Ulysses

U.S.S. Ulysses
INFORMATION
Registry:	NCC-1677
Class:	Malachowski
Year Commissioned:	2247
Affiliation:	United Federation of Planets
Role:	Multi-role Frigate
Status:	Active
PERSONNEL
Commanding Officer:	Acting Captain Timo Shaefer
Crew:	78 (down from 87) total 14 officers 64 enlisted
DIMENSIONS
Length:	277 meters
Decks:	9 (saucer: 7)
REFIT AND REPAIR
ENGINE OUTPUT
ARMAMENTS
DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS
SMALL CRAFT
END OF BRIEFING
Template:Starship

At a Glance

The Federation Starship Ulysses is a Malachowski-class Frigate, commissioned in late 2246. It is the sixth of the class. The Ulysses was commissioned at the Proxima Shipyards in orbit of Proxima Colony. As a vessel, the Ulysses mostly saw short to medium-range survey missions along the Federation's trailing-edge frontier in the Alpha Quadrant. The ship is designed for a mulitude of missions but on a relatively small scale, often paired as a support ship to the larger cruiser classes.

Ulysses was under command of Captain T'met until the vessel encountered ruins on planet Isonzo IV's second moon in early 2252.

Initial Design Phase

Impressed by the Helios-class of Tug in the early 2240s, Starfleet went looking at Copernicus Fleet Yards for a small, multi-role frigate that could act in support of larger vessels. Copernicus looked at the basic hull features of the Helios-class and began laying the groundwork for the Malachowski Design Bureau.

A Powerful Tug- With Limits

Two of the most immediate issues with the Malachowski as an adaptation of the Helios frame was that the Helios designers had never intended their tug to enter high warp, maintain a shield grid or mount phasers or photon torpedoes. It's computer systems were designed primarily for navigations and the course corrections required when a vessel is under tow by a tractor beam. Given the limited space to work with, designing several new systems became a requirement almost immediately. Much of the sensor suites, computer cores, and subprocessors were lifted from the Magee-class starships.

Construction

Most of the Malachowski-class starships were built at the Copernicus Shipyards around Earth's moon, Luna. However, the class' first several commissions had performed under anticipated specs. Warp output, as well as theoretical shield output, lagged behind Starfleet's requirements. The Ulysses' initial design was completed at Copernicus but was transferred to the testbed construction slips at the Proxima Shipyards.

The engineers at Proxima, partnering with several theoretical power engineers from Rigil Kentaurus Colony, set out to design a new Mark K-IIIB matter-antimatter reactor assembly. It was anticipated that, if successful, these cores could be installed in the Malachowski and the Clarke, the first two ships of the line which were nearing their first refit cycle.

Initially the design and implementation of the Mark K-IIIB were promising. However, in a timed trial the warp core suffered a cascade failure that heavily damaged the Ulysses' pylon plasma conduits and required the jettisoning of the warp core. With this setback, the construction yard still faced a deadline to improve the class' outputs.

It was decided to use an Engle-class designed L-IIC matter-antimatter reactor assembly. Because this type of core is intended for larger cruiser type classes, engineers had to tune back it's output, pruning it so it would not overload the Malachowski power distribution systems. The design is older but also well-tested and considered to be very durable. This retrofit was successful and met Starfleet's requirements to continue the Malachowski-class.

Design Specifics