Background

[Ships of the Line] The Steamrunner Class

All    Features    Universe    Categories    Fleet Alert    Comms   

Article arrow_drop_down

One of Starfleet’s most durable designs used in the later half of the 24th century, the Steamrunner is a tough little ship designed for defensive operations against the Borg and has since stood the test of time to still be used and in production decades after it’s initial purpose. A relatively small and efficient design for the era, the Steamrunner may seem a unique design in Starfleet but pulls from several common elements that tie it to predecessors ranging from the Oberth to the Miranda class configurations.

Spanning just 370 meters from bow to stern, covering eleven standard decks, the Steamrunner is a forward heavy ship with nearly all of it’s core systems placed in the ships blocky near oval primary hull. Similar to the 23rd century Magee Class Starship, the nacelles of the ship were embedded in the primary hull with bussard collectors encased at the port and starboard edges leading to extended nacelles running behind the primary hull.

The nacelle configuration not only helped in creating a condensed and efficient warpp field, but also visual cover for the back-facing shuttle and cargo bays placed between. This, combined with it;’s low profile and condensed shape allowing better manoeuvrability, made it an ideal design for defensive patrolling duties throughout the Federation and often the ships would be found backing up the Federations interests in both regular patrols and all out combat.

Similar to the Oberth and California classes, the engineering hull was detached from the rest of the ship, resting at the rear of the nacelles giving the design a somewhat unique look while allowing the engineering section to be jettisoned rapidly in an emergency situation.

Designed in part to help handle the incoming Borg threat, the Steamrunner was an early precursor to what would become the Defiant class. Unlike the Defiant, the Steamrunner had a larger internal mass allowing for a more adaptable configuration to allow usage beyond standard patrols and defensive duties; though with the need to always have backup on call the entire class was retrofitted towards the end of the 24th century to include upgraded cascade shield technology and increased combat capabilities including doubling the torpedo load and increasing phasers to include rapid dual canon fire.

Introduced in First Contact the Steamrunner was one of several ships designed by Industrial Light and Magic’s Alex Jeager. Originally titled the Streamrunner, named after a song from one opf his favourite bands, the ship was a merging of several concept sketches handed over to production. Asked to piece together two separate designs, the ship became more angular than polanned top cut down on production time.

Part of the “First Contact Fleet”, the intent of the ships were to make the Enterprise stand out, so each new addition to Starfleet would retain all the usual elements but ensure to be in a style unlike the traditional configuration used for the Enterprise.

Being introduced as a background ship, the Steamrunner was one of the most intriguing designs that captured the imagination but was only rarely used due to a loss of assets following the production. The design would feature again in the Dominion War scenes in Deep Space Nine as a ‘blockade runner’ and in Voyager’s Relativity where we see it in flashbacks. The original ship, the USS Appalachia, would mark the most recent appearance in the Frontier Day celebrations during Picard’s final season.

The Steamrunner would also appear in the video game world, giving fans their first proper look at the ship thanks to Bethesda’s Star Trek Legacy for Xbox and PC in 2006. The Steamrunner would be better seen in Star Trek Online as a bonus for Steam players before being added to the full roster of ships later on – including a relatively recent remaster to bring it closer to the screen-used model.

Previously used for past unit, Quadrant 2’s most notable Steamrunner-based unit was the USS Northumberland which was decommissioned during a fleet restructure in 2016. The ship-class is still a popular addition to out available ships roster and available for new captains within Q2.

About the author

About the author

ADM JT Marczynka, DoFA

Creator of things, writer of words, caffeine addict. Director of Communications for Starfleet Command Quadrant 2.

More posts Follow

trending_flat
For The Uniform: The Muted Tones of The Motion Picture

Starfleet's wardrobe always seems to change. Different producers and designers always bring something new to the table, whether it's a need to create a more militarised uniform, something nice and simple for a more real-world feel, or sometimes – just sometimes – space pyjamas. In the 1960s, colour television was all the rage and Star Trek was at the forefront of that huge leap in visual technology. It's outfits and set design were crafted to be bold and brash, resulting in the bright paintwork, scenes lit with vibrant pinks and purples and of course the now iconic division coloured uniforms. In both the planned launch of Phase II in 1978 and the earlier animated series in 1973, the iconic look of Starfleet was retained in all its bright and colourful glory. But when plans were scrapped and Paramount opted to […]

trending_flat
A Fistful of Star Trek Online’s Best Bits!

This week marks fifteen years since the launch of whats become Star Trek's most consistent and longest reigning video game, Star Trek Online. Developed following the relaunch of a new movie franchise, STO told the other side of the story. While NEro went back in time and created the Kelvin Timeline offshoot, STO focused on the galactic politics following the collapse of the Hobus Star. Customising your player character, you begin at the Academy, get yourself a star ship and rank up as you balance exploration, politics and shooting a lot of things! Over the years the game has changed and developed with expansions, new additions, rotating Executive Producers - and now new owners! - using multiple guest appearances into the mix for story mission while allowing group events, developing annual traditions and generally letting us all play with cool […]

trending_flat
Upcoming Away Missions in Glasgow & Edinburgh for the Tesla!

As we enter 2025 (or... 2402...?) there's no rest for the crew of the Tesla as the team are already back in action making a return to two of the biggest events in Scotland! One of the most active and welcoming crew, the year is already off to a flying start with more to come through the year! The first events of the year include.... Capital Sci Fi Con February 15th & 16th, O2 Academy Edinburgh Always the best way to kick start the year, Tesla is once again heading to Edinburgh for their first away mission in 2025! This years guest line up is one for the Whovians! This year the Fifth Doctor himself Peter Davidson will be in attendance for photo and autograph opportunities alongside co-star Janet Fielding, better known in the TARDIS as Fifth Doctor Companion Tegan! […]

trending_flat
Across The Universe! Black Ops Missions & Lifetime Achievements!

The year begins with a New Trek bringing us to even strange new worlds while franchise - both old and new - celebrate upcoming awards ceremonies. Section 31 Released... After a long, long wait the potentially least anticipated project in the Star Trek Universe was released on January 25th as Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as reformed (kinda) Emperor Georgiou displaced in time and recruited to rejoin Section 31 for a dangerous mission to protect the Federation in the most non Federation way possible. Initially developed as a full series exploring the nature of the organisation's questionable origins and motives, the project was placed in the hands of new writers to transform the concept into a made for streaming movie as a condensed action piece that limited the original intention and replaced it with something a little […]

trending_flat
Boldly Going Nowhere: Section 31 Quick Review

REVIEW SCORE   FLEET SCORE   Focused on the outliers of the Star Trek Universe, the idea of the Section 31 film was to go beyond Starfleet and present the universe from a different perspective and in a different way. An idea thats been done with some hit and miss success over the past ten years. Section 31's initial pitch and writing team was something that had the potential to be something we could enjoy and even with mild hesitation, we were eager to see where the once series would go now a new writer had condensed the vague idea into a one off experiment, a streaming based movie to add to the tapestry of different flavours Star Trek has offered in resent years. It was also an experiment in offering a first real glimpse at a batch of heroes […]

trending_flat
[Q2&A] Who Are The ADMB And What Do They Do?

In previous Q2&A posts we've went over our ranking structure and what it means in reality, as well as how to join the Captains Table and become part of Q2's valued leadership team. But every now and then, we have someone who's ambitions are a little higher and those Admirals bars seem very appealing to some. In the Star Trek Universe what Starfleet is and how it operations tends to deviate from script to script. Sometimes its a strict military structure, sometimes it's an idealistic job and sometimes it's a peace keeping armada where you can become captain on a whim. It works in the greater context as a futurist navy where you earn your way to the top, or without the up and out rules of most navies, stay where you are and work on where you best fit. […]

Related

trending_flat
[Ships OF The Line] Sovereign Class

In 1994 Captain Picard and his Next Generation crew said their final farewells to their Enterprise after one half of the ship exploded, and the other half smashed to the surface of Veridian III. Sadly for the Enterprise, it was the victim of not only Klingon meddling, but technical requirements; the Galaxy Class was a fine ship for their television adventures, but this was the movie world they'd beamed into so a new ship was needed to kick start this new high definition widescreen adventure. Enter the Sovereign Class; a massive departure from the creature comforts of it's predecessor. IT was leaner, meaner and built to impress from the moment we saw it on screen as the all-new Enterprise-E in 1996's First Contact.

trending_flat
[Ships Of The Line] Intrepid Class

One of the most advanced exploration classes upon it's launch, the Intrepid Class was built with new methods of starship design and multiple innovations that advanced upon the construction methods used for the era led by the gargantuan Galaxy Class long term explorer. Built within a significantly smaller scale, the Intrepid was a light explorer built for shorter mission terms than the classic 'five year' exploration tour and served a variety of functions.

trending_flat
[Ships Of The Line] Prometheus Class

Starfleet may be all about exploration at it's core, but peace isn't it's only mission. As the first line of defence for the Federation, the fleet has engaged in as much war time as it has on missions of peace from bitter wars with the Klingons and Romulans, to invasions from the Borg and Dominion. While some ships are designed to be travelling research labs and others comfortable homes for long term exploration missions, some are built to fight.

trending_flat
[Ships of the Line] Vesta Class: Multi-Mission Explorer

Over the past few years there have been many 'Beta Canon' ships to have entered the Star Trek Universe from the Odyssey Class Enterprise-E making it's transition from Star Trek Online to Picard's final season to the Luna-Class USS Titan which appeared on Lower Decks long after the ship was designed for the novel-continuation of the franchise following Nemesis in 2023.

trending_flat
[Ships of the Line] Gotta Go Fast! Protostar Class

Built as a test bed for a new experimental propulsion system, the Protostar Class is a unique breed of Starship and one of the smallest corvette style ships designed by Starfleet in the 24th century. Following the revelation that warp drive was damaging the fabric of subspace ion 2370, Starfleet enacted several branches of research to find a way to ensure their exploration missions caused no damage to the natural environment.

trending_flat
[Ships of the Line] The Oberth Class

One of the more unique and memorable ships to emerge from nearly sixty years of Star Trek is the Oberth Class. One of many new models introduced during the original series movie era, the Oberth class first appeared as the Grissom, an ill-fated science ship assigned to study the newly formed Genesis planet only for the crew to find themselves on the wrong side of a Klingon torpedo. Unveiled in The Search for Spock, the Grissom was one of several new designed made for the film and, officially, only the fourth Federation starship design seen on screen. Like many designs from the era of practical effects, the Oberth class model would be re-used over the years giving the class a longevity mirroring the Excelsior and Miranda class ships.

site2025m

Serving the fan community since 1974, SFC is an international not for profit fan organisation bringing together collective of fans collectively enjoying strange new worlds in science fiction media.

Star Trek and all related, derived or inferred ideas are the intellectual property of Paramount and Paramount Global. No infringement is intended in the use of this material. Starfleet Command Quadrant 2 (SFCQ2) does not generate any income or profit from their endeavours as a fan organisation, no part of which is sanctioned by the Paramount Global group or any sub-division of the legitimate copyright holders.

Core Website layout by Ghostpool. Managed and Maintained by Aim to Misbehave on behalf of Starfleet Command  Quadrant 2

© 2401 Starfleet  Command Quadrant 2 (SFCQ2)

Login to enjoy full advantages

Please login or subscribe to continue.

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation