Akira class

Akira class

History[]

Starships of this class were constructed atUtopia Planitia Fleet Yards by2371. (VOY: "Relativity")

It quickly became a common fixture in Federationfleet deployments, appearing on thefront lines of numerous engagements, including against theBorg at theBattle of Sector 001 in2373, and in theDominion War, where several vessels of this class were assigned to Starfleet'sSecond Fleet, which participated inOperation Return in2374, thesecond Battle of Chin'toka, and theBattle of Cardassia in2375. They were also frequently stationed nearDeep Space 9 during the war. (Star Trek: First Contact;DS9: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels", "Statistical Probabilities", "The Magnificent Ferengi", "Afterimage",DS9: "Field of Fire", "The Changing Face of Evil", "What You Leave Behind")

An additional noted engagement happened in2374, where anAkira-class, and twoDefiant-class escorts successfully engaged threeRomulanD'deridex class-class warbirds afterTal Shiar agents hijacked and stole thePrometheus-class prototypeUSSPrometheus, and tried to take the ship back to Romulan space for study. TheAkira-class, in conjunction with thePrometheus, and theDefiant-class escorts, destroyed one of the warbirds. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")

At least one member of the class was within alight year ofEarth in2378. (VOY: "Endgame")

AdmiralAlonzo Freeman kept amodel of anAkira-class starship in hisready room in2381. (LD: "First First Contact")

Later that year, anAkira-class starship chased aZakdorndata forger into theRomulan Neutral Zone and captured him for interogation about the destruction ofPakled Planet. (LD: "Grounded")

In2384, at least 8 ships of this class intercepted theUSSProtostar in a restrictedsector near thestarGamma Serpentis. They were part of anarmada which includedCentaur-type,Defiant-class, andSovereign-class starships. (PRO: "Mindwalk", "Supernova, Part 1", "Supernova, Part 2")

In2401, four ships of this class were sent by Starfleet to join anarmada opposing a unknownBorgvessel. The Borg liaison sent to theUSSStargazer briefly commandeered this vessel and others, before the crew managed to engage theirauto-destruct system. (PIC: "The Star Gazer")

Later that year, eighteen ships of this class participated inFrontier Day celebrations nearSol Station. Along with the rest of the fleet, these ships were seized by theBorg Collective after their younger crews wereassimilated by aBorg signal transmitted viaJack Crusher. (PIC: "Võx", "The Last Generation")

By2402, at least two ships of the class, theUSSSentinel, and theUSSWersching were retired from service, and placed on display at theFleet Museum in orbit ofAthan Prime. (PIC: "Võx", "The Last Generation")

Technical data[]

Physical arrangement[]

TheAkira-class design ditchedStarfleet's usual saucer-secondary hull-nacelle design, and more closely resembled theNX-class with its catamaran shaped hull. The engineering section was tucked under the main saucer, which housed the maindeflector, and some of the ship's tactical systems. The nacelles were connected via long catamaran type structures, which in turn connected to a large weapons pod, housing severalphoton torpedo launchers. The catamaran pylons offered a degree of protection for the mainbridge, which retained its traditional location at the top of the saucer. (Star Trek: First Contact;DS9: "Call to Arms", et al.)

Tactical systems[]

TheAkira-class design incorporated a multitude of tactical systems, including at least threephaser arrays, and housed numerousphoton torpedo launchers along the port and starboard sides of the ventral primary hull, at least one launcher forward of the deflector, and several located on the aft weapons pod, which rotated into place before firing. (Star Trek: First Contact;LD: "Grounded";PRO: "Supernova, Part 1")

Command and control systems[]

By2401, the computer systems on board the class had been overhauled to include theFleet formation mode, also known as Starfleet emergency protocol NX12.11, designed to place all Federation starships within a fleet under the automated control of the Starfleet mainframe. (PIC: "Võx")

Ships in class[]

Named

Uncertain

Unnamed

• UnnamedAkira-class starships

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

Thename of the ship class was never mentioned on screen, but is derived from production sources.

The total number ofAkira-class vessels present at Frontier Day was established byPicard Research AssistantJörg Hillebrand.[1]

According to theStar Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 14, theAkira-class was named after the anime fantasy filmAkira. "Along with theLockheedP-38 Lightning, theAkira-class starship helped to inspireDoug Drexler's design of theNX-classEnterprise fromStar Trek: Enterprise."

According to designer,Alex Jaeger, "This was my gunship/battlecruiser/aircraft carrier. It has 15torpedo launchers and twoshuttlebays – one in front, with three doors, and one in the back. I really got into it with this one, with the whole idea that the front bay would be the launching bay, and then to return they'd come into the back, because they'd be protected by the rest of the ship." (Star Trek: The Magazine,July 1999, Issue 3)

A design sketch of the USSAkira shown the vessel bearing theregistry NCC-2497. In an unpublished interview with authorLarry Nemecek, designer Jaeger said he simply used the four-digit number of his then-phone extension for that registry; to conform to Starfleet practice, the number "6" was added byMike Okuda and the film's art department to make "62497," a number then approved by producerRick Berman. At the same time, Jaeger said, two other ship names and registries were approved as back-ups, if needed, to the USSThunderchild actually seen on film as NCC-63549: theUSSRabin (named after former Israeli Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin) as NCC-63293, and the USSSpector (NCC-65549). The ship scale sheet showing the back-up names and registries can be found onJohn Eaves' blog.

The latter ship's name has appeared on screen in a graphic from theStar Trek: Picard episode "Võx". The CGI file used for theAkira-class seen in theVoyager episode "Message in a Bottle" was ostensibly theSpector and was used by theStar Trek Fact Files. The ship allegedly appeared in one of the battle scenes from thesixth andseventh seasons ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, but this has not been verified.

The scale of the CGI mesh, according to a January 20, 1998 post in the newsgroup alt.tv.star-trek.ds9, by DS9 Visual Effects SupervisorDavid Stipes, was 860 feet or 262.13 meters, the length used when he blocked shots in DS9.[2] However, the measurement used by Visual Effects SupervisorGary Hutzel, according to an in-house chart dated 5/15/98, was 840 feet.[3]

According to a size chart of Alex Jaeger, theAkira-class would be roughly 500 meters (1640.4 ft) in length.[4]

Studio model[]

• See:Akira-class model

Technical Manual[]

The following specifications and defenses come from theStar Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual (p. 153):

• Production Base: ASDB Integration Facility, Antares Fleet Yards, Antares IV.
• Type:Heavy Cruiser.
• Accommodation: 500 officers and crew; 4,500 personnel evacuation limit.
• Power Plant: One 1,500 plus Cochrane warp core feeding two nacelles; one impulse system.
• Dimensions: Length, 464.43 meters; beam, 316.67 meters; height, 87.43 meters.
• Mass: 3,055,000 metric tonnes.
• Performance: Warp 9.8 for 12 hours.
• Armament: Six type-10 phaser emitters; Two photon torpedo launchers.

Apocrypha[]

Novels[]

TheStar Trek: The Dominion WarnovelBehind Enemy Lines features theAkira-class starships USSCarla Romney (β) and the USSSharansky (β).

TheMillennium novelThe Fall of Terok Nor mentions twoAkira-class starships, the USSBondar (β) and the USSGarneau (β), both named afterCanadianastronautsRoberta Bondar andMarc Garneau.

TheAkira-class starship USSGryphon (β) features heavily in the DS9 novels set after "What You Leave Behind". TheGryphon was commanded by Elaine Mello (β). InLesser Evil,Kira Nerys is given command by Captain Mello when theGryphon is sabotaged by itsfirst officer Alejandro Montenegro (β) after he was infested by aBluegillparasite who intended to use the ship to attackTrill, but Kira was able to stop Montenegro and regain control of theGryphon.

TheUSSSentinel mentioned inDS9: "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" is described as anAkira-class starship thatLieutenant CommanderSonya Gomez served on during theDominion War as chief engineer, according toPocket SCE:War Stories, Book 1 and had the registry NCC-68455. The ship would make it canonical appearance inSeason 3 ofPicard.

The DS9 novelOriginal Sin features theAkira-class USSJames T. Kirk (β) (NCC-63719), named in honor ofCaptainJames T. Kirk of theUSSEnterprise. TheJames T. Kirk was commanded by Elias Vaughn (β) and had an illustrious service history which included exploration and defensive missions.

TheStar Trek: Destiny novelGods of Night features theAkira-class USSConstant (β). During the Borg invasion (β) of2381, theConstant was assigned to defend the planetKhitomer, along with the USSRanger (β) and USSArimathea (β). Although theUSSEnterprise-E signaled of an incoming Borg cube, the fleet of three vessels had little chance of defending theKlingon planet. TheConstant was destroyed first after the cube adapted to their weaponry; although the vessel was able to launchescape pods, they were all consumed by the ship's destruction.

The short story "On the Spot" in the anthology bookThe Sky's the Limit features theAkira-class USSKorolev (β).

Games[]

TheDecipherrole-playing games supplementStarships lists severalAkira-class starships, including USSGeronimo (β) (NCC-62501), USSOsceola (β) (NCC-62743), USSBlack Elk (β) (NCC-62878), USSNez Perce (β) (NCC-62891), USSMateo (β) (NCC-63002), USSRed Cloud (β) (NCC-63306), and USSSusquehanna (β) (NCC-63419).

TheActivision PC gameStar Trek: Bridge Commander includes the USSDevore (β) (NCC-64088), USSGeronimo (β) (NCC-69302), and USSKali (β).

The Activision PC gameStar Trek: Armada includes the USSJupiter (β) (NCC-71267) and USSTemplar (β), as well as many others. In both this game and the sequel,Star Trek: Armada II, these vessels have an advanced weapon called the "chain reaction pulsar (β)" which bounces a bolt of energy off of enemy shields, damaging several ships consecutively. TheJupiter was also a promotional card for theStar Trek Customizable Card Game, where it was listed as being "under the command of CaptainSatelk."

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars includes the USSSingh (β).

Star Trek: Away Team includes the USSLeyte Gulf (β) (NCC-71427).

TheAkira-class is featured in the gameStar Trek: Starfleet Command III, where it is classified as a heavy cruiser.

The Xbox 360/PC gameStar Trek: Legacy allows control ofAkira-class ships as cruisers with names such as USSAkira, USSSpector, USSRabin, and USSThunderchild.

TheAkira-class is featured inStar Trek Online as the prototypical example of a "Strike Wing Escort", a class of tactical starship blending the weaponry an escort with the capacity to field smaller vessels such asshuttlecraft,runabouts, orattack fighters in combat. Other Strike Wing Escort classes fielded by Starfleet with designs derived from theAkira-class include the game-originalArmitage (β),Alita (β), andThunderchild (β) classes. The in-game model has been updated multiple times to improve its level of detail and make it more screen accurate, the most recent of which was used inStar Trek: Picard. In 2024, the game released a new mission depicting theBattle of Wolf 359 in aHolodeck simulation where players are embodying one of the 40 fleet vessels engaged againstLocutus' Borg Cube. OneAkira-class ship, the USSKaneda (β) (NX-62498), is depicted as one of the destroyed ships during the battle. Her NX designation suggests it was anotherprototype, launched years prior the initialcommissioning of theAkira-class.

External links[]

• Akira-class atEx Astris Scientia – contains detailed notes and articles on theAkira-class
• Akira class atMemory Beta, the wiki for licensedStar Trek works
• Akira class atWikipedia
• Akira class Technical Manual – fan wiki on theAkira class starship