Akira class
 | |
| Akira Class | |
|---|---|
| Category | Heavy Cruiser |
| Expected Duration | 80 Years |
| Time Between Resupply | 1 Year |
| Time Between Refit | 5 Years |
| Personnel | |
| Officers | 115 |
| Enlisted Crew | 400 |
| Marines | 96 |
| Passengers | 100 |
| Maximum (Evacuation) Capacity | 4500 |
| Speed | |
| Cruising Velocity | Warp 6.5 |
| Maximum Velocity | Warp 9.5 |
| Emergency Velocity | Warp 9.8 (for 12 hours) |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 464 Metres |
| Width | 316 Metres |
| Height | 87 Metres |
| Decks | 22 |
The Akira Class starship entered service in 2364 and has quickly become the pride of Starfleet’s next generation of starships. Akira Class vessels are part of the new belief that smaller, faster, more maneuverable Starships are needed to better serve Starfleet's, and, by extension, the Federation's needs. Originally envisioned as merely a test bed for new phaser and torpedo technology, the Akira-class was never initially designed for mass production or as a front line combat vessel.
Initial production of the Akira class began at the ASDB Integration Facility, New Aberdeen Ship Yards, Aldebaran III, and has since expanded to include the ASDB Integration Facility at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards where nearly 15 of these vessels enter service each year, and the newly revamped Atlas V Assembly Facility, Deneb V along with the Antares Fleet Yards.
Unlike many larger starships of its development era, with saucer separation as a prerequisite, Akira Class vessels to date cannot separate into two vessels. As a result, the Akira Class no longer has the twin hull design that has been seen in vessels such as Excelsior, New Orleans, Galaxy and Ambassador classes. This means that the primary hull and the engineering hull are no longer separate, with no "neck" section. While this division of Saucer and Stardrive has been blurred, it does allow the Akira Class to make a smoother, less polluted entry into subspace during Warp. Also, because of this "no stardrive" design, the surface between the two hulls has a much more gradual descent and streamlined appearance; the dorsal mid-ships section, which slopes up where the two hulls connect. The Akira spaceframe appears very similar in design to that of an ancient earth sailing boat known as a Catamaran. With the nacelles parallel to the main hull, they can be more adequately protected by the primary and secondary shield generators with only a minimal loss in shield efficiency.
The final armaments for the Akira Class were finalized during the end of the primary development phase and implemented during the vessel's first production contract at both ASDB Facilities. Realizing that relations with the Cardassians was going to deteriorate before they improved, and the looming presence of a Borg incursion, Starfleet requested that a portion of the new Akira’s be refitted with more weaponry and upgraded shields. The resulting Akira class mounted no less than 15 Photon torpedo tubes spread between 3 launchers scattered around the vessel [2 located on the Aft sail, and 1 mounted on the ventral portion of the vessel just above the main deflector].
Heavily armed, the design philosophy for the Akira class created lessons later utilized in the Defiant class Project, especially the early “Torpedo Gunboat” design that was later scrapped in favor of the current design. A combined Forward/Aft torpedo bay is located both along the aft dorsal "Sail" portion of the hull, while a second set of forward launchers are located just under the nose of the ship. Combined with the Type X Phaser Array, the current Akira class is heavily armed, and in raw torpedo firepower, could return fire - torpedo for torpedo, with the vaunted Galaxy / Nebula class launchers.
With the Sabre class designed to replace the Miranda and her sister classes (Soyuz, etc) of starships on internal police patrols, and with the Merced and New Orleans Class functioning adequately in the role of Mission-Specific Frigate, it was a waste of scientific resources to assign those classes to defensive patrols on the Cardassian Frontier where they were clearly outgunned against Galor class Battlecruisers. Akira class starships were outfitted with a full-fly through hangar on deck 12 from which no more than 40 fighters could be launched, combined with the 15 photon torpedo tubes and 4 Type X phaser array’s standard on the Akira class, gave the carrier impressive sublight combat capabilities and could stand toe-to-toe against even the most determined Cardassian attack.
Akira class starships featured prominently in the 2373 Borg attack on Earth and in the Dominion War.
An unusual feature of the Akira class is the shuttlebay arrangements. There are two large shuttlebays in the saucer section, one at the forward edge of the saucer section and one at the rear.
Auxiliary Craft
Shuttlebays: 3
Fighters
- Broadsword Multi-role Assault Fighter: 6
- Razor Interceptor: 6
- Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighter: 6
- Raptor Space Superiority Fighter:6
Runabouts
Shuttles
Transports
Armament
Defensive Systems
Phasers
- Type X Array: 4
Shielding Systems
Torpedoes
- Pulse-Fire Torpedo Launcher: 15
- Photon Torpedoes: 713
- Quantum Torpedoes: 357
- Polaron Torpedoes: 55
- Tri-Cobalt Devices: 15
*This ship has a thru-deck shuttlebay configuration. The arrangement of torpedo launchers is 4 forward in the rollbar, 3 aft in the rollbar, 3 forward above the deflector, 1 forward below the deflector, 2 to port in the saucer and 2 to starboard in the saucer. The deck listing below includes the weapons pod. As such, the first four "decks" are essentially sub-decks while the ship proper begins on what would customarily be deck 5 but is, in this instance, deck 1. The sub-decks comprise the pod.
Deck Listing
| Deck | Items |
|---|---|
| Deck 1 | Deck A - Tactical Information Centre, Dorsal Tractor Emitter, Sensor Sub-systems |
| Deck 2 | Deck B - TIC Maintenance Support Section, Forward Torpedo Launch Bays, Torpedo Magazine, Pod Tactical Sensor Systems, Emergency Life Support Systems |
| Deck 3 | Deck C - Sail Torpedo Control Room, Emergency Shield Generators 1 & 2, Torpedo Magazine, Torpedo Modification & Maintenance, Auxiliary Tactical Control, Backup Antimatter Storage |
| Deck 4 | Deck D - Sail Torpedo Manufacturing Area, Aft Torpedo Launch Bays, Torpedo Magazine, Pod Access, Primary Power Distribution Centre |
| Deck 5 | Deck 1 - Captain's Ready Room, Main Bridge, Briefing Room, Observation Lounge |
| Deck 6 | Deck 2 - Junior and Senior Officer's Quarters, VIP/Guest Quarters, Holosuites |
| Deck 7 | Deck 3 - Visiting Officers Quarters, Holodecks, Primary Shield Generators |
| Deck 8 | Deck 4 - Sickbay, Chief Medical Officer's Office, Primary Science Labs, Junior and Senior Officers Quarters, Counselor's Office |
| Deck 9 | Deck 5 - Junior Officers and Crew Quarters, Main Lounge, Secondary Science Labs, Chief Operations Officer's Office, Cargo Bays 1 & 2 |
| Deck 10 | Deck 6 - Primary Computer Core Control, Cargo Bay 3, Marine Barracks, Marine Briefing Room, Marine Armoury |
| Deck 11 | Deck 7 - Primary Computer Core, Auxiliary Craft Maintenance Hangar and Storage |
| Decks 12 | Deck 8 - Primary Computer Core, Flight Operations Armory, Fighter Maintenance Hangar and Storage |
| Deck 13 | Deck 9 - Torpedo Magazine and Manufacturing Area, Shuttle and Fighter Hangar Elevator Support Systems, Primary Shield Generators |
| Deck 14 | Deck 10 - Transporter Rooms 3 and 4, Shuttle and Fine Shop, Primary Maintenance Support Center, Fighter Preparation Pre-Flight Bay, Emergency Shield Generators 3-4 |
| Deck 15 | Deck 11 - Primary Fabrication Workshop, Primary Maintenance Support Center, Shuttlebay (upper level), Observation Area, Pilots Ready Room & Briefing Area |
| Decks 16 | Deck 12 - Primary Systems Support Compartments, Shuttlebay [Fore and Aft Access] |
| Deck 17 | Deck 13 - Enlisted Personnel Living Quarters, Secondary Shuttle and Fighter Maintenance Hangar, Flight Deck Operations and Maintenance |
| Deck 18 | Deck 14 - Upper Engineering Support Area, Fusion Power Generators 1-4, Enlisted Personnel Living Quarters, Stellar Cartography, Lower Forward Torpedo Bay Control, Chief Science Officer's Office, Armory, Phaser Range |
| Decks 19 | Deck 15 - Main Engineering - M/ARA Operations Center, Fusion Power Generators 4-6, Flight Operations Enlisted Personnel Living Quarters, Transporter Rooms 1 and 2, Armory, Chief Tactical Officer's Office, Chief Engineer's Office/Station |
| Deck 20 | Deck 16 - Lower Engineering, Deflector Control, Main Tractor beam Control and Emitter, Environmental System Controls, Secondary Computer Core |
| Deck 21 | Deck 17 - Tertiary Maintenance Support Center , Emergency Power Generators 7-9, Secondary Systems Support, Brig |
| Decks 22 | Deck 18 - Environmental Control, Waste Reclamation, Deuterium Storage, Antimatter Storage Pods, Secondary Shield Generators |
| Starfleet Starship Classes (Active) | |
| Research Bases | Argus class - Lowell class |
| Starbases | Nor class - Regula class - Stardock class |
| Cruisers | Ambassador class - Galaxy class - Nebula class - Prometheus class - Sovereign class |
| Light Cruisers | Akira class - Cheyenne class - Excelsior class - Intrepid class - Luna class - Normandy class - Norway class |
| Research Vessels | Nova class - Olympic class - Oberth class |
| Escorts | Centaur class - Defiant class - Miranda class - New Orleans class - Sabre class - Steamrunner class |