Tikopai II Class XI Heavy Cruiser

from Ships of the Star Fleet – Volume One, Calon Riel & Mastercom Data Center

 
NOTES:
Originally intended to be put into production as the Enterprise class, the Tikopai class has often been refereed to as “Scottie’s Scratch-book”. The second submitted design upgrade to the Constitution class of vessels submitted by Enterprise Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, the Tikopai class became a less intensive class of vessel, capable of many of the same abilities as the Enterprise class.

As construction contracts were handed out throughout the Shipyards of the Federation, Ishikawajima Harima Industries rushed their design into production, even as the Enterprise herself was entering dry dock. The USS Tikopai was soon completed and headed for trials, where serious flaws were soon discovered. By the time the first set of tests were complete, the V’Ger incident had already passed, and Ishikawajima Harima Industries was in dire need of a success. Although well under budget to date, the Tokopai class was still in need of dramatic upgrades to both the warp drive and weapons systems. By mid 2275, Ishikawajima Harima Industries broke down and incorporated the FWG-1 warp drive system, adding significant cost in material and man power to the Tikopai construction design. When Star Fleet Baltic Yards launched the Constitution II Class nearly 6 month before the revamped Tikopai class, Ishikawajima Harima Industries began to make plans to scrap the design. But the Constitution II was only half as powerful as the Enterprise class, leaving a large gap that Ishikawajima Harima Industries felt their cruiser could fill. When the Mk I was finally launched, it embarked less crew that the Enterprise class, and mounted lighter weapons, but was nearly as fast and had a massive research base, even larger than the touted Enterprise class.

With the launch of the Tikopai class, Ishikawajima Harima Industries entered into a long lasting construction war with nearly a dozen construction firms, which helped produce technological jumps unpressidnted either before of after. Within three years, the Tikopai class Mk II was launched, increasing the cruisers abilities beyond that of other heavy cruisers. With an enlarged impulse drive and increased primary and secondary weapons, the overall capability of the Tikopai class soon surpassed even the Enterprise class. The Mk II was still significantly less resource intensive to build and operate, and 20 more were ordered. But the Mk II would be the last change for over seven years, with several other designs taking precedence in Star Fleet’s inventory. Not until Cosmodyne began work on the USS Helios did new system become incorporated into the successful design. With the Mk II Enterprise class now more powerful that the Tikopai class, the Mk III was soon launched. Nearly identical in system components to the Mk II enterprise, the Mk III Tikopai class had also become more resource intensive, with only a 5% savings over the more powerful Enterprise. None the less, 6 ships were nearing completion and were launched to take up positions along the frontier. So similar to the Enterprise design was the Tikopai, several examples are reported where Pirates and raiders were scarred off even before the arrival of a Tikopai class cruiser, a fact Star Fleet did nothing to discourage.

The Mk III remained in service until the launch of the Mk IV in 2297. The Mk IV saw the expansion of the primary computer core as well as an increase in the secondary weapon systems. The main torpedo bay was also modified to house the FP-9 torpedo system. The launch of the Mk IV was delayed nearly a year after numerous debates over the primary torpedo subsystems. The FP-9 could easily incorporate the targeting and power controls of the existing Thor Mod 2 Direct already installed on the Tikopai class. However, Skar-Rar Weapons System of Andor pushed hard to swap the targeting subsystems to their less crew-intensive Mark 7 Mod 2 Direct system. In the end, the Mark 7 was chosen and final load-out was finished only two months behind schedule.

Most Mk IV would complete four to five standard 5-year missions before being rotated into the SLEP (Service Life Extension Program) in the early 2300. While several ships put-in as early as 2315, the first Mk V would not be relaunched until 2318. The Tikopai class cruisers main structural components, like many other ships launched in the 2270s, proved difficult to replace without a major overhaul. Deltan and Vulcan engineers eventually found a successful way to replace and re-crystallize the load-bearing fame members and the Mk Vs became essentially new ships.

The Mk V would continue to operate in its exploratory capacity well into the 2330. Militarily, over a dozen participated in the Second Tzenkethi War as well as the early part of the Cardassian-Federation war. In 2352, the decision was made to mothball all active Tikopai class vessels as each returned from their missions. Despite their best efforts, designers could find no inexpensive way to upgrade the Tikopai class to more modern technology without a significant overhaul. In 2359, the last Tikopai class was officially retired.

The outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war and subsequent need for ships during the Dominion War found a number of Tikopai class ships quickly refit and sent into battle. The hasty overhaul of the Tikopai class, like so many other older ships during the war, included new computers, new warp drives and significantly improved weapon systems. As with many older hulls quickly brought to spec for combat, the hopes of including the more versatile “array” style phasers was never realized. Man-power shortages also meant that those Tikopai cruisers that fought on the front lines often had to retire from the battle field after only a few volleys. By wars end, despite excellent combat records, most Tikopai class cruiser were damaged enough to be retired once again. In 2381, the last operating Tikopai class cruiser – which had been on assignment during the Cardassian reconstruction – was officially retired.