[snip]

Good to see this back up i'll snip out those areas i dont see as important or needing work as per my usual way of doing things

[snip]

their shoulders, and once Benjamin Sisko left Utopia Planitia, the order for a frigate came in.

--I believe this should read 'Sisko left utopia Planitia and the order for the frigate came in' it just sounds to me better but I could be wrong.

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.

--Maybe should read 'the team decided that they were going to design...'

: 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.
:

--Not a prob exactly but what was different with a 'proof of concept model' vs a finished design?

: 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

--Short term diplomacy? Not sure i quite follow the purpose of this whats the difference between this and 'long' term?

: - Inter-planetary personnel transport
: - Planetary oceanography
: - Starfleet cargo transfer
: - Stellar cartography
: - Scientific research
:

--I also think some of these could be combined, I mean stellar cartography IS if you ask me falling under the domain of sciences research no?

[snip]

: 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.
:

--Just a nitpick but dont think you need the 'earth hour' note there simply '12 hours' should suffice.

: 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

--.30C in ten secs and down in 15 O.o holy crap thats fast whats the time rate we're assuming for the defiant i cant picture even the defiant moving that fast

[snip]

: Phaser Systems
: The Balao has three type XI phaser arrays that form rings around the tower structure and each of the bulges that

--As you noted in irc typo here should be IX :)

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

--You mention both a type VI and VII arrays which is it?

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.
:

--We do see the delta flyer using phasers in that one episode so it could be allowed just maybe note that their half powered or something cause what happens if some big chtulu monster comes up to cause horror and torps are unable to lock on or something :)

: 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.
:

--Still not sold on no phasers underwater but thats me nitpicking

[snip]

: 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.
:

--Ya know I just had a thought as i was reading over the science labs here, more and more reading back i get more the feeling the balao is more a tactical frigate rather then a heavy exploration frigate thoughts?

[snip]

[snip]

: * Power Plant: One 1800+ Cochrane Type VII M/ARA core feeding two nacelles

-- Cochrane Rating should be 1649+ not 1800+

: Impulse Systems:
: * Full Impulse: 0.30c
: * Zero-0.30c: 10 seconds
: * 0.30c-Zero: 15 seconds

--Still think these space speeds are excessively fast

[snip]

: * Phaser system
: ** 3 Type-IX phaser arrays
: ** 2 Type VIII phaser arrays

--Above you mentioned 2 type VII / VI (not sure which you wanted) here you mentioned type VIII

[snip]

: 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

--Again more and more i'm thinking and looking at the design the Balao seems to me to be too light on the exploration science aspect equipment and has a more feel of a tactical frigate variant, again thoughts?

Robert Archer AEDir