Posted by Jared Kurz in Specification Review: Nightingale-class Cruiser (Medical) - Review OPEN Until August 10, 2020

Posted by Brigadier General Matthew Bernardin (Assistant Engineering Director) in Specification Review: Nightingale-class Cruiser (Medical) - Review OPEN Until August 10, 2020
NIGHTINGALE-CLASS

CATEGORY: CRUISER
VARIANT: MEDICAL
DESIGNER(S): Lindsay Bayes, Cale Reilly
SECONDARY DESIGNER: Nicholas Villarreal
Mark I
Draft 1
DATE:July 2020

Hello Lindsay, Cale, and Nicholas! I am very excited to see a new medical cruiser being proposed for the fleet.
Two caveats before I begin my review:
First, I use Canadian-English. This means colour instead of color, and centre instead of center. If I flag a word as being misspelled, you may ignore it if you know it’s correct where you live.
Second, I sometimes seem nit-picky. This isn’t me trying to pick nits just because I can, but rather because I want your spec to be the best it can be! If I propose changes to the wording that sound less like you wrote it and more like I did, that’s only because I wrote the proposal. You don’t have to use it as I wrote it. Instead, please think of it as me trying to inspire you to make it better!

HISTORY AND MISSION OVERVIEW

“I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.”
Hippocratic Oath

The McCoy-class variant of the well-used Starfleet Mode II space frame, when it was first introduced, was a great success.
The Mode II spaceframe. “What is that?” Perhaps this can be rephrased so nobody asks that question?

The original McCoy-class spec came out at a time where people were more familiar with TOS/Movie-Era terminology. The Mode II hull was used for a variety of vessels, including but not limited to the Miranda-class and the Soyuz-class. It’s possible to change it to just be descriptive of the single-hull design introduced in the mid-to-late 23rd century or something.

At the time of its creation, it was the sole mobile medical design, and it was the best mobile medical design possible. As the years progressed, while the McCoy-class proved its worth, the need for a more robust vessel became clear. As such, Starfleet began to look to the future and decided to design a new vessel with increased capabilities. Eventually, Starfleet created the Nightingale-class, a vessel with the same goal as the McCoy-class. When deployed, the Nightingale-class would meet emergency medical needs that would go beyond the capabilities and resources of any one regular starship’s sickbay facilities.

The Nightingale’s design included applied uses of developing technologies, with the capability to upgrade to the newest medical techniques and devices as needed.
This sentence sounds rough to me. Perhaps:
“The Nightingale includes the latest technologies and is designed to be easily upgraded, ensuring the physicians onboard have access to the latest techniques and therapies.”
As the Federation’s continually expanding presence in the galaxy also had certain needs that normal starships could not meet, the Nightingale is capable of providing long-range medical support, long-range rescues, and medical support for frontier vessels, outposts, and colony establishments. It is also capable of civilian mercy operations.

Considered by many to be a versatile application of the medical starship role, the Nightingale’s vessels
Perhaps instead of “Nightingale’s vessels” this should simply read “Nightingales?”

Typo. It should say “Nightingale-class vessels”.

include specialised laboratory facilities staffed by specialists in a variety of fields, including pathology, xenobiology, microbiology and immunology (to name a few). Medical treatment areas aboard ship include quarantine facilities, intensive care units, specialist surgical and convalescence areas and variable gravity environments for surgery and recovery. Ship’s stores include sufficient pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies for almost any emergency and a medium-sized colony.
Perhaps: “for almost any emergency up to a medium-sized colony.”

Yep. That’s another typo.

The Nightingale-class Medical Cruiser, like its predecessor, was designed by a team of Starfleet and civilian engineers working at the Arbuckle Ship Yards at Zeta Maxtor. The command team consisted of:

Project Leader- Captain Thani zh’Rothi
Engineering Specialist- Commander Daria Henley
Computer Systems Engineer- Lieutenant Commander Jeneva Foxwell
Medical Facility Overseer- Captain Alexxander Jay Ryley M.D
Scientific Consultant - Sakar of Vulcan - Vulcan Science Academy
Manual and Documentation by Rodolfo Márquez, The Medical Institute of Betazed, R&D

The primary goal of the Nightingale was to provide a detailed mobile medical facility for onsite treatment and for transport. As such, it includes three methods of loading wounded onto the ship. First is the trusty standby; the transporter. Second is a pair of medically equipped Longevity-class runabouts.
I imagine these function almost like ambulances? The Longevity-class doesn’t have a “medical” variant listed however, which leaves me wondering what additional equipment a medically equipped version has.

This was borrowed from the McCoy-class. The basic thought was that, if we’ve been using it in the club for this long, it clearly hasn’t been an issue in RP.

These support craft serve to ferry wounded between the field and the vessel, and to extend the potential treatment range. The third is the ability of the Nightingale to land the ship, thus bringing the hospital directly to ground-based wounded. Combined, these three methods should allow the Nightingale, like the McCoy before it, to successfully reach almost any potentially wounded personnel in any situation.

STRUCTURE AND CONSTRUCTION
”It’s very simple. You either do it my way or you can excuse yourselves and I’ll go it alone”
Dr John Thackery - The Knick

The original form that the design team wanted to use was a pair of human lungs. It served as the primary design for the vessel until multiple 3D renders in various configurations (including having one “lobe” forward of the other, one “lobe” y-positive of the other, and both on the same z-plane) showed the inspiration to be inelegant. Additionally, when each configuration was placed under stress simulations, the nacelles detached from the vessel upon reaching Warp 1. With these difficulties, the team abandoned this original plan and decided to approach the concept in a more traditional fashion. However, the crew could not fully abandon the concept, and so some parts of the ship still have an imprint of the main organs of the pulmonary system.

The vessel’s structure follows traditional Starfleet design principles, with an upper primary hull and a lower engineering hull. The primary hull, ten decks in height, is spoon-shaped, with a rounded top that rises to its apex one-third of the length from the aft of the primary hull. The bottom, where it does not connect to the engineering hull, is completely flat. The engineering hull, eight decks in height, is shaped, in profile, like an elongated lung lobe, albeit with a cutout at the lower aft and a fully flattened bottom. The bottom three decks of the primary hull connect to the top three decks of the engineering hull. Due to the nature of the Nightingale, the design team used numbers to identify the decks of the primary hull and letters to identify the decks of the secondary hull. Thus, the primary hull has Decks 1 through 10 and the engineering hull has Decks A through H, even though the overall vessel is only fifteen decks in height. Twenty per cent of the primary hull’s length overlaps with twenty-five per cent of the engineering hull’s length. Deck H is fully hollow and is two meters taller than the other decks, as it is designed to contain exchangeable mission modules.

Since decks 8, 9, and 10 connect to A, B, and C, I really don’t see a reason not to keep using the standard deck numbering system. A, B, and C would simply be considered part of decks 8, 9, and 10, and the decks below would continue counting. This will keep your ship consistent with all of the other ships in the fleet.

It’s mostly due to the fact that half the ship is basically a hospital in space, but that was really it. I had this idea of having a split hull instead of a joined hull, but then the discussion we had made a single hull more in-line with what Cale and Linds envisioned. Either way, it’s mostly flavor text.

Deck-tall pylons extend directly aft from the far starboard and far port of Deck 3.
What is a deck-tall pylon?

It’s a pylon that is one deck tall. I’m not sure how more explicit that can be.

They connect to pylons which extend from the top of Deck D. A bent tubular beam, which somewhat resembles an inverted pair of bronchial tubes, extends between both joint points.
This is where you lose me. I can visualize the ship up to this point, then the tubes get all twisted and knotted together like all my extension cords…

We could always say that it’s a U-shape instead. I was just sticking with the medical feel of the description.

This overall structure forms the support frame for the Starbase-installed mission module. The warp nacelle pylons extend outward from the horizontal Deck 3 pylons at a 60-degree angle aft. When the vessel is stationary or at sublight speeds, the nacelle pylons are at a 45-degree downward angle. They are capable of variable geometry and can move upward from this idle position to any position in a 90-degree arc. The nacelles themselves are the same length as the engineering hull but are positioned so that twenty per cent of their length extends farther aft of the vessel than the engineering hull’s aft-most point. The nacelles can swivel on the end of the pylon in order to remain parallel with the vertical axis of the vessel at all times.

The vessel’s superstructure consists of duranium framing and titanium interiors. The exterior of the vessel consists of multiple layers of insulation and radiation-resistant materials. The viewports throughout the exterior of the vessel are quadruple-layered transparent aluminum. The vessel also has an armour layer, which consists of a 2.5 cm layer of duranium and ceramic sheeting. This armour provides protection against incidental debris in the event of shield failure but is only minimally resistant to actual weapons fire.

The Nightingale is capable of planetary landing and takeoff in the event that it needs to deploy a large mission module planetside, dispatch a large number of crew members to an area, receive a large number of patients, or load or offload a large number of supplies from or to a planet-based facility. In most cases, the Nightingale’s atmospheric entry and landing sequence takes four minutes, and takeoff and atmospheric exit takes five minutes. As part of the landing sequence, four stabilizing pylons extend from the sides of Deck 4 at angles which the computer systems pre-determine based upon the chosen landing area.

How many g’s can the ship handle for landing and takeoff? How are modules unloaded onto a planet? Do the bronchial tubes swing out like the arms of a crane?

In order of response:
1. That’s not a necessary part of the spec, as far as I understand it. If the GM wants it to land properly, it will. If it can’t, it won’t.
2. That goes below, and I think I’ll use the Heisenberg Compensator answer: “Very well, thank you.”
3. The tubular beam is a cross-beam support for the other pylons. It has no other purpose.

Mission Modules

Internally Stored

Extra medical modules are carried on Deck H of the Nightingale, including science modules designed to provide on-site laboratory testing in quarantined areas and self-sustaining field hospital kits. These pre-fab modular hospitals can be erected in minutes on planetary surfaces. Each comes with a self-contained generator and emergency replicator. Battery packs included with the generator enable the field hospitals to run for up to one week under normal conditions. They can be deployed either via orbital launch or after the Nightingale performs atmospheric entry and landing procedures.
If the science and hospital modules come with generators, why do they need batteries? And what kind of generators are they?

Emergency power, and power generators. We can say that they’re fusion generators, if you really want.

Starbase Installed

The Nightingale’s external mission modules are all one deck tall, and require a Starbase to both install and remove. The module is mounted at the aft of Deck 3 and is accessible from corridors extending through the pylons at the aft of Deck 3.

Cargo Module
This module adds an additional cargo bay to the Nightingale. It is the full width of the module between the pylons. It is equipped with a cargo transporter and a small onboard power generation unit. This module is installed as the standard module unless the Nightingale’s specific mission requires otherwise.
One deck high but very wide isn’t going to give a lot of “space” for bulky items. The average deck is only 2.4-metres (8-feet) high. Most of the cargo bays that we’ve seen in the shows are twice that, or two decks in height. Just a thought.

SSSF states that decks on a starship are between 4.6m and 5m high. As for cargo space, this is extra storage, and therefore wouldn’t necessarily be required to transport larger items, or even as many items, as the main cargo bays.

What kind of generator, and how much power does it provide? Does it only power the module or does it tie into the ship’s power?

For the former: it’s likely a fusion generator, and it provides enough power to power the module. It’s probably connected to the ship’s power, but only for the purposes of external control, not interface.

Shuttle Bay Expansion
This module allows the Nightingale to carry four additional small auxiliary craft - any given combination of shuttle pods and work bees - along with its regular shuttle complement. These are equipped in the event that the Nightingale needs to move crew and equipment quickly without the use of a transporter, or if the Nightingale will be engaging in patrols intentionally involved in starship search and rescue. The shuttle bay doors are half the width of the module.
Since the modules are only 2.4 metres high, there are practically no shuttles that will fit into this shuttlebay. The short little shuttlepods will, and the workbees. But to make it more useful, it might be advisable to double the height of your mission modules.

The module is 5m high, because this is a deck on a Starfleet vessel, not a deck on an Earth ocean vessel.

Combat Module
This module adds an additional Type-10 phaser array with 100 emitters on the dorsal surface of the module. This array has a maximum energy output of 5.1 MW and a maximum effective range of 300,000 km. It also adds an additional two aft-facing Type-2 torpedo launchers, each capable of launching 1 torpedo per launch with a reload time of 4 seconds, and 30 additional photon torpedo casings. This module is installed solely in the event that the Nightingale is deployed to provide medical assistance in active combat zones.
The second Geneva Convention specifically forbids attacking hospital ships. It also forbids their use for any military purpose. This includes the ships being armed. I know we’re talking about Star Trek and not real-life, but the weapons capability was always my biggest concern with the McCoy-class. I can see a light self-defence armament, and this is supported by the USS Pasteur in TNG “All Good Things…” When attacked by the Klingons Governor Worf says, “These weapons are no match for their shields.” This implies that the ship was armed, but that it wasn’t armed very well. When I think “hospital ship” I don’t generally think Type-X phasers and extra torpedo bays. That seems to go against everything that Doctors stand for. I would advise reconsidering the combat module to instead be a defense module that adds extra shields. Maybe even a special shield extender, allowing the Nightingale to protect damaged or disabled ships.

First off, the Second Geneva Convention doesn’t apply when you’re dealing with interstellar powers. I’m pretty sure that the Dominion and the Klingons wouldn’t care one whit about attacking hospital vessels. The Cardassians might have some compunctions about it, but would get over them if they felt that attacking a hospital vessel was in their best interest. The Romulans, at this point in the time frame, have had their home planet blown to bits, so they also might not care. The USS Pasteur is set in a future that doesn’t actually happen, so that’s also a moot point.

However, I do see the logic in having a combat module on a hospital vessel be used for defensive rather than offensive purposes. Given the armament that I already gave the Nightingale below (yeah, I’m mostly responsible for the equipment loadouts), this may be overkill.

Sensor Upgrade
This module changes the Nightingale-class sensor systems to a Type-VI sensor suite. This extends the Nightingale’s sensor capabilities to a high-resolution range of 2.6 ly and a low-resolution range of 8.4 ly. The module includes additional power generators and fuel storage in order to allow the Nightingale to deal with the increased power demands. This module is installed when the Nightingale engages in long-range missions.
Why does a medical ship require a bigger sensor suite?

Read the final sentence. Consider the logic of said sentence.

SCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYSTEMS

SNIP

Holographic Systems
The Nightingale Class carries two medical holographic programs and two reception holographic programs.
This should state three medical holographic programs.

Duly noted. Good catch.

Medical
The primary function is to allow for the use of MH programs. Three Duty Medical Holographic crew programs are available: two of the longer term Mark II (LMH) programmed to serve in the primary medical suite and one short term Mark III (EMH) programmed to serve in the secondary medical suite. Each programme has two serving interfaces. The holo medical crew is programmed with all current medical knowledge and the ability to adapt to situations as required. Additionally, they can take on any medical role as required by the ship/facility.
Reception
Both the Dental Suite and Psychiatry Suite have programmed Reception Holo (RH) crew (ALBERT for Dental and HARLEEN for Psychiatry) they are programmed with emergency first aid in their respective areas and triage abilities. These programs only work within the confines of the suite in question.
Perhaps instead of RH they should be RN for holographic registered nurse?

No, they shouldn’t, because they are specifically administrative holograms without any medical capabilities. Try calling a nurse a medical secretary or a coder, see where it gets you.

The Nightingale class has holo-emitters in every area of the ship, allowing the medical programs to venture outside of Sickbay to treat the wounded more efficiently.
Why are the MH programs allowed to roam the ship but the RH programs are confined to their suites? If the ship has holo-emitters throughout shouldn’t they all be allowed the same freedom?

Not really. Why would administrative holograms need to be anywhere other than the locations where they serve? Could they possibly do the job better if they can greet people for their appointments on the bridge or something?

The medical research labs are also equipped with a holographic display column to allow for scalable visualization for research and exploratory surgery. The display can be tied directly into any medical sensors in the Medical Center, including the biobeds and ICU ward.

SNIP

TACTICAL SYSTEMS
“You know, I know a few techniques that could help you manage that anger effectively.”
Dr Bruce Banner - The Incredible Hulk

Defensive Shields
The Nightingale-class designers focused heavily upon the medical nature of the vessel in designing the ship’s tactical suite. As such, they gave the Nightingale the strongest shielding suite possible. The Nightingale has Type-9 shields, with a maximum graviton load of 1881 MW and a maximum energy dissipation rate of 5.11 * 10^5 kW per second. Due to the potentially hazardous nature of the Nightingale’s mission, the shields are designed to filter out all known radiation types. Similarly, the Nightingale-class shields are equipped with a metaphasic function, which allows the Nightingale to withstand the heat and force of a star’s corona for up to 30 minutes before the shield functions begin to fail. The Nightingale-class’s main deflector array is at the fore of the engineering hull, going from Deck D to Deck F, centred on Deck E, and spanning seventy per cent of the width of the vessel in an oval shape.

Phaser Systems
The Nightingale-class, in keeping with its medical mission, is only equipped with enough offensive equipment to be able to defend itself during a retreat from a hostile encounter. As such, the Nightingale is only equipped for defensive capabilities. The Nightingale is equipped with three Type-10 phaser arrays, with 75 emitters each. Two arrays are on the dorsal side of Deck 6 and are offset by 10 meters port and starboard from the centerline. The third Type-10 phaser array is located on the aft of the External Mission Module Support Cross Beam. The Type-10 phaser arrays have a maximum energy output of 5.1 MW and a maximum effective range of 300,000 km. Along with the Type 10 phaser arrays, the Nightingale has six Type-9 phaser arrays with 60 emitters each. Two arrays are located on the port and starboard of Deck 5, two arrays are located on the port and starboard underside of Deck 10, and two arrays are located on the port and starboard of Deck E. The Type-9 phaser arrays have a maximum energy output of 3.8 MW and a maximum effective range of 225,000 km.
This seems like way too much armament to me. You state, “The Nightingale-class, in keeping with its medical mission, is only equipped with enough offensive equipment to be able to defend itself during a retreat from a hostile encounter.” Yet it is armed with no less than nine phaser arrays! This is more than the Modern Navy Plan allows for an Observer type science ship, which are also limited to Type-VIII emitters. Remember that the primary mission of any doctor is to do no harm. Shooting things with phasers is generally considered harmful!

This is a Cruiser, so the MNP allows for 16 type-X arrays. The nine arrays it does have are much smaller in size than on other vessels; these arrays have less than half the emitters allowed. Doctors currently are supposed to do no harm, but as far as I’m aware, there’s also a duty to cover one’s six, as it were. Additionally, this is set in the 2390’s, with Starfleet’s willingness to be more militaristic in its vessel design at the fore of its considerations (just a minor Picard spoiler, sorry for that). This is already a reduction in allowable equipment; I sharply disagree with the argument for a further one.

Torpedo Systems
The Nightingale has two forward-facing Type-2 torpedo launchers, each capable of launching 1 torpedo per launch with a reload time of 4 seconds. The Nightingale-class carries 100 torpedo casings. Typically, the Nightingale-class has 60 photon torpedoes. The other 40 casings are reserved for scientific use and can be configured for Class 1 to Class 9 probes. The torpedo launchers have separate storage rooms with 50 casings each. The launchers and their rooms are on Deck F to port and starboard of the main deflector.
Two torpedo launchers and 100 torpedo casings! This thing has more armament than my Avenger-class Destroyer Escort! And that ship was designed primarily for heavy combat, not to beat a hasty retreat! I would advise reducing the number of casings to no more than 50, of which the majority should be sensor probes. A hospital shouldn’t be blowing patients away with torpedoes, but as we have seen them used for non-violent missions I can see the utility of having a limited compliment onboard.

The Avenger and its PC successor the Brazen are both one third the size of the Nightingale. I can see the logic of changing the ratio from 3:2 to 2:3 or something, though. More sensors, fewer torpedoes. Still, once again, 2390 - Starfleet is more willing to make things go boom at this point.

COMMAND AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS
“The future is the home of our deepest fears and our wildest hopes.”
Dr Owen Hunt - Grey’s Anatomy
The Command Center
The Command Centre (Main Bridge) is located near the centre of Deck 1. It is a spacious bridge to allow for ease of movement between stations.

The central command area on the Bridge is located in a submerged dip accessed via two steps with the captain’s chair starboard side and the executive officer’s chair port side. Behind the command area, is a large array of multi-use consoles and GALEN’s command overview system interface. This interface allows any officer to get an abstract view of ship systems and any problems that may arise. And by its connection to GALEN would allow some basic system repairs in areas of the ship on the bridge without further intervention.
No description of this function of GALEN is provided in the computer section. I would recommend moving most of this there. This section can simply say “Behind the command area, is a large array of multi-use consoles and GALEN’s command overview system interface,” and not go into detail about it. Also some details of how GALEN can perform basic system repairs to the bridge would be helpful!

Duly noted.

On either side of the command interface system are science consoles. From the science consoles, the officers have priority access to all sensor input coming into the ship.

At the rear, the portside console nearest the entrance is the engineering bridge console which provides access to all data coming from the ship’s internal monitoring systems as well as access (where necessary) to repair and adjust various systems throughout the ship.

Directly opposite on the starboard side is the medical interface which houses the controls for the ship’s biological systems. This includes life support and environmental controls, but also allows for the monitoring of the medical centre and triage areas where required and monitoring samples and patients brought aboard if necessary.

Directly ahead of the command area, and down into a further sunken area, is the conn and navigation consoles.

Entryways to the bridge are located at the port and starboard sides on the upper level. The port door leads to the main turbo lift while the starboard door leads to an access corridor for the rest of the deck containing the Conference Room, XO’s Office and access to the Captain’s Ready Room.
Ship Security
Unlike its earlier counterparts, the Nightingale holds a multi-room security department located in a restricted area on deck 10. This includes the Security Office itself, the Brig and the ship’s Armory.

Security Office Contains a work area, a personal viewscreen, a computer display, and a replicator.

Brig: Located via the main security office, the Brig is a restricted access area whose only entrance is from within the Security department. It houses one double-occupancy cell and two single occupancy cells secured with a level-10 force field emitter built into each doorway.

Ship’s Armory: This room rounds out the security department and again is only accessible via the security office. The room is sealed and only accessible with command or security clearance.
I am curious as to what kinds of equipment is stored in the armoury?

That was definitely an unintentional omission. Good catch.

Other security systems

Internal Force Fields: Controlled from the Command Centre or from the Security office, force fields can be activated throughout the ship, effectively sealing off sections.

Internal Sensors: Used to monitor the internal security of the ship. They can identify the location of the crew via comm badges as standard or patients via patient ID wrist bands. Using both of these the general location of any person on board the ship can be ascertained quickly and efficiently.
These wrist bands are not described elsewhere. Perhaps more detail about what they are and why they are used would be helpful!

We could probably add that to the Computer Systems.

Main Engineering

“I know engineers. They love to change things!”
Leonard McCoy - Star Trek

Engineering is located across C and D Deck of the Engineering hull on the Nightingale class. With the main engineering taking the majority of D Deck.

The room was constructed around a Class-9 warp drive. The warp core is horizontal instead of vertical. The reaction chamber can be seen via a hole in the deck before the main console. The reaction chamber is equipped with a compositor, which allows for dilithium recrystallization.
I believe this should be a theta-matrix compositor.
Laforge says, “The theta-matrix compositer makes the recrystallisation process ten times more efficient than the old Excelsior class ships.” TNG: “Family.”
Chakotay says, “The reaction chamber is equipped with a compositor which allows us to re-crystallise the dilithium. In our situation we can never be sure when we’ll be able to find a new supply.” VOY: “Innocence.”

So, in other words, it’s not necessary to specify what kind of compositor the ship uses, just that it uses one, so what’s the issue?

In front of the warp core is a large monitoring area which features the master situation table, main warp core monitoring system and power transfer conduits. Also located on this deck are engineering labs with industrial replicators and the bio-neural gel pack nursery and bio-neural systems maintenance section.
Borg maturation chambers! All jokes aside, I have never heard of a bio-neural gel pack nursery! Usually they just grabbed a new one out of the storage locker and installed it! How does it work?

I think this was a nod to an early Voyager episode where the gel packs got a viral infection.

Engineering also houses the Chief Engineer’s Office, an open work area for special projects or situational analysis, system monitoring stations, warp core and cooling assemblies, assorted power and systems trunking, the holographic mainframe cores and holographic system maintenance and an inter-level lift.

Science Laboratories

Besides the med labs in the medical centre, the Nightingale hosts 16 science labs. 8 generic (Bio/Chem/Physics) labs are located on Deck 7 and easily modified depending on the mission parameters. The Chief Science Officer’s office is attached to this bank of labs. The further 8 labs serve as specialised areas with Astrometrics, Stellar Cartography, Geological Studies and Archaeology and others easily adaptable per the mission requirements are found on Deck 8.
How do these extra capabilities help the ship’s mission profile? I think you’re losing sight of your mission of designing a medical ship.

Duly noted. We’ll probably reconsider this going forward.

All laboratories are capable of supporting a variety of environments, temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius, and providing over a dozen different possible atmospheres.

SNIP

Tractor Beams

The Nightingale is fitted with fore and aft tractor emitters located on the exterior of Deck 8. This position allows for access to both the shuttlebays in the engineering hull and the cargo bay.

It is capable of hauling cargo and towing disabled vessels. At a nominal delta-v of 5 m/sec^2, the main tractor beam emitters are capable of handling a mass of 7,500,000 metric tonnes at less than 1,000 meters. For a mass of one metric ton at the same delta-v, the effective range is 20,000 kilometres. The main tractor emitters use a pair of 16 Megawatt graviton polarity sources, for a total of 32 Megawatt graviton displacement power. (The above numbers are taken from the TNG Technical Manual.)
I approve the numbers, but you don’t need to include the reference to the TNG Tech Manual.

Yeah, that was a note for us that we missed in the clean-up process.

SNIP

CREW SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Medical Center

SNIP

The walls of all medical dedicated areas are decorated with an atypical palette outside of the Starfleet issue blue and grey combination
What colours are they?

Whatever the crew/GM decides they are, probably. Otherwise, I say they’re purple and gold. :P

As in all medical class ships all sickbay facilities use independent environmental systems to eliminate the risk of ship-wide contamination.

Medical areas further detailed (Both, Primary [P] and Secondary [S])

Convalescence/ Recovery Ward [P]
This area is for patients who have received treatment, or require overnight treatment and/or monitoring. This is also where non-critical patients are placed after surgery. It includes 10 biobeds with overhead monitors, sanitized pillows and sheets for each bed, one replicator, and a supply storage cabinet close by.

Primary Care Unit [Both]
This area is for general treatment including basic injury, common diseases, and anything else that doesn’t look to be particularly life-threatening or contagious. Primary Sickbay includes 15 scanning biobeds, Secondary Sickbay includes 8.

Intensive Care Unit / Surgical Intensive Care Unit [Both]
Each biobed is rigged for continuous 3-dimensional scanning and monitoring of the patient. It includes a computer link-up to an alarm system programmed to react and respond to the patient’s life-signs with adjustable acceptable parameters. An unstable reading or life sign will result in a “Code Blue” alarm and engage code blue protocols.
Does this activate “blue alert” lighting throughout the ship?

See, this is why we listed the decks in one hull as seprate from another. However, the Code Blue probably just alerts the crash team and any nearby medical personnel. We can clarify that.

At this time the computer will auto engage digital resuscitation and life support until a medical officer is present. If one does not respond within an acceptable time frame, normally 3 minutes the EMH programme will respond. It also includes one replicator, additional life support hardware for each bed and back-up battery power.

Primary Sickbay ICU also, as stated, houses four completely quarantined units, capable of supporting class M or K environments, temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 98 degrees Celsius, and providing over a dozen different possible atmospheres.

Medlabs [Both]
Includes one replicator, material diagnostics stations, a centrifuge, gene analysis terminal, stasis field drawers for storage of biological samples.

Surgical Suites [Both]
Along with the usual surgical tools, the room includes a surgical frame biobed complete with mobile life support equipment, atmospheric isolation systems, and scanning/monitoring readout station. The room also has access to a small replicator designed for pharmaceuticals, equipment or other materials such as replacement organs or blood.

Psychiatric Suites [P]

Four offices and a larger group therapy area encircle a computer-operated reception centre/waiting area (staffed by HARLEEN). Visual sensors and audio recordings for this area are done only with the voice code of Psychiatric staff or the Chief of sStaff or crew of command-level access. The Psychiatric Suites operate with a “Code Grey” protocol should someone, crew, visitor or patient become aggressive, abusive, violent or display threatening behaviour towards the psychiatric staff, or HARLEEN can activate this protocol and request emergency response from security who can assist staff to resolve the situation or remove the person from the suite if necessary.
I think this is actually a code white.

As far as I am aware, the code structure of medical facilities varies from facility to facility outside of the common Code Blue. E.G. Code Black could either be active shooter or bomb threat, code red could be either fire or biohazard, etc.

Morgue [S]
Contains stasis field storage slots for several bodies, a table for post-mortem examinations rigged for continuous 3-dimensional scanning and monitoring of the corpse and aseptic entries.

Dental Suite [P]
Designed in greys and blacks it is a more muted copy of the Psychiatric Suite. Four closed offices with dental chairs and individual replicators encircle a computer-operated reception centre/waiting area. (Staffed by ALBERT)

Triage Deck [S]
Deck G is configured as a large, open area, with limited storage facilities for removable bulkheads. This “Triage Deck” can be reconfigured using removable and folding bulkheads into an extra triage centre, guest quarters, surgical centre, or additional sickbay facilities, depending on the requirements of the mission. A full reconfiguration can be performed in approximately ten minutes.
Maybe not a “full” reconfiguration, which probably includes the installation of all of the furniture.

Probably not. Maybe we could say “functional” instead.

The aft section of the deck has Transporter Rooms Three and Four so that wounded can be beamed directly into what can be used as a triage area. Two gangplanks extend through the rear of Deck E to load wounded directly onto the Triage Deck in case of a landing.
For some reason the moving walkways at Wal-Mart just appeared in my mind. Wounded riding up on a moving floor up one gangplank, being treated and healed, and then riding back down the other gangplank when they’ve recovered…

That’s a really weird image, but you’re probably not entirely off-base.

Swim Spas: Located immediately next to the gymnasium, there are two.
There are two…? I know you mean Swim Spas, but you should include the name of what’s being described to make this a proper sentence.

Yep, that’s an accidental omission.

While most personnel choose to use the holodeck for their swimming needs, the pool exists mainly for physical fitness and rehabilitation.
This area isn’t described very well. You call it a spa, and then hint that it has a swimming pool. But a bit more detail would be nice!

Can do.

Arboretum: This communal space is on Deck 9. The arboretum offers pathways and sitting areas, along with beds for growing food as the crew desires.
How big is the arboretum?

Big enough to grow plants and relax.

Lounge: This large lounge is located on Deck 4, and serves as a place of social gathering for all members of the crew and their guests. Serving as the social centre of the ship, it has a number of tables that line the windows. A bar lines the length of the aft-facing wall of the room and is serviced by an on-duty bartender. Two replicators provide the crew with beverages and food, while a limited stock of alcoholic beverages is available beneath the counter. The Lounge also has a-zero-gravity billiard table and a battery of recreational games and assorted activities which are available on request (card games, chess etc.)
I don’t think we’ve seen zero-g billiards! Considering how many times I make the ball jump off the table with gravity, I can already tell I won’t be playing this game any time soon… Is it similar to Dom-jot?

Probably more like a variant of squash or something, one imagines, given the rules to billiards.

Mess Hall: The Mess is located on Deck 4 and is primarily used for food consumption only. It is equipped with a bank of three replicators and a variety of seating configurations.
How big is the mess hall?

Big enough for people to eat.

AUXILIARY SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS
”Jerry, call security. Somebody’s in my parking space”
Dr. Doug Ross, ER

There are two shuttlebays aboard on Decks A and B, with B serving as the main shuttle bay.
Again just a friendly reminder that a standard shuttlebay is at least two-decks high!

That, we probably should change.

The Nightingale supports two refitted Longevity-Class runabouts.
To accommodate the Longevity you need at least 10.4 metres of height. This accommodates the 8.4 metres of height for the Longevity itself, and allows 1 metre of clearance from the floor and the ceiling while the craft is manoeuvring for takeoff and landing. It would be a tight fit, but it would fit! Three decks worth of height will give you more than enough space.
These two auxiliary craft are designed with dedicated medical modules in order to function as an “ambulance in space” to ferry wounded between the ship and the target site, or the ship and a larger medical facility, or they can also function as small field hospitals when needed. (A portion of the general-purpose area has been outfitted as a breakout medical area able to hold 3 additional biobeds giving the runabout 5 in total.) Medical supplies carried on board include standard medical fare to equipment for major surgeries. An additional computer core added to monitor patients; contains an up-to-date medical library and ties into the GALEN ship system for use in the shuttles.
This is the description I needed earlier! I’m glad you included this!

The ship also hosts three shuttlecraft and two shuttle pods.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions & Structure: * Length: 350 meters * Beam (Width): 116.67 meters * Height: 73 meters * Decks: 15 (10 decks in primary hull, 8 decks in the secondary hull with 3 that overlap, listed separately)

Crew Complement: * Officers and Crew: 350
Command: 7
Engineering: 34
Medical: 50
Mental Health: 3
Science: 35
Security: 21 * Visiting Personnel: 200 * Maximum Evacuation Limit: 6000

If we consider the average ship has a three-shift rotation, you have 2.3 command, 11.3 engineers, 16.6 medical, 1 mental health, 11.6 science, and 7 security per duty shift. That doesn’t sound too bad, until I consider the size of the ship. This is a big ship, and it might need a few more personnel onboard. Particularly if your medical staff are going to be helping medium-sized colonies. As a reference, my local hospital has 402 acute care beds and has a medical staff of approximately 385 physicians, divided between family physicians (150) and specialists (235).

Computer Systems: * Core: Isolinear data core x3 * Software: Starfleet Library Computer Access and Retrieval System
(LCARS)
Where’s GALEN?

Warp Systems: * Power Plant: One 1909+ Cochrane MARA core feeding two variable geometry nacelles * Cruising Velocity: Warp 6.0 * Max. Sustainable Velocity: Warp 9.2 * Max. Velocity: Warp 9.6 (12 hours) * Emergency Speed: Warp 9.8

Impulse Systems: * Full Impulse: 0.27c * Zero-0.25c: 5.8 seconds * 0.25c-Zero: 7.3 seconds

Defensive Systems: * Shield Maximum Graviton Load (Continuous): 1881 MegaWatts * Shield Maximum Energy Dissipation Rate: 5.11x10^5 kiloWatts/s

Offensive Systems: * Torpedo tubes (x2)
Standard payload: 100 photon torpedoes * Phaser systems
3 Type-X phaser arrays with 75 emitter each and 6 Type-IX phaser arrays with 60 emitters each
I still think this is much too heavily armed for a hospital ship…

SHIP IMAGE
https://imgur.com/4tA1m7B
A picture!
…Okay, that looked nothing like I had imagined from the description. At least the tubes are now making sense! I will have to ponder this one to see if it can’t be described differently…

DECK LAYOUT

PRIMARY HULL

Deck 1:
Conference Room
Command Center (aka Main Bridge)
Command Ready Room/COs Office
XO’s Office

Deck 2:
Observation Lounge
CO Quarters
XO Quarters
VIP Quarters

Deck 3:
DH Quarters
Transporter Rooms 1 & 2

Deck 4:
Crew Lounge
Holodecks
Gym/Swim Spas
Mess Hall

Deck 5:
Primary Medical Suite
ICU/Surgical ICU
Chief of Staff’s Office
Medical Staff Ready Room
*Head Nurse’s Office

Deck 6:
Morgue
Medical Labs
Convalescence/Recovery Ward
Dental Suite
*Psychiatry Suite

Deck 7:
CSO’s Office
Science Labs (Bio/Chem/Physics)
*Crew Quarters

Deck 8:
Science Labs (Astrometrics, Stellar Cartography, Geology and Archeology)
Crew Quarters

Deck 9:
Cargo Bays
Crew Quarters
Guest Quarters
Arboretum

Deck 10:
Security Office
Brig
Ship’s Armory
COS’ Office
*Crew Quarters

SECONDARY HULL

Deck A:
*Shuttle Bay 1

Deck B:
*Shuttle Bay 2

Deck C:
Cargo Bays
Upper Engineering
*Warp Core

Deck D:
Main Engineering
Main Deflector A

Deck E:
Secondary Medical Suite
Holosuites
*Main Deflector B

Deck F: * Transporter Rooms 3 & 4 * Main Deflector C

Deck G:
*Triage Deck

Deck H: * Medical Module Storage

SHIPS OF THE CLASS

“In the blackest darkness, even a dim light is better than no light at all.”
Dr John Thackery - The Knick

Included in the initial construction contract were: * USS Nightingale, NCC- 99200 * USS Blackwell, NCC - 99201 * USS Lister, NCC - 99202 * USS Fleming, NCC - 99203 * USS Derham, NCC - 99204 * USS Ptah, NCC -99205
May I request a USS Douglas? https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/canadian-victoria-cross-recipients/dr-douglas
And a USS Chavasse? https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-26067782

NPC ships
USS Pulaski, NCC - 99206
USS Quinn, NCC - 99207
USS Thackery, NCC - 99208
USS Drakken, NCC - 99209
USS Hunt, NCC - 99210

CONCLUSION

The Nightingale-class is a state-of-the-art mobile hospital that is not only adaptable but can provide other essential services as a front-line Starfleet vessel. Its ability to be flexible allows it to provide vital emergency response across the Federation (and beyond) and serves as a responsive training environment.

SUBMITTED 10/07/2020 (DD-MM-YYYY)
Lindsay Bayes, Cale Reilly, Nicholas Villareal

The only real issue I have with your design is the heavy armament. Otherwise there are just a few minor nits that I’ve picked, and a few places where I would love to see more detail. Overall I think the Nightingale will make a fine addition to the fleet!

– Jared

Thanks for the feedback, Jared! We’ll definitely be discussing it in the rewrite once the review is over.

Nicholas