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November 9th, 2008 – Diligent Class

By 2376 the Dominion War was over and Starfleet was faced with the herculean task of rebuilding the fleet. While classes like the Akira, Intrepid, Sabre, Defiant and Steamrunner were being produced at record rates to bolster Starfleet’s numbers, it was decided that new designs were also needed to address gaps in functionality made apparent during the war.

The Defiant Class design, for instance, demonstrated vividly the difference between a vessel designed primarily for exploration and one designed primarily for combat. While the war was over and diplomatic and scientific discovery needed to resume, Command decided it was not about to grow lax and so called for a vessel with a compact design and significant combat capabilities, like the Defiant, that also had the capacity to execute scientific, diplomatic and explorative missions on a small scale, when larger explorers were not required.

The Diligent Class was the resulting proposal. Equipped with the latest technology, including bio-neural circuitry, new sensor suites and propulsion systems, at the expense of being somewhat larger, it represented an overall improvement over the smaller Defiant Class in terms of non-combat mission interoperability, while still maintaining nearly the same combat potential. However, this vessel is not designed to replace the Defiant class project, but to supplement it and other small vessels designed for short-range exploratory missions. It sacrifices the heavy pulse phaser cannons and greater maneuverability of the smaller vessel for a high top speed and creature comforts for its crew.

Compared to the Defiant, crew accommodations are increased greatly over the older class; officers ranked Lieutenant J.G. and above have their own staterooms, Ensigns, warrant officers, and chief petty officers share bunked quarters, with one other person, while petty officers and below share quarters with three other crewmen. The starship is equipped with two holosuites as well as a fully equipped mess hall.

The ship is also equipped with two sets of VIP quarters and a conference lounge, facilities not featured aboard a Defiant, Raptor, or Saber Class, which makes it capable of undertaking diplomatic missions between two to three parties. This capability, combined with her impressive weapons array, makes the Diligent suitable for second or third contact missions with new races or to mediate disputes between small spacefaring powers. In essence, the Diligent has the ability to ‘fight her way out’ should negotiations fail. (read more...)

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