MERCURY CLASS CORVETTE The first Corvette class to serve the Federation Starfleet following the inception of the UFP in 2161, the Mercury class—like the gargantuan Victory class Dreadnought—was a rushed response by a fledging Navy, to confront the realities and challenges that came with being an interstellar power. Unlike Victory however, Mercury did not enter production soon enough to make an impact on the bloody Earth-Romulan War, but would go on to became a fleet staple—a vital, but oft-overlooked workhorse that served a critical role in ensuring the security of the Federation, without which, the Class I era might not have even existed. During the war, the Romulan Imperial Navy’s numerical superiority proved a grave challenge for Earth Starfleet, which could find no easy solution to improve its standing. The NX, Intrepid and Delta classes were the most powerful and most advanced that were fielded. The only other major class—Daedalus—was considered largely outdated by that point. Refitted though, with technology from the two former classes, the Earth forces managed to slowly claw their way back from the brink of annihilation. In the war’s aftermath however, it became clear that an intermediate solution was needed to bolster the fleet’s numbers and enhance its capability while it worked at the same time, to achieve a balance between quality & quantity with its mainline classes. Providing a measure of brute strength along with creating a strong deterrent factor were Victory along with the Thunderbolt class Attack Fighter. However impressive their capabilities may have seemed, they were still too specialized to fill the niche that Starfleet had created. What was required was a ship larger than a fighter or shuttlecraft, yet smaller than Daedalus and that could be easily produced in quantity featuring heavy armament. The missions of such a ship would be limited to patrolling and ensuring the security of the Federation’s borders, rapid response to any internal or external threats, in-system policing and serving as an advance screen for destroyers and larger capital ships during fleet actions. Design work began in mid 2157 and constituted the longest part of Mercury’s development. The basic shape comprised a wide, somewhat angular main hull section that was forked at the front with two ‘wings’ extending to port and starboard from the centerline. The biggest problem designers and engineers faced was incorporating a reactor core sufficiently powerful enough for the planned propulsion and tactical systems. This resulted in the design becoming gradually larger and larger—with batteries of tests and simulations in between—until dimensions were finally frozen. At 91 meters in length, 82 meters beam and displacing 28,661 metric tons, it was somewhat smaller than Earth Starfleet’s Delta class Strike Cruiser, yet was comprised of 3 full decks and embarked a crew of 15. From both aesthetic & technological standpoints, Mercury broke with convention— smoother and more streamlined than the somewhat industrial “patchwork” look of NX and Intrepid while not quite as “polished” as the later Daedalus and Baton Rouge classes. She was also the first major class to be equipped with engines from Kloratis Drive Systems. Their VX-20 series were not only more streamlined than competing models from Cochrane Warp Dynamics—easier to mass produce and maintain—they were also more advanced, rated for a nominal cruise speed of Warp 5 and a maximum of Warp 7 (for 6 hours max). This series would pave the way for the famed VX-28, Kloratis’ swan song that propelled Baton Rouge and many of her contemporaries. Given Mercury’s overall mission profile, there was little thought given over to extensive support systems or facilities. As such, the medical bay and science lab included were small and featured only the most basic of appointments. Crew accommodations were similarly spartan—the CO & XO were the only ones permitted the luxury of private quarters while the remainder of the compliment were housed in barracks style accommodations (3 cabins of 5 bunks each). The ship’s mess also pulled double duty as an informal briefing room while the CO’s ready room also doubled as the Chief Engineer’s informal office.
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MERCURY CLASS CORVETTE The first Corvette class to serve the Federation Starfleet following the inception of the UFP in 2161, the Mercury class—like the gargantuan Victory class Dreadnought—was a rushed response by a fledging Navy, to confront the realities and challenges that came with being an interstellar power. Unlike Victory however, Mercury did not enter production soon enough to make an impact on the bloody Earth-Romulan War, but would go on to became a fleet staple—a vital, but oft-overlooked workhorse that served a critical role in ensuring the security of the Federation, without which, the Class I era might not have even existed. During the war, the Romulan Imperial Navy’s numerical superiority proved a grave challenge for Earth Starfleet, which could find no easy solution to improve its standing. The NX, Intrepid and Delta classes were the most powerful and most advanced that were fielded. The only other major class—Daedalus—was considered largely outdated by that point. Refitted though, with technology from the two former classes, the Earth forces managed to slowly claw their way back from the brink of annihilation. In the war’s aftermath however, it became clear that an intermediate solution was needed to bolster the fleet’s numbers and enhance its capability while it worked at the same time, to achieve a balance between quality & quantity with its mainline classes. Providing a measure of brute strength along with creating a strong deterrent factor were Victory along with the Thunderbolt class Attack Fighter. However impressive their capabilities may have seemed, they were still too specialized to fill the niche that Starfleet had created. What was required was a ship larger than a fighter or shuttlecraft, yet smaller than Daedalus and that could be easily produced in quantity featuring heavy armament. The missions of such a ship would be limited to patrolling and ensuring the security of the Federation’s borders, rapid response to any internal or external threats, in-system policing and serving as an advance screen for destroyers and larger capital ships during fleet actions.
Design work began in mid 2157 and constituted the longest part of Mercury’s development. The basic shape comprised a wide, somewhat angular main hull section that was forked at the front with two ‘wings’ extending to port and starboard from the centerline. The biggest problem designers and engineers faced was incorporating a reactor core sufficiently powerful enough for the planned propulsion and tactical systems. This resulted in the design becoming gradually larger and larger—with batteries of tests and simulations in between—until dimensions were finally frozen. At 91 meters in length, 82 meters beam and displacing 28,661 metric tons, it was somewhat smaller than Earth Starfleet’s Delta class Strike Cruiser, yet was comprised of 3 full decks and embarked a crew of 15. From both aesthetic & technological standpoints, Mercury broke with convention—smoother and more streamlined than the somewhat industrial “patchwork” look of NX and Intrepid while not quite as “polished” as the later Daedalus and Baton Rouge classes. She was also the first major class to be equipped with engines from Kloratis Drive Systems. Their VX-20 series were not only more streamlined than competing models from Cochrane Warp Dynamics—easier to mass produce and maintain—they were also more advanced, rated for a nominal cruise speed of Warp 5 and a maximum of Warp 7 (for 6 hours max). This series would pave the way for the famed VX-28, Kloratis’ swan song that propelled Baton Rouge and many of her contemporaries. Given Mercury’s overall mission profile, there was little thought given over to extensive support systems or facilities. As such, the medical bay and science lab included were small and featured only the most basic of appointments. Crew accommodations were similarly spartan—the CO & XO were the only ones permitted the luxury of private quarters while the remainder of the compliment were housed in barracks style accommodations (3 cabins of 5 bunks each). The ship’s mess also pulled double duty as an informal briefing room while the CO’s ready room also doubled as the Chief Engineer’s informal office.
Tactically, Mercury remained slightly below Delta initially—mounting 4 Phase Cannons (1 each on the dorsal/ventral surfaces of the forward ‘forks’) and 2 Photon Missile Launchers (ventral forward). Deflector Shield technology was still in its infancy—widely deployed and refined to a degree by the Andorian Imperial Guard, but only employed thus far by Starfleet on the massive Victory class Dreadnought. The inclusion of such a system (with a capacity here of 3,829 TerraJoules) aboard a ship this small was viewed as a necessary step forward in developing and refining the technology for use on future ship classes. Sensor and communications systems were of equal importance—the fact that this area was one where advancement seemed to progress glacially slow was of no consequence as Starfleet still relied in large part on stationary assets for surveillance, monitoring & relay purposes. Systems themselves were lifted from the Intrepid and Daedalus classes—modified primarily to extend their range and reduce their power draw (taking into account the smaller, less powerful reactor used). Entering fleet service in mid 2160, in the aftermath of the Earth-Romulan War and just prior to the inception of the UFP, Mercury’s early life was spent along the newly established Romulan Neutral Zone conducting patrols and providing security while the Foxtrot series outpost stations were constructed. By 2215, nearly 2,000 of these Corvettes had been constructed and deployed—providing an impressive bulwark that helped Starfleet maintain its strength during the transitionary period leading up to the Class I Era. In 2218, the Sentry (CO 27) was on routine patrol near Sirius when she intercepted a distress call from a small warp capable shuttle that had just entered Federation space and was fleeing rapidly towards the core systems. Almost immediately upon bringing the craft aboard and debriefing its passengers, Commander Francis Benoit and his crew discovered what had them so spooked—the Klingon D-4 class IKS Devisor, which had been in hot pursuit. The battlecruiser halted when it came upon the Sentry, its commander demanding that Benoit hand over the shuttle and its passengers. When Benoit refused and tried to reason with him, Sentry was promptly fired upon, causing him to send a distress call and flee the scene. Responding in short order from two directions, Starfleet forces and those of the Andorian Imperial Guard surrounded and destroyed the Devisor without attempting any further contact. Naturally, this incident prompted the redeployment of stronger assets—including an increased number of Mercury class ships—to the Klingon border, where they became favored targets of the Klingon border forces. It was rumored (though never substantiated) that the KDF’s G-1/Sentinel class Gunboat was developed as a direct response in 2225. Aside from patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone and engaging in occasional skirmishes (from this point forward) with KDF border forces, there were also the forces of the Kzinti Patriarchy to contend with. A Beta Quadrant power that remained bitterly hostile to the Federation since the disastrous first contact in the mid 21st Century, the Kzinti mounted an attack on the Federation colony Slavin H-3 in 2226, but were driven off by a flight of Mercurys along with the Light Cruisers Caudiptyrex (CL 1411) and Goshawk (CL 1423). Varying levels of aggression from this tripartite of powers combined with other routine douties would go on to dominate Mercury’s service life for nearly two decades.
In 2235, the entire Mercury fleet was upgraded and new build specifications were altered. Improvements were mostly incremental—focusing on system upgrades (including the replacement of the phase cannon armament with heavier, more refined laser-based weaponry). By this point, circumferential warp engine designs were entering more widespread service and Starfleet was keen to achieve another technological leap forward. However the engines themselves were rather large and unwieldy, the engineering behind them too complex to adapt to a smaller design and power requirements too extreme for a ship the size of Mercury. The advent of the Four Years War in 2246—the first and only period of open warfare between the Federation and Klingon Empire—made this all a moot point as Mercury’s sheer numbers were a strength that Starfleet played up again and again beginning in 2247. The First and Second Battles of Axanar were overwhelming Starfleet victories, cutting off the Klingon garrison on that world and eliminating a key KDF stronghold in Federation space. In response, the KDF launched smaller, more numerous incursions concurrently so as to force Starfleet to spread its forces thinner and weaken them overall. The effectiveness of this strategy was validated in the sound defeat of Starfleet forces at the Battles of GR-1 and Nozseca VIII. With Starfleet’s front line forces in those areas wiped out, 6 Mercury squadrons a piece, bolstered by formations of Kiaga (DD 920) class ships equal or smaller in size, were instrumental in patching these ‘holes’ along the border long enough for Starfleet to regroup and strike back. The class’ performance here and in the subsequent Battle of Revonet (a thorough rout of the KDF, bringing all borderspace incursions to a halt for a period) elevated it to a new level of importance once the Zone of Transport Escort was established. By increasing the number of Kiaga and Marklin (DH 1200) class starships along the border, Mercurys were freed up to provide armed escort for transport vessels and convoys—a vital move that came none too soon, given the large number of Independece class Freighters Starfleet had already lost. They continued in this role straight through to the war’s conclusion in 2250 at which time just over 1,100 remained in service. In the aftermath, as Starfleet’s ‘Golden Age’ of exploration & expansion took hold, the class underwent its second and final upgrade. Comprehensive in the extreme, it was viewed in some circles as a waste of resources given that Mercury had been in service for nearly a century (production finally ending in 2251). At the center was a powerful, state of the art reactor core. Not only did it power the completely modern computer control, communication & life support systems, but the powerful new phaser emitters, sensor arrays and deflector shield generators. It also gave Mercury’s antiquidated VX-28 series engines a new lease on life—providing an overabundance of power that allowed crews to customize and tweak every last bit of usefulness out of them. Hereafter, in addition to its normal duties, the class served in a variety of other capacities including acting as a support platform for starbases and outpost as well as helping to greatly bolster the Mars Defense Perimeter. Three—the Sable (CO 97), Marquis (CO 112) and Montego (CO 105) were also assigned to Starfighter Command’s 1st Training Wing based at the Saturn Flight Range. The introduction of the much-hyped Class II Support Ships into fleet service in 2275 (the Gagarin/CO 472 being considered Mercury’s direct replacement) spelled the end to a
storied service life for a class that gone on to serve far past its prime, leaving an indelible mark on Starfleet for ages to come.
Class Classification Service Number Active Length Beam Height Decks
Mercury Corvette 2160-2275 0 91m 82m 13m 3
Mass Compliment
28,661 metric tons 15
Armament Defense Systems
4 Phase Cannons (2160-2235) 4 Laser Cannons (2235-51) 2 Type VI Phaser Banks (2251-75) 2 Photon Missile Launchers Standard Deflector Shield System total capacity 3,829 TerraJoules (2160-2251) 5,343 Terra Joules (2251-2275) Light Monotanium Single Hull
Editor’s Annotations To be honest, I have no idea what prompted me/where I got the inspiration to do this ship—I suppose I was either browsing around for images of something else, or just plain browsing. Either way, this once again takes me back even further than TOS, all the way into the ENT era. Not wanting to stay that far back though, I did a little brainstorming and moved this up a bit into the ‘Baton Rouge’ era—that sort of gray period in between ENT and TOS that so far, remains untouched by just about every creative medium. Making it smaller than the 3-4 major classes of ENT (NX, Intrepid, Daedalus, ‘Delta’), yet smaller than the TOS Archer class (from the ‘Vanguard’ series) set the foundation. The relative lack of small cutter/corvette sized ships aside from Archer during this period is what made brainstorming & writing drag out—as NX and her ilk weren’t so much larger. Its sleek, fighter-craft inspired design, combined with my own brief experience writing about civilian vessels (mainly the Thunder class) is what drove me to further develop this Corvette concept—as the few Destroyer classes or even ones such as Daedalus would seem out of place in these sort of routine roles.
