|
|
Image by Chris Spinnler
Photo of the Challenger Class USS Buran (Paul Frenczli)
My Challenger Class model, more here
Challenger Class: 2348 - Still in Service
| OVERVIEW (Spec Info) | |
| Designation | Medium Cruiser (Ship Designations) |
| Commissioned | 2348 |
| 1st Construction Batch | 2348-2353 |
| 2nd Batch Period | none planned |
| Last Ship to be Commissioned | USS Comet 2 - 2353 Construction now ended |
| Crew | 350 |
| Ships Built/Remain in service | 88 / 39 |
| TACTICAL | |
| Weapons | 8 Phaser arrays, 3 Photon Launchers, (Stock 250) |
| Shield Strength | 6.0 |
| Offensive Power | 66.0 |
| OTHER STATS | |
| Maximum Cruising Speed | Warp 8.6 (Contemporary Scale) |
| Mass | 1.39 million metric tonnes |
| Length | 342M |
| Decks | 21 |
Medium Cruiser related to the Galaxy starship family. Utilizing two, vertically arranged nacelles it perpetuates an older design lineage not seen for some time on Federation ships. The arrangement yields no great benefit, except the centre of gravity makes manoeuvrability more solid and robust at impulse speed, particularly during atmospheric flight.
| SHIP NAME | REGISTRY | STATUS | INFORMATION |
| USS Challenger 3 | NX- 57478 | D | - |
| USS Perseus 3 | NCC 57794 | D | |
| USS Hiroshima | NCC 57531 | DD | - |
| USS Vega 2 | NCC 57502 | D | - |
| USS Dexter Moses | NCC 57655 | OR | - |
| USS Cassiopeia 2 | NCC 56861 | Sc | - |
| USS Göteborg | NCC 58499 | OR | - |
| USS Bostrello | NCC 57751 | D | - |
| USS Pacific 1 | NCC 57766 | PD | - |
| USS Ambitious | NCC 58278 | D | - |
| USS Truman | NCC 57654* | OR | Mentioned in 'Field of Fire' (DS9) |
| USS Kearsarge | NCC 57566 | OR | - |
| USS Scorpio | NCC 59519 | D | - |
| USS Dyson 2 | NCC 57484 | PD | - |
| USS Cabot | NCC 57998 | D | - |
| USS Defender | NCC 58708 | D | - |
| USS Senator 3 | NCC 58182 | OR | - |
| USS Liberty 2 | NCC 56607 | OR | - |
| USS Detroit | NCC 58577 | OR | - |
| USS Courageous 2 | NCC 59450 | Sc | - |
| USS Bell | NCC 60613 | D | - |
| USS Proteus 3 | NCC 60645 | OR | - |
| USS Dominator 1 | NCC 63305 | PD | - |
| USS Erstwhile | NCC 63387 | D | - |
| USS Encounter | NCC 64496 | OR | |
| USS Maverick | NCC 65041 | M | - |
| USS Buran | NCC 57580 | D | At the Battle of Wolf 359, 2367 |
| USS Europa 2 | NCC 64672 | DD | |
| USS Liverpool | NCC 64112 | DD | - |
| USS Anchorage 2 | NCC 63762 | D | - |
| USS Cordova | NCC 65187 | OR | |
| USS Sydney 2 | NCC 63350 | OR | - |
| USS Odessa | NCC 61496 | PD | - |
| USS Pandora 1 | NCC 58030 | D | |
| USS Felicity | NCC 60612 | D | - |
| USS Hawking 2 | NCC 61620 | OR | |
| USS Regulus | NCC 61662 | OR | - |
| USS Veneration | NCC 59817 | OR | - |
| USS Pyramus | NCC 57731 | OR | |
| USS Battler 2 | NCC 60800 | OR | |
| USS Armstrong 2 | NCC 57537 | OR | - |
| USS Comet 2 | NCC 64812 | D | - |
| USS Dragon | NCC 64189 | OR | - |
| USS Asimov 2 | NCC 63200 | D | - |
| USS Olympus 2 | NCC 64620 | D | - |
| USS Kendra | NCC 64207 | M | - |
Footnote *
-Not a great deal is known about this classification, but judging by the design above one could assume it is a mid 24th century Galaxy Class variant.
- At the top of the page is the long hidden photo of the Challenger Class Buran. The original picture (from the infamous convention slide show) was taken by Mike Okuda before the battle damage was applied for filming in 'The Best of Both Worlds'. For legal reasons I, along with my Wolf 359 research colleagues, was for some time unable to display this polaroid of the slide (taken by Paul Frenczli). But now at last the 'censorship' has been lifted. Chris Spinnler's image (above), as well as my 3D model is loosely based on this photo. (more)
-There seems to be confusion around fandom as the appearance of this class. Is it a Constitution Kitbash, or a a Galaxy Variant? My final decision is based on a few glimpses of the actual model, which does imply it is a Galaxy Variant.
-This class ship, as many will know was named after the doomed Space Shuttle Challenger, that exploded soon after its launch in 1986.
-The USS Buran is named after the Russian Space Shuttle prototype. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the Shuttle program was aborted due to lack of funds. Buran means 'snow storm'.
Further points regarding Challenger Class
KEY
| O= Operational |
| OR= Operational after Refit or Repairs |
| DD= In Drydock for repairs or refit * |
| T= Training Vessel |
| U= Under construction prior to preliminary trials |
| D= Destroyed |
| Sc= Scrapped or Decommissioned |
| PD= Presumed Destroyed |
| M= Missing |
*A ship would visit drydock for many reasons, including refits, repairs, servicing upgrades, preliminary trials and testing of new components, and spacedock for similar reasons, as well as crew rotation, reassignment, prep period before redeployment, and so forth.
The listed specifications for ship classes are partly hypothetical, but some data such as ship lengths, weapon stats and crew complements are in some cases canon. For an explanation on the specs, and what the Ship designations mean, see Spec Definitions.
