Dauntless Class

Dauntless Class
Affiliation:	Federation Starfleet
Service Period:	24th - 26th Centuries
Dimensions
Length:	180 meters
Width:	40 meters
Height:	22 meters
Mass:	130,000 metric tons
Specifications
Decks:	7
Crew:	70 personnel
Speed:	Warp 9.8 Quantum Slipstream
Armament:	Phaser Arrays Torpedo Launchers
Defenses:	Multiphasic Shielding
Auxiliary craft:	Starfleet Shuttlecraft

Overview

On Stardate 51978, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager made contact with an alien named Arturis who assisted the crew in desciphering a transmission received from Starfleet Command via an Hirogen communications network. Uncovering a set of coordinates near their current location, Voyager set course and encountered the Federation Starship U.S.S. Dauntless. Running detailed investigations of the Dauntless, Voyager's crew discovered that the Dauntless was a clever forgery created by Arturis as a method of punishing the Voyager crew for their part in assisting the Borg in defeating Species 8472. Taking Captain Kathryn Janeway and Seven of Nine hostage, Arturis attempted to deliver them to the Borg only for Voyager to save its crewmembers at the last moment.

Due to the detailed research that the Voyager crew conducted on the Dauntless, the crew was able to successfully recreate its Quantum Slipstream Drive and later transmitted the schematics of the Dauntless to Starfleet Command thanks to the Pathfinder Project. Submitted to the Advanced Starship Design Bureau and the Theoretical Propulsion Group, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers began efforts to replicate the Dauntless Class in fulfillment of the new protocols of building smaller, specialized vehicles. Upon Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant in 2378, B'Elanna Torres, former Chief Engineer of the Starship Voyager and Starfleet's leading expert on Slipstream Technology, was assigned to oversee development of both the Vesta and Dauntless following Voyager's safe return. Thanks to the intervention of Commander Torres, the Dauntless Class prototype was commissioned in 2383.

Capabilities

Despite being a forgery, the original U.S.S. Dauntless closely resembled a Starfleet vessel and the subsequent Federation created version retained similar styling. The primary hull of the Dauntless featured a streamlined, arrowhead shape with a near organic transition into the secondary hull. A distinctive feature of the design were its underslung warp nacelles and its large deflector dish. The Dauntless is well armed for a vessel its size and features Phasers and a variety of torpedoes within its loadout.

The defining component of the Dauntless Class is the Quantum Slipstream Drive, which allows a using starship to travel at speeds exceeding that of a traditional warp drive. The Quantum Slipstream Drive transfers energy from the Drive to the Main Deflector, which creates a slipstream tunnel through space that can be used to travel at speeds in excess of 300 light-years an hour. Safety protocols require that the Dauntless not maintain Slipstream speeds for longer than 3 consecutive hours as the Drive generates instabilities during transit, which strains the hull and runs the risk of causing a catastrophic collapse of the Slipstream Conduit during long duration flights.

The original Dauntless possessed a single transporter and no replicators, holodecks, or shuttlecraft. Due to the needs of the assignments undertaken by the Dauntless Class, Starfleet incorporated a shuttlebay into the design and provided the Dauntless with a Vehicle Replicator due to limited space within the hull to support a large assortment of support craft. Due to the long-range nature of missions undertaken by the Dauntless, Starfleet required that the design incorporate replicators for usage by the ship's crew. While the design could not feature a full Holodeck, the Corps of Engineers were able to install smaller Holosuites to allow for crew rest and relaxation in between duty shifts.

Refits and Variants

Vessels of the Dauntless Class were designed to be rugged, utilitarian vessels with few creature comforts. Refits to the Dauntless Class worked to improve the accommodations for the crew of the ship, installing additional 'creature comforts' to support the crew during their missions.

Mission Profiles

Crisis and Emergency Response, Espionage/Intelligence, Pathfinder and Reconnaissance Operations. Dauntless Class starships are small, durable, and agile craft that have been designed to handle short-term, high-risk assignments. Despite their size, Dauntless Class ships are usually commanded by Captains and even some Flag Officers have chosen them as their flagship.

Naming Conventions

Dauntless Class Starships are commonly named after positive traits related to heroism in the languages of Federation Member Worlds.

Notable Starships

U.S.S. Dauntless, Class Prototype