U.S.S. Temeraire, NCC-1846
Levant-class, Constitution III.
Introduced into service 31st December 2289, this vessel rejuvenated the classic science heavy cruiser design ready for the turn of the 24th Century. With the shortcomings of the 2270s refit design being exposed by the 2280s, Starfleet looked to update the design with the lessons learned both from Constitution class and the new Constellation class design. Raritan had been commissioned the previous November, yet it would be January 2290 before the first of the class, Levant, would enter service having been used as a testbed since launch.
March 2287 saw the Levant class with full upgrades authorised. The Enterprise-A had shown the potential from upgrading applied to the Ti-Ho. The Advanced Starship Design Bureau took the successful Constitution refit hull form and applied the latest designs from the Constellation and Excelsior class to upgrade the design to the ultimate form possible at that time. Whilst the Excelsior class represented the flagship design and Constellation class acted as a deep space star cruiser, Levant class would be the classic all-round ‘Swiss Army Knife’ scientific and diplomatic heavy cruiser.
With the yards having constructed the refit Constitution class design since 2273, the construction time for the basic hull form would be shortened to 18 months. Starfleet Command had stressed a need for the refurbishment and enlargement of Starfleet ship numbers. In light of the recent losses of starships such as Hood and Enterprise to the Klingons and other threats, Starfleet was in a full ‘re-grouping mode’ initiated by Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Morrow in 2285.
The ASDB analysed the flight recorders from the recently lost ships, along with strategic and combat information from Starfleet Tactical concerning the latest Klingon, Romulan and other Threat fighting methods. All of these lessons would be applied to the new Levant Class variant. Starfleet Command authorised the building of a first flight of seven new ships to test out the new technologies, with the yards ready for a substantial order of both new-build and refits of the older Constitution class variants.
A new, more powerful impulse drive system was devised to counter the K’teremny class, nemesis of U.S.S. Hood. This would not be ready for the first Levant class, but would be tested on the U.S.S. America NCC-1847 onwards. New scientific and diplomatic facilities would be introduced on the new design, as long as upgraded shuttles. Singapore Naval Yards had been selected for the first of the new class, but it was the experienced San Francisco yards that commenced U.S.S. Raritan first. Upon the launch of U.S.S. Levant, she was used as a testbed to fine-tune the new systems on the new class.
Levant-class members of the first batch ordered 2285:
NCC-1701-A Enterprise - Launched 2286 - Upgrade of NCC-1798 Ti-Ho
NCC-1843 Levant - Starfleet Division Singapore Naval Yards, Earth - Launched 3 May 2289 -
NCC-1844 Ticonderoga - Starfleet Division Vlastikov Support Base, Colony Five - Launched 2289 -
NCC-1845 Raritan - Starfleet Division San Francisco Yards, Earth - Launched 2289 -
NCC-1846 Temeraire - Starfleet Division Baltic Yards, St Petersburg, Earth - Launched 23 April 2289 -
NCC-1966 Explorer - Launched 2289 - Commissioned 2290 and sent into Tabula Rasa as nearest ship. Lost November 2290.
NCC-1847 America - Starfleet Division Port Copernicus Yards, Luna - Launched 14 June 2289 - first member fittedwith SANTH expanded impulse deck
NCC-1848 Scipion - Starfleet Division Vlastikov Support Base, Colony Five - Launched 2290
NCC-1849 Alliance - Starfleet Division San Francisco Yards, Earth - Launched 27 August 2290 - replaced lost Federation-class dreadnought.
Starfleet Command soon approved the new design, replacing older worn-out members of the Constitution class with new vessels from the new design. U.S.S. Temeraire was part of the new fleet, pioneering the new cruiser concept. Her first five-year mission was from 2290 – 2295, being assigned initially to the Tabula Rasa systems. Her first commanding officer was Captain Frenka Shamees from the Rigel colonies. He had built his career on Constitution class vessels and was suitably impressed by the new design. The Temeraire was sent to study the newly-discovered Taubat race. Constitution class U.S.S. Explorer had been the first Constitution class vessel on the scene, but it was evident that this amount of planetary systems would require more starships.
The Temeraire spent a lot of time over her assigned ice world, sending down away teams to explore the terrain, secure new mineral sites for the mining ships to concentrate on when they arrived, and studying the Taubat people. As with all Starfleet vessels, there were tense encounters between the Temeraire and the Klingon and Romulan warships that were sent to explore these newly-created, mineral-rich worlds. Even with a crew of 500, the Temeraire was struggling to explore the planet in the time allotted. The Taubat study was the priority as there had been unusual encounters between the Klingons and this new species. Their look and mentality was best described as being ‘unfinished’, and their behaviour was borderline obsessive with regards the power-generating systems that they worshipped.
August 13th 2290 was a date that would be forever etched in Starfleet history as the Metar were unleashed by the Taubat on AP-173B. The nature and behaviour of the Taubat came into focus in the last few hours of peace, with Starfleet realising the Taubat were a manufactured race, genetically engineered by a far more advanced biotech race. The Temeraire studies had helped to reach this conclusion as the genome and mental maps of Taubat medical studies were finally compiled. The Federation facilities were quickly overrun by the Metar forces, this would later be found to be as a result of Romulan sabotage just prior to the attack.
By 2291, Starfleet was getting concerned both by the large number of Klingon and Romulan vessels in close proximity to Starfleet and Federation assets, with no Neutral Zone between them. The Potemkin and other Starfleet vessels were attacked by Klingon warships, resulting in high loss of life. The Klingons blamed the attack on the convoy on the provocative action of Starfleet in sending their ships into space claimed by the Klingons. Starfleet responded that no nation had - or indeed could – lay claim to the systems that were arguably the nation of the Taubat Commonwealth. The Temeraire and other Starfleet ships were ordered to exercise caution when dealing with vessels of the other nations. Increasingly, assets of the other nations would be found exploring on the worlds where Starfleet had already begun constructing science stations and mining facilities – and vice-versa.
U.S.S. Temeraire was assigned to bring famed Ambassador Sarek to Pellion Blue to discuss the growing Metar threat and bring the three major nations together to combat the imminent crisis. The Temeraire was on standby to remove her scientific team and evacuate the Ambassador in light of the seemingly unstoppable onslaught of the Metar. Starfleet did later order the withdrawal of Starfleet assets from the Tabula Rasa systems and the Temeraire played a key role in the evacuation of personnel and essential supplies, although this was not always possible in the rapidly-developing situation.
Following the successful resolution of the Tabula Rasa crisis, U.S.S. Temeraire was assigned to continue her five-year mission. In 2293 the Temeraire was one of the starships sent to look for the missing U.S.S. Enterprise during the trial of Captain Kirk. Although they never found the ship they were looking for, as an unintended result the Temeraire foiled the incursion of a Romulan vessel that was believed to have been part of the conspiracy. In 2295 the Temeraire returned home for a refit before returning back to the frontier.
By 2313 the U.S.S. Temeraire has had her fourth refit and is just beginning her fifth five-year mission of exploration into the Beta Quadrant, commanded by Captain Oonoah Salis, a very capable Rigelian male. The ship itself has been updated and it still at the forefront of exploration, ready for decades ahead to boldly go...
Further five-year missions of the Temeraire:
2290 – 2295
2296 – 2300
2301 – 2306
2307 – 2312
2313 –
Author’s notes:
Levant class was in SotS authorised 2287 and launched starting from NCC-1843 before Enterprise-A. With Gene Roddenberry’s revelation that the Yorktown became the Enterprise, the Levant and her sisters came afterwards. I’d argue they resembled the U.S.S. America NCC-1847 more closely.
I have tried to take into account canon events and dates when re-imagining the back-history of the Constitution III/Enterprise II/Levant class. Bridge modules will be like out of Star Trek: a shiny interior to match new ships, as opposed to worn-out rebuilt Constitution class.
We also need to figure out which ST: New Worlds planets are what, in terms of alpine, desert etc. Plus mapping out the campaign...
Levant class Bridge, as seen on the Enterprise-A in 2287.
U.S.S. Temeraire bridge - copyright Ex Astris Scientia, Modified by BobyE
