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 Shepard Class, as first seen in the Star Trek: Discovery to better understand its place in Star Trek History.
Of course, and as always, because this IS a Beta Canon 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.
As the territory of the United Federation Of Planets grew, so too did the need for starship classes to defend the organization’s furthest borders. So, in response to this need, Starfleet Command would commission several new starship designs including that of the Shepard Class.
But what do we know about this Tactically Sound Design?… The Malachowski and Walker Class were a complete Success for Starfleet.
The Malachowski Class, filling a workhorse role for the federation and Starfleet, while the Walker Class had begun its role as one of Starfleet’s best scientific vessel classes ever created for its time.
Starfleet, however, was not done in redefining and updating its fleet.
Since its early days of exploration, Starfleet’s Starships had been primarily defined by a saucer-like design. Although there had been several classes that would break this mould with their own unique designs, the saucer starships had made their mark on the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
And so, by the early 23rd Century, it had been decided that all ships of the line would begin with this basic saucer concept.
Though both the Klingon and Romulan Empires had been silent for decades, Starfleet had also not forgotten the dangers of the space it was exploring.
Raids and sneak attacks by various other both identified and unidentified species, had the still quite young Federation running scared.
At a secret and highly classified meeting with the Federation Council, Starfleet was directed to create a purely Battle-Ready starship class, to use for patrol and emergency response situations.
In 2214, the Shepard Class would be born. Sitting at a length of Approximately 505.5 Meters in length, the Shepard Class would be designed to be operated by 350 officers and crew members, with an additional 300 officers added to each starship as a special defence force.
These Officers would be called upon during emergency situations but were not simply limited to combat scenarios.
Originally a division of MACO, when Starfleet absorbed that organization, its training of these troops changed to better fit the Galactic Needs.
So, although these officers were specially and highly trained in the various parts of Personal Combat, their skills were expanded to include non-combat scenarios, such as First Aid and Evacuation Protocols.
These skills in themselves made these Special Forces very effective. The Shepard Class would have the same Warp Engine System included in the Malachowski and Walker Classes. As result, vessels of the class had a standard safe cruising speed of Warp factor 5, with an emergency maximum speed of Warp Factor 6.5.
Tactically, the Shepard Class was armed to its teeth, having a large array of the latest Phase Cannon Systems, the Sheppard Class would also contain 4 Photon Torpedo Launchers, 2 Forward and 2 Aft.
A specially designed Torpedo Storage Bay would keep the Class stocked with 140 Photon Torpedoes, as well as a quick loading system which significantly cut Photon Torpedo Load times.
Shielding for this class was standard for its time, but thanks to the addition of several enhanced thruster ports, the class was also one of the most manoeuvrable of the fleet.
The Shepard Classes main deflector dish was virtually identical to that used by the Walker Class.
Having been discovered to be a solidly designed system, Starfleet’s Core of Engineers decided to include it in the Shepard Class as a nod to Starfleet’s Starship Design Lineage.
2 Regular Personnel transporters would provide the primary Transporter Services for this starship class.
However, 4 additional Cargo Transporters were also included in the design, which was also capable of easily being converted to transport large numbers of troops.
A single Shuttlebay would also be included in this design. Although equipped with the latest Starfleet Stealth Shuttlecraft and Auxiliary Vehicles, for both repairs and transport, the usefulness of this bay would be limited, and thus was smaller than the Shuttlebays included in other classes.
Due to its mission profile, accommodations onboard the Shepard Class were rather cramped and sparse.
Instead of individual quarters for most officers, the Shepard Class would contain Bunk Style Barracks forcing large groups of officers to live with each other with very little privacy.
This was not done because of a lack of space. In reality, Starfleet’s psychologists early on in the organizations’ history, had discovered that on dedicated Patrol Vessel Classes such as the Shepard class, Barrack Style Accommodations promoted a sense of family and togetherness, that in turn increased the survival rate and mission successes of these officers.
The Shepard Class would also contain a Tractor Beam System, unlike the aforementioned Classes, the Shepard Classes Tractor Beams would be far stronger than most others in use in the fleet.
This would allow the Shepard class to easily tow other vessels out of a combat zone for repair after the Battle was complete.
The USS Shepard would be launched in mid-2214 and performed very well during her shakedown cruise, and by early 2215, the Shepard Class would enter full production, with hundreds of the Class being constructed.
After the launch of the Constitution Class in 2244, a lot of the Shepard Class vessels of the fleet would also be updated to include the new Phaser Emitter System which was proving so successful in that class.
But 2256 would begin to see the fortunes of the Shepard Class change for the worse.
The first Federation/ Klingon War would see devastating losses for Starfleet in both starships and its personnel.
Again, due to the Shepard Classes’ mission profile, these starships often found themselves on the front lines, taking the brunt of the battles. This in turn led to Shepard Class suffering the most losses during the conflict.
Out of the 400 Starships of class in service in 2256, only 151 would survive the war, causing Starfleet to re-evaluate the design in its entirety.
But the story of the Shepard Class doesn’t end there.
Because of its losses during the War, Starfleet could not afford to simply throw away any of its starships before replacements could be constructed.
Instead, Starfleet began to repair those vessels currently in service as well as convert its cargo fleet into patrol and defence vessels.
Once these steps were completed, Starfleet Command began to enact several plans it had developed for its fleet.
One of the first plans Starfleet had, was for an immediate and speedy refit of all Shepard Class Vessels.
This was an unprecedented act, never undertaken by the organization.
In 2259 and utilizing their largest construction yard, known simply as Yard 39, all but 1 of the Shepard Class starships would put in for the refit.
Unfortunately, this act would become the final nail in the Shepard Classes Coffin.
Yard 39 was in the TL-9139 System, an uninhabited System plentiful in resources, believed to be a relatively stable star system, Starfleet Command was caught off guard when 6 weeks into the Shepard Class Refit Program a major Stellar Event would occur in the system.
The entire construction facility was forced to be abandoned after the system’s star erupted and flooded the system with a high level of Baryon Radiation.
As a result, the 150 Shepard Class vessels in Drydock were left behind as none of those ship’s engine systems was functional.
To make matters worse, the levels of Baryon radiation were so intense, that no starship could enter the star system without a loss of life of all those aboard before even reaching the shipyard.
With this devastating loss to the fleet, Starfleet would decline to construct any more vessels of the class, preferring to pour their resources into Newer Starship Classes, effectively ending the Shepard Classes’ life in the Fleet.
Starfleet Continually monitored the TL-9139 Star System until the early 25th century, when Baryon Levels subsided, and Starfleet Command was finally able to disassemble the shipyard and remove all the Shepard Class Vessels to a decommission Yard.
Though an unexpected and tragic end for the Class, the Shepard Class was nevertheless an important addition to the fleet, protecting Federation Space and its assets during a dangerous and uncertain time for the organization.
Earning the Shepard Class, its place, in Starfleet History…
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