The Monoceros class scout was designed to provide Starfleet with a light
scout which was cheap and easy to build. First commissioned in 2246 (1/89),
ship production was delayed after a design flaw in the warp field balance
coil was discovered. At high warp speeds, the ship tended to “rise” out
of its own warp field, causing the ship to violently exit warp. The problem
was corrected by reconfiguring the control computer software.
The Monoceros was also designed to act as a demonstrator for the improved
generation of linear warp drives then in development. The SCNN nacelle and
reactor arrangement adopted for the single FWB-1 warp engine was lighter
than the equivalent PB series installation. Fitment of a full-blown linear
drive assembly with hull mounted warp core was dismissed in this design on
safety grounds. It would be a further 10 years before work began on a class
mounting such a system.
The experience gained in operating the SCNN equipped Monoceros class
paved the way directly for later SCNN engined vessels (such as the Endeavour
class) and also demonstrated the benefits that ships equipped with linear
drives had compared to those with circumferential warp drives. Of the 16
ships commissioned, not a single vessel was lost to warp drive related
problems, but some nine vessels were lost to enemy action. The
decommissioning of the class in 2257 (1/99) was the result of the need to
continue the testing of the new engines on the few surviving ships of the
class. Accordingly all seven survivors continued to be operated as test-beds
by both the engine manufacturers and the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, the
last not being retired until 2272 ((2/17).
The Monoceros did see action in the Four Years War, albeit limited. In
2253 (1/95), the USS Vulpecula was responsible for inflicting minor damage
on several unescorted Klingon G-4 transports. The captain and crew of the
Vulpecula received Starfleet’s highest commendations for this action. Most
ships of this class, however, served as sentry ships for assembled
fleets.
An interesting footnote to the ship’s history is the origin of the
class name. It has been told that Commodore Charles Tatum, who was
overseeing the design of the proposed scout, was studying the ship
schematics at home when his seven year old daughter became curious as to her
father’s work. The commodore light-heartedly asked his daughter what the
ship should be called, and she promptly answered, “Unicorn!” Impressed,
the commodore (after changing the name to its Latin derivative) submitted
the name and it was eventually approved.
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