| STARSHIP CLASS | |
|---|---|
| Excalibur-class | |
| |
| Affiliation: | Federation, Starfleet |
| Type: | Long range explorer/battleship |
| Service period: | 24th century |
| Dimensions | |
| Length: | 1219.3 meters |
| Width: | 549 meters |
| Height: | 261 meters |
| Specifications | |
| Decks: | 52 |
| Crew: | 1500 |
| Speed: | warp 9.85 |
| Maximum speed: | warp 9.4 |
| Cruising speed: | warp 7 |
| Armaments: | phaser arrays; torpedo launchers: photon and quantum torpedoes |
| Defences: | deflector shields |
| Auxiliary craft: | Federation shuttlecraft, 14 shuttles, 6 runabouts, 6 fighters |
The Excalibur class was a large Federation battleship that entered service in the late 24th century
History
A Excalibur class starship and a Sovereign class starship
The Excalibur-class was submitted at the same time as the Sovereign class. Both ships were roughly equal in proposed specs. The Sovereign was approved while the Excalibur was put on hold.
Following the Borg attack of 2373, Starfleet re-opened the Excalibur files. They altered the ship from explorer/battleship specs to include rapid response abilities, increasing the size of the vessel by nearly 50%. Weapons were slightly scaled back though as was crew needed for those systems. In their place was put facilities for covert ops teams, marines, and even diplomatic and medical personnel. In the event of a medical emergency, these spaces could be configured for emergency medical care, and thus the ship is equipped with no less then four separate EMH programs. Only the Hope-class medical ship and starbases carry as many independent EMH programs. The Excalibur Mark II is also capable of MVAM (multi vector assault mode).
As the Dominion war began, three of the ships were rushed into building and service. Two took active part in the war, rushing troops to Chin'toka and AR-115. One however, the USS Excalibur itself, was lost at the second battle of Chin'toka when Breen energy dampening weapons hit her, causing her to loose power. She was hit by repeated Dominion and Cardassian weapons fire and exploded just before the USS Defiant. Others of the class also rushed medical aid to Betazed when that planet was liberated, and later Cardassia Prime itself.
Since the end of the war, only four more of the class has been built, making nine in active service. Two other hulls that were under construction where stopped and stored, incase the need arises for them. This ship is by far the largest vessel in service in Starfleet and it is too large to enter Starfleet's Spacedock type starbases internal bay.
The Excalubur class starship has become a fleetwide symbol of the post-war Federation. With 50% more internal volume than the Galaxy class, Excaliburs are capable of hosting a large standard compliment, as well as any additional/emergency personnel transport needs. Also capable of carrying a large amount of supplies, ordinance and auxiliary craft.
Excaliburs size also makes them ideal for space based military action, while its luxury can also make it ideal for diplomatic functions.
The main limit to the Excalibur class's versatility is the lack of acceleration at sublight speeds. Full impulse is only 50% as fast as the Galaxy class, and it will take twice as long to reach full impulse. The only Federation ship that is slower at sublight speeds is the Ambassador class.
In the early 2390s the class was upgraded with new Type-XIII phaser arrays, slipstream drive, improved computer hardware with the latest LCARS version, and improved power allocation systems.
Mirror universe
In the mirror universe, the Excalibur-class ships were the Terran Empire equivalent of the Federation's Ambassador-class. They had a specially designed transporter in the shuttlebay to beam shuttlecraft into other universes.
Ships commissioned
- USS Epic (NXC-1704)
- USS Excalibur (NCC-72001)
- USS Indianapolis (NCC-77173-B)
- USS Ixion (NCC-90000)
- USS Typhoon (NCC-81330)
- USS Camelot (NCC-85011)
- USS Banting (NCC-3120-B)
- USS Templar (NCC-573912)
- USS Templar (NX-573912-A)