Hello and welcome to another episode of Truth OR Myth Beta Canon, a Star Trek web series that dives into the history of any given topic using Beta Canon sources and my own imagination to fill in the gaps. In today’s episode, we’re looking at the Iowa Class, to better understand its place in Star Trek History.
Please note, although the design closely resembles the USS Kelvin from Star Trek 2009, this is indeed a VERY different class of starship. And because there is so little information about it, I decided to create an entire history for it as a missing link between eras of starship designs.
So as always, because this IS a Beta Canon and fan fiction video, all information re-laid should pretty much be taken with a grain of stardust, and only considered a little bit of Star Trek Fun! And so, with all that out of the way, let’s begin.
The missing link between what Federation Historians would Call the Discovery and Constitution Eras of Starship design, the Iowa Class would become the most important steppingstone in technology that Starfleet had created up to that point in history…
But what do we know about this unusual and very seldom discussed class of starship? Well today, we’ll find out…
By 2230 Starfleet had begun to look old. Though filled with a plethora of different starship designs, the fleet’s aesthetics and technologies still harked back to the first starship designs Starfleet had ever developed.
At the turn of the century, classes such as the Malachowski and walker classes blazed trails across unknown space, but now these designs seemed ancient and uninspiring, barely able to hold their own against the new threats the federation seemed to be facing daily.
What Starfleet needed was a fresh new design with bold technologies to carry the organization into the future. But just where would these technologies come from?
Enter Dr Richard Daystrom. . . Daystrom, one of the most intelligent men of his time had single-handedly developed what he called Duotronic Technology.
Duotronics would totally revolutionize the Fleet with computer cores and components over 100 times faster than anything Starfleet had in operation to date. Not only that but the increase in computer processing and control might allow Starfleet Command to finally have a starship break the warp 7 barrier, which was still eluding warp engineers of the time.
After meeting with Daystrom, and the young genius presenting his mockup and technical designs to Starfleet, the Admiralty was impressed, and voted to allow Daystrom the resources he needed to develop the technology, and with that, Project Daystrom began.
First, Daystrom needed a team, and assembled the best and brightest Starfleet had to offer for this bold new venture.
The entire team was enthralled with Daystrom’s theories and technology. Though many components would still need to be developed and tested, all agreed this project had the potential of changing Starfleet forever.
Getting quickly to work, the first thing the team needed was a starship to develop Duotronic in. And ultimately, they would decide on a failed class of starship to herald in this new technology, the Iowa Class.
Sitting at a length of approximately 258 meters and 25 decks tall, the Iowa Class was designed to be operated by 356 Officers and crew members.
Originally, Starfleet had developed Iowa’s Class as a much smaller version of the successful long-range exploratory class the Einstein Class, but after numerous technical problems plagued the design, Starfleet Abandoned the class and mothballed the prototype USS Iowa with no intentions of returning to the class.
The design had been a very interesting one from its outset. Having a single nacelle and above slung secondary hull, the Iowa Class was certainly a departure from its current era of starship designs.
Also, its more closely knit hull panels, made the class look much sleeker in design, something which aesthetically appealed to the admiralty.
The problem with the design, however, was the computer core simply couldn’t handle the starship’s functions, with circuit burnouts continually plaguing the starship.
In order to fix that problem, Starfleet Command would have to install a much larger computer core, taking up far too much space within the starship’s interior. But Daystrom’s new Duotronic breakthrough might just be able to revitalize the design.
After years of component testing and development finally in 2241, the USS Iowa was ready for her shakedown cruise, which everyone at Starfleet Command held its breath to see if Daystrom had made good on all the promises he had made to the Admiralty… And amazingly he did…
Theorized to have a standard safe cruising speed of warp factor 5 and an emergency speed of warp factor 7, everyone was shocked when testing proved the starship to have a standard safe cruising speed of warp factor 5.5.
And when it came to its emergency speed, the USS Iowa was in fact able to reach warp factor 7 with very little adjustment needed. In fact, exceeding that speed to maintain a warp factor of 7.3.
Starfleet Command immediately recognized what this achievement meant.
If a one nacelle starship could reach those speeds with this new computer core, which was able to calculate and adjust the far more focused warp field to achieve those speeds, then just imagine was a dual nacelle design could achieve.
Tactically, the USS Iowa was equipped with both the standard phase canon designs of the time as well as the newly invented Phaser Emitter bank system.
As opposed to the intermittent beam emitted by the Phase Canons, Phaser emitters were capable of sustained energy bursts, effectively increasing the damage potential of that weapons system. 2 Photon Torpedo launchers, 1 forward and 1 aft would also provide additional firepower for the class.
Shield output for the Iowa Class was also substantially increased thanks to the new warp core developed by Starfleet’s Best Warp Theorists based on the Duotronic Technology presented by Daystrom.
However, because Duotronic technology was far smaller in design them its counterpart, meant that the available space on t interior of the starship was increased by almost 30%.
Even the starships transporter received an overhaul, increasing its range and effectiveness by 15%.
Daystrom, also impressed by Iowa’s performance, expected the class to immediately go into full production, and although Starfleet Command would order 11 more of the class to be built, they had far bigger plans in mind Duotronics.
You see Starfleet Command really likes the components of the class itself, but not the configuration of them. They felt the Iowa class looked bulk and heavy, and they also wanted a dual nacelle design.
So, they had Daystrom’s team head back to the drawing board to create a new design, like that of the Iowa Class but with 2 nacelles and a far sleeker aesthetic, and it was then that the Constitution Class itself would be born.
Dr Richard Daystrom would go on to receive many awards for his outstanding work on Duotronics, and he would even find the Daystrom Institute, to continue pressing forward on theories and technologies to keep Starfleet Command and the federation looking fresh and young.
Meanwhile, the Iowa Class would have a less famous career in the fleet, but an important one nonetheless. Most of these starships would patrol the outer borders of the Federation and help with establishing colonies and building outposts in the organization’s farthest reaches.
But as with all good things in life, eventually, everything must come to an end, and for the Iowa Class, the end would come in 2279.
With further powerful developments in Duotronic in the late 2260s and the development of the Constitution Class refit including her vertical warp core, 2279 would spell the end of most to the starship classes designed and built in the midcentury, with the USS Iowa herself being decommissioned December 1, 2279, becoming a forgotten page in the Starfleet Historical database.
Created as a testbed for new technology, and responsible directly for the development of the Jewel of Starfleet Commands crown of the time, the Constitution Class, the Iowa class was a necessary step in starship evolution. Standing as a testament to the adage that sometimes the best hero is a forgotten one, the Iowa Class has nevertheless earned its rightful place, in Starfleet History…
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