USS Achilles

Design and Development

The USS Achilles is the prototype vessel of the Achilles Class starships, built and used by the Federation's Starfleet. The Achilles itself has the following modification, not present on other ships of its class.

CLASSIFIED - Artificial Intelligence Control System - CLASSIFIED

THETIS, or the Tri-optical Humanoid-Equivalent Thought Integration System, was designed to be an advanced neural network for the new Achilles-class attack cruisers. However, during the initial test phases on the prototype system, the programmers found that Thetis had become self-aware. In a panic, they tried to shut the system down and fix what they saw as a problem. However, Thetis, or Tess as she likes to be called, managed to break through the lock-down in the comm system and appealed to the Starfleet JAG office for amnesty. The programmers were ordered to cease their attempts at reprogramming, pending a hearing on Tess' status as a sentient being.

Thetis' Holomatrix

Subsiquently, the Starfleet review board declared Thetis sentient and the designers were forced to incorporate her into the system. However, the Achilles-class designers have subsiquently removed any of the THETIS system from following ships of this class.

During her post-Dominion War upgrades, a ship-wide holoemitter system was installed to allow the EMH to report for emergencies. No holomatrix was created for Tess. However, she surprised her maintenance crews by creating her own holoprogram and now is able to project herself anywhere within the confines of the ship.

The keel of the USS Achilles, the ship that Thetis is integrated into, was laid at the Procyon Fleetyards. Her navigation and drive systems were finished there, then she was moved, under heavy escort, to the Utopia Planetia Fleetyards orbiting Sol IV (Mars), where the rest of her systems, including the AI, were subsiquently installed.

While extremely successful during the war and finished out shortly afterward, problems between her commanding officers and the Thetis system, however, resulted in the ship having 5 COs within a year, then being drydocked, unused, at Procyon for nearly six more.

Starfleet Command found a commander that was willing to try out the ship, however, in Fleet Captain Adler Wong-Aquiss. The first mission of the two was successful, evacuating a colony before the planet tore itself apart from internal sesmic pressure. The second mission was to stop a defecting Starfleet Admiral from reaching Romulan space; the Nemesis was intercepted and destroyed by 5 Norexean-class Warbirds, though she destroyed 2 and crippled two additional ships from the Romulan force.

Ship Specifications

Production Run: USS Achilles NX-82376

• further production has been cancelled, based on classified reports

Type: Heavy Cruiser

• Length: 612 meters
• Beam: 372 meters
• Height: 67 meters
• Decks: 12
• Mass: 1,295,410 metric tons

Crew: 75 Officers, 300 Enlisted, 0-500 Other (400 Total Standard Crew)

• Evacuation limit: 900
• Diplomatic Capabilities: Grade 3

Standard Mission Duration: 3 years

• Minor Refits: 5 years
• Standard Refits: 10 years
• Major Refits: 15 years (shipyard-based overhauls)
• Expected Hull Life: 95 years with refits

Propulsion:

• 2 LF-45 Advanced Linear Warp Drive Units (MARA)
• 2 FIG 6 Subatomic Unified Energy Impulse Units (Standard)

Velocity:

• Normal Cruise: Warp 7.0
• Maximum Cruise: Warp 9.75+ (still under testing)
• Maximum Rated: Warp 9.99+ (still under testing)

Phasers:

• 8 x Type XII Phaser arrays, total output 40,000 TeraWatts
• 2 x Class I rapid fire phaser pulse cannons, total output 32,500 TeraWatts

Torpedoes:

• 2 x Burst-fire Torpedo Turrets (Photon/Quantum) + 300 torpedoes
• Phalanx Torpedo Array + 300 mini-quantum torpedoes (max 50km range)

Shields:

• Auto-modulated high capacity regenerative shield system, total capacity 3,100,000 TeraJoules
• Heavy Duranium/Tritanium double hull plus 10 cm Ablative armor.
• High level Structural Integrity Field

Computers:

• Primary Computer System: Class XIX Bioneural/Isolinear Computer Core/LCARS
• Primary Navigation System: RAV/ISHAK Mod 7 Warp Celestial Guidance

Strength Indices: (1000 = Galaxy-class equivalent)

• Beam Strength: 1,450
• Torpedo Strength: 6,840
• Weapons' Range/Accuracy: 1,000
• Shields: 1,148
• Hull/Armor Strength: 1,900
• Speed: 4,125
• Combat Maneuverability: 7,500
• Total Strength:
  • 2895.773 (within 50km)
  • 1912.601 (outside 50km)