Springfield Class

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Affiliation :	Federation
Class Name :	Springfield Class
Type :	Frigate
Unit Run :	USS Springfield - Active NCC 57302 USS Chekov [1] - Destroyed [2] plus 16 others built in total. 6 have been lost in all.
Commissioned :	2352 - 2354, class remains in service
Dimensions :	Length : 289 m [3] Beam : 487 m Height : 76 m Decks : 10
Mass :	650,000 metric tons
Crew :	120
Armament :	2 x Type VIII phaser arrays [4], total output 6,000 TeraWatts 1 x 2nd class photon torpedo tube with 30 rounds
Defence Systems :	Standard shield system, total capacity 229,500 TeraJoules Standard Duranium / Tritanium Single hull. Standard level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds (TNG scale) :	Normal Cruise : 6 Maximum Cruise : 6.5 Maximum Rated : 7.1 for 12 hours.
Strength Indices : (Galaxy class = 1,000)	Beam Firepower : 120 Torpedo Firepower : 62.5 Weapon Range and Accuracy : 100 Shield Strength : 85 Hull Armour : 50 Speed : 359 Combat Manoeuvrability : 4,680
Overall Strength Index :	122
Diplomatic Capability :	3
Expected Hull Life :	80
Refit Cycle :	Minor : 1 year Standard : 1 years Major : 20 years

Notes

The Springfield is a forerunner of the Nebula design, with which it shares the distinctive mission adaptable pod feature. Much smaller and less capable than the Nebula, the Springfield is intended to operate over relatively shorter ranges. As such it was to have a top speed of warp 8 and the accommodation standards were designed to be generally lower. No families are carried.

The Springfields proved less than completely successful in service. Considerable problems were experienced with the mission adaptable pod - the interaction between the lower pod and warp field created stresses in the support pylons, causing cracking in the structural members. Various solutions were attempted, but in the end the only effective solution was to limit the ships to warp 7.1 in order to reduce the effect to manageable levels. This reduced the effectiveness of the ships considerably, and Starfleet terminated the production run after only eighteen vessels.

One of these ships, the USS Chekov, was lost to the Borg in the battle of Wolf 359. During the Dominion war their low speed generally consigned these ships to a defensive role and they did not take part in the larger battles. As a result only five more were lost during the course of the war. The remainder continue in service.

Colour key

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1			Visible on the shooting model
2	TNG	4	The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2
3			Speculative	Rough Estimate from the deck heights.
4			Generic canonical information

Comments

The Springfield is one of those Wolf 359 ships which can barely be made out on the screen. I'm indebted to the Ex Astris Scientia site, which managed to obtain a photograph of the model used for the ship and created the size comparison image used here from it.

From its design the Springfield seems to be of the Cheyenne era, for it has the same nacelle design and same saucer section styling as this ship. That puts it sometime around 2350, and this is supported by the hull registry of the single known ship, the USS Chekov.

Interestingly, the model has what appears to be a detachable pod on the underside. I can only guess that this indicates the same sort of customized mission pod concept that the much more familiar Nebula class has, and I've gone with the Springfield as being a smaller contemporary of that ship. I'm not certain if the thing on top would be another detachable pod or not, but it sure looks like it. The specs are scaled for a ship of this general size and age.

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Last updated : 15 Dec 2003

Series :	TNG Season 4
Episode :	The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2

Source :	Speculative
Comment :	Rough Estimate from the deck heights.