TREKCORE > DEEP SPACE NINE > SHIPS & STATIONS > Federation Akira-Class Cruisers

The Akira class, originally designed to be a heavy cruiser, reaches its full potential with the onset of war. These hardy ships help to reclaim Deep Space Nine from the Dominion.

SPECIFICATIONS

PRODUCTION BASE: ASDB Integration Facility, Antares Fleet Yards, Antares IV.
TYPE: Heavy Cruiser
ACCOMMODATION: 500 officers and crew; 4,500 personal evacuation limit..
POWER PLANT: One 1500 plus Cochrane warp core feeding two nacelles; one impulse system.
DIMENSIONS: Length: 464.43m, Beam: 316.67m, Height: 87.43m
MASS: 3,055,000 metric tonnes
PERFORMANCE: Warp 9.8 for 12 hours
ARMAMENTS: Six type-10 phaser emitters; two photon torpedo launchers.

Source: DS9 Technical Manual
Published by Pocket Books Ltd
Produced by Simon & Schuster Inc.

HISTORY & DETAILS

Unlike classes such as the Defiant, which is initially brought into fruition specifically to fight the Borg threat, the prototype Akira vessel, and its first sister ships, debut long before Starfleet's encounters with either the Borg or the Dominion. Since then, however, the Akira class has seen much in the way of combat, and has acquitted itself well, taking part in the vital Operation Retrieve mission to retake Deep Space Nine, and the attack on the Dominion's gateway to Cardassia, in the Chin'toka system.

So far, the initial fleet of this class includes the prototype U.S.S. Akira NCC-62497, as well as the U.S.S. Thunderchild NCC-65549, the U.S.S. Rabin NCC-63293, and the U.S.S. Spector NCC-63549, which helped to recapture the Prometheus-class prototype from Romulan commandos, in 2374.

Visually, the most distinctive feature of this class of ship is the catamaran-like hull ridges on the engineering or secondary hull. These connect the warp nacelle pylons with the primary hull, or saucer section, and, in effect, form a central 'valley' between them - a low, protected area featuring the main bridge, which is located atop the saucer's section.

Designed at the Antares Fleet Yards on Antares IV, the class was intended to fulfill carrier missions for Starfleet. More so than almost any other Starfleet vessel, the Akira's primary hull is dominated by a huge through-deck shuttlebay complex. Three separate, but adjoining, shuttlebay doors stretch across the middle of the saucer's forward edge, between the split engineering hulls; two bay doors are located aft, on either side of a specially-designed control tower, that dominates the saucer's trailing edge. At maximum efficiency, the structure is designed to allow shuttles to depart from the forward saucer, and return to land at the aft doors near the control tower - a site protected by the surrounding ship's structure, making it less vulnerable than on other vessels. The launching and landing bays are connected, through the saucer's decks, by maintenance and logistical support facilities.

Warship specifications featured in the Akira class's original design; its armament consists of six nominal type-10 phaser strip emitters, dominated by one long strip around the saucer top's front half. On the underside, the twin phaser strips are interrupted by the recessed main deflector. The impulse engines are located port and starboard, on the saucer's trailing edge.

With so many ships, and even variations of salvaged hulls, being pressed into service against the Dominion, reports regarding exact armament and power capacity many not be standard, or accurate, for all ships, but some Akira-class vessels have, at least, a three-fire capacity in the weapons cluster's forward torpedo bays.

The Akira-class is designed for emergency saucer separation, although the saucer is equipped only with impulse engines. The intended separation line roughly leaves the rear assembly separated from the saucer, following the perimeter of the dual engineering hull.

Source: The Official STAR TREK Fact Files
Published by GE FABBRI Ltd
Produced by Aerospace Publishing Ltd

 

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