Starship Sundays: Calypso-Class

We’ve given the stats for a Calypso-class before: the U.S.S. Mogami. However, I didn’t lay out the Calypso-Class spaceframe explicitly. Omission corrected!

The Calypso-class is a fan design for a game called Star Trek: Fleet Operations, designed by Nathan Zeichler. Here is the YouTube channel video for it. There is a full description of the Calypso-class there, repeated here:

Designed by Nathan Zeichner

Affiliation: United Federation of Planets
Ship Type: Small Science Small Cruiser (Refit)
Initial Launch: 2372 2378 (Refit)
Size: Length: 293 meters
Width: 140 meters
Height: 42 meters
Crew: 90
Weapons: 2 Pulse Phasers Cannons, 6 Phaser Emitters
Maximum Speed: Warp 9.6
Lore Note: This ship was designed for Star Trek: Fleet Operations (Fleet Ops), a free game created by passionate fans. The lore of the game was written at the end of DS9, but before the end of Voyager. As a result, the game takes place in a universe that is different than the main Star Trek Timeline. For more information please visit http://www.fleetops.net Lore: The Calypso class was originally designed as a short range science vessel. Its large shuttle bay was used primarily for installing large and sensitive scientific equipment that the transporters could not otherwise handle. Produced in small numbers alongside the Intrepid and Nova class ships, Calypso class vessels would survey supernovae, explore nebulas, and run experiments on exotic phenomenon. However, after the devastation of the Dominion War, Starfleet needed to quickly shore up its ranks. The Calypso class’s modular systems made it a perfect candidate for refits. On most Calypso class ships, a holographic network was installed into its deflector grid. With its new projectors, a Calypso could confuse enemy sensors with multiple sensor echoes. Additional armaments were also added onto the ship, including pulse cannons based on those from the Defiant class. After her retrofit, the USS Fenrir made a name for herself by defending deep space outposts from pirates and raiders in the chaotic days following the end of the Dominion War. Following this tumultuous period, she became a familiar and friendly sight for vessels founding new colonies on the frontiers of the Federation. Design Notes: The lore of this ship from Star Trek Fleet Ops described her as a late 24th Century Oberth class, that was then deconstructed and rebuilt into a cruiser. To that end I designed a ship heavily influenced by the Intrepid and Sovereign classes. While studying Sovereign class concept art I realized that one of the core aspects to her style was intersecting and interrupted curves. This became the major inspiration when designing the Calypso. The final result was a large shovel shaped saucer, reminiscent of a Sovereign saucer section cut in half, with curved sections layered on top. This design philosophy had the additional advantage of giving the ship the patchwork feel that would come after a major refit. I decided to have a little fun with the Calypso’s nacelles. A flat, smaller nacelle similar to the Intrepid seemed to fit best with saucer section and body. I mixed up the normal style by exposing the coils and making them the majority of the nacelle. After I settled upon the form of the ship, I turned to the other main feature of the Calypso class: her holoprojectors. I used the yellow grid holo projectors as a base, because it is one of the most iconic visuals from TNG. The projectors were originally described as domes, but I found that the grid did not map well to a hemisphere. I ended up designing a small lattice structure to sit on top of the flat yellow grid, but it needed to be simple enough to preserve the clarity of the grid from a distance. The design process for this ship is documented in a blog post on the Fleet Ops website. For more information, you can read it here: www.fleetops.net/news/item/222-lore-and-design-of-the-calypso

Entered Service: 2372 (official release; prototypes were built for the SCE in 2370)

SYSTEMS

DEPARTMENTS

Scale 4

Weaponry

• Phaser Banks
• Tractor Beam (Strength 3)

Talents

Calypso-class starships have the following Talents:

• Modular Laboratories
• Advanced Research Facilities