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Description
The Ranger Class Strike Carrier
Built: 16 of 20, last 4 cancelled
Lost in the line of duty: 10
Current status of remaining ships - 2 active; (จักรีนฤเบศร NCC-1695) as fighter tender, (Ark Royal NCC-1645) as training carrier. 4 ships in Fleet Reserve (Ranger NCC-1631, Sao Paulo NCC-1694; Principe de Asturias NCC-1696; and Кузнецов NCC-1643)

Particulars (After refit - Ranger & จักรีนฤเบศร only)
Deadweight Tonnage - Metric 210,000
Maximum Safe Cruising Speed Warp Factor 6
Emergency Speed Warp Factor 8 (48 hr)
Engines, Warp - 2 Mk 8 Block 4
Main Phasers - 3 dual turrets (Mk 42)
Photon Torpedoes Plated over - originally 1 dual bank (150 Torpedoes) (Mk 44)
48 small craft (24 Interceptors; 24 Torpedo craft)

Standard Ship's Complement: 653
Officers: 121; Other Ranks: 532

Command: (37) 15 Off; 22 Other Ranks
Commanding Officer (Cpt) 1; Executive Officer (Cdr) 1; Bosun 1;
Chief Navigator (LtCdr) 1; Navigator (Lt) 2; Navigation Specialist 6; Helmsman (Lt) 3
Cartography (Lt) 3; Cartography Specialists 12
Commander, Wing (LtCdr) 1; Boatmaster (Lt) 3; Shuttle Pilots 3

Weapons: (87) 9 Off; 78 Other Ranks
Ordnance Officer (Lt) 6; Ordnance Specialists 60
EW Officer (Lt) 3; EW Specialists 18

Fighter Wing: (102) 50 Off; 52 Other Ranks

Engineering: (169) 18 Off; 151 Other Ranks
Chief Engineer (Cdr) 1; Deputy Engineer (LtCdr) 1
Drive Lead (Lt) 3; Drive Specialists 40
Machinists Lead (Lt) 3; Machinists 18
Damage Control Lead (Lt) 3; Damage Control Specialists 18
Small Craft Repair Lead (Lt) 3; Small Craft Maintainers 48
Computer Lead (Lt) 3; Computer Specialists 15
Transporter Lead (Lt) 1; Transporter Specialists 12

Communications: (22) 4 Off; 18 Other Ranks
Communications Chief (Lt) 1; Communications Officer (Lt) 3; Communications Specialists 18

Security: (29) 1 Off; 28 Other Ranks
Chief of Security (Lt) 1; Security Specialists 28

Medical: (72) 12 Off; 60 Other Ranks
Chief Surgeon (LtCdr) 1; Xeno-Doctor (LtCdr) 3; Doctor (Lt) 5; Dentists (LtCdr) 1; Psychologist (Lt) 1; Head Nurse (Lt) 1; Nurse 25; Medical Technicians 35

Support: (119) 11 Off; 108 Other Ranks
Chief Logistician (LtCdr) 1; Supply Officer (Lt) 3; Supply Technicians 36
Personnel Officer (Lt) 3; Personnel Specialists 36
Chef (Lt) 1; DF Lead (Lt) 3; Cooks 36

Special Staff: (16) 1 Off; 15 Other Ranks
Legal Officer (LtCdr) 1; Para-legal 15

Class History:
Origins and pre-war service: The Ranger class was yet another variant of the venerable "R" class platform. During the design of the "R" platform, the ONZIV design bureau suggested a "stretched" secondary hulled version as a replacement for the aging Al Burak class carrier. Starfleet approved the design (CVS 2621), however, the design languished in the bowels of the ONZiV design bureau for over a decade due to the fact that the ship was designed specifically to operate in someone else's space.

There was a great deal of resistance to the design in the Federation Supreme Assembly from war-weary worlds who had financially born the brunt of the Federation-Klingon war. The Supreme Assembly rejected the concept and decided that it would be more prudent to continue with the Al Burak mid-life refit. The development of the warp capable Spad interceptor (and the increased power requirements) led the the Supreme Assembly to authorize the conversion of 2 ships of the R class production run to the Ranger design Ranger (NCC-1631), and विक्रांत (NCC-1632). The initial tour of the Ranger showed the value of the design over the preceding Al Buraks and subsequently, the Supreme Assembly followed the recommendations of the Defense committee and authorized the construction of four additional units. The size and power generation capability of the design gained an unsuspected allies in the guise of the Federation Science Council, who felt that the Ranger and her sisters were the ideal long-range exploration and colonization ships and the Federation Diplomatic Service, which felt that the class would be much more effective in "showing the flag" along the ever increasing Federation borders.

Ship Characteristics: The Ranger class' signature feature is the fact that the design tries to too much on a limited displacement. The Ranger class succumbed to the same issue that plagued the Al Buraks - design creep. By keeping the R class armament, but adding increasingly power hungry fighter craft. Moving from the Spad intercepter to the Nieuport increased power requirements by 9%, the Gotha torpedo craft required similar power increases over the preceding Mourometz torpedo craft. Rather than reducing the fighter complement to equalize the power requirements, Starfleet chose instead to add "temporary" power generation units, which put further strain on the ship's electrical systems.

Originally conceived as a deep strike carrier, it's operational role was worsened by the failure of designing a complementary escort craft. It was believed that the Saladin class destroyer would be an adequate escort, but subsequent peace-time operations along both the Klingon and Romulan borders showed that the Saladins lacked the strategic range to follow along with the Rangers in deep strike missions. This would lead to tragic consequences in the opening phases of the Federation-Kzinti war.

War Service: The Federation-Kzinti war was hard on the class as a whole. The Ranger's initial missions were commerce raiding. By striking directly at the choke-points in the Kzinti empire it was hoped that the destruction of the Kzinti merchant marine and associated civilian space going infrastructure would be a major blow to quickly ending the war. Although most of the initial strikes were successful, the retreat back to Federation space was their downfall. Lacking escorts and supply ships that could travel with them, they were hunted down and destroyed by numerous destroyer squadrons.

Integrating the Ranger class into the main battle line wasn't an improvement for their survivability. With the same armament as a R class cruiser, commanders tended to place them directly in the line of battle to supply additional firepower. The consequences of this line of thinking was shown clearly in the Federation defeat at the battle of Wasp-80. After the 마라도 (NCC-1642) and Giuseppe Garibaldi (NCC-1637) launched their fighters, the ships were ordered into the main battle line. Their consequent destruction meant that over 80% of the fighter complement was lost in the ensuing retreat.

Post war Disposition: By the end of the war, the Ranger class was on it's last legs. Sixty percent of the class had been destroyed outright and the remaining ships were all heavily damaged. The surviving Rangers were placed in Fleet Reserve and their missions were ironically taken over by the remaining Al Burak carriers, which had not been involved with the main offensives of the war. Lessons learned from the Ranger class were directly integrated into the design of the World class heavy carriers.

In 2660, the Ark Royal (NCC-1645), was given a mid life refit, upgrading the Mk 8 engines and associated power generation and a reduced armament (photon tubes removed). This was followed up in 2662 with the จักรีนฤเบศร (NCC-1695) receiving the same refit. A variant refit incorporating a 3rd centerline engine was designed and considered, but was rejected due to costs of updating an already outdated design.

Current Status: Currently, there are 2 Ranger Class carriers in service. The จักรีนฤเบศร (NCC-1695) serves as a fighter transport, ferrying fighter squadrons to new Federation worlds for system defense and search and rescue. The Ark Royal (NCC-1645) currently serves as a training ship at the Starfleet Fighter Center in the Eta Serpentis System. With the current crisis, the Supreme Assembly has authorized acceleration of the surviving ships mid-life refit.

Authorized Construction:
Ranger NCC-1631
विक्रांत NCC-1632* (Vikrant)
辽宁 NCC-1633* (Liaoning)
Sao Paulo NCC-1634
จักรีนฤเบศร NCC-1635 (Chakri Naruebet)
Príncipe de Asturias NCC-1636
Giuseppe Garibaldi NCC-1637*
Улья́новск NCC-1638* (Ulyanovsk)
出雲 NCC-1639* (Izumo)
Langley NCC-1640*
Arromanches NCC-1641*
마라도 NCC-1642* (Dokdo)
Кузнецов NCC-1643 (Kuznetsov)
Варяг NCC-1644* (Varyag)
Ark Royal NCC-1645
Karel Doorman NCC-1646*
NCC-1647 - cancelled 34% complete
NCC-1648 - cancelled 30% complete
NCC-1649 - cancelled 24% complete
NCC-1650 - cancelled 10% complete

* Lost in Federation-Kzinti War (2639 - 2644)

Lovingly kitbashed in Hexagon from the following:

Dave Metlesits' Fleetyards:
metlesitsfleetyards.deviantart…

Main body and Engine nacelles from Pilot Class Constitution, Upper works and weapons from Saladin V3, Front face from Entente, Rear Extension from Baud Class relay ship,

Description
The Ranger Class Strike Carrier
Built: 16 of 20, last 4 cancelled
Lost in the line of duty: 10
Current status of remaining ships - 2 active; (จักรีนฤเบศร NCC-1695) as fighter tender, (Ark Royal NCC-1645) as training carrier. 4 ships in Fleet Reserve (Ranger NCC-1631, Sao Paulo NCC-1694; Principe de Asturias NCC-1696; and Кузнецов NCC-1643)

Particulars (After refit - Ranger & จักรีนฤเบศร only)
Deadweight Tonnage - Metric 210,000
Maximum Safe Cruising Speed Warp Factor 6
Emergency Speed Warp Factor 8 (48 hr)
Engines, Warp - 2 Mk 8 Block 4
Main Phasers - 3 dual turrets (Mk 42)
Photon Torpedoes Plated over - originally 1 dual bank (150 Torpedoes) (Mk 44)
48 small craft (24 Interceptors; 24 Torpedo craft)

Standard Ship's Complement: 653
Officers: 121; Other Ranks: 532

Command: (37) 15 Off; 22 Other Ranks
Commanding Officer (Cpt) 1; Executive Officer (Cdr) 1; Bosun 1;
Chief Navigator (LtCdr) 1; Navigator (Lt) 2; Navigation Specialist 6; Helmsman (Lt) 3
Cartography (Lt) 3; Cartography Specialists 12
Commander, Wing (LtCdr) 1; Boatmaster (Lt) 3; Shuttle Pilots 3

Weapons: (87) 9 Off; 78 Other Ranks
Ordnance Officer (Lt) 6; Ordnance Specialists 60
EW Officer (Lt) 3; EW Specialists 18

Fighter Wing: (102) 50 Off; 52 Other Ranks

Engineering: (169) 18 Off; 151 Other Ranks
Chief Engineer (Cdr) 1; Deputy Engineer (LtCdr) 1
Drive Lead (Lt) 3; Drive Specialists 40
Machinists Lead (Lt) 3; Machinists 18
Damage Control Lead (Lt) 3; Damage Control Specialists 18
Small Craft Repair Lead (Lt) 3; Small Craft Maintainers 48
Computer Lead (Lt) 3; Computer Specialists 15
Transporter Lead (Lt) 1; Transporter Specialists 12

Communications: (22) 4 Off; 18 Other Ranks
Communications Chief (Lt) 1; Communications Officer (Lt) 3; Communications Specialists 18

Security: (29) 1 Off; 28 Other Ranks
Chief of Security (Lt) 1; Security Specialists 28

Medical: (72) 12 Off; 60 Other Ranks
Chief Surgeon (LtCdr) 1; Xeno-Doctor (LtCdr) 3; Doctor (Lt) 5; Dentists (LtCdr) 1; Psychologist (Lt) 1; Head Nurse (Lt) 1; Nurse 25; Medical Technicians 35

Support: (119) 11 Off; 108 Other Ranks
Chief Logistician (LtCdr) 1; Supply Officer (Lt) 3; Supply Technicians 36
Personnel Officer (Lt) 3; Personnel Specialists 36
Chef (Lt) 1; DF Lead (Lt) 3; Cooks 36

Special Staff: (16) 1 Off; 15 Other Ranks
Legal Officer (LtCdr) 1; Para-legal 15

Class History:
Origins and pre-war service: The Ranger class was yet another variant of the venerable "R" class platform. During the design of the "R" platform, the ONZIV design bureau suggested a "stretched" secondary hulled version as a replacement for the aging Al Burak class carrier. Starfleet approved the design (CVS 2621), however, the design languished in the bowels of the ONZiV design bureau for over a decade due to the fact that the ship was designed specifically to operate in someone else's space.

There was a great deal of resistance to the design in the Federation Supreme Assembly from war-weary worlds who had financially born the brunt of the Federation-Klingon war. The Supreme Assembly rejected the concept and decided that it would be more prudent to continue with the Al Burak mid-life refit. The development of the warp capable Spad interceptor (and the increased power requirements) led the the Supreme Assembly to authorize the conversion of 2 ships of the R class production run to the Ranger design Ranger (NCC-1631), and विक्रांत (NCC-1632). The initial tour of the Ranger showed the value of the design over the preceding Al Buraks and subsequently, the Supreme Assembly followed the recommendations of the Defense committee and authorized the construction of four additional units. The size and power generation capability of the design gained an unsuspected allies in the guise of the Federation Science Council, who felt that the Ranger and her sisters were the ideal long-range exploration and colonization ships and the Federation Diplomatic Service, which felt that the class would be much more effective in "showing the flag" along the ever increasing Federation borders.

Ship Characteristics: The Ranger class' signature feature is the fact that the design tries to too much on a limited displacement. The Ranger class succumbed to the same issue that plagued the Al Buraks - design creep. By keeping the R class armament, but adding increasingly power hungry fighter craft. Moving from the Spad intercepter to the Nieuport increased power requirements by 9%, the Gotha torpedo craft required similar power increases over the preceding Mourometz torpedo craft. Rather than reducing the fighter complement to equalize the power requirements, Starfleet chose instead to add "temporary" power generation units, which put further strain on the ship's electrical systems.

Originally conceived as a deep strike carrier, it's operational role was worsened by the failure of designing a complementary escort craft. It was believed that the Saladin class destroyer would be an adequate escort, but subsequent peace-time operations along both the Klingon and Romulan borders showed that the Saladins lacked the strategic range to follow along with the Rangers in deep strike missions. This would lead to tragic consequences in the opening phases of the Federation-Kzinti war.

War Service: The Federation-Kzinti war was hard on the class as a whole. The Ranger's initial missions were commerce raiding. By striking directly at the choke-points in the Kzinti empire it was hoped that the destruction of the Kzinti merchant marine and associated civilian space going infrastructure would be a major blow to quickly ending the war. Although most of the initial strikes were successful, the retreat back to Federation space was their downfall. Lacking escorts and supply ships that could travel with them, they were hunted down and destroyed by numerous destroyer squadrons.

Integrating the Ranger class into the main battle line wasn't an improvement for their survivability. With the same armament as a R class cruiser, commanders tended to place them directly in the line of battle to supply additional firepower. The consequences of this line of thinking was shown clearly in the Federation defeat at the battle of Wasp-80. After the 마라도 (NCC-1642) and Giuseppe Garibaldi (NCC-1637) launched their fighters, the ships were ordered into the main battle line. Their consequent destruction meant that over 80% of the fighter complement was lost in the ensuing retreat.

Post war Disposition: By the end of the war, the Ranger class was on it's last legs. Sixty percent of the class had been destroyed outright and the remaining ships were all heavily damaged. The surviving Rangers were placed in Fleet Reserve and their missions were ironically taken over by the remaining Al Burak carriers, which had not been involved with the main offensives of the war. Lessons learned from the Ranger class were directly integrated into the design of the World class heavy carriers.

In 2660, the Ark Royal (NCC-1645), was given a mid life refit, upgrading the Mk 8 engines and associated power generation and a reduced armament (photon tubes removed). This was followed up in 2662 with the จักรีนฤเบศร (NCC-1695) receiving the same refit. A variant refit incorporating a 3rd centerline engine was designed and considered, but was rejected due to costs of updating an already outdated design.

Current Status: Currently, there are 2 Ranger Class carriers in service. The จักรีนฤเบศร (NCC-1695) serves as a fighter transport, ferrying fighter squadrons to new Federation worlds for system defense and search and rescue. The Ark Royal (NCC-1645) currently serves as a training ship at the Starfleet Fighter Center in the Eta Serpentis System. With the current crisis, the Supreme Assembly has authorized acceleration of the surviving ships mid-life refit.

Authorized Construction:
Ranger NCC-1631
विक्रांत NCC-1632* (Vikrant)
辽宁 NCC-1633* (Liaoning)
Sao Paulo NCC-1634
จักรีนฤเบศร NCC-1635 (Chakri Naruebet)
Príncipe de Asturias NCC-1636
Giuseppe Garibaldi NCC-1637*
Улья́новск NCC-1638* (Ulyanovsk)
出雲 NCC-1639* (Izumo)
Langley NCC-1640*
Arromanches NCC-1641*
마라도 NCC-1642* (Dokdo)
Кузнецов NCC-1643 (Kuznetsov)
Варяг NCC-1644* (Varyag)
Ark Royal NCC-1645
Karel Doorman NCC-1646*
NCC-1647 - cancelled 34% complete
NCC-1648 - cancelled 30% complete
NCC-1649 - cancelled 24% complete
NCC-1650 - cancelled 10% complete

* Lost in Federation-Kzinti War (2639 - 2644)

Lovingly kitbashed in Hexagon from the following:

Dave Metlesits' Fleetyards:
metlesitsfleetyards.deviantart…

Main body and Engine nacelles from Pilot Class Constitution, Upper works and weapons from Saladin V3, Front face from Entente, Rear Extension from Baud Class relay ship,