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Description
After the crippling of numerous Columbia Class Perimeter Action Ships near the Romulan/Federation Neutral Zone by unknown attackers, and the increasing hostility of the Klingon Empire (including a build up of D7 variants) Starfleet began a military build up program in 2264. By 2265 the first prototype Federation Class Dreadnoughts were on shake-down trial voyages (the first four being former Columbia class ships that were repaired, refit, and modified into Federation Class ships). Using the Columbia class family of ships as the basis for the design (a family dating back to the Earth-Romulan War before the Federation) Starfleet was able to field over a dozen of these Dreadnoughts quickly to meet the challenge of the newly encountered Romulan Bird of Prey in 2266 by U.S.S. Enterprise. While the Achernar class of Constitution class was able to absorb a few of the new Romulan Plasma Torpedoes with her shields, the Federation class' shields were capable of handling multiple plasma torpedo hits. This level of shield protection was possible due to the third warp-engine of the ship generating one-third more power than that of the Achernar class. The increased power also allowed the Federation class to support a Phaser-beam array of 34-phaser beam emitters giving the ship 360-degree coverage. The speed of the Dreadnought was also faster than that of the Achernar class and ANY Klingon or Romulan ship of the era.

Description
After the crippling of numerous Columbia Class Perimeter Action Ships near the Romulan/Federation Neutral Zone by unknown attackers, and the increasing hostility of the Klingon Empire (including a build up of D7 variants) Starfleet began a military build up program in 2264. By 2265 the first prototype Federation Class Dreadnoughts were on shake-down trial voyages (the first four being former Columbia class ships that were repaired, refit, and modified into Federation Class ships). Using the Columbia class family of ships as the basis for the design (a family dating back to the Earth-Romulan War before the Federation) Starfleet was able to field over a dozen of these Dreadnoughts quickly to meet the challenge of the newly encountered Romulan Bird of Prey in 2266 by U.S.S. Enterprise. While the Achernar class of Constitution class was able to absorb a few of the new Romulan Plasma Torpedoes with her shields, the Federation class' shields were capable of handling multiple plasma torpedo hits. This level of shield protection was possible due to the third warp-engine of the ship generating one-third more power than that of the Achernar class. The increased power also allowed the Federation class to support a Phaser-beam array of 34-phaser beam emitters giving the ship 360-degree coverage. The speed of the Dreadnought was also faster than that of the Achernar class and ANY Klingon or Romulan ship of the era.