Category:Domination class starships

With the advent of pod technology, Starfleet found itself exploring the possibility of dedicated pod-launching vessels. However, before Starfleet would commit to the design and construction of a new class of ship, an interim option was brought forward and adopted as a proof of concept demonstrator, and four of the class, based on a refit of the aging Nebula-class explorer, were authorized: the USS Domination, USS Conquest, USS Supremacy and USS Primacy.

Essentially, the entire secondary hull has been gutted of all but essential engineering components and basic life-support and environmental controls and has been converted into an enormous magazine space for torpedo pods and racked torpedoes for reloads. Unlike the launchers on the Theurgy-class dreadnought, the hull surface area is large enough to accommodate separate launch and retrieval hatches, which immensely speeds up the process of recovering pods and allows for recovery at the same time as launches occur, using dedicated tractor beam emitters. The launching hatches are located on the ventral aspect of the secondary hull as to avoid occlusions from the nacelles, saucer and sensor pod, while the dedicated recovery hatches are located in the forward dorsal segment on both port and starboard sides. The multimission pallet that is a hallmark of the class has been hard-fixed to the support pylons, and has been redesigned to serve as a dedicated pod control platform loaded with an independent computer core, tactical sensors and telemetry equipment, allowing the launching vessel to control not a few dozen pods at a time, such as the Theurgy-class dreadnought, but a few hundred instead.

Other modifications include the complete deletion of all family, VIP and diplomatic accommodations ship-wide and all living spaces are within the saucer section and have undergone a slight reduction in size. The crew requirements have changed little, even with the removal of nearly all of the science facilities as the Tactical department had to be heavily reinforced to man the pod launchers, their reloading and refitting facilities and control systems. The internal arrangement has been modified so a Pod Control Room, under the direction of a Pod Control Officer, could be emplaced deep within the saucer section. Under this new concept, the Chief Tactical Officer is responsible for the ship's shields, phasers and actual torpedo tubes and target designations, but the Pod Control Officer is solely responsible for the launch, actual targeting, firing and recovery of pods, as the sheer numbers involved would be enough to swamp any CTO who would be forced to juggle them and the ship's own weapons.

As it stands, three of the authorized four of such refits have been completed; USS Domination is serving as a training and testing platform, USS Primacy is still undergoing fitting out and the remaining two and have been assigned to Task Force Archeron.