Inland Empire Star Trek Fan Club - Star Trek Chapter

	Our Ship
	Ulysses Bridge
	IFT Command
	Enlistment
	Our Location
	Sovereign Class
	Holodeck Multimedia
	Mission Statement
	Ship Policies

	Communications
	Our Yahoo Group
	Contact Us
	Captain's Blog
	Identify Yourself - Survey
	Webrings
	Links
	Transporter Log Guestbook

	Our Adventures
	Upcoming Activities
	Our Charities
	Ulysses Mission Logs
	Away Missions
	Australia Mission Log

	Our Crew
	Officers and Crew
	Our Pets
	Graphics & Design
	David Perez

	Webmasters
	Currently Maintaining:
	Commander Bob Rivard XO, USS Ulysses NFC-2006
	Designer/Creator/Webmaster August 2000 - January 2005:
	Captain Mandy Ison former XO, USS Ulysses CO, USS Athena NFC-0750

	Administrative

	Account Login

Below is information on the engineering, history, and where to obtain pictures of the Sovereign class starship. As the most advanced and well-armed starship in Starfleet, and sharing this distinction with the Enterprise-E, we are proud to have one for our own.

In "Star Trek: First Contact," the Enterprise-E proved its mettle against the infamous Borg. We hope to prove OUR mettle with our own Sovereign class starship in the further adventures of the Ulysses available in the Ulysses Mission Logs. Meanwhile, enjoy the technical lesson and proud history of this new breed of exploratory space vessel.

Type	Enhanced Deterrence Explorer (Battlecruiser)
Unit Run	USS Sovereign, NCC 1701-E USS Enterprise plus 3 in service, 6 building, 15 planned

Commissioned	2372 - present
Dimensions	Length : 680 m Beam : 240 m Height : 87 m Decks : 24

Mass	3,500,000 tons
Crew	700

Armament	12 x Type XII phaser arrays, total output 85,000 TeraWatts 1 x Rapid fire quantum torpedo turret + 600 torpedoes 5 x Type 4 Burst Fire photon torpedo tubes + 500 photon torpedoes total Antimatter spread emitter
Defense Systems	Auto modulated shield system, total capacity 4,590,000 TeraJoules Heavy Duranium/Tritanium double hull plus 10 cm Ablative armour. High level Structural Integrity Field

Warp Speeds (TNG scale)	Normal Cruise: Warp Factor 8 Maximum Cruise: Warp Factor 9.9 Maximum Rated: Warp Factor 9.99 for thirty six hours
Strength Indices	Beam Firepower: 1,700 Torpedo Firepower: 5,700 Weapon Range and Accuracy: 1,260 Shield Strength: 1,700 Hull Armour: 1,900 Speed: 3,900 Combat Maneuverability: 4,000

Overall Strength Index	2,910
Diplomatic Capability	Grade 5

Expected Hull Life

120 years

Refit Cycle

Minor : 1 year
Standard : 5 year
Major : 10 year

Top of Page, Pics

The origins of the Sovereign class date back as far as 2338. At this time relationships between the Federation and the Klingon empire had degraded significantly, to the point where war was considered by many to be imminent. The President ordered Starfleet to place a design proposal for a new class of starship with much greater military capability than current designs.
	This project was in the advanced planning stage when the loss of the Enterprise-C during the Narendra III incident eased tensions considerably. The warship project was initially to be scrapped, but Starfleet was instead asked to continue the project on a research basis only.

Dubbed the Sovereign project, it became a theoretical starfleet battlecruiser designed only as a computer model, with specimen hardware occasionally produced to test the design principles. The intention was to create a design that could be put into production with no delay, should a future crisis present itself.

The basic design was to be updated every five years so as to incorporate technology advances as they occurred. Initially, the Sovereign design was a simple re-working of the Ambassador class, emphasizing weapons rather than exploratory and diplomatic capabilities. In the design updates of 2350, 55 and 60 much of the technology being developed for the Galaxy class project was incorporated, especially in the nacelle and warp core design.

Top of Page, Pics

The re-establishing of relations with the Romulans in 2364 led to a major revision in the 2365 update, and many elements of the Sovereign went into low rate production. In mid 2365, first contact was also made with the Borg. The Sovereign project was activated and construction began on the first four ships of the class.

The Enterprise-D
encounters the Borg for the first time.

However, it was apparent that much of the Sovereigns weaponry was based on that of the Galaxy class - a vessel that had proven ineffective against the Borg during the first encounter. New weapons were in preparation for the next design update due in 2370, but these were not going to be available in the immediate future.

It was clear that despite the engineers best intentions, the Sovereign project was not going to meet it’s primary goal - to get a warship into service fast enough to meet the crisis now looming. The answer Starfleet settled on was to continue construction of the hull, propulsion, computer, and sensor systems of the ships already under construction but to suspend work on the shield, phaser and photon torpedo systems for three years.

Instead, a crash development project was begun to field a small, very easily produced warship incorporating the new weapons - essentially a replay of the Sovereign project in miniature. To cut size - and therefore design and build time - to a minimum the new vessel would only be capable of short duration missions. The vessel would be very maintenance intensive, but would carry only limited stocks of non-replicatable spares.

Top of Page, Pics

Combined with limited accommodation standards and small fuel reserves the new class would be capable of maintaining full readiness for only six to eight weeks during independent operations, far less than had been envisaged for the Sovereign. An important secondary role of this Defiant class was as a development test bed for the technology which would be worked into the Sovereign project as soon as it was ready.

Construction continued on the Sovereigns throughout the late 2360’s. With the destruction of the Borg cube in 2366, Starfleet deemed that the threat had reduced to a level that would allow the Sovereigns to enter service before any renewed offensive. The Defiant class was therefore suspended, although the prototype was put into storage rather than scrapped.

The lessons learned with the Defiant were incorporated into the Sovereign when work resumed on her weapons; a process which continued after the USS Defiant was reactivated for use on DS9. The switch from photon to quantum torpedoes and the inclusion of ablative armour are prime examples of this process.

In addition, the bio-neural computer system pioneered by the Intrepid class was also included. The first of the class was launched in 2371 as the USS Sovereign, with the USS Honorious due to follow six months later. The loss of the USS Enterprise in that year led to a last minute re-christening of the Honorious as the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E.

Top of Page, Pics

The Sovereign class has emerged from the dockyards as Starfleets most sophisticated and comprehensively armed vessel. The vessel is equipped with a new variant of the Type XII phaser array - formerly known as the ‘Type X+’ for security reasons - which equips the Federations most powerful Starbases and deep space facilities. The type twelve has a raw beam power output some 60% more powerful than the Type ten arrays installed on the Galaxy class.

The Type XII phaser array on the Enterprise-E blasts the side of the borg cube approaching earth.

In addition, the type twelve has a shorter recharge time and can fire a longer sustained burst, giving each bank a combat effectiveness 79.4% greater than a type ten array. Since the Sovereign carries fourteen arrays compared to Galaxies twelve, this gives the ship an overall 92.6% increase in phaser capability. The torpedo armament is similarly impressive.

The large quantum torpedo turret forward of the deflector dish is capable of firing five rounds per second, a greater overall rate of fire than the two main ten round burst photon torpedo tubes of the Galaxy class combined. Backup to the quantum torpedoes is provided by five photon tubes; these are located at the base of the engineering section in pairs which face forward and aft, and above the aft hangar bay.

Each is capable of firing twelve round bursts. This gives the Sovereign class the most powerful torpedo armament of any vessel in Starfleet service. The shield system of the Sovereign class is similarly the most powerful of any Starfleet ship; the design was modified just prior to installation in order to increase effectiveness against both high energy tractor beams and phased polaron particles, measures clearly aimed at the Borg and Dominion respectively.

Top of Page, Pics

Under normal operation the shield modulation frequencies are under the control of the ships computer system, which continually evaluates incoming weapons fire and automatically re-modulates the shields to give the most effective possible defense. It is thought - hoped - that this system will also enable the Sovereign class shield system to prevent beam-through by Borg transporter technology.

The Enterprise-E shields flare
as the ship approaches a sun.

The warp engines of the Sovereign are of a new design which eliminates subspace distortion effects inherent to standard warp drives, a feature now becoming common on most Starfleet ships. The Sovereign class is currently the fastest vessel in Starfleet, with a maximum cruise speed of Warp 9.9 and a top speed of Warp 9.99 for up to twenty four hours. The very high cruise speed is intended to allow the ship to deploy as rapidly as possible to potential trouble spots.

Her Impulse drive system is the most sophisticated model in production, giving the Sovereign class a maneuverability equal to that of a vessel one quarter its size. The Sovereigns baptism of fire came in 2373 when a Borg vessel again attacked the Federation. The USS Sovereign herself was too far away to participate and the USS Enterprise - the only other Sovereign in service - was ordered to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone rather than join the fleet engaging the Borg, a curious decision since engaging the Borg is what the ship was specifically designed for.

The Enterprise-E fires on the Borg cube after returning from the Neutral Zone.

Captain Picard disobeyed this order and joined the battle in Earth orbit, coordinating a mass strike on a weak point on the cube and destroying it. The Enterprise was subsequently pulled into the past by the Borg and almost assimilated. The crew was successful in defeating the Borg and returning to 2373. Captain Picard was subsequently ruled to have been justified in disobeying his orders, and continues in command of the Enterprise.

Top of Page, Pics

PICS

Here is a great website for superior pictures of the Sovereign Class Starship. Star Trek Australia is a graphics artist's dream. You can find material to make your own graphics and superior pics of the Sovereign Class Starship, as well as any other class you can think of. They offer an endless array of finished pictures that are beautifully blended scenes of the galaxy and the starship.

Other excellent websites:

2. Starfleet Ships of the Fleet

A very good, comprehensive site about every starship class known. It has no separate pages for pics. But the site boasts excellent pics when reading a starship's history and technical specifications. It also has pictures and information on starbases and shuttle crafts.

3. Pedro's Shiporama

This is a nice database with many video stills of the Sovereign Class Starship from the movie, Star Trek: First Contact. It also has many production shots of the model used for the movie.

Top of Page

[Our Ship] • Ulysses Bridge • IFT • Enlistment • Our Location • Sovereign Class Starship • Holodeck • Mission Statement • Ship Policies •
[Our Crew] • Officers and Crew • David Perez • Newsletter • Graphics & Design • Our Pets •
[Our Adventures] • Upcoming Activities • Our Charities • Ulysses Mission Logs • Away Missions • Australia Mission Log •
[Communications] • Contact Us • Identify Yourself • Transporter Logs • Our Yahoo Group • Webrings • Links •

USS ULYSSES NFC-2006 • captgamble2006@yahoo.com • PO Box EI, Beaumont, California, 92223, US

© 2000 - 2006 USS ULYSSES NFC-2006
All Rights Reserved. You must obtain written permission to use any content on this page.

Star Trek® Star Trek: The Next Generation® Star Trek: Deep Space Nine® Star Trek: Voyager® and Star Trek: Enterprise® are registered trademarks of Paramount Pictures registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. No Infringement Intended.