1 - Overview

This section provides a general overview of the Alpha Class design project. 
It also provides a summary of the four classes and their common variants.





Alpha Class Design Project Overview

To begin with, technically there are no Alpha class cruisers. When five brilliant engineers came together, they believed that they could together design a thing of grace, beauty, and power. So began the Alpha class multi-purpose cruiser project. Originally the five engineers and their comrades began calling it the ‘Alpha’ class as a placeholder until the name of the first ship in the class could be determined when, according to tradition, the class would bear that name.  But when Starfleet finally accepted the design it decided that instead of one class with four major variants it would be four classes of starship, albeit four very closely related classes.  And so the Astraeus, Melbourne, Oleet, and Peisander ship classes were born.

The term “Alpha class” still managed to find its way into Starfleet vernacular, usually for three particular purposes. When referring to the combined design project of all four classes people call it the “Alpha class design project.” Also, when people wanted to refer to the four closely related ship classes as a whole rather than a particular class, then “Alpha class ships” became the common usage.  Lastly, when referring to the various types of interchangeable modules, or "Pods" designed to be attached to these ships Fleet personnel began using “Alpha class pods.” since the pods could be mounted on any of the four classes. “Alpha class” was a simple and easy method to reference for a complex and often interchangeable group of ships and pods. 

So how did it all begin?  Officially the project began early in 2373 but in reality it had been going on for over a decade before this date as a private hobby of five friends. The sudden fleet building expansions caused by the Borg incursion and the Dominion War caused the friends to submit their proposals to Starfleet. Initially Starfleet rejected the proposals but as the war worsened, and as the friends used their various influences, the proposal was finally accepted.

The original goal of the project was to small multipurpose cruiser. A ship that was inexpensive enough to produce in numbers, rugged enough to survive in adverse times and to have a long service livetime, and able to perform all the major roles expected of Starfleet. Of course several of those goals are counter to each other. The Galaxy class project also had the goal of producing a ship able to do everything and the result was a wonderful class, but one that was extremely time consuming and expensive to build. To overcome this problem the Alpha class design team decided that, while they wanted to build a class of ships able to do just about everything, not every ship in the class needed to be able to do everything all the time.

Expanding on the success of the Nebula class mission pod, the Alpha class team decided to make their design a pod carrier and to greatly expand on the utility and variety of the original Nebula pod design. By the time the Alpha class design project turned from a dream into a reality the project had coalesced  into a single general purpose spaceframe that would be specialized on production into one of four variants and could mount up to three pods to further expand the ships ability to perform specific missions.


The Spaceframe

For more details regarding the spaceframe and the systems held in common by all Alpha class project ships see file 2 - Alpha Class. 

Right from the beginning... the spaceframe... you can see that the Alpha class does not conform to
traditional Starfleet designs.  The spaceframe is trilateral in symmetry rather than bilateral.  Additionally, it disposes of the older tradition of a separate primary and secondary hull in favor of the newer tradition of a single primary/secondary hybrid hull.

The spaceframe (without pods or nacelles) is 455.75 meters in length and 75 meters at its widest point. It is shaped like a dart with pile (diamond pyramid) head. From a sharp prow the ship thickens along three axis for about 200 meters until it reaches its maximum width. At this point each of the three sides is 75 meters long (37.5 meters in diameter) forming a three sided pyramidal shape. After this point the hull rapidly tapers into a 32 meter diameter cylindrical secondary hull. The secondary hull has three long, slender pylons offset from the orientation of the primary hull for the nacelles, so the forward aspect of each nacelle has clear viability forward of the ship. The secondary hull also has three shorter and thicker pylons for mounting pods. Aft of the pylons the secondary hull decreases in diameter down to 9.7 meters when it ends.

The nacelles are also notably different than typical Federation construction. The forward aspect of the nacelle is several times larger than is typical. This is because the forward nacelle also houses the ships navigational deflector and several other systems. Aft of the nacelle's mounting pylon the nacelle curves back down into a narrower, more traditional looking nacelle.

The spaceframe mixes and combines linear elements with curved elements throughout the frame. As your eye follows a line it will gradually change into a curve as you get to an edge and then transform back to a line as it proceeds further along the hull. The result is a elegant ascetic that at the same times looks powerful, graceful, and poised for action.


The Four Classes

For more detailed information on the four classes of starship produced by the Alpha class design project see files: 3 - Astraeus class advanced cruiser, 4 - Melbourne class tactical cruiser, 5 - Oleet class transport, and 6 - Peisander class transport.

When an Alpha class project ship is being built it is specialized into one of four basic classes: science (Astaeus), military (Melbourne), luxury (Oleet), cargo (Peisander). While the general spaceframe of all four classes is the same the primary systems built into the frame such as lab spaces, weapons, sensors, cargo holds, crew facilities, ship automation, etc. are different depending on which class is being produced. While it would be possible to later change a ship from once class to another, it would require a shipyard and a major refit to do so and would almost be easier to just build a new ship of the needed class. All four classes are also outfitted upon construction with other systems based on their intended mission but these secondary systems are usually more modular and easier to swap out without a requiring a shipyard or major refit. Many are even designed so they can be modified by the ship's engineering staff without base facilities.


The Pods

For more details on the various pod designs see file 3 - Alpha Pods.

Probably the most important aspect of the entire project is that the ships are pod-carriers. Each ship is designed to carry three pods which can either expand and enhance the ships normal systems or introduce entirely new systems to the ships use. While any pod can be mounted on any of the four classes of ships, certain pods are not typically used on certain ships. The pods also vary widely in how common they are in use and manufacture. For example: the Crew pod, which provides additional crew quarters and recreational systems is a fairly common pod allowing ships to provide a better lifestyle during long deployments. On the other hand, some pods are actually custom build for a single important mission and then are decommissioned and never seen again.


Final overview

The Alpha class design project resulted in a single frame used by four classes of ship. Each
class of ship can also be further modified in itself or by the addition of mission pods. While
this is not an exhaustive list, the most well known variants are:

Alpha Superclass
   Astraeus class advanced cruiser
      The Astraeus class is probably the second most common and probably the most well known
      of the Alphas. It is designed to have the widest variety of options and systems in the primary
      and secondary hulls. Variants include:

         Exploration variant - customized for exploration and survey missions. This is probably the
            most glamorous of all the Alpha class siblings, the ship designed to go boldly go where
            no man has gone before. 

         Science and research variant - customized for conducting scientific study and research
            Misssions. This is the the most common variant of the Astraeus class.  

         Training variant - customized for training starfleet cadets.  There are only a few ships of
            this variant. They are designed to provide the advanced instruction to senior cadets
            before they graduate the academy.

         Longprobe variant - designed to investigate spacial anomalies or other missions at risk of
            being cut off from the Federation for long periods.

    Melbourne class tactical cruiser
      During times of peace these vessels run anti-piracy missions, respond to acts of armed
      aggression against citizens and property of the Federation, and patrol the enormous
      Federation boundary, especially when the boarder is shared with an aggressive species
      such as the Cardassians, Breen, Romulans, Klingons, or Tholians. During war the
      Melbourne class can be further customized into a wide role of missions including fleet
      operations, convoy escort, planetary assault, commerce raiding, scouting, and espionage.
      Variants on this class include:

         General purpose - this provides a wide and balanced mixture of weapons and tactical
            systems without a great reduction in crew comfort and is the most common variant
            during peacetime.

         Assault variant - this variant is designed to land Federation troops on a planet under
            combat conditions and to support them during their operations.

         Attack variant - this variant is designed to operate within a fleet and to greatly increase
            the fleet's offensive phaser and/or torpedo firepower.

         Carrier variant - this variant is designed to operate within a fleet and to greatly increase
            the fleet's number of drones, shuttles and fighters.

         Flagship variant - this variant is designed to operate within a fleet and to greatly increase
            the fleet's command and control ability.  It provides housing and working space for the
            fleet's admiralty staff.

         Fleet axillary variant - this variant is designed to operate within a fleet and to provide
            the fleet with manufacturing for repairs and replenishment, operate as a minelayer, and
            a armed cargo carrier.

         Multi-vector variant - this variant is designed to carry and support pods designed to
            operate as separate powerful but short range combatants

         Stealth variant - this variant is designed to avoid detection and operate behind enemy
            lines on a variety of types of missions

   Oleet class transport
      The Oleet class is the rarest of the Alpha project ships. It is a primarily designed to carry
      diplomatic missions, senior politicians, and other VIPs. Variants on this class include:

         Embassy variant - This variant is designed to carry a Federation ambassador-at-large
            and is in essence a mobile embassy compound. It is designed to provide an area a
            temporary Federation embassy either for a needed but limited period or until a
            permanent embassy can be constructed.

         Presidential transport variant - This variant is custom designed to carry the President
            of the Federation when he travels. It provides living and working spaces for the
            president, his senior staff, and the press corp. Only five of these variants have been
            produced. Two are reserved for the president and always travel in tandem for security.
            The other three serve the Federation council as needed councilors needs a mobile
            office.

   Peisander class transport
      The Peisander class is the most produced class of the Alphas. It is also probably the
      most overlooked in its importance. The Peisander provides safe and fast transportation
      of goods and personnel for Starfleet. Starfleet usually uses commercial transport for
      moving good and personnel from place to place, often it does not want to use commercial
      ships because they are slower, do not travel to an area, or the goods to be shipped are
      classified or dangerous. Variants in this class include:

         General variant - providing a good mixture of passenger & cargo space.

         Cargo variant - designed to deliver cargo with few passenger accommodations .

         Colonial support variant - designed to travel a circuit of small Federation colonies and
            outposts to provide them a variety administration, judicial, medical, and other services
            on a regular schedule.

         Industrial variant - this variant is designed to be a mobile mining, refining, and
            manufacturing center to be used in areas without an established industrial base.
            Typically used for important but isolated construction project, such a building an
            outpost, or helping a new colony build its own industrial base, or helping a disaster
            area recover their own industrial base.

         Medical ship - this variant is a dedicated medical ship designed to rapidly deploy to a
            major medical emergency such as a natural disaster or epidemic outbreak.

         Repair and Salvage - this variant is designed to be a miniature mobile shipyard, able to
            make major repairs to a starship, perform salvage operations on a destroyed starship,
            or to tow a crippled ship to starbase.

         Transport variant - this variant is designed to move large numbers of personnel quickly.

         Troopship variant - this is a sub-variant of the Transport variant and is typically only
            used during times of war or for an evacuation, when the Federation needs to move large
            numbers of personnel quickly with less concern about their comfort and convenience.