Star Trek Adventures: Search and Rescue

The Star Trek Adventures: Command Division sourcebook introduced stats for new ships from Star Trek canon, many of which have either never been seen or seen only rarely on-screen. Among them is the Norway Class, which was designed by the Advanced Starship Design Bureau for rapid emergency response. So, what’s it like being on the crew of one of these ships, what adventures can you have and how do you handle them?

Norway Class Overview

In appearance, the Norway class is instantly recognizable as a Federation vessel in configuration while also being a significant departure from the norms (something increasingly common in post-2370 designs).

A compact wedge-shaped primary hull with an integrated engineering section located in the aft portion of the ship leaves few areas of vulnerability when compared to earlier designs (it is missing the typical “neck” connecting a primary and secondary hull, for example). The warp engines are in the traditional position, mounted on pylons outside of the hull, but are also kept tight in to the hull to maintain the compact silhouette as much as possible.

Scale 4 puts it on a par with a lot of new Federation ships, where the design focus has shifted somewhat to smaller, faster ships capable of wide-scale deployment or deployment in larger fleets of comparable ships.¹ At 364m long and massing 622,000 metric tonnes², it is approximately half the size of the Sovereign class but still much longer than the original Constitution class from the 2250’s.

Standard crew compliment is 190 (25 officers, 165 enlisted) with a focus on scientific investigation, medical and survival & rescue training. Configured as an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV), the ship has extensive personnel transporters capable of transporting up to 300 persons per hour and 350 persons per hour if emergency transporters are used as well. There are also expanded sickbay and biological science facilities to handle wounded and to research viral and bacterial infections.

The rear shuttlebay has a compliment of two Type-6 shuttlecraft kept in “ready launch” mode when on operational duty, along with at least two other shuttlecraft including a larger Type-7 loaded with emergency and rescue equipment. Total transport capabilities of these craft vary due to differing classifications but an average load of 100 persons can be offloaded per hour from a standard orbit to an M Class planetary surface. There are also two Work Bees which can be used for space rescue operations if necessary.

For evacuation operations, the ship has the capacity to support up to 500 evacuees with conversion of the shuttlebay and cargo bays to emergency living quarters. Cargo Bay 2 can also be temporarily converted to type H, K, or L environments intended for non-humanoid casualties.

The Norway has extensive cargo bays (approximately 32,200 metric tonne capacity) with comparable cargo transporters which allow emergency supplies to be transported as quickly as possible. For extreme cases, the Norway also has tractor beam emitters mounted above the shuttlebay that allow small cargo containers (around 10,000 metric tonnes total capacity) to be towed between the vessels warp nacelles in case internal cargo bays are insufficient.

Normal cruise speed is warp 7 with short bursts of warp 9.7, but with tractored cargo maximum sustained speeds are lowered to warp 6.5 with short bursts of warp 9.2.

The Norway class is constructed at Spacedock 1 (Earth), Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards (Mars) and the Shor Ka’Tel Fleet Yards (Vulcan).

The class spaceframe will most often be outfitted with the Crisis and Emergency Response mission profile (STA:252) - which is assumed in the above overview.

Naming

Ships are usually named after Scandanavian countries, regions or cities (including from the mythology of that region), although those built at Vulcan shipyards may have names from northern desert areas or cities of that planet.

Example names: USS Norway (class), USS Denmark, USS Sweden, USS Finland, USS Iceland, USS Copenhagen, USS Oslo, USS Stockholm, USS Asgard, USS Nifelheim, USS Jotunheim, USS Gol, USS Raal, USS Kir.

Crew Specialities

Any crew member environment, upbringing and training is acceptable for crewing a Norway class, but if the game focus is on emergency and rescue missions then the crew should reflect that.

Talents such as Bold, Cautious, Collaboration and Tough (STA:136) will be useful in emergency situations. As a senior officer, Advisor and Supervisor will help crew under your command and even Follow My Lead (STA:136) can be useful in combat or other perilous situations. A helmsman with Fly-By or Push The Limits, a security officer with Close Protection and an engineer with Jury Rig can also come in handy. With the Norway’s focus, any of the scientific or medical talents will be in almost constant use.

Adventures

Colony Support

Newly established colonies can find life on the frontier dangerous at the best of times, even with the advanced technology available in 2370 and later. It’s not uncommon to have a starship such as the Norway class assigned for several months or even years to colony support operations in a sector or frontier.

More mundane missions may include cargo shipments of medical or biological supplies (that the Norway class is particularly adept at handling) or regular medical support such as health checks on the colony from time to time.

Given that it’s possible (even likely) a colony may have an emergency or medical situation which was not anticipated - such as an unknown virus or bacteria, localized environmental effects or some form of climate disaster - a Norway class assigned to support one or more colonies may find itself responding to a new request for assistance every few weeks. Then there are the emergencies the colonists themselves create: mining or industrial accidents and even the occasional civil war.

Diplomatic Support

Diplomacy and diplomatic negotiations may seem to be the sole purview of the larger, more impressive ships of the fleet (mainly for show) but a Norway class may well find itself assigned to support those diplomatic overtures by providing more concrete support. A show of superiority and expertise when providing aid to a non-federation species in negotiations can often tip the scales in the Federation’s favor.

This could include medical or scientific support for that species, or even providing combat medical facilities in wartime. Of course, in the latter case while the ship would be entitled to defend itself, staying out of any partisan engagement would be a necessary trick.

Emergency Response and Rescue Operations

This is what the Norway was built for. Its high warp speed and dedicated facilities make it an ideal vehicle for emergency situations and even in peaceful times and spaces, there can be a lot of emergencies. Disabled or battle-damaged starships, colonial emergencies… These missions are anything but routine, and the Norway class will typically be tasked with rapid response to the emergency based on little information, assessing the situation and conducting asppropriate rescue, scientific and medical operations based on that assessment. This is where sitations and circumstances can be very fluid, and Players will have to think on their feet but must always bear in mind their primary mission and Federation giudelines.

Medevac

In times of conflict, getting wounded out of a combat situation to treatment quickly is paramount, and it’s not always possible or even desirable to put a hospital ship (such as the Pasteur class) into harms way. The Norway is faster, more maneuverable and better armed than any hospital ship and with its extensive transporters is capable of evacuating wounded far faster.

In this role, a Norway class may be called on to fight its way to the front lines, provide trauma & triage support and then medevac the wounded out of the area as quickly as possible.