Here's the third draft of Nick Villarreal's...unorthodox Balao-class. Please give him a critique so it's not just Rob and I passing judgment in two weeks!

Change Log:
- Changed wording in History and Mission Overview
- Changed wording in Structure and Construction
- Changed Science and Remote Sensing Systems section to remove hydrophone references
- Changed Tactical Systems subsections to reflect N3P guidelines, and to expand equipment types to what N3P allows
- Changed Warp Systems to conform to N3P guidelines and to expand to what N3P allows
- Changed the wording in the Impulse Systems section to clarify waterborne operations specifications
- Modified multiple sections for grammatical and factual errors
- Removed Escape Pod description from Utility Systems
- Modified Transporter Systems description
- Changed Technical Specifications to reflect changes as per N3P guidelines
- Changed Deck Plan to reflect changes in rest of spec

BALAO-CLASS
CATEGORY: FRIGATE
VARIANT: HEAVY
DESIGNER: Nicholas Villarreal
Mark I
Draft 3
DATE: July 15, 2012
Referenced URLS: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53391878/BalaoLayout.jpg

HISTORY AND MISSION OVERVIEW

With the venerable Miranda and Oberth class vessels and all of their different refits and upgrades slated to retire from service, Starfleet realized that they were somewhat short on smaller vessels. Although many of their lead vessels tended to be larger, in order to cope with more dangerous missions, a smaller all-purpose vessel was a necessity. After the success of the Nova-class research vessel, Starfleet Command decided to have the Utopia Planitia Yards design something that had a slightly wider scale of missions.

However, the people at Utopia Planitia that the President of the Yards assigned to do the job weren't the typical designers. They created the original concept for the Defiant class, which was later given to Benjamin Sisko's design crew. They were forced to stand by while their design became corrupted, mothballed, and then turned in to the Nova-class. What was initially a creative combat vessel became just another ship in the fleet. They had chips on their shoulders, and once Benjamin Sisko left Utopia Planitia, the order for a frigate came in. All the members of the team decided that they decided that they were going to design something that did not fit typical Starfleet designs at all.

Instead of utilizing a typical two-section ship design and making it their own, they looked at an older source of inspiration - the submarine. As it was the other type of vessel that humanity initially used to move in three dimensions, but in water instead of air, they felt that it was an underutilized hull type in spacecraft design. While using the basic premise of the submarine body style, they made the vessel more than twice as large as most submarines, replaced certain unnecessary systems with systems only required in spacecraft, and made it far more livable. They also decided to stretch the borders of what they were allowed to include aboard the vessel, using some aspects in the design that the Admiralty Board did not originally request or approve.

What resulted was a multi-purpose ship that looked as out-of-place in the fleet as the Defiant class. This wide departure from standard ship design, much like the original military submarines, gave the Admiralty pause. After some consideration, they approved a single prototype, to test the promise of the new vessel. Due to the hull’s overall structure, multiple sections of the vessel could be built in tandem, making full construction of a single vessel require only four months. As the prototype was only a “proof of concept” model, it was finished in ten weeks.

When the ship came out of Utopia Planitia, it was initially named the Skipjack, in honor of the submersible vessel class that had shared the name. Upon successful testing, Utopia Planitia Yards proceeded to finish construction so that the original prototype would also be the ship of the class. Upon its christening, the Admiralty Board decided to name it the USS Balao, in honor of the most successful - albeit not the most numerous - class of submarine built.

Similar to the multiple roles that submarines performed in the past, the Balao was given a large and varied mission profile.

- Internal patrols
- Escort duties
- Border security
- Fleet support
- Station support
- Short-term diplomacy
- Inter-planetary personnel transport
- Planetary oceanography
- Starfleet cargo transfer
- Stellar cartography
- Scientific research

STRUCTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

Although the ship is named for a vessel that was part of the United States Navy during the Second World War, the body style looks more like a combination between the Soviet Akula class and the United States Los Angeles class submarines of the twentieth century.

The vessel is a single hull, eleven decks in height. Its central body is a cylindrical shape, comprising of decks 4 through 11. The fore ends in a semi-sphere with the same diameter as the main body. The bottom of the hull is rounded, while the top of the cylindrical shape just aft of the semi-sphere is flattened. There is a ring around the hull just aft of the semi-sphere made of basic navigational deflectors. The aft of the vessel is a conical shape which makes up about one-fifth of the ship’s length. and has two horizontal planes attached. These planes remain stationary while spaceborne. The top three decks form a tower-like structure, although it has relatively less height, is more rounded, and has more length than most towers from actual submarines, as it is roughly a quarter of the length of the ship at its longest. It starts one-third back from the fore of the ship.

Both the starboard and port sides of the ship have horizontal quarters of prolate spheroid bulges on decks 6 to 8 that extend from just aft of the forward dome and run forty percent of the length of the ship. The bulges house the ship's two nacelles, and the bussard collectors form the forward part of the bulges. The bulges are flattened at their aft end, and are inset with the impulse engines outputs. They are each roughly half as wide as the combined height of decks 1-3.

Hatches ring the exterior of decks 5 and 9 which are covers for the escape pods. There is also a docking hatch on deck 5. Retracting doors which cover the shuttle bay are on the top of deck 4, aft of the tower structure. Two coverings are on the fore of deck 7 equally spaced from the centerline. Both coverings slide open to allow the torpedo tubes to fire when needed. Finally, there is an airlock on the fore of deck five which allows the vessel to dock with space stations.

The ship is capable of atmospheric entry and exit. It can make ground landings via six pylons - three on the starboard side and three on the port side - that fold and retract in to spaces in deck 11. The pylons themselves are built of solid tritanium with two tritanium joints each, and have pointed ends that sink in to the ground for added stability. A ramp extends from fore of deck 10 to allow for external access.

Due to the ship's body design, the Balao is also capable of landing upon and travelling across any body of water of more than 70 meters in depth, and can submerge itself in any body of water of at least 100 meters in depth. The maximum splashdown speed is 250 km/h, and requires a speed of 50 km/h in order to leave the water before ascending. Instead of using ballast tanks, the fins at the aft of the ship assist the thrusters in the descent and ascent of the vessel, and the impulse engines are liquid-proofed in order to allow it to provide underwater propulsion. The draft when waterborne is 32 meters, and the underwater crush depth is 550 meters, according to simulations.

The ship's superstructure and external shell are a tritanium alloy reinforced with duranium, while the internal structures are all duranium and other common materials. The superstructure is put together with transporter welding, the ship interior is added with more traditional methods, and the shell is attached using further transporter welding to make sure that it is sealed and shaped perfectly. Because the ship needs to work in space, atmospheric, and underwater conditions, the Balao has twice the amount of structural integrity field emitters as other ships its size.

SCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYSTEMS

The ship has type VII sensors capable of high-resolution scans up to 3.11 light years distant, and low-resolution scans up to 11.0 light years distant. The sensors are also capable of operating in passive mode while at sub-light speeds, meaning that the sensors only detect incoming energy and detection methods. While this provides a limited perspective, it allows for a certain amount of stealth when used in tandem with warp-signature masking techniques. Due to the nature of the vessel, the sensors are purposed to act as a SONAR system when waterborne. The main sensors are located in the forward dome of the vessel on decks 6 and 7.

The ship's main computer is a series of 18 single-deck isolinear chip towers located on deck 3, which one can observe from a computer room also on deck 3, and the ship's computer network is entirely isolinear. The towers and the computer room are separated by a corridor, and both areas are accessible through four doors total opposite one another in the corridor. There is a backup core in Main Engineering, from decks 7 to 9, which consists of three three-deck isolinear towers.

WARP PROPULSION SYSTEM
The Balao class is powered by a single Class-VII warp core feeding two nacelles. The warp core is in the aft of decks 7 through 9, and the nacelles are integrated in to the hull in the starboard and port bulges on decks 6 through 8. The nacelles, due to their structural nature, are fixed-geometry. The ship has a cruising speed of warp 6.0, a maximum warp setting of warp 9.0, and a maximum speed that can be sustained for a twelve-Earth-hour period of warp 9.2. In emergency situations, the core can propel the ship to warp 9.5.

IMPULSE PROPULSION SYSTEM

The impulse engines are fusion units on the port and starboard sides of decks 7 and 8, inboard of the bulges. They each power an impulse unit at the aft of the port and starboard bulges which are inlaid in to the aft of said bulges. The engines are waterproofed. Due to the size of the vessel, the ship can reach a maximum impulse speed of 0.30c, and is capable of accelerating to said speed in 10 seconds, and decelerating in 15 seconds. When used for waterborne propulsion, they can propel the ship up to 50 knots on the surface without the automatic takeoff procedures engaging, and provided that there is enough space to do so, they can propel the ship underwater at speeds of up to 65 knots without the ship suffering significant damage. The acceleration time while surfaced is 12 seconds, and the deceleration time while surfaced is 19 seconds. The acceleration time while submerged is 23 seconds, and the deceleration time while submerged is 18 seconds. The time to dive a distance of 100 meters is 12 seconds, and the time to rise 100 meters is 17 seconds. Depth has no bearing on the diving and rising times.

TACTICAL SYSTEMS

Shields
The Balao's main deflector is formed in a ring just aft of the forward hemisphere.

The Balao is also equipped with five type-8 shield arrays: one directly forward of the tower on the top of deck 4, one on each of the starboard and port sides of the shuttle bay doors on the exterior of deck 4, one on the underside of the vessel's main cylindrical shape along the center line, and one that forms a ring around the midpoint between the fore and aft of the conical section. Together, the arrays form a uniform shield that can sustain a maximum graviton load of 1612 MW and has a maximum energy dissipation rate of 4.38 x 10^5 kW.

Phaser Systems
The Balao has three type XI phaser arrays that form rings around the tower structure and each of the bulges that contain the nacelles. The array around the tower has a horizontal firing arc of 360 degrees and a vertical firing arc of 90 degrees, while the arrays around the nacelle bulges have vertical firing arcs of 360 degrees and horizontal firing arcs of 90 degrees. Each type IX array has 130 emitters, a maximum energy output of 3.8 MW, and a maximum effective range of 225000 km. The Balao is further armed with two type VI phaser arrays on the aft starboard and port sides of deck 8. Each type VII array has 160 emitters, a maximum energy output of 2.6 MW, and a maximum effective range of 150000 km, horizontal firing arcs of 110 degrees, and vertical firing arcs of 180 degrees.

When the Balao is waterborne, the array around the tower is active while the Balaeo is surfaced. When the Balao is submerged, all arrays are inactive. This restriction is to limit the environmental impact of using energy-based weapons in aquatic ecosystems, although they can be activated during extreme cases.

Torpedo Systems
The Balao is equipped with two type-II torpedo tubes with a range of 4500000 km, located forward on deck 9. They can each fire one torpedo every four seconds. If needed, they can alternate firing patterns, meaning that it is capable of launching six torpedoes in twelve seconds if the need arises. Due to the nature of the vessel, the torpedo tubes serve as the only offensive armament that the Balao has when submerged. As such, each tube has a hatch on the aft portion, and is capable of pressurization. The closing and sealing of a hatch adds one second . Should a hatch break, the covering plate on the fore of the tube slides back in to place, emergency shields activate, and auxiliary pumps evacuate any excess water from the tube interior. Should the protective hatches on both tubes fail, the phasers automatically activate if other protocols have deactivated the phaser systems. The Balao carries 50 Mark V torpedoes, with 12 casings typically reserved as probes.

COMMAND AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Bridge
Due to the structure of the vessel, the bridge aboard the Balao is rectangular in shape instead of circular. It is located on deck 4, directly below the tower structure. On the aft wall of the Bridge are two doors. The port side door connects to the turbolift system for the vessel, while the starboard side door allows access to the Conference Room aft of the Bridge. The aft wall in between these doors is for the master systems display, which is an interactive screen.

On the port side of the Bridge, there are four stations lining the wall. Each station has a chair which can swivel a full three hundred sixty degrees, and consists of a wall display combined with an interactive panel beneath. From fore to aft, the stations are the Ops station, the Security station, and the Engineering station. Ops keeps the individuals on the Bridge apprised of all shipboard processes, the Security station connects directly to the Chief of Security's office and relays information from the Security department to the Bridge, and the Engineering station directly connects to Main Engineering and relays information to the Bridge.

On the starboard side of the Bridge, there are a further three stations with similar setups. From fore to aft, there is a Science station, a Tactical station, and a Communications station. The Science station connects to the labs, and also to the sensors. When the ship is submerged, the Science station provides assistance with underwater navigation. The Tactical station is directly connected to the weapons systems on the ship, and is used to control all weapons during combat situations, both in space and planet side.

In the middle of the Bridge, evenly spaced from the center of the Bridge, are two chairs. The aft chair is for the CO, and is on a raised dais about a foot above the rest of the floor, with two steps on the forward part of the dais. The CO can choose custom features, but typically, it can communicate with any of the stations on the Bridge. The fore chair has a console in front of it, which serves as the helm station. It allows for all navigation and steering both when spaceborne and when waterborne.

The forward area has a standard view screen with a door on each side. The starboard door allows access to the ready room, while the port side allows access to hygienic facilities for individuals on Bridge duty.

Ready Room
The Ready Room is an area available for the Officer On Duty on the Bridge, and acts as a general-purpose office and private meeting area for the officer in command of the vessel for any given duty shift. The Commanding Officer typically has the final say of any given personal touches, including what to put in a display case on the fore wall. There is a window on the starboard side. The default arrangement of the room has a desk with a chair, a display screen, and a control panel. There are also two chairs placed on the opposite side of the desk, a couch on the port wall, a table with two chairs, and a replicator. Two storage closets are in the fore port and starboard corners, and are specifically designated for the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of the ship. There is also a small day locker inset in to the wall below the replicator, specifically for any Officer On Duty to use while said officer has the use off the Ready Room.

Conference Room
Located in the aft-most accessible area via deck 4, the Conference Room serves as a meeting area, both for ship's officers and for visiting personnel in the presence of Starfleet personnel. It has eleven chairs, five to a side and one at the head, as well as an image-only holographic display. The display projects three-dimensional images, but these images are not solid. There are windows on either side of the room to allow views of space outside of the vessel.

Communications Room
Located on deck 2, the Communications Room is a central hub for all communications systems on the Balao. There are three work stations, as well as a display for all communications in the area, and aboard the vessel. The room also serves as a signals interception and cryptology area, allowing for the use of one time pad encoding and other forms of complex encryption, encryption decoding, and collection of communications from non-Federation sources.

Security Facilities
Located on deck 9, this area contains both the Brig and the office for the Chief of Security. The Brig has three holding cells, each of which has two bunk-style beds, and is contained by a force field. The COS' office consists of a desk with a chair, an interactive display screen, two chairs for visitors, and a replicator. The office also holds a weapons locker with two phaser rifles and two hand phasers which the Chief of Security can access via a combined code input and biometric scan.

Armory
Located on Deck 10, the Armory is a small weapons cache aboard the ship, should the vessel encounter a situation requiring person-to-person combat. It has six weapons lockers - two with a total of ten phaser rifles, two with a total of forty hand held phasers, one with two tetryon pulse rifles, and one with explosive charges. Only the CO, XO, and Department Heads can access these lockers.

Multi-Purpose Office
Located on deck 2, the Multi-Purpose Office serves as an office for the Department Head of any swing position that may be assigned for the mission, or as a permanent part of the ship's crew. It has desk with a chair, as well as two chairs for guests, and a wall display that can be configured to access relevant information.

Main Engineering
Engineering is located at the aft of the vessel on decks 7 through 9, and is divided in to three levels: A, B, and C, as well as allowing access to the storage tanks for the warp core on decks 6 and 10. Except for access points, Engineering is separated from the rest of the ship by an additional layer of duranium three inches thick. It is based around the warp core and contains all the main power junctures aboard the vessel, as well as the three backup computer cores. Level A is accessible through stairwells from Level B, and is comprised entirely of scaffolding. There are diagnostics panels along the walls here, and allow quick re-routing of power to specific areas of the ship, as well as ship systems. Level B is the main area of Engineering, and contains more detailed control surfaces that provide information on all ship's systems. Level C is accessible through ladders, and allows access to the lower warp core as well as diagnostics and manual control panels for all propulsion subsystems. The Chief Engineer's office is located on Level B at the single entrance at the fore of Engineering, and contains a desk with a chair, as well as two chairs for visitors, a replicator, and two displays that can show ship information of the Chief Engineer's choosing.

Science Labs
Located at the fore of deck 7, the science labs are general laboratories with interchangeable equipment that can specialize the purpose in line with the ship's specific mission. In the default configuration, there are three work stations: one that links directly in to the sensors and hydrophones, one that links in to the scientific data library, and a station that provides a theoretical simulator. The equipment can be swapped to modify the labs for Robotics, Cybernetics, Medical Research, Propulsion Theory, Weapons Research, Biology, Chemistry, or Quantum Mechanics. These changes can be made when the Baleo is in space dock, and since it is changing equipment instead of entire ship sections, the changes take a few hours at most. If the Labs are specialized, they can serve no other purpose. The Chief Science Officer's office is located in this area, and has a desk with a chair, two chairs for guests, a scientific replicator, a regular replicator, and a wall display that relays information that the Chief Science Officer believes is relevant.

Stellar Cartography
Located at the fore of deck 1, Stellar Cartography is the only permanently specialized scientific laboratory aboard the vessel. The ceiling is a planetarium, capable of displaying the night sky of any known planet at any known configuration, as well as the current sky, if the ship is planet-side. The walls, save for the hallway entrance at the aft, are map displays that can show star maps of any previously charted area of space, as well as any place that the Balao charts. In the center of the room are four control panels that allow for data entry and retrieval.

Diplomatic Facilities
Located in the aft of deck 1, this is an open area that can serve multiple purposes, including an alternate dining hall, a small meeting area, or offices for visiting diplomats. The crew can place furniture and other devices in the room depending upon the function that the diplomatic personnel in question require.

UTILITY SYSTEMS

Cargo Bay
There is a single cargo bay located on deck 10 forward of the Armory. It is a single-deck bay, 7500 cubic meters in size. It has a cargo transporter, but also has a retractable forward wall that allows the bay to be loaded via the ramp. Two turbolift access points, forward and aft of the bay, allow the crew to reach the cargo bay.

Transporters
There are two six-person transporter rooms, on each of decks 8 and 9. They have a maximum range of 40,000 km. There are also four emergency single-person uni-directional transporters on each deck in the event that the escape pods fail or certain crew members cannot reach them. The emergency transporters have a range of 15,000 km.

Tractor Beam
The Balao has two tractor beam emitters located on the exterior of deck 8. They have a maximum range of 20,000 km.

CREW SUPPORT SYSTEMS

CO's Quarters
Located on deck 5, the CO's quarters has three areas: a bedroom, a sitting area, and a kitchen/eating area. The entrance from the hallway opens to the sitting area and kitchen. The bedroom forms one third of the quarters, and has a king-sized bed, two bedside tables, a wall-mounted shelving unit, a closet space, and a personal bathroom with a tub, a sonic shower, and personal hygiene facilities. The tub has a self-contained water source with a filtration system. The bedroom door leads to the seating area. The sitting area and kitchen are an open combined space. The kitchen has a replicator, a stove, an oven, a sink with a self-contained water source and filtration system, two counter top positions, and cabinets underneath and above the counters for storage. There is also an open floor space in the kitchen for a table that can seat up to six people. The sitting area has room for a low-level table seating for roughly eight people if there is seating in the round. The CO can customize the furniture to his liking.

XO's Quarters
Located on deck 5, the XO's quarters also has three areas. It shares a similar layout as the CO's quarters, but is only 80% the size. As such, the tub is holographic (meaning that there is no room needed for a water system), the sink is replaced with a sonic scrubber, there is only room for a table for four in the kitchen space, and there is only room for seating for four in the sitting area.

Senior Officer's Quarters
Located on deck 5, the senior officer's quarters have two areas: a bedroom and a sitting and eating area. The bedroom has a queen size bed, a bedside table, room for a chair, a closet, and a restroom with a sonic shower and hygienic facilities. The second area has a counter top attached to a wall to the side of the bedroom door, a replicator inset in the wall above the counter, a table and chairs for four, and regular seating for four centered around a shin-high table.

Junior Officer's Quarters
Located on deck 6, the junior officer's quarters are studio-style rooms with an extra-long twin bed, a closet, a table and chairs for two, a wall-mounted replicator, a desk and chair, and a restroom with a sonic shower and hygienic facilities.

Crew Quarters
Located on decks 7 and 8, the crew quarters are studio-style rooms with two extra-long twin beds, a desk and chair at the end of each bed, and a restroom facility with a sonic shower and hygienic facilities.

Visitor's Quarters
Located on deck 6, there are twelve visitor's quarters. Eight are configured like crew quarters, while four are configured like senior officer's quarters.

Senior Officer's Lounge
Located on deck 5, the senior officer's lounge serves as a place where the CO, the XO, department heads, and dignitaries aboard the vessel to relax and have their meals when they choose not to dine in their quarters. It has four tables, two with booths and two with chairs, as well as a serving bar and a holosuite. There is a kitchen area behind the wet bar, with a door on either side. The kitchen has an ovens, a stove top, two replicators, two preparation counters, and a pantry. The area can be reconfigured as a dining hall or a reception area for visiting dignitaries, first contact situations, and the occasional wedding. There is a window in the port wall.

Crew Mess Hall
Located on deck 7, the mess hall is where junior officers, general crew members, and junior members of visiting delegations can eat. It has eight tables with four seats a piece, plus four booths on the port wall that can seat six. There are two replicators that are only programmed with drinks and dessert items inset into the fore wall and four replicators on the starboard wall that provide full meals. In the aft starboard corner is a small galley with a stove top, a cabinet for cookware, cooking utensils, plates, and eating utensils, and a replicator programmed to provide basic raw foodstuffs.

Crew Lounge
Located on deck 6, the crew lounge is a place for the junior officers and regular crew members to relax. There are four regular tables with four chairs each, a small performance area in one corner, a bar with a replicator in the other, and two tables that have holographic projectors that can re-create a multitude of table-top games, including chess, kal-toh, kadis-kot, and others. There is also an elongated holographic table that can imitate a pool table, a dom-jot table, or a ping pong table. One of the walls has a shelving unite for pool cues and ping pong paddles. There is a window in the starboard side.

Holosuites
In addition to the recreational facilities aboard, the Balao has four holosuites located on deck 8. They share a single program computer, and have all holographic simulations available in the Federation that only require a single-level simulator.

Sickbay
Located on Deck 8, Sickbay has four bio-beds and one surgical bed arrayed in an arc. The surgical bed has a series of monitor panels that are readily visible for medical crew performing an operation, and can be sealed off from the rest of sickbay either with force fields or a slide-out transparent aluminum wall that wraps around the area. The bio-beds have wall-mounted status displays. The port-side wall also has a medical replicator. A quarter of the area is a windowed space with a door that serves as the Chief Medical Officer's office, and has a lengthened desk complete with an expanded, self-contained medical library, a chair behind the desk, a couch along the windowed wall, and a replicator. The office door is capable of closing, and the windows are capable of tinting.

AUXILIARY SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS

The shuttle bay is located in the aft of the vessel, on decks 4 and 5. The crew can access the shuttle bay through deck 5. The shuttle bay doors are retractable segments of the hull, split along the center line, and allow craft to exit the vessel vertically. The shuttle bay can hold either two Armadillo-class shuttles or one Liberty-class runabout.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions & Structure:
* Length: 220.5 meters
* Beam (Width): 48.6 meters
* Height: 52.8 meters
* Decks: 11

Crew Complement:
* Officers and Crew: 130
* Visiting Personnel: 20
* Maximum Evacuation Limit: 800
Computer Systems:
* Core: Isolinear data towers x18
* Backup core: Isolinear cores x3
* Software: Starfleet Library Computer Access and Retrieval System
(LCARS)

Warp Systems:
* Power Plant: One 1800+ Cochrane Type VII M/ARA core feeding two nacelles
* Cruising Velocity: Warp 6.0
* Maximum Warp: 9.0
* Max. Sustainable Velocity (12 Hours): Warp 9.2
* Emergency Speed: Warp 9.5

Impulse Systems:
* Full Impulse: 0.30c
* Zero-0.30c: 10 seconds
* 0.30c-Zero: 15 seconds
* Max Speed (Surfaced): 50 knots
* Zero-50 knots (Surfaced): 12 seconds
* 50 knots-Zero (Surfaced): 19 seconds
* Max Speed (Submerged): 65 knots
* Zero-65 knots (Submerged): 23 seconds
* 65 knots-Zero (Submerged): 18 seconds
* Dive time (100 meters): 12 seconds
* Rise time (100 meters): 17 seconds

Defensive Systems:
* Shield Maximum Graviton Load (Continuous): 1612 MW
* Shield Maximum Energy Dissipation Rate: 4.38 x 10^5 kW
Offensive Systems:
* Type 2 Torpedo Tube (x2)
** Standard payload: 50 Standard Photon Torpedoes
* Phaser system
** 3 Type-IX phaser arrays
** 2 Type VIII phaser arrays

DECK LAYOUT

Deck 1:
* Multi-Purpose Office
* Stellar Cartography

Deck 2:
* Diplomatic Facilities
* Communications Room

Deck 3:
* Computer Room
* Main Computer

Deck 4:
* Bridge
* Conference Room
* Ready Room
* Shuttle Bay

Deck 5
* CO's Quarters
* Senior Officer's Lounge
* Senior Officer's Quarters
* Shuttle Bay
* XO's Quarters

Deck 6
* Junior Officer's Quarters
* Crew Lounge
* Matter Fill Ports
* Matter Fuel Injectors
* Matter Storage Tanks
* Hydrophones
* Sensor Array
* Visitor's Quarters
* Warp Nacelles

Deck 7
* Crew Mess Hall
* Crew Quarters
* CSO's Office
* Main Engineering, Level A
* Science Labs
* Sensor Array
* Warp Core
* Warp Nacelles

Deck 8
* CE's Office
* Crew Quarters
* CMO's Office
* Holosuite 1
* Holosuite 2
* Holosuite 3
* Holosuite 4
* Main Engineering, Level B
* Sickbay
* Tractor Beam Emitters
* Transporter Room 1
* Warp Core
* Warp Nacelles

Deck 9
* Brig
* COS' Office
* Main Engineering, Level C
* Torpedo Tubes
* Transporter Room 2
* Warp Core

Deck 10
* Anti-Matter Fill Pumps
* Anti-Matter Fuel Injectors
* Anti-Matter Storage Tanks
* Armory
* Cargo Bay
* Ramp

Deck 11
* Landing Strut Storage

SHIPS OF CLASS

The Balao shares ship names with submarines built and used during Earth's Second World War, many of which were Balao class submarines, but some of which were Gato class submarines.

* USS Balao, NCC-75285 (Class Ship)
* USS Wahoo, NCC-75287
* USS Blackfin, NCC-75289
* USS Dorado, NCC-75291
* USS Hammerhead, NCC-75293
* USS Growler, NCC-75295
* USS Cavalla, NCC-75297
* USS Razorback, NCC-75299
* USS Manta, NCC-75301
* USS Moray, NCC-75303

The Balao class can be constructed quickly, and so many have been put in to service around the fleet, including the following:

* USS Macabi, NCC-75286 (NPC)
* USS Bugara, NCC-75288 (NPC)
* USS Silversides, NCC-75290 (NPC)
* USS Caiman, NCC-75292 (NPC)
* USS Flasher, NCC-75294 (NPC)
* USS Cubera, NCC-75296 (NPC)
* USS Barbero, NCC-75298 (NPC)
* USS Archer-Fish, NCC-75300 (NPC)
* USS Tang, NCC-75302 (NPC)
* USS Piranha, NCC-75304 (NPC)

CONCLUSION

The Balao is designed to fill multiple small-ship roles, making it a very versatile design. In spite of – or perhaps because of - its unique hull variant, the Balao can be an effective part of the fleet.

SUBMITTED BY NICHOLAS VILLARREAL, JULY 15, 2012

-Brandon Irvine
EDir