KOROLEV CLASS HEAVY CRUISER

As opposed to many of its contemporaries in the early half of the 24th Century, the Korolev class was not conceived to fill any specific role, rather it was the product of an ASDB design study aimed at integrating Excelsior class design elements/aesthetics with modern technology. Guiding the study was a general outline calling for a rugged, capable cruiser with enahnced survivability that was able to operate independently with little to no outside contact for a period of no less than 5 years.

Starfleet’s cruiser lineup during this period was not as developed as we know it today.

The venerable Excelsior class along with the Exeter (CB 2200), Dahlgren (CS 2567), Star League (DN 2101), Ascension (DN 2520) and Conquest (DN 2589) classes constituted the bulk of the fleet’s deep-space exploratory assets, though the latter 4 were designed from a more defensive/offensive oriented standpoint. From 2326 on, only Excelsior, Exeter and Dahlgren remained in service. When the Renaissance class entered service in 2305 and the Ambassador class in 2320 respectively, a gap was thus created—Starfleet deploying the majority of its newest, most sophisticated ships on missions that were predominantly scientific or exploratory in nature, in regions on the fringes of charted Federation territory. Older vessels were left to serve as ‘workhorses’, often being pushed to or beyond the limits of their capabilities in certain cases. Simply put, what Starfleet needed was a next-generation ‘workhorse’—capable in all areas, yet without the scientific/exploratory emphasis of Renaissance and Ambassador.

The resulting design that emerged in 2343 eschewed traditional Federation design

aesthetics in favor of one that was more tightly integrated. The saucer section itself was ‘built in’ to the secondary hull—the design of which was based heavily on the Excelsior. An elongated connecting dorsal links the two hull sections, with the main bridge/command deck centered at the top.

A unique feature of the class was its quad-hangar bay arrangement that gave

Korolev the small craft capacity of larger through-deck cruisers or carriers. The bays were arranged in a side-by-side fashion with two at the end of the connecting dorsal at the rear of the primary hull and two more just below the centerline at the aft end of the secondary hull. This expands the utility of these ships twofold, allowing them to participate in missions as diverse as transporting troops and various starfighters to conflict areas or providing a base of operations for medevac shuttles during disaster/humanitarian relief scenarios.

Befitting the call for enhanced survivability, Korolev came well armed—7 Type IX

Phaser Emitters were spread out across the primary and secondary hulls backed up by 3 Mark I Torpedo Launchers, 2 fore, 1 aft. A powerful deflector shield system (capable of absorbing up to 1,879,590 TerraJoules of energy) supported by 4 cm of high density armor plating provided substantial protection.

Entering service in 2345, these Heavy Cruisers took the burden of certain

defensive/offensive-oriented tasks—such as convoy escort, system defense and border patrol—off of the Ambassador class (though the Ambassador/CH 10521, Exeter/CH 26531 and Valdemar/CH 26198 could frequently be found in those roles) and became heavily utilized—along with the Centaur (FR 42043), Exeter (CB 2200) and Midway (CV 2200) classes—in front line combat against forces of the Cardassian Guard during the Federation-Cardassian War.

During the later Dominion War, the Korolev class assumed many of the same duties,

freeing up larger, more heavily-armed ships for front line service. In 2375, the Independence (CH 41072) and Agamemnon (CH 41064) led a battle group send to reinforce the Allied task force charged with strengthening Starfleet’s hold on the Chin’Toka

star system. Unbeknownst to the battle group, that task force along with the 2nd & 3rd starfighter divisions had been obliterated. The battle group was subsequently routed, sustaining severe losses, though the Independence and Agamemnon were able to rescue many survivors.

Considering the varying types and capabilities of the many starship classes launched following Korolev, not to mention those of upcoming starship classes, Starfleet Command

retired these tough, capable ships en masse following the war’s end in 2379.

Class Classification Service Number Active Length Beam Height Decks

Korolev Heavy Cruiser 2345-79 0 417m 190m 84m 18

Mass Compliment

985,124 metric tons 380

Armament Defense Systems

7 Type IX Phaser Emitters 3 MK I Torpedo Launchers Standard Deflector Shield System total capacity 1,267,240 TerraJoules Standard Duranium/Tritianium Double Hull plus 4cm High Density Armor

Editor’s Annotations This revised edition of my take on the Korolev class reshapes the text in a much more expository way, bringing it in line with some of my other recent publications. The changes are limited to a bit more description on the development and in-service histories. With that aside, it’s excruciatingly difficult to find designs from the “Lost Era” (approx. 2293 to 2364—the launch of the Ent-B to the beginning of TNG). It’s even more difficult to find good original designs as opposed to kitbashes of existing ships. However, in scouring the Advanced Starship Design Bureau, I found a great take on the Korlev class, done up by none other than Kristian “Reverend” Trigwell—the same talented artist behind the logo seen on pg. 1 as well as in other publications of mine. Compact and somewhat rugged looking, I thought this to be an excellent intermediate step between Excelsior and later classes such as Ambassador—even though I pegged this as entering service after the Ambassador.

Bibliography Logo—Kristian “Reverend” Trigwell (Gallery @ Star Trek Minutiae) Schematics—Kristian “Reverend” Trigwell (Korolev @ Advanced Starship Design Bureau)