Welcome to my website, detailing the adventures of Captain Esek Hrelle, his family, and the crew and cadets of his starship, the USS Surefoot. These stories are set in the 2360-70s, the Next Generation/DS9/Voyager Era.

When I wrote the first story, The Universe Had Other Plans, in the far off distant year of 2016, I never intended it to be a "first" story of anything. It was meant to be a one-off, a means of helping me fight writer's block on another project. I am amazed and delighted that it has taken on a life of its own, with an extended family of characters, places, ships and events.

The column on the right hand side groups the stories chronologically by significant events in Captain Hrelle's life (such as the command of a new Surefoot), as well as major events in the Star Trek timeline. The column on the left hand side lists reference articles, one-off stories, and a link to stories set on the USS Harken, a ship from decades before but with ties to the Surefoot Universe.

The universe of Star Trek belongs to CBS/Paramount; all of the original characters here belong to me. There is no explicit sexual content, but there are instances of profanity, violence and discussions of adult subject matters and emotional themes; I will try to offer warnings on some of the stories, but sometimes I forget.

I love comments (I don't get paid for this, sadly), so feel free to write and let me know what you think!

Tuesday 8 November 2016

Overview: The Oberth-Class Starship


The Oberth class is a small Federation starship used primarily by Starfleet and civilian scientists alike, as a scout class and science vessel, from the late-23rd to the late-24th century.

In service as early as the 2280s, the Oberth-class was designed and used almost exclusively for the study of astronomical phenomena, including data gathering missions on stars and planets, well into the 2370s. These vessels would also serve in a number of limited capacities, such as transports and supply ships. The Oberth-class is capable of operating with a minimum crew complement of five.

The Oberth-class design is atypical among Federation starships of the time. The outboard plan of the Oberth incorporates a unique split hull design, with an upper primary hull that is composed mainly of the saucer section, which is mounted onto a rear extension that mounts the impulse drive, and warp drive nacelles to either side to the saucer. The secondary hull is connected to the primary hull at the nacelles by reinforced pylons, which carry the power conduits from the warp core in the secondary hull to the nacelles in the primary.
There are limited habitable areas in the secondary hull; they can be reached either by an internal transporter system, or by a retractable turbolift; in case of emergencies, it can be reached at an external port via shuttlecraft.
The Surefoot, originally called the Martin Fettman after the first Terran vet in space, operates within Federation space in the Leonis Sector, 99.2 light-years from Earth, in a sparsely inhabited sector with small colonies, outposts, research stations, observation posts, and navigation and subspace communication buoys. 

Among its missions, the Surefoots role includes transporting colony supplies, maintaining manned and automated sensor equipment, conducting customs, medical and safety inspections, and, when necessary, assisting in search and rescue missions. The Surefoot is equipped with standard phasers and a small complement of photon torpedoes. As expected for a ship of its size and complement, space and luxuries are at a premium.


Typical-sized corridor onboard an Oberth-class vessel.
It's usually less messy.
The USS Surefoot has recently been modified to accommodate 18 cadets in the Advanced Work Experience (AWE) Program, with a classroom and training room, expanded gymnasium and a training holodeck of limited capacity, primarily designed to recreate simulations of the bridge, engineering, etc. These cadets will supplement the existing crew of 13. The Captain, Executive Officer and Counselor have en-suite offices adjacent to their cabins; the Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer have separate offices adjacent to their respective workplaces.



PRIMARY HULL
Deck 1: Bridge; WC; Captain Hrelles Office/Quarters; Mess Hall/Lounge; Conference Room; Crew Quarters (10x1) (Sleeping Area, Closet, WC and Sonic Shower)

Deck 2: Commander T’Varik’s Office/Quarters; Counselor Kamis Office/Quarters; Gymnasium; Cadets Quarters (6x3) (Sleeping Area - 3 2-tiered bunks, Living/Study Area, WC/Sonic Shower, Lockers); Guest Quarters (2); Laundry Bay/Stores

Deck 3: Shuttlebay/Turntable; Parking Bay; Cargo Bays (4); General Cargo Holds (2); Cargo Pod Niches (10); Cargo Transport Room; Engineering High-Bay

Deck 4: Brig/Security Office; Main Computer Core; Sickbay/Life Sciences Lab; Doctor Ling’s Office; CPO Grev’s Office; Transporter Room; Holodeck; Instruction/Training Room; Retractable Turboshaft to Secondary Hull; Impulse Engines; Life Support/Recycling; Main Engineering; Deuterium Tankage

SECONDARY HULL
Deck 5: Sensors (Fore/Aft); Engineer Room; Warp Reaction Core; Environmental Processor; Antimatter Storage

Deck 6: Main Sensors Array; Secured Cargo Bay; Resting Area; Warp Reaction Core; EVA/Workbee Storage/Access

Deck 7: Probe/Torpedo Launcher/Storage

Deck 8: Deflector Dish; Support Systems

Deck 9: Deflector Screen Generator; Battery Compartment

Deck 10: Forward/After Sensor Compartment

Deck 11: Ventral Sensors 

(Thanks to Memory Alpha for their information)

1 comment:

  1. I like how you use the Oberth class starship. It makes a worthy setting for this universe.

    ReplyDelete