CONSTITUTION CLASS NX-1700
Starship Prototype
External Blueprints & Deck Plans

Design Team: David Schmidt, Tim Palgut
Copyright: 2009

DESIGN HISTORY:

Project Constitution was first proposed by Starfleet Command to the Federation Council in 2237 as an exploration vessel to replace the Daedalus-class - which were reaching obsolescence at the time. The proposed specifications and capabilities were far superior to that of the Daedalus-class. In 2240 Starfleet Command instructed the Advanced Starship Design Bureau to begin the design process. The Bureau's Starfleet Tactical Development Division experimented with several spaceframe concepts, finally accepting the 'Primary Hull / Secondary Hull' - pioneered with the Daedalus-class.

The Constitution-class was to be Starfleet's first Heavy Cruiser, the flagship class of Starfleet's newly-conceived 'Integrated Flexible Fleet' Concept - the first of 13 all based upon modular designs using a standardized primary hull and enlarged warp drive nacelles - and which would eventually give birth to such types as the Cruiser, Light Cruiser, Tactical Cruiser, Frigate, Light Frigate, Fast Frigate, Destroyer, Fast Destroyer, Scout and Superscout. With the 'Integrated Flexible Fleet' Concept with minimum refit times (on the order of one-to-four months) Starfleet could up-grade or down-grade vessels from one type to another by interchanging secondary hulls and systems, as warranted by fleet requirement projections. Furthermore, new variations could be designed around the primary hull/nacelle modules.

The first spaceframe components of the class' lead ship were gamma-welded at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2242. On 15 March 2245, U.S.S. Constitution (NX-1700) was launched from Utopia Planitia. She immediately began shakedown trials in the home sectors, being formally commissioned on 31 October 2245.

First launched in 2245, by 2269 most of the Constitution-class Heavy Cruisers had undergone 4 upgrades:

Upgrade 1.1 - Post-shakedown - Standard Outfitting
Upgrade 1.2 - Replacement of Bridge Module, Removal of Bussard Collector Spikes
Upgrade 1.3 - Replacement of Bridge Module, Upgrading of Sickbay
Upgrade 1.4 - Upgrading of Main Engineering, Upgrading of Main Deflector Generator, Upgrading of Life-Support Systems,
Upgrading of Structural Integrity Field Generators, Upgrading of Nacelle Aft End Caps

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