(written from a Production point of view)
The Federation Ship Recognition Manual was a starship reference published by FASA as a supplement to their Star Trek: The Role Playing Game.
Summary[]
- From the book jacket
- Classified – Authorized Personnel Only. The Federation Ship Recognition Manual is intended for Star Fleet personnel with a "need-to-know" concerning information on the Star Fleet vessels. This comprehensive study discloses all known combat, visual and historical data on 42 different Federation ships and their variants. Also included is a chronology of service and silhouette recognition chart. This manual is a must for all Star Trek enthusiasts.
- Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.
Contents[]
The cover depicts a cutaway view of the Remora-class escort, while the opposite back cover continues the image with several Scorpio-class corvettes. The information contained in the manual is considered apocryphal.
Support vessels[]
Freighters[]
Warpshuttles[]
Repair vessels and facilities[]
Tenders[]
Repair facilities[]
- Pearl class
Defense outposts[]
- Alamo class
Recognition silhouettes[]
Timelines[]
Background information[]
The Federation Ship Recognition Manual was a gaming guide used for Star Trek: The Role Playing Game by FASA. It showed designs and described the combat abilities for several Federation ship types and gave brief histories for them. The ships were from the timeframes of Star Trek: The Original Series and the Star Trek films. It contained many more designs than were contained in the original Starship Combat Simulator. There are even some older designs from the time of Captains Christopher Pike and Robert April that have lasers and accelerator cannons. The Constitution-class contemporaries include the Nelson-class scout and Larson-class destroyer (both of which had only one warp engine much like the Hermes-class and Saladin-class) ships, Loknar-class frigate, and Anton-class cruiser (an early Miranda-class design). Later designs include the Andor-class torpedo cruiser, Reliant (Miranda)-class cruiser, Enterprise (Constitution II)-class cruiser, Wilkerson- and Baker-class destroyers, Chandley-class frigate, and the Excelsior-class cruiser. Many of these ships had different upgrades which extend their lifespans. The Constitution class had four different upgrades before being changed to the Enterprise class. Those upgrades included the specs from Pike's time with lasers, and another which came near the end of Kirk's first five-year mission but was not performed on the Enterprise. One of the strangest designs was the Baker class, which in its original design did not bring enough firepower to bear in any direction. In checking against the Ship Construction Manual, it was a design that should not have been able to be put together because of weight limits. There were occasional problems where the information would not match the other guide. Another problem was that most Federation designs could not fire 60 degrees aft. It is interesting to note that the Federation held a big technological edge, especially when the Enterprise class came out. The Excelsior class widens that gap, even when considering Romulan and Klingon battleship designs.
Credits[]
- 1st Edition:
- Product Concept: Jordan K. Weisman
- Graphic Design: Dana Knutson
- 2nd Edition:
- Historical Consultant: Commander Hikaru Sulu
- Editor-in-Chief: L. Ross Babcock III
- Proofreading: Donna Ippolito
- Layout and Pasteup: Dana Knutson, Todd F. Marsh, Jane Bigos
- Typesetting: Karen Vander Mey
Links and references[]
Characters[]
References[]
Starship and station types[]
- Assault ship
- Battleship
- Corvette
- Cruiser
- Cutter
- Destroyer
- Escort
- Frigate
- Monitor
- Scout
- Transport
- Freighter
- Warp shuttle
- Tender
- Repair facility
- Defense outpost