Gustav P. Remington class

History
Soon after the end of the long and bloody Dominion War, Starfleet began to realize that larger ships such as the Galaxy-Class were becoming harder and harder to come by. They needed a ship that was smaller but could still accomplish the same goals and mission parameters that a Galaxy-class could. Thus, just before the historic Romulan/Federation Peace Accords, the Advanced Starship Design Bureau submitted the blueprints for an official successor to the Galaxy-class. Construction of the all-new class began at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2380. Two years later, the Remington-Class was unveiled. On stardate 60087.5 Starfleet’s newest explorer was launched and went about its shakedown cruise without a hitch. After the design was proven capable, the prototype, NX-86753, was given an official NCC prefix and several more Remington-Class vessels began construction.

Features
What truly makes the Remington-Class unique is its adaptability to different mission profiles. Despite it being 17 decks smaller and 42 meters shorter than the Galaxy-class, the Remington is fully capable of carrying out the same scientific duties as the Galaxy. It is equipped with full scientific facilities and is fully adaptable to many different mission profiles. The design also includes many technological advances brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the crew of the USS Voyager, including a full Astrometrics laboratory.

Medical Technologies
In addition, the ship carries an Emergency Medical Hologram with full upgrades comparative to those of Voyager’s Doctor. These improvements, along with the ship’s Chief Medical Officer, allow for two doctors at once and nearly double patient survival and recovery rates.

Offensive Weaponry
Tactical systems, as expected in the post-Dominion War era, are significantly lower. However, certain new systems make up for the lowered offensive capabilities, and the Remington is more than capable of defending itself if attacked. Primary armaments include 10 Type-XII phaser arrays and 4 quantum torpedo launchers. One phaser array is mounted on each nacelle pylon and on both sides of the secondary hull. Another phaser is mounted on the belly of the secondary hull. The dorsal primary hull carries three arrays; two are mounted aft and one fore. The final two phasers are mounted on the ventral primary hull. All four of the torpedo launchers are mounted on the secondary hull; two face directly aft, two to the fore.

Defensive Technologies
Primary defensive systems include regenerative shields, heavy duranium and tritanium double hull plating, ablative armor, metaphasic shielding and pinpoint shielding.

Pinpoint Shielding
The Remington was also the first vessel to test out a revolutionary new shielding system called pinpoint shielding. The system involves a subspace field to be projected over the computer systems linked to the shields, allowing the sensors to work at faster-than-light speeds. When a threat is detected, such as torpedoes or phaser fire, the computer can calculate the general area of the impact upon the hull. The shield from other non-vulnerable parts of the ship is diverted to the area of impact, thus increasing the strength of the shield in that area to many times what an equal field projected over the entire ship could do.

Propulsion and Engineering
Remington’s propulsion systems are built around a quantum fusion warp core and matter/antimatter reactor assembly. The core feeds two fifteen-coil warp nacelles that can propel the ship to a maximum warp speed of 9.99 and are replenished by Bussard ramscoop collectors at the fore of each nacelle. Non-warp propulsion is provided by two impulse engines and four maneuvering thrusters in the saucer hull. Main Engineering contains the core/reactor assembly, along with several workstations for engineering staff. The Chief Engineer’s officer is located off of Main Engineering and is comparable to most staff offices. Main Engineering also contains several new technologies, the most significant of which is the 3-dimensional master systems display "pool table" which allows for better observation of ship systems as opposed to the old 2-dimensional type.

Embarked Craft
Auxiliary craft include four personnel shuttles, two shuttlepods, two special-purpose craft, two large cargo craft, similar in design to the Argo carried on the USS Enterprise-E, and one captain’s yacht. The yacht is capable of carrying up to six people in relative comfort, but can carry up to twice that much if necessitated. In addition, the Remington is one of the first to carry a complement of Federation Starfighter Corps pilots in addition to the new Sisko-class assault fighters. The Remington carries two flights of the fighters, which totals 12 fighters. In addition, two Federation Marine dropships, used for covert insertions of Marine teams, are standard aboard most vessels of the class. All craft embarked on the Remington, apart from the shuttlepods, are independently warp-capable, but at significantly lower speeds. The ship possesses two shuttlebays; the first is located on decks 4 and 5 with the second on decks 19 and 20. The latter is usually reserved for the fighters and dropships, but can be used for the other embarked craft if necessary. 144 lifeboats are also carried on the ship with a capacity of 5 each. Thus, the ship can safely evacuate a full crew and 420 other people safely.

Interiors
Crew quarters follow a standard design. However, because crew is light on the Remington-Class, crewmembers can enjoy a few more amenities in their quarters. Junior enlisted crewmembers and junior officers still have to share a room with others of similar rank, but even the two-person rooms are relatively well equipped with a full bathroom and a small living area. Senior officers have slightly better accommodations and have rooms to themselves. They have both a larger bathroom and a larger living area. The captain’s quarters are the most luxurious on the ship and are only equaled by VIP and ambassador quarters. All quarters are equipped with a viewscreen showing an outside view as opposed to a window. Senior crew offices are well equipped as well, but are located in specialized locations. For instance, the CMO’s office is located within sickbay and the counselor’s office is located close to crew quarters so crewmembers don’t have to go far if a visit to the counselor is necessary. Because of the vast wealth of knowledge accumulated by The Doctor of USS Voyager during his stay in the Delta Quadrant, the Remington-Class’ sickbay is among the most advanced in the fleet. As previously mentioned, Sickbay is staffed by both the CMO and an upgraded EMH. Overall, the CMO is considered superior, authority-wise, to the EMH, but the EMH shares just as much medical authority over the crew as the CMO. All techniques created by The Doctor are catalogued in Sickbay and almost any ailment known to Starfleet can be healed in a short time. Unlike The Doctor, Remington-class EMHs do not possess the still-being studied technology of the mobile emitter; thus, the EMH is restricted to holo emitter-equipped areas of the ship and cannot participate in away missions. However, like The Doctor, Remington-class EMH’s are considered sentient and given free reign over what type of personality they wish to project.

Future
Despite the limitations of such a small ship with a small crew, many Starfleet engineers are confident about the future of the fleet when the Remington-class is at the forefront. Along with ships like the brand new Luna-class, the Remington is part of a new generation of Starfleet vessels. With the Borg destroyed and the Dominion in a state of surrender, the galaxy is at peace once again. There’s a lot of space in the galaxy that has yet to be explored. New ships like the Remington will be the first to search through the vast expanse and seek out new life and new civilizations.