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Description

Ported to OBJ and modified somewhat by me from the conjectural TMP era Chicago included with the Eras at War fan mod for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based on the original TOS era Chicago class NCL created by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

I had to rewrite the backstory for this for my own Federation Fleet Review (FFR) for better compatibility with everything else that's canon, semi-canon, and fanon in the TMP era, and I am particularly indebted to the earlier musings of fellow classic Trek tech fan Timo Saloniemi in this regard. What follows next is my own conception; you can take it or leave it or come up with your own.

Chesapeake was the TMP era upgraded form of the old TOS era Kearsarge class new light cruiser or NCL. The main difference was that Chesapeake was intended to be an all new build class as opposed to upgrading the older Kearsarges (still in Starfleet reserves at this time and maintained there as a ready reserve for some years to come), although Kearsarge class member Chicago (NCC-1651) was pulled from reserve and given an early form of this upgrade to serve as a prototype for the class. There were a number of different design proposals, but the one shown above was ultimately chosen for its simplicity. As with the old TOS version there were initial plans to use the LN-64S "shorty" version of the new LN-64 linear warp engine to speed construction, but in the end and given the ramp-up of tensions with the Klingons approval was given for the regular and more powerful LN-64 instead -- which made Chesapeake even more capable than had first been planned. Just as was the older TOS Kearsarge, the TMP era Chesapeake came out one of the best Class I starship combatants of its day and Starfleet initially had high hopes for the class. In the end construction was limited to six ships (five new builds plus the Chicago prototype) with the rest of the order cancelled over Starfleet's objections, and two reasons are usually cited for this. The first was politics, both in service and civilian meddling. Opponents of Chesapeake pointed out, and with some justification, that both the Project Avenger program and other upgrades/upgunning of as many older Starfleet light cruiser and heavy frigate classes as could be managed (not to mention heavy destroyers) meant that there was really no need for new-build Chesapeakes. The second was cost. As a new build class Chesapeake was very expensive, and as the first half of the TMP era went on it became clear that Starfleet was going have to cut costs dramatically in order to get as much of what it wanted for the TMP era as it could, and this too was seized upon by its opponents. In the end Chesapeake's foes had the more effective propaganda machine and won the day, and that's why the class was terminated early. In retrospect this was a bad decision as later events during the TMP era would show, but by then it was too late. Any hope of reviving the Chesapeake program went away as the TMP era continued due both to Starfleet's severe financial crunch and everything that was happening at the time. As for the five Chesapeakes that were built and the upgraded Chicago prototype, they would serve as they were until the end of the TMP era. They were offered to the Klingons as sacrificial victims for scrapping as part of the Khitomer Accords and the Klingons took them, and thus ended the tale of Chesapeake.

Chesapeake (nee the TMP era Kearsarge class NCL with full-length LN-64 warp engines) is strictly a fanon thing, even though it's based on a semi-canon design (the SFB Feddie NCL). What you do with it in your own thread(s) of the Trek multiverse is up to you.

Live long and propser.

ASIDE - This is here largely because I'm a big fan of the old SFB Kearsarge, and I was happy to see that someone had given her the TMP era treatment. I had to tweak it a bit more to get the form in which I thought it should be, but that wasn't too hard (grin). BTW the fanon original has the LN-64S "shorty" TMP era engines, just like the TOS version, and that's why I give them lip service in my writeup. In all fairness Chesapeake or the TMP era Kearsarge, whichever you prefer, gets built in numbers in some of the other Trek multiverse threads - particularly those that incorporate SFB's General War in some form - and it does very well in those. There's also all kinds of fanon variations on this, many inspired by what was done with the SFB Kearsarge but some being pure fanwank. You can do that in a multiverse, you know. XD

Description

Ported to OBJ and modified somewhat by me from the conjectural TMP era Chicago included with the Eras at War fan mod for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based on the original TOS era Chicago class NCL created by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

I had to rewrite the backstory for this for my own Federation Fleet Review (FFR) for better compatibility with everything else that's canon, semi-canon, and fanon in the TMP era, and I am particularly indebted to the earlier musings of fellow classic Trek tech fan Timo Saloniemi in this regard. What follows next is my own conception; you can take it or leave it or come up with your own.

Chesapeake was the TMP era upgraded form of the old TOS era Kearsarge class new light cruiser or NCL. The main difference was that Chesapeake was intended to be an all new build class as opposed to upgrading the older Kearsarges (still in Starfleet reserves at this time and maintained there as a ready reserve for some years to come), although Kearsarge class member Chicago (NCC-1651) was pulled from reserve and given an early form of this upgrade to serve as a prototype for the class. There were a number of different design proposals, but the one shown above was ultimately chosen for its simplicity. As with the old TOS version there were initial plans to use the LN-64S "shorty" version of the new LN-64 linear warp engine to speed construction, but in the end and given the ramp-up of tensions with the Klingons approval was given for the regular and more powerful LN-64 instead -- which made Chesapeake even more capable than had first been planned. Just as was the older TOS Kearsarge, the TMP era Chesapeake came out one of the best Class I starship combatants of its day and Starfleet initially had high hopes for the class. In the end construction was limited to six ships (five new builds plus the Chicago prototype) with the rest of the order cancelled over Starfleet's objections, and two reasons are usually cited for this. The first was politics, both in service and civilian meddling. Opponents of Chesapeake pointed out, and with some justification, that both the Project Avenger program and other upgrades/upgunning of as many older Starfleet light cruiser and heavy frigate classes as could be managed (not to mention heavy destroyers) meant that there was really no need for new-build Chesapeakes. The second was cost. As a new build class Chesapeake was very expensive, and as the first half of the TMP era went on it became clear that Starfleet was going have to cut costs dramatically in order to get as much of what it wanted for the TMP era as it could, and this too was seized upon by its opponents. In the end Chesapeake's foes had the more effective propaganda machine and won the day, and that's why the class was terminated early. In retrospect this was a bad decision as later events during the TMP era would show, but by then it was too late. Any hope of reviving the Chesapeake program went away as the TMP era continued due both to Starfleet's severe financial crunch and everything that was happening at the time. As for the five Chesapeakes that were built and the upgraded Chicago prototype, they would serve as they were until the end of the TMP era. They were offered to the Klingons as sacrificial victims for scrapping as part of the Khitomer Accords and the Klingons took them, and thus ended the tale of Chesapeake.

Chesapeake (nee the TMP era Kearsarge class NCL with full-length LN-64 warp engines) is strictly a fanon thing, even though it's based on a semi-canon design (the SFB Feddie NCL). What you do with it in your own thread(s) of the Trek multiverse is up to you.

Live long and propser.

ASIDE - This is here largely because I'm a big fan of the old SFB Kearsarge, and I was happy to see that someone had given her the TMP era treatment. I had to tweak it a bit more to get the form in which I thought it should be, but that wasn't too hard (grin). BTW the fanon original has the LN-64S "shorty" TMP era engines, just like the TOS version, and that's why I give them lip service in my writeup. In all fairness Chesapeake or the TMP era Kearsarge, whichever you prefer, gets built in numbers in some of the other Trek multiverse threads - particularly those that incorporate SFB's General War in some form - and it does very well in those. There's also all kinds of fanon variations on this, many inspired by what was done with the SFB Kearsarge but some being pure fanwank. You can do that in a multiverse, you know. XD