most advanced weapon arrays were added to the ship as well, but crews found issues placing the arrays, and the first warning signs of the potential issue of a blind spot began to surface.

In 2409, the USS Saturn was completed and commissioned, assigned to Captain Jayce Arygos. Its first mission would be a shake down tour of the Sirius Sector, making sure the ship was in top notch order. The first few weeks of deployment were ideal, the Saturn worked to the standards and beyond, but several concerns were being passed around. One was the lack of recreation and relaxation facilities aboard the Saturn. The Saturn was equipped with one holodeck, and no lounge areas. Despite the holodeck however, the holodeck had to be heavily rationed as it severally cut into the limited power supply taken up mainly by the sensor and navigational array.

Two months after her commissioning, the Saturn was assigned to the Federation front lines against the Klingons in a combat shake down. With a day of being at the front lines, severe issues began to plague the fledging ship. One was the blind spot that the Klingons quickly discovered and began to exploit. Despite its heavy armaments, a Klingon Bird-Of-Prey could easily exploit this spot and cause severe damage. The other issue was running the deflector array and sensors with the weapons at full strength. Such a feet was almost impossible as the intense drain of power would short one of the two out. Numerous complaints of the Saturn short comings and failure to be effective on the front lines caused the Saturn to be promptly the Sol system for reevaluation 3 days before her 6 month anniversary.

The engineers at Utopia Plantia sprawled over the Saturn in hopes that her short comings could be easily fixed and the ship returned to duty as quickly as possible. However, Lieutenant Commander L'Ran deemed that the amount of fixes and changes needed to be done to the ship to return it to an 'acceptable' level would be severe, being easier to simply scrap the ship and put their efforts in the Phase 2 project, which was nearly completion. Rear Admiral Cortland who oversaw the Saturn Project agreed, having the Saturn dismantled at once and available parts given to the Phase 2 project.

Its dedication plate is all that remains of the Saturn now, Lieutenant Commander L'Ran keeping it as a keepsake.