The Four Years War saw the need for large number of escort cruisers to be
quickly commissioned. The Achernar and Tikopai classes of supplemental
cruisers met this need. The Achernar class was adapted from the mark two
versions of the standard Ptolemy (Achernar Mark 1) and Keppler (Achernar
Mark 2) classes of Transport Tug. The Tikopai class was adapted from the
mark two versions of the Dollond (Tikopai Mark 1) and Doppler (Tikopai Mark
2) classes. All four of these tug classes were in both Starfleet and
Civilian service, and ships originally destined for civilian lines were
diverted to this program.
The supplemental cruisers were created by the addition of a specialist
pod with a hanger, enhanced sensors and weapons. The mother ship itself was
unchanged, except for the impulse drive if it required upgrading and
retained its own light weapons fit. This solution meant large numbers of the
supplemental cruisers could be built quickly, as the Tugs were already mass
produced in civil yards, and the weapons hull could be easily built by the
smaller warship builders. These ships, although underpowered, were an
invaluable asset in convoy escort duties throughout the war. Post-war these
ships were all swiftly de-commisioned and converted to standard tug
configuration, and then either sold off for commercial transport use, or
used to replace wartime tug losses in the fleet.
The weapon pod contained 8 FL-4 Lasers in 4 banks, with 2 banks covering
each arc of fire, a pair of FAC-3 accelerator cannons was positioned on the
sides of the pod to fire forward. These ships provided a valuable role
escorting convoys, often hiding amongst innocent looking standard
configuration tugs to lure attackers in. The main criticism that could be
levelled at both of the classes was the weak shielding systems, but the
adoption of more advanced shielding systems would have prevented the
construction of the ships in civilian yards.
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