STSTCSOLD&A | Constellation Class ● Missile Cruiser ● United Federation of Planets

TWO DIFFERENT CONSTELLATION SCHEMATICS APPEARED in two different FASA publications. The first was seen (click here) in the TNG Officers Manual, and was little more than a Constitution Refit saucer adorned with a flimsy set of dorsal and ventral warp pylons capped by slightly-altered FWG-style warp nacelles. I suspect the artist who created this first schematic had little or no official material from the TV show upon which to base the Officers Manual schematic, as the thickened, somewhat teardrop-like shape of the main hull is ignored, surface structural differences between the original Consitution Refit saucer and the actual Constellation saucer are nowhere to be seen, and the nacelles are aligned in a familiar vertical fashion, instead of horizontal as they are on the actual model of the ship used for production shooting. FASA got it almost right with the second version from the TNG First Year Sourcebook: correctly reflecting the teardrop hull when viewed top-down, the overall design of the nacelles and their alignment, and the thickened main hull, with side-on detailing to match. However, FASA still missed the impulse decks and unusual ventral structure details which are aft of the ventral saucer bulge; details which have been the topic of much fan conjecture since the class first appeared.
        To be fair, it is hard to fault the FASA artists when all they had to go on was ST:TNG Season One, during which the Constellation appears ever so briefly. I don't think I even noticed something was wrong until Season Two or Three when Riker takes on Picard with the USS Hathaway during wargame exercises.
        I have seen a semi-official schematic that supposedly appeared in Star Trek: The Magazine a few years ago, but even this design did not seem to entirely jive with the studio model photos that I've seen, so I set about creating my own 3-view interpretation of the Constellation—using Mike Okuda's port-side view from his 1996 Star Trek Encyclopedia as a base, copying over components parts from the Enterprise (as rendered in Pocketbooks' Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise), and paying close attention to various model shots featured at various sites on the internet. Most especially the bow shuttle bay (for the longest time I presumed this to be a torpedo deck!) and the easy-to-miss photon launch decks nestled at the joints between the vertical and horizontal warp pylons.
        Factoids revealed in various TNG episodes suggest that the Constellation class is indeed a Kirk-era design, arising at roughly the same time as the Excelsior class. Played in Kirk's time, circa ST:TMP through Star Trek VI and after, the Constellation is a top-rate ship capable of clubbing it out with even the largest Romulan and Klingon cruisers. It even fares half-decent against the big enemy battleships, thanks to a potent spread of weapons and a good amount of power. In Kirk's time the class would certainly be considered advanced, and somewhat rare, occupying a special place within the fleet alongside similarly potent ships of the day.
        By Picard's era however, the Constellation is run-of-the-mill, at best. The Constellation is badly outmatched by the Klingon KDF-2, Romulan D'deridex, and Ferengi Marauder. You may have some success against these bigger ships using the Constellation in numbers, but still the ship is out of its league, and fairs better against older opponents from a different time. For the sake of eliminating this deficiency, I took the liberty of building out stats for hypothetical Mk III, Mk IV, and Mk V models, upgrading the class at all levels.

— BRT

Construction Data: Model Numbers- Ship Class- Date Entering Service- Number Constructed	MK I XII 2/5403 126	MK IA XII 38002.5 unknown	MK III * XIII 2307 64	MK IV * XIII 2321 (refit only)	MK V * XIII 2334 (refit only)
Hull Data: Superstructure Points- Damage Chart- Size Length- Width- Height- Weight- Cargo Cargo Units- Cargo Capacity- Landing Capability-	32 C 310 meters 140 meters 94 meters 208,743 tons 150 units 12,500 tons none	32 C 310 meters 140 meters 94 meters 208,993 tons 125 units 6,250 tons none	38 C 310 meters 140 meters 94 meters 215,450 tons 100 units 5,000 tons none	42 C 310 meters 140 meters 94 meters 217,800 tons 100 units 5,000 tons none	45 C 310 meters 140 meters 94 meters 224,800 tons 100 units 5,000 tons none
Equipment Data: Control Computer Type- Transporters- Standard 6-person- Emergency 22-person- cargo large- cargo small-	M-6A 4 4 1 2	M-6A 4 4 1 2	M-9A 4 4 1 1	MBT-06 4 4 1 1	MBT-06 4 4 1 1
Other Data: Crew- Passengers- Shuttlecraft-	350 20 8	350 20 8	330 10 6	305 10 6	305 10 6
Engines and Power Data: Total Power Units Available- Movement Point Ratio- Warp Core Type- Power Units Available- Stress Charts- Maximum Safe Cruising Speed- Emergency Speed- Impulse Engine Type- Power Units Available-	92 4/1 FTWD-2 80 E/F Warp 8 Warp 9.9 FIF-1 12	92 4/1 FTWD-2 80 E/F Warp 8 Warp 9.9 FIF-1 12	104 3/1 FNWD-2G 92 L/M Warp 8 Warp 9.9 FIF-1 12	114 3/1 FNWD-2G 92 L/M Warp 8 Warp 9.9 FNIS-130 22	126 3/1 FNWD-2GX 104 L/M Warp 8 Warp 9.9 FNIS-130 22
Weapons and Firing Data: Beam Weapon Type- Number- Firing Arcs- Firing Chart- Maximum Power- Damage Modifiers +3 +2 +1 Missile Weapon Type- Number- Firing Arcs- Firing Chart- Power To Arm- Damage-	FH-14 6 in three banks 2f/p, 2f/s, 2a T 12 (1 - 5) (6 - 12) (13 - 18) FP-4 4 in two bays 2f, and 2f S 1 20	FH-14 6 in three banks 2f/p, 2f/s, 2a T 12 (1 - 5) (6 - 12) (13 - 18) FP-4 4 in two bays 2f, and 2f S 1 20	FH-14 6 in three banks 2f/p, 2f/s, 2a T 12 (1 - 5) (6 - 12) (13 - 18) FP-4 4 in two bays 2f, and 2f S 1 20	FH-14 8 in four banks 3f, 1f/p, 1f/s, 3a T 12 (1 - 5) (6 - 12) (13 - 18) FP-15 5 in three bays 2f, and 2f W 3 25	FH-14 8 in four banks 3f, 1f/p, 1f/s, 3a T 12 (1 - 5) (6 - 12) (13 - 18) FP-15 5 in three bays 2f, and 2f W 3 25
Shields Data: Deflector Shield Type- Shield Point Ratio- Maximum Shield Power-	FSQ 1/4 18	FSQ 1/4 18	NGSS-F 1/3 21	NGSS-F 1/3 21	NGSS-G 1/3 24
Defense Factor- Weapon Damage Factor-	193.76 104.60	193.76 104.60	unknown unknown	unknown unknown	unknown unknown

* Denotes completely hypothetical model number and stats, devised by Brad R. Torgersen.