USS Excalibur NCC-2004-B

The USS Excalibur-B, originally planned for mothballing, was instead chosen to be part of a new type of Sovereign-class vessel—The Iowa Project, born from Starfleet's need for heavily armed ships-of-the-line that could support their many outposts on the fringes of Federation space, and also conduct exploratory missions.

Thus far two Sovereigns have been up-rated to this new type and given the rare distinction of being labeled as a “dreadnought.”

The Iowa-type (also known as the Excalibur-type, as the USS Excalibur-B was actually completed several months before the USS Iowa, NCC-87563) has a wide range of internal modifications, including, but not limited to: larger SIF generators, more powerful shield generators, heavier weapons complement with more weapons storage, thicker ablative armor, and a slightly larger warp-core unit (known as a Type-X-B; it is specific to the Iowa-type).

Sovereign class starship nacelle

Another of the upgrades in weaponry is an entire complement of “secondary” batteries and defensive weaponry; among them, new anti-fighter guns (AFG) turrets. Each AFG turret consists of twin 50-terawatt phaser cannons. The turrets can be either fired manually by a gunner or set to auto-defend. The purpose of the AFG is to protect against smaller attack and fighter vessels without diverting primary batteries. The ten AFGs are positioned as follows: two directly fore, positioned above and below on the bow of the vessel; two ventrally located mid-saucer; two located on the outside of the nacelle struts; one located ventrally mid -stardrive section; one located dorsally mid-stardrive; two located ventrally at the stern, covering the fighter launch bay.

The second of these weapons are the multi-vector plasma pulse cannons, each fitted with gatling-style barrels (to avoid burnouts). These weapons are used for a similar purpose as the AFG guns, but have a larger area of coverage, and can defend against more heavily shielded targets than the AFG turrets. Though they are considerably less accurate, they cause a lower overall power drain. The three cannons are placed as follows: two dorsally, mid-saucer on either side of the bridge; one dorsally, aft saucer, located above the saucer shuttle bay. The MV plasma pulse cannons, unlike the AFGs, can not be fired manually by gunners, but are instead set to auto-defend, letting independent computers target and fire once they're activated on the bridge.

The third of these weapons, and perhaps most innovative, are the anti-torpedo measures, or ATMs. Developed to help give Federation starships protection against the ever increasingly powerful torpedo based weapons of adversaries, the ATM is effectively a canister containing a gravimetric field generator that creates a strong gravimetric signature which incoming torpedoes lock onto and impact the canister as opposed to the hull of the vessel. The Iowa-type has been fitted with 2 dual-tube launchers, one fore and one aft. The launchers repel the canisters when sensors detect incoming fire (one canister per every 5 torpedoes; one canister can effectively disperse up to four torpedoes simultaneously). The canisters have sensors which are set to activate the gravimetric field once the canister has cleared a safe distance from the vessel.

Sovereign class deflector dish

The Excalibur-B has additional modifications that are specific to the Excalibur-B and may or may not be included in the other four vessels of the Iowa-type. These modifications include bio-neural gel packs augmented with nanite packs. These packs help to offset repair functions controlled by the computer. They perform routine maintenance procedures on ODN and EPS conduits and allow for more accurate information and data when there are emergency situations. Nanite packs are not primary data networks and do not replace gel packs, but help to offset the gel packs when performing certain engineering functions. The ship is also outfitted with holo-emitters that allow for emergency medical procedures, but also allow for modifications to key areas of bridge and crew stations. The holo-emitters allow for the console to be reconfigured in an instant to perform the function the bridge member needs. It not only reconfigures the interface, but it also reconfigures the internal circuitry and processors that are needed for the task at hand.

The latest in designs for computer cores have also been implemented, with a more advanced SISO system designed for more automation of ship functions and using a bipolar isolinear positronic matrix for the processor. It allows for more computations than standard computer cores and relieves most of the automated functions needed for emergency situations. Additionally, the Excalibur-B has been equipped with a metaphasic shielding system.

In addition to those modifications, the aft shuttle bay has been expanded and converted into a fighter bay, the Excalibur-B carries both Lancelot and Guinevere class fighters in addition to the standard shuttle compliment.

Because of the heavy modifications to the superstructure of the original Excalibur-B, as a result of both heavy battle damage in the Gamma Quadrant, and the modifications to Iowa-type standards the Excalibur-B should be viewed as two vessels with the same registry number: Excalibur-B and Excalibur-B Refit.

The Excalibur-B was preceded by the Lindbergh-class prototype, the USS Excalibur-A and succeeded by the USS Excalibur-C, an Akira-class vessel.

Technical Data

Starship Schematic (Okudagram)
Class
Sovereign (Iowa variant)
Type
Dreadnought
Unit Run
1 constructed
1 under construction
3 commissioned
Commissioned
2380 – Present
Length
690 meters
Beam
240 meters
Height
89 meters
Decks
27
Mass
5,290,500 metric tons
Crew Complement
1650 (plus flight crew)
Diplomatic Capabiddty
Grade IV
Expected Hull ddfe
120 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 5 years
Standard: 15 years
Major: 30 years

Tactical

Phaser Armament
18 type XII arrays (total output: 127,500 terrawatts)
1 multi-directional phaser turret (Class I cannons)
2 twin-class II rapid-fire pulse phaser cannons
Torpedo Armament
2 rapid-fire quantum torpedo launchers
8 burst fire torpdedo launchers
300 quantum torpedoes
400 standard high-yield photon torpedoes
Additional Armament
3 multi-vector rapid-fire plasma pulse cannons
10 AFG turrents (total output: 500 terrawatts)
2 dual-tube anti-torpedo counter measure launchers
80 anti-torpedo counter measures
Shields
Regenerative
Metaphasic
5,000,300 terrajoule capacity
High-level structural integrity field
Tritanium/Duranium double hull plus 20 cm ablative armor

Propulsion

Power & Propulsion
Type X-B M/AM reactor
Main reactor supplemented by four high output fusion reactors, can also supplement auxiddary power
Impulse Propulsion
4 engines powered by 4 fusion reactors encased in engine housing
Maneuverabiddty provided by a series of 12 surface-mounted retro-thruster pods (6 retro-thrusters per pod) and a series of 14 embedded RCS thruster quads
Warp Speeds (TNG scale)
Normal Cruise: 8
Maximum Cruise: 9.94 for 12 hours
Maximum Rated: 9.96 for 8 hours
Starship Schematic (Okudagram)

Deck Layout

Deck 1
Main Bridge, Captain's Ready Room, Observation Lounge
Deck 2
Captain's Quarters, Senior Officer Quarters, Captain's Mess
Deck 3
Officer Quarters, Holodecks, Springball and Volleyball courts
Deck 4
Officer Quarters and Crew Quarters, Crew Lounges, Ship's Library
Deck 5
Forward lounge, Living Quarters, Tactical Office, Holodecks, Science Labs, Phaser Control
Deck 6
Main Shuttlebay, Phaser systems, Stellar Cartography, Science Labs , Maintenance, Crew Quarters, Crew Lounges
Deck 7
Main Shuttlebay, Crew Quarters, Science Labs, Counseling Offices, Transporter Rooms, Conference Rooms
Deck 8
Main Shuttlebay, Crew Quarters, Holodecks, Operations Center, Gymnasium
Deck 9
Shuttlecraft Storage & Maintenance, Main Computer Core, Crew Quarters, VIP/Guest Quarters
Deck 10
Main Lounge, Shuttlecraft Storage & Maintenance, Living quarters, Transporter room, Arboretum
Deck 11
Shuttlecraft Storage & Maintenance, Cargo bay, Hydroponics, Stellar Cartography, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 12
Torpedo storage, Main Torpedo Room, Cargo bay, Escape pods Waste Processing, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 13
Crew quarters, Separation Plane, Docking Clamps, Holodecks 4-6, Recreational Facilities, Environmental Control and Life Support, Captain's Yacht Dock Port, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays, Observation decks
Deck 14
(Forward) Torpedo Launcher, Deuterium storage, Fuel pumps, Phaser Control, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 15
Captain's Yacht Deuterium storage, Deuterium injection, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 16
Main engineering, Nacelle Control, Sickbay, Medical Laboratories, Cloaking Device, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 17
Antimatter storage pods, Antimatter injection, Antimatter generator, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 18
Engineering support, Docking port, Crew Quarters, Science labs
Deck 19
Security, Brig, Armory, Crew Quarters, Observation decks
Deck 20
Deflector control, Engineering Support Labs, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays, Cloaking Field Coils
Deck 21
Ship's Quartermaster's Office, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays, Observation decks
Deck 22
Parts Storage, Secondary Computer Core, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 23
Emergency Batteries, Secondary Antimatter &Deuterium storage, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays
Deck 24
Shuttlebay 2, Cargo Bays, Cargo Transporters, Cargo Bays, Phaser Systems
Deck 25
Antimatter storage pods, Industrial Replicators, Waste Management
Deck 26
Parts Storage, Phaser Control, Tractor Beam Control, Observation decks
Deck 27
Phaser systems, Crew Quarters, Cargo Bays, 4 torpedo/probe launchers, Torpedo Storage