Giant-Class Transports
Diagrams

Giant
class Giant cargo
plans, part 1 Giant cargo
plans, part 2
created by Allen Rolfes (see notes) created by Allen Rolfes (see notes)
   

Giant
civilian version Giant
passenger plans, part 1 Giant
passenger plans, part 2
created by Allen Rolfes (see notes) created by Allen Rolfes (see notes)
   

Giant
civilian liveries

History

Giant transports were the first high-speed,

long-range, high-capacity transport ships to enter service
with Starfleet and
civilian services. The class heralded a new era of interstellar transportation
and
commerce in the Federation, establishing stronger political and economic
bonds between the far-
flung member worlds.

The Age of Imperialism

At the dawn of the 23rd century, the human-dominated United Federation of
Planets (UFP) was
expanding through the Alpha and Beta Quadrants of the galaxy
at an rate of nearly 1000 cubic light-
years (ly) per year. Human colonization
policy before the Earth-Romulan War was, for the most
part, continued by the UFP
in the decades after the war. This policy called for incentivized
emigration
from heavily populated core worlds to newly colonized M-class planets able to
sustain
large populations through native agriculture and resources. However,
incentives were rarely needed
to encourage emigration. After its victory over
the Romulans, the human race was imbued with
energy, confidence, and a
near-messianic conviction that it was destined to spread throughout the
galaxy.
Thanks to the advanced technologies of the late 22nd century, life in the core
human
systems of the UFP had become prosperous, safe, and, according to many
inhabitants, extremely
boring. The recent war against the Romulans had given
humans a taste for excitement and
adventure that could now be satisfied only by
leaving Earth and taming alien worlds.

This desire for interstellar colonization

was so great that an estimated 5% of the inhabitants of the
Sol and Centauri
systems applied to emigrate in the 4 decades after the war. Despite the great
distances involved, the number of would-be colonists overwhelmed the ability of
the Federation
Colonization Commission (ColCom) to find new worlds for them all.
Such was the popularity of
emigration that as soon as a new star system was
surveyed, colonists would attempt to establish
homesteads, often without
sanction, even on worlds that were only marginally capable of
sustaining human
life or whose ownership was in dispute. The eager colonists were no longer
willing to wait decades for terraforming, which might have made their new homes
more hospitable.
In many cases, colony ships were sent to systems that had not
even been reached by survey ships,
so that claims could be made on prime
planetary real estate and resources.

Of course, not everyone in the UFP was comfortable with

this rapid expansion. Many citizens felt
that the humans, who comprised 63% of
the young UFP's population, were a technologically
advanced yet dangerous,
undisciplined, and ethically stunted race that was determined to expand
despite
the inevitability of conflict with the Federation's neighbors and would
recklessly drag it into
war. The human race, they felt, was destined to
eventually destroy itself, and the Federation with it.
Other opponents of
expansion feared that recurring cycles of expansion, discord, and conflict
would
turn the UFP into a heavily armed imperialist power completely at odds with its
founding
principles of peace and cooperation. Although Skon, Vulcan’s
long-time ambassador to the
Federation, had spent much of the last quarter
century attempting to curtail what he saw as the
growing militarization of
Starfleet (See the Paris-class article for further details), by the turn
of the
23rd century, he was forced to admit that the present Federation
expansionist policies had broad
support among the growing population of the
Homeworld Core of the Federation and that the
juggernaut of colonization was
unlikely to be stopped.

Strings of Pearls
The slow, short-range fusion-powered transport ships available before the
Earth-Romulan War and
the first decade afterward required a pattern of
colonization in which the most recently settled star
system served as a jumping
off point for colonizing the next most distant star system, usually
within 3
parsecs (9.75 ly). Once settled and home, after a decade or more, to a growing
indigenous
population and a well-developed industrial and agricultural base, the
young world would be able to
generate or support the colonization effort to the
next star system. In such a way, colonies would
slowly spread out from the core
worlds of the UFP like long strings of widely spaced pearls. (See
star chart, Federation Core Systems, 2170)

As new worlds were colonized and colony strands

lengthened, the distances from Earth, and from
other colony strands, became
greater. For example, the mining planet Ogun (NN 3412) was the
eighth colony in
a strand starting at the core system of Zhoudingyi (Beta Comae Berenices).
Because commercial starship lines operated only short routes between nearby star
systems, to
travel to Earth a resident of Ogun would have to make a trip of
nearly 30 parsecs in 9 or more legs,
although Ogun is only 10 parsecs from
Earth. Even with the introduction of civilian
matter/antimatter (M/AM) reactors,
to complete such a 30-parsec trip to Earth the fastest postwar
Bison
transport at its maximum cruising speed of wf 3.3 would take at least 3 years,
not counting
the waiting time at each star system. Similarly, emigrants from
core worlds would need to travel for
3 years just to reach the outermost
bridgehead for new colonies. This long transit time and the
time needed for a
bridgehead colony to develop to a point where it could independently launch a
colonization effort were much greater than the human population of the core
worlds was willing to
tolerate. Clearly, this paradigm of colonization could not
support emigration at the volumes and
speeds humanity desired.
The great distances between the UFP core and outlying
colony worlds also limited the transport of
people, foodstuffs, raw materials,
and manufactured goods. Although the "string of pearls"
colonization pattern
facilitated the economic development of mutually supporting chains or
clusters
of colony worlds in nearby star systems, the distances of colony strands from
Earth and
from other colony strands tended to increase quickly. As a result,
each strand became more
isolated from Earth and from other strands. There were
fears that these great distances would
eventually weaken the political and
cultural links between these outlying colony worlds and the
Federation core,
damaging the cohesion of the Federation and leading to its eventual breakup.

Nonhuman species that had recently joined the UFP were

also affected by their great distances
from the Federation core. The UFP had
touted membership as being mutually beneficial: the new
member would gain
protection, brotherhood with dozens of species, and access to markets and
advanced technology, while the Federation would benefit from Starfleet basing
rights, free passage
across the member's space, and the addition of a
distinctive new culture to the diversity of the
Federation. However, because of
the great distances to the UFP core, many new members felt they
had benefited
little from UFP membership. With the infrequent visits by minor Starfleet
vessels and
low-level commissioners, the founding powers of the UFP, especially
the humans, often seemed
more like absentee landlords than galactic peers. Many
new members felt that they had
surrendered a measure of their sovereignty to
become yet another steppingstone in the march of
humanity across space.

As UFP colonization efforts penetrated deeper into

previously unexplored space, the risks of
resistance from other powers or attack
from hostile species became more acute. Exacerbating
these risks was the human
habit of colonizing star systems whose ownership was disputed.
Protecting these
colonies and other UFP areas required constant vigilance and the armed might of
Starfleet. However, Starfleet did not have enough ships and starbases to guard
against all possible
threats in all possible locations. Starfleet was doing its
best, but lacked the ability to rapidly
establish starbases in frontier areas or
to rapidly redeploy its limited number of cruisers among all
areas in need of
protection.

A New Transport System for the Federation

By the end of the 22nd century, it was becoming clear to UFP planners that its
system of
interstellar transportation, in which stars were linked to one another
in a haphazard manner with
journeys of the shortest possible length, was too
slow and disorganized to support the desired
levels of colonization, commerce,
defense, and diplomacy. To replace this system, the Federation
sought to develop
a new system in which the major stellar systems of the Federation core and of
outlying areas would be linked by long, direct routes and serve as bases for
shorter journeys to
surrounding stars. Such a "hub and spoke" system would
tie the Federation together in numerous
ways. However, to establish and operate
such a Federation-spanning transportation system,
Starfleet and commercial lines
lacked both the necessary infrastructure and the transport ships
possessing the
combination of high speed, long range, and large capacity.

A capability long coveted by Starfleet and ColCom was what

was known as "Starbase in a Box" or
"Colony in a Can." This capability
would allow the equipment and personnel needed to construct
and operate a
starbase or to establish and populate a colony to be quickly transported in a
single
journey. Lacking this capability, Starfleet and ColCom were forced to
make multiple trips with small,
fast ships or single trips with large, slow
ships. Starfleet's previous class of large transports, the
Ocean class
of 2168, which had been built to replace the large, slow prewar Bison-class
transports,
could certainly carry large payloads, but Starfleet's Transport
Command had specified, with an
astounding lack of foresight, a cruising speed of
only wf 3.2 (33 c), believing that higher speeds
would wrongly signal an
aggressive or expansionist intent. However, by 2175, civilian transport
ships
regularly reached speeds of 75 c or more (wf 4.2). Accordingly, within a
decade of entering
service, the Oceans were considered unbearably slow.
By the start of the 23rd century, Starfleet had
lost any fear of "sending the
wrong message" and actively sought a large, fast, long-range transport
ship
that could support the Federation's expansionist policies.
In an attempt to compensate for the slow Ocean
class, in the 2180s Starfleet had obtained the 50-
ship Constellation class, a military version of the fast civilian Sozvezdie transport, which
had
introduced high-speed, long-range M/AM-powered civilian transport to the
UFP. Although Sozvezdie
had a cruising speed of wf 4.4 (85 c),
this speed had come at the expense of payload. Sozvezdie
transports had
been designed to be smaller than slower ships of its time, to ensure high
occupancy
and payload rates and, therefore, to maximize profitability for
civilian operators. By the end of the
22nd century, however, demand was growing
for cargo and passenger ships that combined the
high speed of Sozvezdie
with the large payloads of the Bison and Ocean classes. Attempts
to
lengthen Sozvezdie and increase payloads had been disappointing, as
its narrow beam did not
provide sufficient longitudinal rigidity without the
introduction of heavy strength members that
further decreased cross-sectional
areas and payloads. Several Sozvezdies were fitted with "speed
pallets"
on the top, bottom, or sides of the hull to carry additional cargo but not, for
safety reasons,
additional passengers. These measures yielded only modest
increases in payload and were, at
best, temporary.

Federation core worlds, 2215

In April 2204, the Federation Transportation Commission (TransCom)

announced the Century 23
Spacelanes Initiative (SI-23) to establish a
UFP-spanning hub-and-spoke transport network with the
goal of promoting and
facilitating colonization, commerce, defense, and "galactic amity." More
than
3 decades earlier, in 2170, the UFP had announced the first Spacelanes
Initiative with many of the
same goals, but ships capable of supporting such an
ambitious transport network were not
available. This time, however, TransCom had
the technology, the financial resources, and the
support of Starfleet, ColCom,
and the Federation Commerce Commission (ComCom) to establish a
true
Federation-spanning transport network. SI-23 called for the selection and
development of
regional transport hubs where the Federation would subsidize the
construction or upgrade of
Starfleet starbases; freight handling and passenger
terminals; orbit-to-surface matter transporters;
facilities for traffic control,
the production, storage, and refueling of M/AM, and the repair and
maintenance
of starships; long-range subspace transmitters; and offices and accommodations
for
Federation bureaucrats. The chosen systems would become the de facto "capitals"
of their sectors
of space and could be predicted to undergo explosive growth
once the project had been
completed.

The various UFP commissions involved in choosing star

systems as regional transportation hubs
were expected to weigh numerous factors.
These factors were likely to include population, cultural
development,
scientific and educational institutions, agriculture, raw materials, numbers of
class-M
planets, facilities for cargo and passengers, intrasystem and
intersystem starship traffic, starship
lines serving the system, and proximity
to surrounding star systems. Political considerations were
also likely to be
important, as a stated goal of SI-23 was to strengthen the bonds between newer
Federation members (and even potential members) to the more established members
of the
Federation. However, which factors were considered most important by
Starfleet, ComCom,
ColCom, and TransCom was a closely held secret, which meant
that much effort was expended by
candidates systems to determine the exact
calculus by which the final decisions were to be made
so that they could be
predicted and, possibly, influenced.

SI-23 promised to be the costliest infrastructure project

since the founding of the Federation and,
for selected star systems and
construction companies, the most lucrative. Such was the expected
economic
windfalls that none of the candidate star systems, human or nonhuman, dared
leave the
selection process to luck or mere merit. Every interested party sent
an army of bureaucrats,
politicians, and lobbyists to Earth by the fastest ships
at their disposal so that they could exert as
much influence and pressure as
possible for as long as possible on the decision-makers before the
winners were
to be announced in 2 years’ time. Together with the Lancaster heavy cruiser
project
of 2201, SI-23 was marked by levels of corruption and malfeasance
unprecedented and
unsurpassed in Federation history. However, regardless of the
numerous instances of misconduct
surrounding the selection of transport hubs,
the star systems finally chosen as hubs were, with a
few notable exceptions, the
most deserving candidates.

Starfleet's Giant Class

In May 2204, Starfleet's Ship Specifications Review Board announced the
developmental pathway
for a new 100-ship class of large transports for
Starfleet, to be called the Giant class. The target
specifications for
the Starfleet's Giant class called for a ship able to carry 400
passengers and a
payload of 7800 standard cargo containers or 100,000 cubic
meters a distance of 37 ly at a
cruising speed of at least wf 4.5. The basic
hull and drive elements were to be designed at
Starfleet's Utopia Planitia
Yards at Mars. The spaceframes were then to be constructed and
assembled there
and at other Starfleet yards throughout the UFP. Of the spaceframes assembled
during the first 5 years (from 2206 through 2210), 100 were reserved for
Starfleet's Giant class, and
a further 20 for ColCom's Colonial
Transportation Service. However, other spaceframes produced
during that time and
thereafter could be purchased at cost by civilian ship builders, who would
outfit them as passenger liners and cargo ships and sell them to civilian
transportation companies.
By having Starfleet transports and civilian liners and
cargo ships all based on the same propulsion
system and hull, the Starship
Specifications Review Board and the various Federation commissions
hoped that
the costs of design, production, operation, and maintenance would be decreased
for
Starfleet and for the entire Federation civilian transport system.

To encourage ship builders to develop and construct

civilian versions of Giant and then to
encourage commercial freight and
passenger lines to purchase these ships and put them in
service, TransCom would
provide, through the Federation Central Bank, long-term, low-interest
loans.
Such loans were considered necessary because servicing the initial purchase of a
starship,
especially extremely expensive passenger liners, normally comprises
the largest part of the yearly
operating costs of a starship and is the greatest
obstacle to profitability of a commercial
passenger or cargo fleet.

When the Giant project was announced several

manufacturers of large transports and passenger
liners complained that Starfleet
was willfully destroying the UFP's ship-building industry by
supplying
low-cost hulls and drive systems to the civilian market. However, TransCom
countered
that the ultrahigh-speed, ultralong-range, ultrahigh-capacity segment
of the market had so far been
completely ignored by current ship builders and
designers. TransCom maintained that they were
creating an entirely new sector of
transportation that would funnel high volumes of passengers
and cargo into
designated hub star systems and would spur the construction and purchase of
ships to shuttle cargo and passengers between the hubs and neighboring stars.
      
     

The first unit of Starfleet's Giant class (USS Aegir,

NCC-T184) joined Transport Command in 2207
(and was followed by the rest of the
100-ship class over the following 4 years). Although the wait
had been long,
Starfleet finally received the large, fast long-range transport it had wanted
since the
2170s. By displacement, Giants (418,000 t) were not as large as
the largest prewar Bisons (495,000
t) but had a much larger usable payload
because it no longer needed to carry large volumes of
deuterium for a fusion
reactor to power the warp drive. However, Giant’s displacement was 33%
greater than that of Ocean (315,000 t) and 132% greater than that of Constellation
(180,000 t). The
warp drive of Giant was powered by a military-grade
SSWR-III-J M/AM reactor near the keel just
forward of the fantail. The plasma
conduits were routed forward through the hull to emerge behind
the large main
cargo bay and attach through supports to the rear half of the immense
forward-
positioned Jumbo nacelles. The warp drive system could attain a
cruising speed of wf 4.6 (97 c)
for 38.5 ly and a maximum speed of wf 5.3
(149 c). Forty-eight standard AM bottles for onboard
use were housed in a
bunker directly below the M/AM reactor, and an additional 277 AM bottles for
auxiliary use and for transport to shore facilities and other ships were housed
in a containment
canister protruding from the keel of the ship. Sublight
propulsion was provided by a pair of twin
fusion reactors and impulse thrust
assemblies housed in streamlined cowlings on the rear quarter
of the hull. Atop
the cowlings were large cooling fins for dissipating heat from the fusion and
warp
reactors; these fins were also a convenient spot for displaying shipping
line house flags and other
identifying markings.
      
     

     
     

The cargo storage and handling facilities of Giant

were the largest on a starship to date. The
72,600-m3
bulk cargo bay and the 28,200-m3 bin cargo bay were located in the
lower forward part
of the ship, and a container cargo bay for 7,989 standard
containers stretch from behind the bulk
bay to the mid-part of the ship. Giant's
5 shuttlebays (forward, middle upper and lower, and rear
upper and lower bays)
were used for loading and off-loading cargo from shuttlecraft and could also
be
used to carry miscellaneous cargo or several dozen ship-borne fighters, such as Penguins
and
Puffins, and other small craft. The cargo spaces and shuttlebays were
connected by means of a
network of corridors and turbolift shafts, although very
large cargo items could not be moved
between all cargo spaces. Giant's
4 largest cargo transporters could each transport 90-m3 jumbo
cargo containers
from the container cargo hold to bulk cargo holds or to shuttlebays. The
transporters could also be used to transfer cargo to planetary surfaces or to
other ships and space
stations. However, man-rated transporters were not
installed in Giants until after 2215.

     
     

From 2206 through 2210, 120 Giants and Giant-based

vessels were constructed for Starfleet and
ColCom. The new Giants of
Starfleet's Transport Command were quickly enlisted to support the
expansion
of the Federation's frontiers. With its large cargo and passenger capacities,
a single
Giant could deliver all the equipment and personnel needed to
construct a terrestrial or orbital
starbase and operate it for 5 years without
resupply. The equipment included prefabricated
structures of various types,
construction vehicles, M/AM and fusion generators, subspace radio
receivers and
transmitters, shield generators, matter compilers, protein mills, water
purifiers,
livestock, agricultural supplies, logic systems, defensive beam and
missile batteries, personal
weaponry and armor, ground vehicles, shuttlecraft,
satellites, transporters, starship maintenance
equipment, liquid and gaseous
chemicals, medical supplies, and much more. Also delivered were
the 400 crew and
family members to construct and man the starbase. This capability of rapidly
constructing starbases allowed Starfleet and the Federation to quickly establish
control over vast
areas of space. By 2220, the annual rate of Federation
expansion had increased to 1750 cubic ly.
(See star chart, Federation Core Systems, 2215)

Once those bases had been established, Giants were

used to bring Federation officials and
Starfleet crewmen, stores, and supplies
from Earth and other core worlds on direct, ultralong-
distance routes, rather
than being slowly brought up through old colonial strings of pearls. The
Giant’s
cargo and passengers would then be offloaded in-system or be transloaded to one
of
Starfleet's slower or less capacious ships, such as Oceans, Constellations,
or various courier
vessels, and then be distributed to neighboring star systems.
The Giant would then return coreward
or proceed on another ultralong-distance
journey to its next scheduled stop.
However, the rapid expansion of the Federation territory
in the decades after the Earth-Romulan
War had come at a price. Because the
ownership of colony worlds was often disputed by other
powers, Federation
territorial claims often had to be vigorously defended by Starfleet. As a
result,
Federation expansion since the start of the 23rd century had been
accompanied by an aggressive
Starfleet posture and a rapid build-up of forces,
as represented by the powerful new Lancaster and
Paris classes.
Even with these changes, the Federation's defenses were beginning to become
overstretched and would eventually require a re-evaluation of Starfleet
policies.

Starship Tenders
In addition to serving Starfleet as passenger transports and cargo ships, Giant-derived
vessels
served as starship tenders or, perhaps more accurately, task-force
support ships. These ships were
an important part of Starfleet's ability to
project power far from the Federation core and to
undertake both defensive and
offensive operations without the direct support of starbases.
Tenders had large
crews, numerous maintenance craft (work bees), and extensive facilities for
repairing starships large and small, their embarked craft, and their various
onboard components.
They had the internal capacity to carry all that was needed
to rearm, refuel, resupply, and replenish
starships so that they could continue
operations without having to retire to starbases that might
have been many
parsecs to the rear. Giants could also be outfitted with medical
facilities and staff
able to care for 100 inpatient casualties per week. The
passenger cabins could be used as
temporary berths for starship crews as their
ships were being repaired. Giants were fast enough to
keep pace with task
forces and, because they carried no defensive weaponry, to retreat to safety
when threatened.

     

     

A representative tender mission was the support given by

USS Hymir (NCC-T223) to a 6-ship task
force led by the Lancaster-class
heavy cruiser USS Arronax (NCC-1250) and including 2 Paris-class
light
cruisers, USS Teheran (NCC-908) and USS São Paulo (NCC-901),
and 2 upgraded Hyperion-
class survey cruisers, USS Rhea (NCC-858)
and USS Tethys (NCC-861). In May 2212 the task force
was sent to a system
designated Kappa 221 (BD+07˚3967), some 10 pc beyond the Federation
border from Ennigaldi (Gliese 726), then one of the Federation's most distant
colony systems, to
investigate the loss of the long-range explorers SS Magellan
and SS Infinity 3 years earlier.
Subspace signals and radio messages
analyzed by Starfleet suggested that both ships had been
pursued, attacked, and
destroyed by vessels of a previously unknown race. The Kappa 221 system
and
several nearby systems had been identified as promising targets for colonization
and mineral
exploitation.

After a voyage of nearly 3 months, the task force arrived

at Kappa 221 in August 2212. A survey of
the planets revealed several with
fluorine atmospheres, apparently engineered, that showed signs
of earlier
settlements but were now abandoned. However, no traces of Magellan or
Infinity were
found. Three weeks later, the task force was confronted
by 4 ships of a previously unknown
configuration. Arronax transmitted
messages of greeting and friendship, which were met with no
response. The aliens
suddenly charged the task force firing disruptor-like weapons. In the resulting
action, all 4 alien ships were destroyed, and Teheran sustained 12
casualties and moderate
damage.

Long-range scans of warp signatures by Rhea and

Tethys showed that the alien ships had likely
originated from the
system designated Kappa 223 (BD+07˚3992), some 1.8 parsecs (5.85 ly) away.
As Arronax consulted with Starfleet Command, repair crews from Hymir
attended to the damaged
Teheran. Teheran's port warp nacelle
was replaced with a spare carried by Hymir, and her injured
crew members
were transferred to Hymir's well-equipped sickbay. The missile
batteries of the all
ships were restocked, and their deuterium stores were
topped off from Hymir's internal tanks. The
task force was ordered to
proceed to Kappa 223.

     
     

En route to Kappa 223, the task force was attacked by

alien ships 3 times without warning. After
each action, the task force dropped
out of warp for repair and replenishment by Hymir. After a
journey of
5 weeks, the task force dropped out of warp near Kappa 223 and was confronted by
a
fleet of 15 heavily armed ships of various sizes. Sensor scans showed that the
star system
included 3 terrestrial planets with fluorine atmospheres, all
heavily populated. The task force
commander, Commodore Alberta Keller of Arronax,
realized that the aliens saw the task force's
presence in their system as an
existential threat and were prepared to do whatever was necessary
to repel this
"invasion." With this realization, Starfleet ordered the task force to
withdraw from the
Kappa 223 system. The following day an unarmed shuttlecraft
carrying Commodore Keller, her first
officer, and Federation Special Ambassador
Somak approached the most heavily populated planet
to open negotiations. Their
overture was accepted, and in 2228 the Zaranites, who were the
inhabitants of
Kappa 223 and several nearby systems, became members of the Federation. Thanks
to the support of Hymir, the task force was able to sustain combat
and diplomatic operations far
from the Federation core for nearly 9 months.

Civilian Giants
In the first 10 years of Giant hull production (2206 through 2215), some
80 civilian passenger liners
and transports were constructed and outfitted. At
first, hulls were produced only by Starfleet yards
and then guided by tugs to be
outfitted at civilian facilities. However, because of the inability of the
numerous Starfleet yards to meet the demands of both military and civilian users
for the popular
Giant-based hulls, they were later constructed under
license by several civilian shipbuilders.

A famous class of civilian ships based on the Giant

hull were the Imperator starliners designed and
outfitted for the Cunard
Line by Chantiers de la Terre (CDT) at its Saint- Nazaire orbital facilities at
Earth. Imperators were intended to be most luxurious, most prestigious
ships serving the highest
end of the interhub civilian passenger market,
befitting the Cunard Line, a company that could trace
its roots back 350 years
to a steamship operator on the oceans of old Earth. The Cunard Line,
however,
had not operated continuously for those many centuries; like many companies on
Earth, it
had gone into eclipse during the dark age following the Third World
War. In 2149, the rights to the
Cunard name were purchased by the Geumseong
chaebol (family-based conglomerate), based in
the Astraea system (HN Librae),
for a passenger and freight line serving the Libra colonies (the
others being
Themiste [HO Librae], Mohannak [Gl 570B], and Maat [Wolf 1061]). These worlds,
which had been established as agricultural/mining colonies in the early 2120s,
had enjoyed
explosive growth during and after the Earth-Romulan War and now
rivaled Sol and Alpha Centauri
as centers for manufacturing, culture, and
education. In the post-War boom years, the Cunard Line
had expanded to offer
service to other systems in the upper Federation core, including Mohannak
(Gl
570B), Italpas (Gl 588), Novaya Rossiya (Gleise 526), Zhoudingyi (Beta Coma
Berenices), and
several Andorian worlds. Now, in the early 23rd century, the
Cunard Line sought to transform itself
from a regional carrier to a
Federation-wide passenger and freight fleet. However, to reach the
central and
lower regions of the Federation core from its base in the Libra colonies, Cunard
ships
had to travel at achingly slow speeds or to stop for refueling at the
crowded transport hub in the
Gateway system (Ross 128), which was dominated by
the Red Griffon (Hóng Shī Jiù) clan, the long-
time bitter rival of
Geumseong. The 5.4-parsec direct journey from Nova Rossiya to Earth while
bypassing Gateway would require faster, longer-range ships than the Kuribayashi Commander-class
transports that Cunard had been using.

After considering several shipbuilders, Cunard entered

into negotiations with the Bel Geddes Astral
Corporation to commission a
longer-range "stretch" version of its already severely thin Streamliner-
class
freightliner. These 300-m-long, 30-m-wide greyhounds attracted a high-end
clientele for high-
speed, short-distance, high-profit routes, such as the
Earth-Centauri run. Indeed, in 2202, SS Lakme
captured the Blue Riband
for Ajira Spaceways with a time shattering the previous record by nearly a
full
day. However, Streamliner-class ships were expensive to operate and
required high fares and
high occupancy rates to turn even modest profits. With a
longer, wider-beam version of Streamliner
Cunard sought a ship able to
maintain similar high cruising speeds yet have a longer range. Cunard
was
confident that the "stretch" Streamliner would pioneer new long-range
routes and would be
more profitable, should passenger demand for such routes
increase as projected. The new
Streamliners would certainly have been
impressive ships. However, just as the contracts were
about to be signed in late
2203, Cunard began hearing rumors from its contacts in TransCom of the
soon-to-be-announced Giant project and put its plans on hold.

After Giant and SI-23 were announced, Cunard

invited submissions from starship builders to create
a Giant-based
passenger liner meeting its needs. CDT, which had built and converted luxury
liners
for major shipping lines since the late 21st century, were well-suited to
accomplish a project of this
size and scope. Cunard agreed and contracted for
the delivery of 4 passenger liners of what was to
be called the Imperator
class. The first ship was scheduled to be launched in 2208, with the others
following at 9-month intervals.

Queen Anne, the first of the

new liners and the new flagship of the Cunard line, set off on her
maiden voyage
after a lavish ceremony, attended by Federation officials, diplomats, industry
titans,
and other dignitaries, at the CDT orbital yards on February 12, 2209.
The passengers boarded the
ship through a 3-story-tall airlock lobby, which
opened onto an 8-story-tall, 65-m-long
atrium/promenade called the Uncanny
Valley in the upper third of the ship. Lined by shops, cafes,
clubs, a casino,
and other leisure and entertainment facilities on setback levels, the Valley was
roofed by a single piece of transparent aluminum, which made it appear to be open
to space. After
the passengers had found their staterooms in the lower forward
third of the ship, they toured the
activity areas in the upper middle third of
the ship. There they could find a gymnasium, ball courts,
swimming pools,
simulators, zero-gee spheres, cinemas, theatres, baths, spas, and various places
for eating and drinking. Finally, at the rear third of the ship, they reached
their tables in the 3-story-
tall main dining hall, where the maiden voyage was
celebrated with a lavish banquet. After dinner,
they could tour the 4-story-tall
arboretum and enjoy cocktails and dancing. The walls and roof of
these areas
were mostly transparent aluminum.

In addition to the 4 Imperator-class ships built

for Cunard and the 4 built for other lines, 17 similar
ships were constructed
and outfitted for the extreme high end of the passenger market by CDT and
other
builders. However, from 2206 to 2225, several hundred more Giant-based ships
were
constructed and outfitted for more modestly priced segments of the
passenger market and for
hauling freight. Fortunately, the warp-drive and
impulse-drive systems and basic architecture of
Giant were extremely
robust and allowed extreme levels of modification for a wide array of roles.

Effects of SI-23
Within several years, the introduction of high-volume, long-distance Giant-based
passenger liners
and cargo ships began to have its desired effects. By 2215,
both passenger and cargo volume from
the Federation core worlds to outlying
areas had increased by more than 150% via service on the
new direct, longer
routes. The concentration of traffic meant that the smaller number of routes
were easier to monitor for ships in distress and to protect from piracy. As
regional hubs thrived
through increased trade with the core systems, the
prosperity spread to surrounding systems via
large numbers of medium-range and
short-range transport ships, many newly constructed. Rate
conventions agreed to
by passenger lines and relevant Federation commissions set minimum fees
for
passage to ensure that safety was not compromised in an attempt to undercut
competitors on
cost. However, fees for passage on these large, fast ships were
substantially lower than those on
earlier, smaller ships. Ultralong-distance "cycler"
ships made frequent, regularly scheduled journeys
on the triangular route
connecting Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar and then inward toward Earth and
strengthened the cultural, political, and economic ties between Federation
capitals. Furthermore,
thanks to Giant-based liners, descendants of
colonists who had left Earth many generations ago
were welcomed back to the
homeworlds of their ancestors.

However, the new transport system did not benefit all.

Many once-prosperous star systems were
bypassed by the new system and withered.
One of the biggest losers was Gateway (Ross 128),
which had been a required
refueling and replenishment stop for ships traveling northward from the
Earth-Centauri core in the first century of interstellar commerce and
colonization. However, being
resource-poor and home to barely habitable
terrestrial planets, the Gateway system had failed to
develop any institutions
or facilities not directly related to the support of starships, cargo, and crew.
At its peak in the 2170s, Gateway's orbital facilities serviced hundreds of
ships a year traveling
from Earth and Centauri to Novaya Rossiya, the Libra
Colonies, and beyond. The major player in the
Gateway system was the Red Griffon
cargo and passenger line, which had an extensive financial
stake in Gateway’s
cargo and passenger terminals. However, when long-range transports were able
to
bypass Gateway and travel directly to Novaya Rossiya, a system that included 3
prosperous, self-
sustaining M-class worlds, the Red Griffon clan and the
prospects of the Gateway system
collapsed.

As the Federation established control over previously

colonized but largely unsupervised areas, the
Federation bureaucracy became more
intimately involved into the lives of its citizens. In some
areas this greater
involvement was seen as an unwarranted intrusion. For example, the Federation
began to strictly enforce tariffs and taxes for all commercial activities and to
require
documentation for all imports and exports. Dissenting colony worlds felt
they had prospered in the
absence of Federation oversight and had benefitted
little from Federation-administered services or
defense. However, the Federation
also sought to fulfill its mandate of preserving the dignity and
lives of all
sentient beings. On some colony worlds arriving workers had been surprised to
learn
they were already deeply in debt for the costs of their passage and were
then forced to labor under
conditions of virtual slavery with little hope of
freedom or relief. If alerted to such a situation,
Federation law-enforcement
officials took the exploiting parties into custody and ensured that the
workers
were released from their bondage and, if they desired, were relocated to other
colonies. On
other worlds, traditional entertainments the Federation now
considered barbaric, such as fights to
the death among sentient, semisentient,
and nonsentient species, were eradicated. Federation
commissioners and their
agents did their best to eliminate trade in illegally obtained archeological
relics, importation of dangerous pharmaceuticals, adulteration of foodstuffs,
unlicensed mining,
improper disposal of toxic materials, unsafe working
conditions, and environmental alteration
endangering sentient species. As even
distant colony worlds became more tightly bound to the
Federation core through
law, culture, and commerce, many commentators mourned the "closing of
the
final frontier." Of course, the frontier was unlikely be remain closed for
long.

Conclusion
The introduction of the Giant-class transports to Starfleet and related
classes to civilian service,
achieved, for the most part, the goals of
Federation planners. Starfleet finally obtained a class of
large, fast transport
ships that allowed it to rapidly found colonies and construct starbases and to
more easily project force far from the Federation core. Giant-derived
civilian starliners and cargo
ships allowed the establishment of a safe and
secure hub-and-spoke transportation network that
bound the diverse societies of the
Federation closer together, fostered interstellar trade and
cultural exchange,
and allowed Starfleet to more easily reposition its starships and crews.
However,
the rapid expansion of Federation territory enabled by these
developments would lead to crises and
conflicts later in the 23rd century.

More than a century and a half after being launched, at

least 50 Giant-derived ships remain in
civilian service throughout the
Federation. Their robust spaceframes and adaptability have allowed
continuous
upgrades of power plants and nacelles. Although some ships have continued in
their
designed role as interstellar passenger liners, others have been converted
to cargo ships,
intrasystem cruise ships, and space stations. Giants
served Starfleet's Transport Command for well
over half a century, with the
last ship, USS Weiland (NCC-T275) being retired only in 2272.

USS Fezzik (NCC-T210), a 51-year veteran of the

Starfleet Transport Command and the Colonial
Transport Service, has been
returned to its original appearance and is on display at the Starfleet
Museum.

Commissioned Ships

USS Ægir NCC-T184 USS Farbuati NCC- USS Lumakaka USS Svyatogor
USS Alcyoneus T209 NCC-T234 NCC-T259
NCC-T185 USS Fezzik NCC- USS Manzasiri USS Talos NCC-
USS Antaeus NCC- T210 NCC-T235 T260
T186 USS Fornjót NCC- USS Masaw NCC- USS Themis NCC-
USS Argus Panoptes T211 T236 T261
NCC-T187 USS Ga-Oh NCC- USS Maushop USS Thiassi NCC-
USS Asteria NCC- T212 NCC-T237 T262
T188 USS Gawr Madoc USS Mbomba USS
USS Balor NCC- NCC-T213 NCC-T238 Thotsakhirithon
T189 USS Geryon NCC- USS Muchukunda NCC-T263
USS Basajaun NCC- T214 NCC-T239 USS Thrymr NCC-
T190 USS Goliath NCC- USS Nalmuqtse T264
USS Baugi NCC- T215 NCC-T240 USS Tork NCC-T265
T191 USS Gridr NCC- USS Nandimithra USS Tsul’Kalu NCC-
USS Bendigeidfran T216 NCC-T241 T266
NCC-T192 USS Gyges NCC- USS Nigelung USS Tui Delai Gau
USS Bergelmir NCC- T217 NCC-T242 NCC-T267
T193 USS Haduigona USS Pan-gu NCC- USS Uath NCC-
USS Bestla NCC- NCC-T218 T243 T268
T194 USS Hayicanako USS Paul Bunyan USS Ullikummi
USS Bevis NCC- NCC-T219 NCC-T244 NCC-T269
T195 USS Hecate NCC- USS Polybotes USS Upelleri NCC-
USS Bochica NCC- T220 NCC-T245 T270
T196 USS Hrym NCC- USS Polyphemus USS Vafthrudnir
USS Briareus NCC- T221 NCC-T246 NCC-T271
T197 USS Hsing-T’ien USS Porphyrion USS Vorys-Mort
USS Brontes NCC- NCC-T222 NCC-T247 NCC-T272
T198 USS Hymir NCC- USS Quant NCC- USS Vrikodara NCC-
USS Býleistr NCC- T223 T248 T273
T199 USS Idris NCC- USS Riiki NCC- USS Waziya NCC-
USS Chahnameed T224 T249 T274
NCC-T200 USS USS Rongokako USS Weiland NCC-
USS Coeus NCC- Inugpasugssuk NCC-T250 T275
T201 NCC-T225 USS Schilbung USS Wikramadatta
USS Cottus NCC- USS Járnsaxa NCC- NCC-T251 NCC-T276
T202 T226 USS Searbhan USS Winalagalis
USS Cronus NCC- USS Kalevipoeg NCC-T252 NCC-T277
T203 NCC-T227 USS Sgrolma USS Wulgaru NCC-
USS USS Kapre NCC- NCC-T253 T278
Dehotgohsgayeh T228 USS Sinmara USS Xelhua NCC-
NCC-T204 USS Kari NCC-T229 NCC-T254 T279
USS Egdir NCC- USS Kawharu NCC- USS Skrymsli USS Ymir NCC-
T205 T230 NCC-T255 T280
USS Enceladus USS Kiharoa NCC- USS Starkadr USS Ysbadden
NCC-T206 T231 NCC-T256 NCC-T281
USS Eos NCC-T207 USS Kua Fu NCC- USS Steropes USS Yulu Yulara
USS Eurytus NCC- T232 NCC-T257 NCC-T282
T208 USS Logi NCC- USS Surtr NCC- USS Zipacna NCC-
T233 T258 T283

Starfleet Giant

Standard displacement: 418,025 t

  Overall 1°
Hull 2°
Hull Nacelles
Length
[m] 262.35 262.35 - 109.30
 Beam
[m] 123.00 73.90 - 24.38
Draft
[m] 80.17 80.17 - 24.38

Crew complement: 140 (12 officers + 128 crew)

Passenger capacity: 420 military passengers in 142 cabins
Cargo capacity: 7,989 containers, 72,600 m3
cargo bay>
Embarked craft: 1 heavy cargo shuttlecraft, 3 medium cargo/personnel shuttlecraft, 10 personnel
shuttlepods
Warp drive: SSWR-VIII-C spherical cavity M/AM reactor with 2 Jumbo nacelles
Velocity: wf 4.6, cruise; wf 5.1,
supercruise; wf 5.3, maximum
Range: 38.5 ly

Civilian Giant*

Standard displacement: 425,319 t

  Overall 1°
Hull 2°
Hull Nacelles
Length
[m] 262.35 262.35 - 109.30
Beam
[m] 123.00 73.90 - 24.38
Draft
[m] 64.60 64.60 - 24.38

Crew complement: 400 (17 officers + 383 crew)

Passenger capacity: 1,200 passengers in 775 cabins
Cargo capacity: 979 containers
Embarked craft: 2 medium cargo/personnel shuttlecraft, 4 light cargo/personnel shuttlecraft, 16
personnel shuttlepods
Warp drive: SSWR-VIII-C spherical cavity M/AM reactor with 2 Jumbo nacelles
Velocity: wf 4.6, cruise; wf 5.1, supercruise; wf 5.3, maximum
Range: 37.8 ly
Range: 38.5 ly
*Imperator passenger configuration

Last modified: 01.11.16