I did this page based off the write ups done in one of my favorite works - Ships of the StarFleet, Volume One. The style of that particular book, and other works from the same publisher, are a part of why kitbashing has stayed with me as it has. While the Star Fleet Technical Manual is what started me off on kitbashing, SotSF has kept it going at a more accelerated rate. So, I took a cue from SotSF for several of my own model entries, embellishing beyond the pictures and expanding upon my background thoughts while building the models.
Anyhow, on to pics and the original page entry.
Truman page on the Wayback Machine
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This is the U.S.S. Truman, NCC-7001, a heavy cruiser, lead ship in her class. This model is an original design based loosely on the Nebula-class seen in early NG and in various DS9 and VOY episodes. With the exception of the bridge she is kitbashed using an Ent-A kit w/"scratchbuilt" underside details - done badly using sheet styrene - and modified connecting dorsal. The bridge is the Abbe refit from the late and lamented "Star Fleet Alternatives" line, formerly sold by Thomas Sasser of Thomas Models.
The model took a tumble a few years ago - with the help of one of our cats! - and is in dire need of being reassembled and repainted/decaled. I plan to do some major re-working of the model, as I feel it needs an "upgrade" and will likely do so by placing sheet stock all the way around the inner concavity of the lower primary hull, make it a flat surface.
History for the Truman Class Heavy Cruiser
HULL NAME BUILT/REFIT BY
NCC-7001 TRUMAN GriffWorks Unltd, Kansas City Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7002 EISENHOWER GriffWorks Unltd, Kansas City Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7003 MacARTHUR Star Fleet Division, San Francisco Yards, Earth
NCC-7004 KENNEDY GriffWorks Unltd, Kansas City Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7005 PATTON Cosmadyne Corporation, Boston Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7006 ROOSEVELT Newport News Shipbldg, Louisiana, Earth
NCC-7007 SCHWARZKOPF Newport News Shipbldg, Virginia, Earth
NCC-7008 LINCOLN Cosmadyne Corporation, Boston Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7009 PERRY Newport News Shipbldg, Louisiana, Earth
NCC-7010 THOMAS GriffWorks Unltd, Kansas City Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7011 NIMITZ Cosmadyne Corporation, Boston Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7012 SHERMAN Newport News Shipbldg, Virginia, Earth
NCC-7013 PERSHING Star Fleet Division, San Francisco Yards, Earth
NCC-7014 HALSEY Cosmadyne Corporation, Boston Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7015 SHERIDEN Star Fleet Division, San Francisco Yards, Earth
NCC-7016 POWELL Newport News Shipbldg, Virginia, Earth
NCC-7017 TUTTLE GriffWorks Unltd, Kansas City Shipyards, Earth
NCC-7018 DOOLITTLE Star Fleet Division, San Francisco Yards, Earth
NCC-7019 GRANT Star Fleet Division, San Francisco Yards, Earth
NCC-7020 HARRIS Cosmadyne Corporation, Boston Shipyards, Earth
These ships are named after military leaders from the history of the United States of America.
CLASS: The ships of this class were ordered as heavy cruisers. Like the Constitution and similar heavy cruisers, they were designed with the dual role of defense and to lead research task forces for brief forays into unexplored regions of space adjacent to the Federation.
The Tuttle (CH7017) was listed as missing near the Cardassian border in 2296, while searching for the Patrick (DT 2683), which had sent a distress signal one week earlier. A thorough investigation by the heavy cruiser Potemkin (CH 1711) turned up no sign on the Federation side of the border, though the Patrick’s and Tuttle’s warp trail did appear to cross in to Cardassian space. A request to search along the border region by the CO of the Potemkin was denied by the Cardassian government. The Patrick and Tuttle were both officially listed as missing with all hands in October of that same year. A number of vessels have reported receiving indecipherable transmissions from the Patrick, though no sensor contact has been made, nor were the vessels able to discern the origin of the transmissions. Star Fleet Intelligence is investigating.
CLASSIFICATION: The 20 ships of this class were ordered on 24 November 2270 as heavy cruisers.
DESIGN: This class was originally convceived as a more defensible version of the refit Constitution class heavy cruisers, sporting the lower profile and re-arranged phaser emplacements. Not unlike the Constitution class heavy cruisers, the Truman's were designed to operate independently or as a part of an exploration task force, able to operate on their own with out supporting vessels. They were also conceived as being able to fill the role of solitary patrol vessels.
Like many vessels that have been built in the latter quarter of the 23rd century, these vessels include the proven “Merlin” defensive configuration (which combines the force field/deflector capabilities and the cloaking/stasis system into a single unit). The low profile, combined with the addition of the aft firing photorp system, makes the Truman a formidable opponent to most enemy ships in terms of stand-up and close-in fighting capability.
ENGINEERING: StarFleet's newly formed Advanced Starship Design Bureau was tasked with developing a design that would meet and possibly exceed that of the aging Constitution design, as it was felt that it was entirely possible that the refit might not yield the hoped for results. The ASDB developed the plan for the Truman in record time, meeting the needs of both the Exploratory and Military Division's requirements for a new heavy cruiser. While the Truman class doesn't have quite the range of the refit Constitution class, they still pack almost all of the capabilities of that design into a slightly more compact hull, to include nearly all the same laboratory facilities.
Since this class of vessels is often called upon to perform a variety of missions, they've received the latest in stealth packages, making them as ideal as flagships in task force operations. The fact that they have such expansive hanger facilities as the Constitution while packing a bit more punch makes them desirable in potentially tense situations.
One of the least liked things about the Truman design is the split warp core dynamics. While the positioning of the warp nacelles has increased warp field effeciency, the placement of the two engineering sections has proven to be a bit of a headache with most engineering teams. These vessels require one third more engineering staff than other comparably sized vessels.
Due to the unique position of the forward firing photorp launch system, a number of the crew quarters were either removed or relocated to make room for storage. There are several quarters which were made smaller on deck six due to this. A positive aspect of this has been that a number of previously tested automates were integrated into the design of this class, reducing the number of crew members from 440 to 370.
WEAPONS: To keep the defensibilty of these vessels on a par with the Constitution-class heavy cruisers, StarFleet engineers moved the phaser emplacements to four dual positions on both the upper and lower primary hull. This gives a fairly effective firing arc, nearly 360 degrees in all directions, as well as allowing two dual phaser emplacements to fire directly forward, starboard, port or aft from the dorsal positions. However, the underside aft port and starboard placements give a restricted field of fire. StarFleet is considering relocating these emplacements to the secondary hull when the class is eventually brought in for systems upgrades in 2297 or 2298.
The forward firing photorp system is located on the underside of the primary hull, which necessitated relocation of crew quarters on decks four and five for storage of photorps, as well as the need for the relocation of shielded arming tunnels from the outboard engineering sections to relay anti-matter for the arming of the photorps. Yet another reason these vessels are unpopular with some crews.
Defensive and offensive capabilities have been enhanced with the addition of the aft firing photorp launch system. This makes the Truman class popular with commanders and crews that are tasked with patroling potentially hostile areas or operating far from Federation borders.
EMBARKED CRAFT: These ships normally carry three standard shuttlecraft, two dockport shuttlecraft, one "aqua" shuttle, four work bees and one or two inspection pods. A few have even been known to embark specialized support craft during covert operations.
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