Steamrunner class

Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)

Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Lower Decks, and thus may contain spoilers.

Steamrunner class
Configuration:
Dorsal view
Owner:	United Federation of Planets
Operator:	Starfleet
Active:	2370s-2400s
Armament:	Phaser arrays Photon torpedoes
Defenses:	Deflector shields
Lateral view
CSS Leyton forward dorsal
Owner:	Confederation of Earth
Operator:	Confederation Corps
Active:	2400s (alternate timeline)
Armament:	Phaser arrays Photon torpedoes
Defenses:	Deflector shields
Forward ventral view

The Steamrunner class was a class of Federation starship that was in service with Starfleet by the early 2370s. By the 2380s, Starfleet had built a smaller variant of this class, the Sabrerunner-class.

History

Starships of this class were constructed at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards by 2371. (VOY: "Relativity")

It quickly became a common fixture in Federation fleet deployments, appearing on the front lines of numerous engagements, including against the Borg at the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373, and in the Dominion War, where several vessels of this class were assigned to Starfleet's Second Fleet, which participated in Operation Return in 2374, the second Battle of Chin'toka, and the Battle of Cardassia in 2375. They were also frequently stationed near Deep Space 9 during the war. (Star Trek: First Contact; DS9: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels", "Statistical Probabilities", "The Magnificent Ferengi", "Afterimage", and more)

In 2378, the Steamrunner class was once again called upon to defend Earth against the Borg, when a Borg sphere suddenly appeared out of a Transwarp aperture. (VOY: "Endgame")

The Steamrunner class was still in service by 2401, where at least one ship of the class, the USS Appalachia (NCC-52136), participated in Frontier Day celebrations. Its younger crew was assimilated by the Borg Collective in a revenge plot against the Federation by the Changelings, and the Borg Queen. As part of this plot, it was used to attack Sol Station in an attempt to destroy planetary defenses. (PIC: "Võx")

In an alternate timeline resulting from Q altering Earth's history in 2024, Steamrunner-class starships were operated by the Confederation of Earth in the early 25th century. (PIC: "Assimilation")

Technical data

Physical arrangement

Smaller than other ships of the period, the Steamrunner-class featured a near oval shaped saucer section, and a detached secondary hull, not completely unlike the design employed in the Oberth-class or California-class, but was joined at the aft to the ship's nacelles. The nacelles themselves were directly attached to the saucer section by large cowlings, which housed the Bussard collectors. The ship's deflector dish was housed in the rear, on the detached secondary hull, while the bridge module was inset between the Bussard cowlings. (Star Trek: First Contact, et al.)

Tactical systems

The Steamrunner-class ships featured Phaser arrays and Photon torpedo launchers typical of the period. (Star Trek: First Contact; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Interior design

Command and control systems

Name and registry of the USS Appalachia is displayed on a fleet formation screen

By 2401, the computer systems on board the class had been overhauled to include the Fleet formation mode, also known as Starfleet emergency protocol NX12.11, designed to place all Federation starships within a fleet under the automated control of the Starfleet mainframe. (PIC: "Võx")

Ships of the class

Named

• USS Appalachia (NCC-52136)
• CSS Leyton (NCC-73827) (alternate timeline)

Unnamed

• Unnamed Steamrunner-class starships

Appendices

Appearances

• Star Trek: First Contact
• DS9:
  • "Call to Arms"
  • "Favor the Bold"
  • "Sacrifice of Angels"
  • "Statistical Probabilities"
  • "The Magnificent Ferengi"
  • "Tears of the Prophets"
  • "Afterimage"
  • "Field of Fire"
  • "The Changing Face of Evil"
  • "What You Leave Behind"
• VOY:
  • "Relativity"
  • "Endgame"
• PIC:
  • "Assimilation"
  • "Võx" (graphic)

Background information

ILM's original CGI model for First Contact on the right, and Fabio Passaro's later CGI version for the Starships Collection publication on the left
Promotional image of the Steamrunner-class USS Appalachia

The Steamrunner-class was designed by Alex Jaeger at ILM. [1]^(X)

The Appalachia, featured in First Contact, was originally intended to be named "Streamrunner", as based on the name appearing in Jaeger's sketch of the revamped "USS Streamrunner," dated 4 April 1996.

According to Jaeger's recollection in 2009:

"Here's a bit of background on the Steamrunner: As one person pointed out, it was originally to be called the StReamrunner. This was the name of a song from a band called 'Fold Zandura' (formerly 'Mortal'). It had a sci-fi feel to it and I thought it made a cool ship class name. But somewhere in the process the 'R' got dropped in one of the approval pages and it became the Steamrunner, which is still kinda cool retro-steampunk sounding. So the name stuck." [2]^(X)

The name was subsequently adapted (or adopted) by the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 325), but the original name, albeit misspelled, was retained as class designation.

Jaeger additionally explained his design:

"Also on the design, it is actually the merging of two different designs I did. The front saucer section of one ship combined with the catamaran nacelles and boom section of another. The boom section of the second ship was then flipped upside down so the deflector was underneath. The first design had a secondary hull, but instead of struts to hold the nacelles, they were instead mounted to the saucer section and then cowled over. There was even a 3rd version with 4 nacelles, two on the top and two more attached to the lower secondary hull. "The second design was more to my liking, it was a bit more 'automotive' in its design shapes. It featured the catamaran nacelles, but instead of being mounted on top of the saucer, they were mounted underneath and the saucer sort of bent around them. The Deflector dish boom was then mounted more like the boom on the Akira-class only this wasn't a weapons pod per say. In the end I was asked to combine the front of #1 with the tail of #2 and after some adjustments, bam the Steamrunner as it appears in First Contact. Some of the more angular features were also a result of the rough model as well. So the more rounded #2 design would've been less economical from a VFX standpoint too." [3]^(X)

For information on the studio model, see Steamrunner class model.

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 519), the USS Hiroshima (β) was a Steamrunner-class vessel. This ship name was referenced in the 2nd edition from behind-the-scenes sources ILM, John Eaves, and Alex Jaeger and was absent from the 3rd edition. The original ship scale with alternate names can be found on John Eaves' blog. Originally, the Appalachia was not among the three class member suggestions Eaves provided his producers, in which only were USS Cavor (NCC-52133), USS Hiroshima (NCC-52136, usurped by Appalachia), and USS Menehune (NCC-52142).

Apocrypha

The Steamrunner appeared in Activision's Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II as a long-range artillery ship firing tricobalt torpedoes.

Steamrunner class from Star Trek Legacy

It also appeared in Star Trek: Legacy as a playable starship class. The player could use up to four ships of the class on their fleet: USS Steamrunner NCC-52100, USS Appalachia NCC-52136, USS Hiroshima NCC-52146, and USS Tolstoy NCC-52150.

In Star Trek Online, the Steamrunner-class Blockade Runner Escort is an unlockable ship obtained by installing the game with Valve's Steam DRM software and purchasing the "Steam Starter Pack". It would come with a Tier 1 and a Tier 5 version of the ship with the Tier 1 version coming with a Console which would grant it the power "Team Fortress", named after one of Valve's flagship titles. After the revelation that Steam users were exploiting Steam's refund procedure with DLC, it was removed from Steam and put into the main game.

The following specifications are given in the Starfleet Operations Manual supplement for Decipher's Star Trek RPG:

• Type: Heavy Frigate
• Dimensions: Length, 375 meters; width, 270.9 meters; height, 79.5 meters.
• Complement: 200 officers and crew
• Performance: Warp 9.6 for 12 hours
• Armament: Four type-10 phaser emitters, two photon torpedo torpedo launchers.

According to issue #54 of the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, the Steamrunner-class was a type of frigate with a length of 356 meters, an approximate crew of 200, and a top speed of warp 9.6. This class was equipped with Type-10 phaser emitters and photon torpedoes.

Star Trek: Resurgence features two Steamrunner-class ships, the USS Kimball and the USS Lowell.

External link

• Steamrunner class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works