Huxley-class Colony Transport Vessel
Length: 154m
Decks: 10
Crew: 51 (I thought the original was a little low, considering the decks)
Commissioned: 2271
Notable ships of class: USS Australia NCC-1949, USS Chaffee NCC-1970, USS Steed NCC-2001, USS Nomad NCC-2010
Max Warp: Warp 7.1
Max Cruise: Warp 6.9
Cruise: Warp 6.2
3x Type VI phaser turrets
In a time when the immense Galaxy, Sovereign, and even Ambassador-classes were decades away, the creation of a colony could not be established by a single vessel. Rather, convoys of vessels needed to ferry the supplies, personnel, and colonists themselves to establish civilization in the appropriate area. Starfleet Design Bureau Proposal 398-C (proposed and granted in 2269), called for a small colony ship, emphasizing a design that would be easy to produce and efficient. The first vessel, the Huxley herself, was completed in late 2270, looking oddly out of place among the Constitutions and Mirandas housed at Utopia Planetia. Her uneventful testing was finished in 2271, and the class was quickly certified for full production.
Design Study 4 easy filled these requirements and, in some cases, exceeded them. It was a compact design, borrowing elements from many of the designs currently being refined or evening entering production at Utopia Planetia, like the Excelsior and Oberth. The small saucer, used almost exclusively for control of the vessel and crew quarters, was mounted on top of the main fuselage, which contained the main deflector, large cargo bays, a collection of personnel quarters, and a small shuttlebay for carrying vehicles. Like the Excelsior, the nacelles and their struts were mounted from the dorsal side of the fuselage. Owing to its relatively unconventional shape, many of the Huxley's components needed to be specific to its class only; however, they were used on, or as the basis for, parts for numerous other small vessels.
Typically, 3-9 Huxleys would comprise a colonization convoy, with one third carrying colonists, another third carrying general items and food, and the last carrying raw materials and parts for constructing buildings exclusively.
The Huxleys were simple to produce, and due to the rapid expansion of the Federation, were almost literally churned out during that waning years of the twenty third century and into the twenty fourth. Many of them were delivered in half-painted or unifinished states, with no need for the ultarian vessels to be as well equipped as their top-of-the-line counterparts. In total, five hundred and sixty nine of these vessels were produced; a full third were produced as or refitted to be deuterium tankers and provide fuel for other ships, while much of the remainder were converted into mere cargo vessels as expansion cooled. As of 2379, Only forty eight Huxleys remained in service, past their operational lifetime. A further sixty four lived on in civilian service, providing an excellent platform for research missions or scientific expeditions; their ample cargo space could be easily converted to house extra sensor suites or carry large amounts of specimens and samples.
While certainly lacking the flash and glory of its larger brethren, the Huxley filled a vital role in the expansion of the Federation, and will always have a place in the annals of history, as a workhorse of the stars.
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(Bilder in Links umgewandelt. Thorsten)