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!

Friday 11 January 2019

Overview: The Surefoot-A (2372- )


HISTORY:

With the outbreak of hostilities between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and the expected imminent war with the Dominion, the role of the Surefoot-A (hereafter referred to as just the Surefoot) changed. Formerly a fleet tender at the Federation-Cardassian Border, the vessel was modified to act as an ambulance ship in support of the Thirteenth Fleet as commanded by Admiral Tattok.

The Sabre-class starship entered service in 2358 with the purpose to replace the by-then outdated Oberth-class science/scout ships, as well as to fill the role of an escort/police vessel for the internal security of the Federation. With limited facilities, long-term missions were generally outside of its design, but for internal Federation missions, or specific deep space objectives, the Sabre proved to be a very capable ship in this new role.

Small, fast, highly manoeuvrable, and well-armed to protect itself, the Surefoot can move around in battle and rescue personnel in lifepods and damaged vessels, utilising a larger-than-usual number of transporters for a vessel of its size to effect a level of transport almost equal to a Nebula- or Galaxy-class starship.

Watch the Paw...
The Surefoot is identified externally as  an ambulance ship by the Red Paw, one of the recognised symbols of such vessels by the Interstellar Aid Registry (others include the Red Cross, Red Crystal, Red Crescent and Red Helix). Under normal Articles of War, such vessels should be treated as noncombatants, though the ship is equipped and allowed to defend itself.

In addition to a state-of-the-art Main Sickbay Suite complete with the latest Emergency Medical Hologram array, Ops Theatre and Isochamber, there is a Secondary Sickbay with a more standard configuration for more general cases, and an Evacuation Barracks that can serve as a Tertiary Sickbay if required. The Main Shuttlebay can act as a general Triage area, where the incoming wounded can be assessed and assigned to the appropriate Sickbay based on initial tricorder readings taken by doctors and nurses on the scene.

The Surefoot continues to also serve as a training platform for Starfleet Academy cadets selected under the Advanced Work Experience program, as it was accepted that the vessel would remain in a primarily noncombat role, though the current numbers would be lower than in its previous role as tender support. Captain Hrelle also serves as a Strategic Operations Officer to Admiral Tattok; his considerable tactical experience and primarily-noncombat status makes him a valuable and impartial asset.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Length: 190 meters
Width: 193.19 meters
Height: 48.60 meters
Weight: 275,600 metric tons
Hull: Duranium-Tritanium composite with micro-fibre reinforced ablative armour over critical compartments.
Decks: 8 (The design of the Sabre is unusual, in that there is a “Deck 1” higher in elevation than what would normally be considered Deck 1 containing the Bridge, Ready Room, etc.)
Crew: 60 (6 Officers, 26 Crew, 18 cadets)

DECKS:
(Note: This is not exhaustive, and can change according to what I want to put in the stories and what I remember, and kiss my furry ass if you object...)

Deck 1 (Aft Section Only):
Atmospheric Control Room
Deuterium Injection Engineer Bay
Waste Recovery Control Bays (2)
Battery Compartment
SIF Generator
Cargo Bay 1
Cargo Transporter 1

Deck 2 (Fore Section):
Main Bridge
Conference Room
Captain's Ready Room
Captain's/Counselor's Quarters
XO's Quarters
Officers' Mess and Lounge
Transporter Room 1
VIP Quarters (2 x 1/4)
Escape Pods (36)


Deck 2 (Aft Section):
Subspace Transceiver Room
Deuterium Tank Storage
Cryogenic Gas Tankage Compartment (2)
Battery Compartment
Life Support Bays (2)
Aft Torpedo/Probe Bay
Access to Tractor Array

Deck 3 (Fore Section):
Captain's Quarters. When Misha is asleep
Officers' Quarters
Enlisted Quarters
Cadets' Quarters
Cadets' Mess Hall/Lounge
Enlisted Mess Hall/Lounge
Rec Lounge
Library/Instruction Room
Holosuite
Escape Pods (72)
Gym/Training Room
Arboretum

Deck 3 (Mid Section):
Sickbay Suite
Transporter Room 2
Sickbay - 12 x 1 bed treatment
Sickbay - 4 bed ICU Unit
Sickbay - Biohazard Isochamber
Sickbay - Op/Post-Op Theatre
Sickbay - Morgue/Stasis Unit
CMO's Office
Counselor's Office
Security Suite (Brig, Armoury, CSO's Office)

Deck 3 (Aft Section):
Computer Core - Upper Bay
Battery Compartment
Deflector Shield Generator Bays (4)
Dorsal Phaser Systems (2)

Deck 4 (Fore Section):
Shuttle leaving the forward Shuttlebay
Shuttle Bay / Service Hangar
Operations Chief's Office
Cargo Bays 2 and 3
Flight Ready Room (2)
Long Range Sensor Suites (2)
Transporter Room 3
Cargo Transporter 2



Deck 4 (Mid Section):
Multimission Workshops (2)
Industrial Replicator Units (4)
Secondary Sickbay Suite
Barracks (24 x 3 tier beds)/Tertiary Sickbay
Barracks Lounge/Mess Hall
Replicator Compartment (3)
Escape Pods (96)

Deck 4 (Aft Section):
Main Engine Room
Battery Compartment (4)
Computer Core - Lower Bay
Cryogenic Gas Storage Compartment (2)
Reaction Thruster (2)
Fusion generator / Upper Impulse Engine Bay
CEO's Office

Cargo Bay
Deck 5:
Reaction Thrusters
Warp Field Generator
Impulse Engine
Magnetic field generator
Bussard Collector
Cargo Bays 4 and 5
Cargo Transporter 3
Aft Docking Port
Matter/Antimatter Chamber
Forward Torpedo Launcher
Long Range Sensors
Life Support
Battery Compartment
Warp Plasma Conduit (2)

Deck 6:
Escape Pods (32)
Battery Compartment (12)
Short Range Sensor Suite (1)
Crews Quarters (2 person)
Navigational Sensor Suite
Ventral Phaser System
Computer Core Bay
Long Range Sensor Suite (2)
Ventral Sensor Suite
Replicator Materials Stores
SIF Generator (2)
Regenerative Shield Generator (2)
Cryogenic Gas Storage Compartment

The Emergency Medical Hologram.
We apologise.
Deck 7:
Antimatter Containment Pods (8)
Battery Compartment
SIF/Shield Generator Compartment

Deck 8:
Main Deflector Control
Antimatter Injector Compartment
Antimatter Containment Pod (4)
Fuel Transfer Array

7 comments:

  1. Kudos. The Saber Class was one of my first escorts, and it's a mean little vessel with exemplary maneuverability and significant firepower when properly equipped.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's an unusual design, but I've always been drawn to the unusual designs, such as the Sabre and the earlier Oberth.

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  2. Are you going to add any other ships to the webpage?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI Jack! I hadn't planned on it, though I might want to detail the Thirteenth Fleet; I intend to keep them around for the duration of the Dominion War...

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  3. Very interesting, but one thing seems out of place:

    2,756,000 metric tons seems far too high a mass for a 190m starship.

    As a point of comparison, the Nimitz class aircraft carrier displaces around 100,000 tons at full load, and that ship is much longer at 300m in length, though admittedly she's narrower in the beam and shallower in height than the Surefoot. Also, Nimitz is mostly built from steel, rather than titanium/duranium alloys, again implying the Surefoot should carry less mass for an equivalent volume.

    ReplyDelete
  4. further to my last:

    a solid block of mild steel measuring 100m x 70m x 50m would weigh about 2.75m tons.

    A starship is anything but solid, being mostly composed of cabins, rooms, corridors. I'd estimate that less than a tenth of a starship's volume is taken up with solid matter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for commenting! Yes, you're probably right, I'm not big on gauging mass, but what you say makes sense, and I'll go back and fudge some of the measurements. Thanks for pointing it out :-)

      Delete