This article details a starship for one of the less glamorous, yet critical naval duties, that of convoy escort.  It would make for an interesting setting for a long adventure/short campaign covering a convoy's trip through several systems during the Kafer Invasion, or anytime against pirates.  My thanks to Clare for granting permission for me to host it on my web site. - Kevin Clark - Mar. 8th, 1998.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Construction History
• Service History
• Special Dispositions
• Basic Statistics
• Technical Notes
• Standard Game Data
• Internal Descriptions
• Special Locations

INTRODUCTION

The Cayuga-class vessel is an American warship designed to provide close escort for convoys travelling short distances, and to perform short-ranged patrols.  The vessel masses just over 3400 tons and measures roughly 60 meters in length.  The Cayuga's oddly configured hull consists of two main sections.  The engineering module is a 30-meter-long box-shaped hull that measures 12 meters high and 12 meters wide.  To the front of this is the ship's command module.  This shovel blade-shaped structure measures 9 meters high at its tallest point, but only 6 meters high at each side.  From port side to starboard side measures 21 meters.

The Cayuga is a short-range vessel, carrying only enough fuel to travel for a maximum of about two weeks.  The vessel is equipped with a pair of MHD turbine power plants, one capable of producing 10 megawatts and the other capable of producing up to 15 megawatts.  The 10-megawatt unit is the ship's main source or power, with the larger unit brought on-line almost exclusively during combat.  The ship is propelled by a 10-megawatt stutterwarp drive which, at full power, can carry the ship at a warp efficiency of 2.5023.  As with most interstellar vessels, the Cayuga has a range limited to 7.7 light-years, after which it must spend time within a gravity well to flush out its stutterwarp drive.

The ship is moderately armed and carries no defensive armor or shielding.  Its long-range punch comes in the form of two missile bays, each carrying a pair of deadly Hyde Dynamics SIM-14 missiles.  For close combat, the ship is equipped with eight Hyde Dynamics EA122 lasers mounted in pairs in four standard double turrets.  Two of these turrets are mounted near the bow of the ship: one port and one starboard.  The remaining two turrets are mounted atop gun towers near the center of the ship on the engineering module: one on top of the hull, the other mounted below.  For extremely close work, the Cayuga carries a single "Big Clip" submunitions dispenser mounted on the starboard aft side of the command module hull.

The vessel is equipped with a modern array of sophisticated detection gear.  With its powerful SN-508P active sensor system, the Cayuga can detect objects at a range of well over seven million kilometers.  Its GO/40 passive sensor array is capable of detecting a target's emissions at ranges exceeding six million kilometers.

The hull of the Cayuga is not streamlined, making the ship incapable of atmospheric landings.  In order to transfer cargo or personnel, the ship must either dock with a station or another vessel, or it must be assisted by small auxiliary craft designed for shuttling cargo and personnel.

The Cayuga carries a crew of 32 and has only enough accommodations for this number.  There are no provisions for providing the crew with artificial gravity living space, so extra living space has been provided to keep the crew comfortable over the relatively short missions.

CONSTRUCTION HISTORY

The final design of the ship was submitted during a competition for the replacement of the six remaining Hancock-class destroyer escorts.  These vessels were large, relatively slow, and not missile equipped.  Rather than refitting the older vessels, they were scheduled to be sold for scrap or other uses, with only a couple retained for training purposes.  The Cayuga won with a slim margin over its competitor the Eagle-class.

The first vessel of the class produced was the Cayuga, hull number DE-101, commissioned on December 30, 2287 at the American L-4 shipyard.  Twelve additional vessels were scheduled to be produced between January of 2288 and August of 2302.  Eight of the vessels were to be constructed at L-4 and the remaining five were to be built at the American Earth Orbital Shipyard.  However, due to cost overruns, only ten additional warships were produced, with two cut from the production schedule at L-4.

Following trial runs of the Cayuga, it was found that due to an inherent design flaw, the Cayuga was unable to power-up both of its power plants together for more than a few minutes at a time.  After automatically shutting down one of the power plants, the system would not allow a restart for several minutes while the system reset itself.  By the time this problem was discovered, the second vessel of the class had already been completed.  All later vessels were altered to avoid this problem, and are referred to as Cayuga-Bs.  The first two, known as Cayuga-As, were left unmodified due to the difficulty and cost of making the modification.  The cost overruns involved making the design modifications for the vessels under construction led to dropping the final two vessels from production.

In April of 2298 it was decided that the Cayugas were in need of a more effective long range punch than they possessed at the time, particularly in light of the Kafer Wars.  This led to the adoption of a couple of relatively small design changes, resulting in the new classification of Cayuga-C.  The newest version of the Cayuga-class vessel sports expanded missile bays to accommodate a total of four additional missiles.  To make room for these, the vessel's interior underwent a slight modification, giving up over half its cargo capacity to the new armament.  Additionally, to improve damage control capabilities, crew accommodations were expanded to add room for an additional engineer, again at the cost of the remaining cargo storage space and a small amount of fuel.  While these modifications served to slightly reduce the overall range of the vessel, it was considered to be well compensated for in light of the ship's increased combat capabilities.  As with the initial design enhancements, only the vessels under construction at the time received these modifications.  Beginning in 2299 with the vessel Sioux, the Cayuga-C began production at L-4 shipyards.

SERVICE HISTORY

Vessels

Hull          Comm                          No
Number Name   Date       Model Manuf Disp   Ref
------------------------------------------------
DE-101 Cayuga 12/30/2287   A    L-4  Active
DE-102         2/24/2288   A         Active *
DE-103 Arapaho 1/21/2290   B         Active *
DE-104 Apache  4/12/2291   B    L-4  D 2298
DE-105         3/19/2293   B         Active *
DE-106 Dakota      -       B    L-4  (2301)
DE-107 Pueblo  1/04/2296   B    L-4  D 2299
DE-108 Erie    6/29/2297   B         Active
DE-109 Sioux   4/05/2299   C    L-4  Active
DE-110         8/07/2300   C         Active *
DE-111             -       C    L-4  (2301) *
DE-112                         (L-4)        *
DE-113                         (L-4)        *

SPECIAL DISPOSITIONS

DE-104, Apache

DE-106, Dakota

DE-107, Pueblo

DE-108, Erie

An error in an equipment order was made while the vessel was being fitted with her laser armament.  Instead of the standard Hyde Dynamics EA122 laser weapons, a few EA1000 lasers were shipped.  Rather than waiting for the proper equipment, the vessel was constructed with a double turret equipped with a pair of the more powerful weapons.  This turret was mounted on the topside gun tower.  The operator of this turret has been nicknamed "The Sentinel" for the higher powered weapons and the apparent guardian-like position of the turret.

BASIC STATISTICS

Cayuga-A and Cayuga-B

Armament
  8x Hyde Dynamics model EA122 laser weapons.  Mounted in pairs among four turrets.  Two near the bow, one port and one starboard.  Two amidships, one top and one bottom.
  4x Hyde Dynamics SIM-14 Definite Kill Missiles.  Located in two bays at the bow, port and starboard.  Remote piloting stations are capable of controlling up to two missiles.
  1x Big Clip submunitions dispenser.  Located amidships on the starboard side.

Electronics
  GGM-212 Navigational Sensors.
  GGM-2000 Deep System Scanners.
  Geary-Opticorp model 40 passive detection array with full function backup system.
  Simmons SN-508P "Long Arm" active search sensor.

Stealth Characteristics
  Radial Area: 198 m2
  Lateral Area: 930 m2
  Radiation Emissions: 4.95 MSU
  Emissions Control: Sharp MRE-10A

Engineering Systems
  Power Plant: GE Alpha-10 10MW MHD turbine, GE Alpha-15 15MW MHD turbine
  Fuel: 3300 m3
  Drive: SAT Mk 100 Jerome Drive

Cayuga-C

Armament
  8x Hyde Dynamics model EA122 laser weapons.  Mounted in pairs among four turrets.  Two located near the bow, one port and one starboard.  Two located amidships, one top and one bottom.
  8x Hyde Dynamics SIM-14 Definite Kill Missiles.  Located in two bays at the bow, port and starboard.  Remote piloting stations are capable of controlling up to two missiles simultaneously.
  1x Big Clip submunitions dispenser.  Located amidships on the starboard side.

Electronics
  GGM-212 Navigational Sensors.
  GGM-4000 Deep System Scanners.
  Geary-Opticorp model 40 passive detection array with full function backup system.
  Simmons SN-508P "Long Arm" active search sensor with full function backup system.

Stealth Characteristics
  Radial Area: 198 m2
  Lateral Area: 930 m2
  Radiation Emissions: 4.95 MSU
  Emissions Control: Sharp MRE-10A

Engineering Systems
  Power Plant: GE Alpha-10 10MW MHD turbine, GE Alpha-15 15MW MHD turbine
  Fuel: 3300 m3
  Drive: SAT Mk 101B Jerome Drive

TECHNICAL NOTES

Hull Design

These sections are arranged with the three 12-meter sections adjoined end-to-end to form what is referred to as the engineering module.  This contains the ship's power plants, drives, and fuel.  To the front of this unit is the command module, which contains the bridge, TAC, sensor systems, missile bays, cargo storage, crew accommodations, etc.  This module is comprised of three nine-meter sections end-to-end forming the core of the command module.  Attached to either side of this unit is a combination of two six-meter segments attached end-to-end with one of the nonstandard sections at the bow.

The material used to construct the hull is a special low profile synthetic, GS-11X, developed several years ago by an American corporation.  This material is lightweight, though not as light as more recently developed composites.  It is not particularly effective at stopping energy weapon damage, but has a good wide-spectrum radiation absorption quality 100 percent greater than standard synthetic and composite materials and over 200 percent greater than metallics.

The ship's hull has an internal volume of 6695 cubic meters.  The following table breaks down the interior space of the Cayuga A/B, and C models, The table lists each component and the volume used by it,

VOLUME UTILIZATION TABLE

                   Cayuga-A&B   Cayuga-C
Component            Volume      Volume
----------------------------------------
Sensors, Navigational  5           5
Deep System Scan      15          15
Primary Active        10          10
Redundant Active       -          10
Primary Passive       10          10
Redundant Passive     10          10
Missile Bays          56         112
Power Plants, 10 MW  100         100
              15 MW  150         150
Interfacing           30          30
Stutterwarp Drive     29          29
Work Stations, Bridge 56 (7WS)    56 (7WS)
TAC                   64 (8WS)    64 (6WS)
Troops                 8 (1WS)     8 (1WS)
MedBay                 8 (1WS)     8 (1WS)
Crew Accommodations 2400 (32)   2475 (33)
Life support           5           5
Hull masking          31          31
Fuel                3300        3300
Cargo                376         235
Total Volume        6695        6695

Crew

STANDARD REQUIREMENTS

Personnel                Work Stations
--------------------------------------
Captain, First Officer   Con-Bridge
2 Navigators             Nav-Bridge
2 Helmsman               Helm-Bridge
2 Comm Operators         Comm/1-Bridge
                         Comm/2-Bridge
2 Computer Operators     Computer/1-Bridge
                         Computer/2-Bridge
2 Engineer               Engineering/A-Forward Eng
1 Engineer               Engineering/B-Forward Eng
2 Engineer               Engineering/A-Aft Eng
1 Engineer               Engineering/B-Aft Erg
1 Sensor Operator        Active-TAC
1 Sensor Operator        Passive-TAC
1 Gunner                 Weapons/1-TAC
1 Gunner                 Weapons/2-TAC
1 Gunner                 Weapons/3-TAC
1 Gunner                 Weapons/4-TAC
1 Remote Pilot           Remote Ops/1-TAC
1 Remote Pilot           Remote Ops/2-TAC
2 Medic                  MedBay
6 Troops                 TroopBay

Note: Cayuga-C-class vessels are slightly different, adding an extra engineer to their personnel rosters to make up a complete damage control team.

On paper, accommodations for the ship's crew are spacious, allowing approximately 74 cubic meters of living space and extra work and recreation space per crew member.  This is approximately three times the normal allocation for extra space.  However, the reality of the situation is much different.  As is typical with American service vessels, much of the so-called living space is taken up with supplementary equipment, service ducts, long term storage, and other unpublicized equipment.  In practice, less than half of the allotted amount of living space is usable, giving the ship a cramped feeling.  American crews have come to expect this from their nation's designs and often rise above it, using it as a source of shipboard camaraderie.

The lack of artificial gravity aboard the Cayuga is a major factor in limiting their operating endurances.  Crew quality tends to degrade after spending long periods of time in zero-G, even with the large amount of accommodations provided.  For this reason, crew rotation is standard practice aboard all Cayugas.  The normal duty length averages about 30 days.  Crews are normally rotated every 30 days between shipboard duty and shore duty or station duty.

Engineering

The ship's 15-megawatt power plant is normally kept off-line to conserve the ship's supply of fuel.  When combat is imminent, the second MHD turbine is powered up to give the ship a total power output of 25 megawatts.  This amount is enough to power the drives to maximum, power all eight laser weapons, power the ship's active sensor, and still have power remaining.  With both power plants up, however, the ship consumes fuel at a much higher rate.  Still, the ship carries enough to feed both continuously for over five days.

The early production versions of the Cayuga, the Cayuga-As, have an integral incompatibility problem between their two primary power channeling systems and their turbine control components.  This incompatibility causes problems when both the 10-megawatt power plant and the 15-megawatt power plant are both brought on-line.  While no damage will result from this, the system will automatically shut down one of the power plants, possibly for several minutes at a time until the system resets itself.

This doesn't occur immediately, so it is possible to bring both power plants online for a short period of time.  For each turn that both power plants are on-line, roll one die.  If the number rolled on the die is less than the number of turns that both power plants have been up, then one of the plants automatically shuts itself down for D10/2 turns, rounding fractions up.

A power plant can purposely be shut down for a full turn.  When this is done, the shutdown number resets to zero.  This means that both power plants can be run for a number of turns, one can then be shut down for one turn, and brought up again for a number of turns, and so on.

A common alternative to running at a full 25 megawatts is to run only the 15-megawatt power plant.  This option allows the ship to maintain full drive efficiency, power half its laser weapons, and still he able to use its active sensors, if necessary.

Another advantage to this configuration is that the two engineers who operate the smaller power plant are then free to be assigned to damage control duty.  This gives the ship one complete damage control team with one person left over to provide backup in case of battle casualties.

The following tables are provided to assist in determining warp efficiencies and fuel consumption with various cargo loads and power allocations.

DRIVE EFFICIENCY CHART

Power to     Total Cargo Tonnage
Drives      100 tons     1000 tons
 1 MW       1.162        1.075
 2 MW       1.463        1.353
 3 MW       1.675        1.549
 4 MW       1.844        1.704
 5 MW       1.986        1.837
 6 MW       2.111        1.951
 7 MW       2.223        1.054
 8 MW       2.322        2.147
 9 MW       2.415        2.235
10 MW       2.502        2.314

Note: Cargo Tonnage is the total mass of cargo carried in holds plus missiles and any other slung or pylon mounted equipment.

FUEL CONSUMPTION TABLE

          Power Plant   Power Plant
Time      A (10MW)      B (15MW)       Combined
Minute       0.1            0.1             0.2
Hour         6              8.9            14.9
Day        142.9          214.3           357.2
Week      1000           1500            2500*

Note: Fuel consumption is in tons.  The asterisked value indicates that the amount of fuel required is more than the ship carries.

STANDARD GAME DATA

Ship Annex Data

Cayuga-C
  Warp Efficiency: 2.50 Power Plant: 10MW MHD Turbine and 15MW MHD Turbine Fuel: 2000 tons, sufficient for two weeks of operation Range: 7.7 Mass: 3395 tons Cargo Capacity: 235 m3 Comfort: 0 Total Life Support: 33 Price: Lv52,012,000

Record Sheets

Deck Plans

INTERNAL DESCRIPTIONS

1. Observation Lounge: This large room serves as a quiet room/lounge for the ship's crew.  A large observation window is mounted in the forward bulkhead giving a wide view of space to the front of the ship.  A similar skylight window is mounted in the ceiling.  Both windows are equipped with combat panels which close over the outside of the windows and protect them from damage.  The combat panels are automatically closed when the ship goes to combat alert or the room depressurizes for any reason.  Also, the automated system can be manually overridden by a control panel near each window.  Of course, on most vessels this area is of only marginal utility, filled with excess supplies, often spare missile parts.
2. Senior Officers' Quarters: The captain and the first officer each have a spacious room located near the observation lounge.  These rooms are similar to other crew quarters except for the larger administrative work areas used by the senior officers and room for extra personal storage.
3. Crew Quarters: Each crewmember has a private room.  Rooms vary slightly in size, with the larger rooms going to the more senior members of the crew.  These quarters are de scribed in more detail in the "Special Locations" section.
4. Air Lock Number Two: This is the ship's primary air lock for major personnel transfer.  Its location outside of sensitive areas of the ship makes it most desirable for this purpose.  While it is next to the ship's TAC and sensor gear, these areas are inaccessible without proper authorization.  The air lock itself has a normal pressurization rate of 30 seconds and a depressurization rate of 15 seconds.  Special safety features built into the controls prevent the opening of any door without pressure equalization.
5. Space Suit Storage: This room is the entryway to an air lock.  It contains racks normally holding six space suits ready for almost immediate use.  Each rack is equipped with special connectors which automatically replenish a suit's power and air supply within a matter of about an hour.  A cabinet located in each of these storage rooms normally contains a large set of zero-G repair tools, space suit repair equipment, and a first aid kit.
6. Sensor Equipment Room: This is the room containing the control equipment for the ship's combat sensors.  Two large metal cabinets house the sensitive electronic gear.  The forward cabinet contains the active sensor system while the aft cabinet contains the passive sensor system.  Ninety percent of all sensor breakdowns are due to failure of some component located within these cabinets.  Numerous small storage cabinets line the walls of the room, each of these containing spare replacement components.  This room is locked, and it is only accessible to the ship captain, first officer, and chief engineering officer.
7. TAC: The Tactical Action Center is the heart of the ship's combat capability.  See the "Special Locations" section for more information.
8. Bridge: The bridge is the nerve center of the ship.  Flight, communications, navigation, and command operations are conducted from here.  See the "Special Locations" section for more information.
9. Air Lock Number One: Accessible from the bridge, it provides access for VIPs and operations requiring monitoring from the bridge or the observation lounge.  This airlock is never used for crew transfers except in the case of upper ranking individuals.  In all other cases, air lock number two on "A" deck is used.  The one advantage that air lock one has is its quick atmospheric cycle time.  The air lock pressurizes within five seconds and depressurizes in the same.
10. Space Suit Storage: This room serves as the passageway between the bridge and air lock one.  Inside this room are seven space suit racks, one for each member of the bridge crew.  The room does not contain the usual tool cabinet or medical kit, however, because the air lock is not normally used for activities requiring special tools and such.
11. Office: This is the primary workroom for the captain and the first officer.  The room has two work areas with computer files, several cabinets containing data tapes, and so on.  A small window is located in the forward bulkhead.  In the aft bulkhead is a door leading into the conference room.
12. Lounge: This room is most commonly used by bridge personnel during breaks and by bridge personnel waiting to come on shift.  The lounge is nicely furnished and is equipped with a small food processing machine for fixing light meals and snacks.
13. Conference Room: This room is used by the captain when briefing his senior officers or discussing tactics, situations, and soon.  The room is equipped with a computer terminal for accessing data tapes and information stored in the primary computer network.
14. Secure Storage: These rooms are used to stare equipment and personal gear which must be kept locked up.  This includes most firearms, the ship's payroll, other valuables, and so on.  Entry into any of these requires an electronic key possessed by only the captain and the ship's first officer
15. Missile Bay: The ship's missile armament is stored within these two long rooms.  Each room contains necessary launch equipment and storage space for up to two SIM-14 missiles.  Special connectors automatically hook into the missiles and feed their fuel tanks off the ship's main supply.  The only doors in this room are the launch doors located at the forward end of each bay.  Maintenance access panels are located on the bay's inner wall.  These panels are designed so that they can not be removed unless a pressure balance exists on both sides.  While the bays are not normally pressurized, they are airtight and can be pressurized by use of an air tank fitted to a special connector near each access panel.
16. MedBay: The ship's medical facilities are located in this small room.  This room is detailed in "Special Locations".
17. TroopBay: This is the administrative facility for the ship's troop complement.  This room is detailed in "Special locations".
18. Secondary Cargo Hold: This cargo hold is two decks high and has enough space within to hold up to 117 cubic meters of supplies and equipment.  Entrance into the hold is through one of two hatches leading into the rest of the ship through decks "B" and "C".  A large external cargo door is located at the aft end of the hold.  The cargo doors themselves are mounted on horizontal tracks and meet in the center.
19. Maintenance Closet: The small room is a storage compartment for equipment used in routine shipboard maintenance tasks.  This includes such items as light bulbs, repair tools, cleaning equipment, and so on.
20. Primary Cargo Hold: This large cargo storage compartment has enough space to hold up to 259 cubic meters of supplies and equipment.  A pair of large doors are mounted in the floor.  These doors roll back to provide a five-meter by six-meter opening for transferring cargo.  The hold must be depressurized before the doors can be opened.  Depressurizatian of the hold takes a full minute to complete.  Pressurization takes the same amount of time.  Door and pressurization controls are located halfway between the door in the forward bulkhead and the part bulkhead.
21. Fuel Tankage: These large tanks contain liquid hydrogen fuel for the ship's two MHD turbines.  Total fuel tankage equals 3300 cubic meters, which is enough to keep the ship's primary power unit operational for up to two weeks.  The ship's fuel tankage also has lines running into each of the missile bays, allowing the ship's missiles to fuel up from them.
22. Mess Hall/Rec Room: This dual purpose room contains the main food processing equipment and enough room to serve half of the ship's crew at one time.  Like the observation lounge on "A" deck and the exercise room, this room has a large window equipped with combat panels.  These panels work the same as those described for the Observation Lounge.
23. Exercise Room: This large room is identical in size to the Mess Hall/Rec Room and contains a full array of equipment for maintaining physical fitness in a zero-G environment.  All of the equipment is designed to easily store away leaving the room completely empty.  The room can then be used for sports activities such as zero-g racquetball, wrestling, and unarmed combat practice.  A large window in the port wall gives the occupants a clear view of the stars outside.  This window is equipped with a combat panel which protects it from damage during combat.  This panel operates exactly like the ones located in the Observation Lounge.
24. Forward Engine Room: This two-level compartment houses the 10-megawatt MHD turbine power plant.  This is the ship's primary power supply which runs continuously during operation of the ship.  Covering the walls of the room are cooling pipes, power lines, and fuel lines.  A hatch provides access between the upper and lower decks of this room.  In here, the floor of "B" deck is nothing more than a grating and is not airtight.  The upper engineering deck has a hatch which leads to engineering control.
25. Aft Engine Room: This room is much like the forward engine room except it is somewhat larger.  Taking up the bulk of this room is the 15-megawatt MHD turbine power plant.  This unit is the ship's secondary power unit, which is only brought up during combat, and only when necessary.  It is otherwise shut down and is powered up on occasion to make sure it works properly.  Doors in the port and starboard bulkheads lead from the aft engine room to the access tunnels which lead to the stutterwarp drives.
26. Engineering Control: Normally referred to as simply "Engineering", this room contains the control equipment for both of the ship's MHD turbine power plants.  This room is detailed in the "Special Locations" section.
27. Drive Access Tunnel: There are two of these corridors leading from the aft engine room to the drive room.  The tunnels are small, measuring only 1.5 meters wide and 1.5 meters tall.  They are lined with control cables, electrical conduits, and cooling pipes.
28. Drive Room: This tall, narrow room houses the ship's stutterwarp drive system.  The system contains a pair of units which take up most of the room except for a 1.5 meter clearance beneath them on "C" deck.  There is also a three-meter-wide access way in between the drives, allowing for easy repair work.
29. Airlock Number Three: This airlock, located at the aft end of the ship, is used almost exclusively for engineering access when the ship is shut down for maintenance.  Because of its close proximity to the drive room and relatively high radiation levels, this airlock is never used while the ship's drives are operating.

A: Active Sensor Unit: This is the ship's active sensor system.  The unit is contained within an enclosed cabinet which is not locked.  Components within are easily accessed.  Replacement circuitry boards can easily be swapped for bad ones.

F: Fresher: The fresher is the space vessel's version of the bathroom.  Each fresher is equipped with a special zero-G toilet, sonic cleansing system, and zero-G shower.  Each fresher also has ample room for an individual's other personal gear.  All freshers have a secondary function as an emergency life-support chamber.  If a compartment loses pressure, a crew-member may duck into the airtight safety of one of these rooms.  For this purpose, each fresher contains an individual air supply which can sustain a single occupant for up to 48 hours.  Often, a crewmember will keep a space suit in his fresher for such emergencies.

L: Life-Support Unit: This device contains a large number of air purification and circulation equipment.  An access door on the front of the unit allows easy access to the purification filters and chemical bottles.  This door is always locked to prevent tampering with the life support unit.  Access keys are possessed only by the captain, first officer, and chief engineering officer.

P: Passive Sensor unit: This is the ship's passive sensor system.  It is contained within an unlocked cabinet and is modularized to allow for quick and easy repairs.

SPECIAL LOCATIONS

The bridge contains a total of seven work stations: Command, Helm, Navigation, two Communications Stations, and two Computer Stations.  Most of these stations are manned around the clock.  A common setup during routine flight time has either the helm, or navigation stations manned, the command station manned, and one or two communications stations manned at all times.  The computer stations are only used as backups when a primary station is down due to maintenance or combat damage.  All bridge work stations are automated and can be programmed to carry out certain instructions at specified times or in case of specific events.  Often, these stations are set to alert the user whenever certain instrument readings go outside of specified ranges.

The following paragraphs in this article contain detailed descriptions of each of the work stations which are located on the bridge:

Helm: The Helm station is located at the right side of the flight operations panel at the front of the bridge.  From here the helmsman can control all maneuvering operations of the ship, including both maneuvering thrusters and stutterwarp drive control.  While this panel does not have control over the ship's two MHD turbine power plants, it does have instrument readouts indicating the operational status of each.  This station also has full control over the ship's cargo bays, and is able to remotely pressurize or depressurize them and to control the operation of the access doors.  However, for reasons of safety, the controls within the bays themselves have been designed with the capability to override the bridge controls.

Navigation: This station is located on the flight operations panel on the opposite side from the helm station.  This panel has all necessary navigation control instruments and is used to program courses into the stutterwarp control system for long range travel.  A partial set of stutterwarp drive controls are located here, but an override switch on the helm panel can cut out all input from the navigation station.  The ship's navigational sensors and deep system scanners are also controlled from this section.  Also, all combat sensor data received by the ship's passive and active sensor systems can be called up on the work station's monitors.

Comm Station: There are two of these stations located on the bridge.  Each is identical in function.  Both stations are equipped with full function multi-frequency transmission and reception equipment capable of operating on up to twelve frequencies simultaneously.  In addition, monitoring equipment can be programmed to scan any combination of frequencies and can automatically discern between actual transmissions and static interference.  Each station is also equipped with a tight beam communications link laser.  This device can lock onto a laser receiver and transmit secure messages without the threat of being jammed.  A special feature of the communications system is the ability to get a bearing on any transmission source.  Utilizing the ship's computer system, both comm stations can obtain a bearing and can triangulate the position of the source to within 0.1 percent of the actual distance.

Command: This position is manned at all times by either the captain or the first officer.  From this centrally located work station, the watch officer can monitor all functions of the bridge.  This station is equipped with numerous displays which can tie into any readout on the bridge and can also show the status of any system monitored by the ship's computer.

Computer: There are two computer stations located at the large console on the starboard side of the bridge.  These can be used to access the ship's information banks and monitoring systems.  Additionally, each computer station can be programmed to emulate any work station on the bridge.  This is done in case a work station is down for maintenance or from battle damage.  The computer stations are normally unmanned, used only by trained personnel as an emulated work station.  The computer station can also be setup as a direct access terminal to the ship's main computer system.  In this mode, the station can control all programming, program access, and operation of the ship's central computer system.  For security measures, only the captain and first officer know the access code to put the station in this mode.

TAC: The Tactical Actions Center is the heart of the ship's combat muscle.  The room is located on "A" deck in the aft section of the Command Module.  The room contains control consoles for active and passive electronic detection systems, missile control stations, and weapons turret control stations.  At all times the room is closed, and one of the ship's troops is posted outside the entrance.  Access to the room is permitted to any of the sensor or weapons operators only during combat alert.  At any other time, entry is allowed only it expressly permitted by the captain, first officer, or chief engineering officer.

The descriptions of the work stations found in the TAC are detailed in the following paragraphs:

Gunnery Stations: These four laser turret control stations are located side-by-side on the starboard bulkhead of the TAC.  Each of these stations controls one of the ship's four twin mount laser turrets.  The forward station controls the port turret, the next station controls the starboard turret, the third station controls the top turret, while the rear station controls the bottom turret.  As each station is linked to separate target tracking arrays, each can individually lock onto their own targets giving the ship the capability of engaging up to four targets simultaneously.

Remote Pilot Station: There are two stations located at the forward end of the TAC on the port side.  These are the ship's missile flight control stations.  Each work station is contained within its own small cubicle, facing forward.  An externally mounted communications laser provides the command link between the remote pilot stations and one of the ship's SIM-14 missiles.  Each station also has full control over the ship's two missile bays and external missile refueling facilities.  Each station is also linked directly to the ship's main computer system allowing sensor data received by missiles or drones to be tied into the ship's sensor and tracking systems.

Passive Sensor Operations Station: This station is located at a panel in the port side of the TAC, directly behind where the remote piloting stations are found.  The passive sensor operations station serves as the control center for the ship's primary detection gear.  Passive sensor data is linked directly into the ship's main computer and, thus, is readily available to all gunnery and remote pilot stations, as well as to the helm and navigation stations on the located bridge, for maneuvering information.

Active Sensor Operations Station: This station is located in the port aft corner of the TAC.  From the active sensor operations station, the ship's active sensor systems are monitored and controlled.  During both normal and combat operations, active sensors are kept off-line on standby alert.  This off-line condition is necessary due to the tremendous signature which is radiated when the active sensors are in a powered-up state.  As the active sensors are not as critical to the vessel as the passive systems, the active sensor operator is often trained in passive sensor operation.  The crewmember is then available as backup to the passive sensor operator in case of battle casualties.

Crew Quarters: Each crewmember's quarters is unique in interior layout, but all crew quarters contain similar facilities.  Aboard all Cayuga-class ships, crewmembers have a great deal of space for their personal comfort and recreation.  This space for the crewmembers is intended to make up for the lack of on-board artificial gravity areas which are common to many other vessels.  Each individual's quarters include a sleeping cocoon, a personal work area, a large number of storage cabinets, a limited access terminal linking into the ship's computer system, a personal video and audio entertainment system, and a large fresher.

The fresher contains a zero-G toilet, shower, and personal storage space.  All freshers are dual purpose -- they are also designed to serve as air tight emergency compartments.  Built-in life-support units can maintain operation for up to 48 man-hours.

Engineering Control Room: This room is commonly referred to as simply "engineering".  This large room is sandwiched between the forward and aft engine rooms.  From here, the ship's two MHD turbine power plants can be monitored and controlled.  Engineering contains a total of four work stations.  Two work stations are located against the forward end of engineering and handle all systems for the 10-megawatt power plant in the forward engine room.  The stations are situated side-by-side, with the port station monitoring and controlling the electrical output of the power plant, all power channeling and utilization, and soon.  The starboard station, on the other hand, monitors and controls all input into the power plant, which includes fuel feeding, cooling systems, safety monitoring, and so on.

Two work stations are similarly located at the aft end of engineering.  These work stations handle the same functions for the 15-megawatt power plant located in the aft engine room.  Here, the starboard engineering station controls all power plant output, while the port station handles the operation of the power plant.

MedBay: The ship's MedBay is a small medical facility which is commonly used to handle most illnesses and injuries.  Powerful diagnostic equipment can automatically identify hundreds of diseases from external scans alone.  Additionally, blood analysis equipment can identify hundreds more.  To handle injuries, the MedBay is equipped with a full array of first aid gear and limited-capability automated surgical devices.  This medical equipment is primarily designed to handle things like closing wounds, setting broken bones, and soon.  For major injuries which cannot be handled with on-board facilities, the diagnosis platform is fitted with a special cover which allows the unit to operate as a cryothermic suspension capsule.  A patient kept inside this unit is suspended in cold-sleep until he or she can be moved for medical attention in a better-equipped medical facility.

TroopBay: The TroopBay is nothing more than a large central office for the administration of activities involving the small, but effective, complement of the ship's troops.  The office also contains three large cabinets which are kept locked at all times.  These storage cabinets contain weapons and equipment used by the troops during shipboard combat or planetary missions.  Access is available only to the captain, first officer, and troop team leader.  The room itself is always locked and manned by an armed trooper who stands guard inside the room.  A security monitoring camera located in a small dome in the ceiling outside the door gives the guard a view of anyone desiring entrance.
-Clare W. Hess

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