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Revisiting the Newcastle, a TOS era fan-design study.
ryan218
Member Posts: 36,106 Arc User
in Ten Forward
So, recently started to get my depression under control (as well as starting a new job - yay!) and began looking back at my Star Trek: Newcastle fanfic. I actually still really like where I was going with this story and the Newcastle's design: there are just a few things that bug me with it.
Firstly, the FanFic is set in 2266, contiguous with Season 2 of The Original Series. This is because the fic deals heavily with both the outcome of the Klingon-Federation War of 2256 (ST:DSC) and the Organian Peace Treaty. It also follows the 'Great Game' between the Federation and Klingon Empire over colonies in the Neutral Zone established by that treaty (and referenced in 'The Trouble with Tribbles') and foreshadows the Klingon-Romulan Alliance.
What does any of this have to do with the Newcastle's design, you ask? Well, even with my justification that Starfleet may well have reverted to older designs after the War of 2256, I couldn't really reconcile that with straight-up designing new entire classes of starship to specifications which were already twenty years old!
Also, the date: Newcastle was emerging from a major refit in Chapter One, only a few years before the Enterprise will go in for it's reconstruction ahead of The Motion Picture. I wanted to pay homage to that, fix the questionable logic of the Newcastle using Connie-based design language, and explain away the absence of DSC-era tech between DSC and TOS.
And, I got back into the game and while scrolling through the shipyard my eyes were attracted to the Jefferies-Class and like a magpie I-- OOH, SHINY PHASE II ENTERPRISE! WANT!!!!
Now, the Phase II Enterprise doesn't really fit in with the established canon, but it is a nice go-between between the TOS Enterprise and the TMP Enterprise, the DSC ships and the TOS Enterprise, and the DSC ships and the TMP Enterprise. So, with that in mind...
Basically, the Class was initially designed as a simple kitbash of the Connie, with Starfleet then proceeding to use the design as a testbed for new technologies which will eventually culminate in the TMP-era Constitution refit. I'm already starting to redesign the ship visually with the Phase II aesthetic as a starting point. For now, you can see my original design here and imagine it using Phase-II nacelles instead of TOS Connie ones and a Phase-II style torpedo pod at the base of the neck.
Also note the stardates. For the original fanfic, I was just going to ignore stardates so I could sidestep the issue of trying to be internally consistent with myself and TOS. I've since decided that I am not going to hamstring myself by trying to be consistent with a show that couldn't even be bothered to be consistent with itself and gone with a stardate system which is at least close to TOS but, crucially, actually has some relationship with the passage of time. Using the formula for calculating stardates at wiki-how here, I devised a system whereby the stardate calendar is effectively 'reset' every ten years. Stardate 1000 in the fic, therefore, falls on 1 Jan 2266. In extended format, this would be represented as Stardate 65/1000. Similarly, Stardate 55/1000 would be 1 Jan 2256. The first two digits in the long format represent the last two digits of the 'Base Year'. This system was discontinued in 2324, after which the calendar was again reset but would from now on be continuous with no cut-off (nicely bringing it in line with the TNG-era stardates).
It even, almost, works with the stardate given by Captain Rabau in ST:2009: provided you take the base date as 2230 for that particular rotation and not 2225, which it would be under the system above. Even then, it's about a year out, but at least it's close!
Firstly, the FanFic is set in 2266, contiguous with Season 2 of The Original Series. This is because the fic deals heavily with both the outcome of the Klingon-Federation War of 2256 (ST:DSC) and the Organian Peace Treaty. It also follows the 'Great Game' between the Federation and Klingon Empire over colonies in the Neutral Zone established by that treaty (and referenced in 'The Trouble with Tribbles') and foreshadows the Klingon-Romulan Alliance.
What does any of this have to do with the Newcastle's design, you ask? Well, even with my justification that Starfleet may well have reverted to older designs after the War of 2256, I couldn't really reconcile that with straight-up designing new entire classes of starship to specifications which were already twenty years old!
Also, the date: Newcastle was emerging from a major refit in Chapter One, only a few years before the Enterprise will go in for it's reconstruction ahead of The Motion Picture. I wanted to pay homage to that, fix the questionable logic of the Newcastle using Connie-based design language, and explain away the absence of DSC-era tech between DSC and TOS.
And, I got back into the game and while scrolling through the shipyard my eyes were attracted to the Jefferies-Class and like a magpie I-- OOH, SHINY PHASE II ENTERPRISE! WANT!!!!
Now, the Phase II Enterprise doesn't really fit in with the established canon, but it is a nice go-between between the TOS Enterprise and the TMP Enterprise, the DSC ships and the TOS Enterprise, and the DSC ships and the TMP Enterprise. So, with that in mind...
Following the disastrous war with the Klingons in 2256, Starfleet Engineering was tasked with rapidly developing a new line of starships to defend the Federation against the threat of Klingon attack. The Southampton-Class Medium Cruiser, based on the successful Constitution-Class Heavy Cruiser, was one part of this line.
However, since the war, many engineering lessons have been learned and the failures of the so-called ‘experimental era’ of the 2240s corrected. With the success of the NX-1900 Southampton and NCC-1901 Birmingham on their shakedown cruises, Utopia Planitia received the go-ahead from Starfleet Operations to redesign the class integrating new, more refined technologies aimed at building on the success of the Constitution-derived designs and those of the experimental-era respectively.
The Southampton-Class had already been designed to use a new, more powerful, warp core tied directly into the Main Phaser Power Feeds (hereafter referred to as the ‘Phaser Mains’), with mixed results. The existing Constitution-derived power distribution network was wholly inadequate to shunt such large amounts of energy at point of use as required for a tactical system, necessitating the use of the Phaser Power Banks. This allowed high-power phaser use for a short period of time without risking overloads, but could not facilitate sustained fire.
The ‘Block II’ Retrofit addresses this problem by running much heavier power conduits to the Phaser Mains, though we predict that full efficiency will only be achieved by a near-total redesign of the PDN. These findings have been forwarded to the Constitution Block IV design team at San Francisco.
The design also relocates the torpedo launchers to a new torpedo ‘blister’ located at the stardrive stem of the interhull neck. This has been done in anticipation of the new Mark VI photon torpedo, though at this stage the torpedo launchers themselves are of the Mark V ‘triplex’ and ‘duplex’ designs, with two triple-stacked tubes facing forward and one twin-stacked tube facing aft.
Perhaps the most substantial (certainly from a visual perspective) are the new warp nacelles and their supporting pylons. While providing for superior speeds than their experimental-era ‘quick-spool’ warp drives, the older W8 engines of the Constitution-Class are showing their age and are woefully inefficient. On top of this, the Southampton-Class is intended for sustained high-speed running, which the W8 units simply were not intended to achieve. The new W8.5 units allow for a slightly higher maximum warp factor of 8.5 and a cruise speed of Warp 7 on the Southampton-Class, with a cruise speed of Warp 6.8 expected if retrofitted to the Heavy Cruisers. The units also feature two integrated Bussard Hydrogen Collectors to meet fuel requirements for running the ship’s fusion reactors at an uprated 125% of original specifications (tests on the Southampton and NCC-1701 Enterprise have shown this to be viable). The collectors are shielded in a single oblong enclosure.
It should be noted that the W8.5 unit is experimental, and we expect it to be superseded by a more-refined production unit pending trials with the first Block II ships.
Owing to Utopia Planitia’s experience with the two vessels, the first two ships to receive the Block II retrofit will be NCC-1903 Newcastle and NCC-1909 Tokiwa. The Newcastle will be returning for her first 5-year refit in 2265 and is expected to return to fleet service in Block II configuration on stardate 65/1120. Tokiwa is due to finish construction stardate 55/6200, though this will now be delayed in order to implement the Block II redesign until stardate 55/8197, with commissioning to await full trials of the ship’s systems, expected by stardate 65/0244. Tokiwa is to be redesignated NX-1909 until her introduction to fleet service.
Pending results from the two Block II testbeds above, intentions are for NCC-1907 Albany, NCC-1908 Asama, NCC-1910 Izumo and NCC-1911 Iwate to follow as they enter the yards for their first 5-year refits, with the remainder of the class being rebuilt as they commence their second 5-year refits in 2270 (2268 for Southampton), if appropriate.
Basically, the Class was initially designed as a simple kitbash of the Connie, with Starfleet then proceeding to use the design as a testbed for new technologies which will eventually culminate in the TMP-era Constitution refit. I'm already starting to redesign the ship visually with the Phase II aesthetic as a starting point. For now, you can see my original design here and imagine it using Phase-II nacelles instead of TOS Connie ones and a Phase-II style torpedo pod at the base of the neck.
Also note the stardates. For the original fanfic, I was just going to ignore stardates so I could sidestep the issue of trying to be internally consistent with myself and TOS. I've since decided that I am not going to hamstring myself by trying to be consistent with a show that couldn't even be bothered to be consistent with itself and gone with a stardate system which is at least close to TOS but, crucially, actually has some relationship with the passage of time. Using the formula for calculating stardates at wiki-how here, I devised a system whereby the stardate calendar is effectively 'reset' every ten years. Stardate 1000 in the fic, therefore, falls on 1 Jan 2266. In extended format, this would be represented as Stardate 65/1000. Similarly, Stardate 55/1000 would be 1 Jan 2256. The first two digits in the long format represent the last two digits of the 'Base Year'. This system was discontinued in 2324, after which the calendar was again reset but would from now on be continuous with no cut-off (nicely bringing it in line with the TNG-era stardates).
It even, almost, works with the stardate given by Captain Rabau in ST:2009: provided you take the base date as 2230 for that particular rotation and not 2225, which it would be under the system above. Even then, it's about a year out, but at least it's close!
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Comments
Nothing new, but I'm working on it.
There is this rough draft of a new design for the ship's badge: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1IPOUa_zJ4ORM8hWDskMY6o1USqfTWIpeOnoCTzbEUwQ
No idea if that link will work, because I used Google drawings to get the inverted pentagon. The idea is that each of the first four Southampton-Class Starships (all named for Royal Navy Town-Class Cruisers) uses a similar badge, but with a different colour: Southampton's is white; Birmingham's is blue; Gloucester's is light blue; and Newcastle's is red. The 'ship's crest' has the three Federation stars underlying the Starfleet delta, but those would be omitted on the uniform badges. I haven't decided yet, but I think I might go with the uniform badges being pin-on metal badges like the new shows rather than sew-on patches. It looks good on the SNW Uniforms.
I'm also playing about with introducing some "TMP-prototype" Uniforms, perhaps later down the line. TOS colours, with the flank panels being a darker shade and no shoulder-boards. It looked smart when I tested it in-game. Otherwise, I'm sticking with TOS Uniforms.
I do have some character profiles if you're interested though?
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Those "ship badge" charts are all fan made, based on a chart passed around at conventions and published in one of the early fanzines.
There is a good explanation of it here if you want to get all the details:
https://startrek.com/article/starfleet-insignia-explained
The link to your badge image does not work btw, it requires an authorization of some kind to view.
Because that article is less than a year old and not all of us are tuned in to the latest from all the fan sites? Sort of a silly question when the article you're linking to even states how prevalent this misconception is.
Still, it pretty clearly is a misconception, so I'll drop the patches. The Crest will stay though, because the ship is named after a Royal Navy Cruiser and all Royal Navy cruisers traditionally held a ship's Crest - traditions are cool.
Anyway, I sketched up a TOS-TMP transition uniform. Colours are for Command-division officers. Ops and Sciences would be identical, except red and blue respectively and with the appropriate division badges. Leg and footwear would be the same capris and boots as the TOS uniform.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
The uniform looks good as far as the post-TOS ones do, even the medical monitor/smartsuit controller module looks less intrusive than the original (it really should not have been so clunky in the movie anyway).
Personally, I never was a fan of the spandex jumpsuits all the later Treks except for ENT were so enamored of. Technically, they switched to wool gaberdine sometime around the TNG third or fourth season because of the horrific smell, and the strong elastic pull (the heavy spandex they used was like wearing a poorly designed full-body girdle) was giving some of the cast back troubles because it pulled down on the shoulders, but the look is the same.
You might want to keep the "ship badge" just in case Kurtzman gets the badge thing wrong (like so much else from TOS and the other traditional Treks that DSC bungles, so there is a good chance that they end up deviating from official TOS concepts in that too) if you want your designs to be NuTrek rather than accurate traditional.
The information in that web page was not just a year old, though that copy of the page was made in 2021 and is a minor buffing of a page from 2018 (and others existed earlier iirc).
The memo itself existed since December 1967 and the story behind it, along with the official explanation of the badges and their use by the six Starfleet divisions, was reprinted in The Making of Star Trek in 1972, (and it was always a good way to start friendly arguments at conventions because the "ship badge" myth was so pervasive). Also, Justman talked about it in interviews occasionally. The web page puts it in different words but the explanation itself is accurate.
Yeah, apparently that issue with the spandex was a big reason why they gave Picard that sweater to wear in later seasons of TNG - the spandex didn't do his back any favours.
My thinking is that the health monitor functions as a belt buckle - the uniform isn't elastic but features an internal belt at the same height as the monitor (you can see the outline for where the belt would be). Otherwise, I tried to keep it as close to the TOS uniforms as possible - no extra do-dads, no shoulder boards, etc.
If I use it, it will be either later in the fic (closer to 2270) or in limited numbers as a transition uniform before Starfleet settles on the TMP uniform, like how the S1 TNG uniform was gradually replaced by the S3 TNG uniform, in turn replaced by the DS9 uniform. Different, but very clearly still Starfleet.
I doubt Kurtzman will mess up on the badges point: DSC has already firmly established on-screen that all Starfleet personnel wear the delta, and the Trailers for SNW imply they're sticking with the metallic delta badge as used in the Kelvin-Timeline films and DSC, so I think that pattern is here to stay. (That being said, I've been wrong before.)
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood