USS Ethos (NCC-1753)

The USS Ethos is the second private sector starship to be accepted into Starfleet's exploratory/defense divisions; the first was the USS Endeavour.

The Ethos was originally designed as a long-range science vessel (Faraday-class) - a supplement to the existing Revolution-class. As the threat of Khan Noonien Singh reemerged, the Ethos was redesigned as a warship and constructed on a rushed schedule.

The Ethos has participated in multiple military encounters, including the Syntropas Incident and the Romulan encounter at 92 Exa Polaris. Among other events, the Ethos was responsible for first contact with both the Amako and Drakovian species.

The Ethos holds the Federation record for the fastest warp-capable vessel, reaching a velocity of Warp 13.174 on a single occasion. After a redesign and refit of the warp core, its maximum velocity was reduced to Warp 12.817.

Design
The Ethos is over 600 meters long, making it roughly a third of a mile long. The vessel's low profile (~6:1 length/height ratio) can be attributed to its initial function as a warship. A neck was considered to be a structural vulnerability.

The Ethos uses a dual-core Quantulus warp system pioneered by Frontier Aerospace, allowing it to attain velocities near Warp 13. Originally, the Ethos was equipped with the first generation Quantulus drive core. After the Syntropas Incident, the Ethos was refitted with the second generation Quantulus drive core, allowing the vessel to be re-commissioned under the registry NCC-1753.

Like most Starfleet vessels, the Ethos has two warp nacelles. With proper adjustments to the warp field, the Ethos can safely travel at Warp 6.581 on a single nacelle.

The Ethos has three methods of subluminal propulsion: the impulse engines, Bussard ramjet, and RCS thrusters. The impulse engine is the most common form of subluminal propulsion among Starfleet vessels; two independent engines are present on the Ethos, both facing aft. The Bussard ramjet utilizes the two warp nacelles. The Ethos is equipped with a total of 179 RCS thrusters.

The Ethos has one shuttle bay and one cargo bay. The shuttle bay is located on the trailing edge of the saucer, and has two levels (a feature uncommon among Starfleet ships). The shuttle bay has a total of 16 shuttlecraft stalls, 10 optimized for Type 3 shuttlecraft and 6 optimized for Type 2 shuttlecraft. Each stall design can hold either a Type 2 or Type 3 shuttlecraft if necessary.

The cargo bay is located on the aft edge of the engineering hull. Although it contains no designated areas for shuttlecraft, the cargo bay is capable of storing them.

Armament
The Ethos is equipped with eleven twin-turret phasers: six on the dorsal side of the saucer section and five on the ventral side of the saucer section.

The Ethos has five torpedo bays: one on the forward edge of the lower saucer (just in front of the main deflector), two on either side of the main deflector, one on the ventral side of the engineering hull (facing aft), and one on the dorsal side of the engineering hull (facing aft). Each torpedo bay fed independently of the others to ensure each one will remain functional regardless of how many other bays have been disabled. Each bay has an equal supply of photon and quantum torpedoes.

The Ethos is also equipped with fourteen twin-turreted pulse cannons: five on the dorsal side of the saucer section, five on the ventral side of the saucer section, two surrounding the torpedo bay on the ventral side of the engineering hull, and two surrounding the torpedo bay on the dorsal side of the engineering hull. All but two of these pulse cannons were later removed (see Exploration Refit), which would later be replaced with two metallic hydrogen railguns.

Initial Development
After the initial success of the Endeavour, Starfleet pushed Frontier towards the production of a second vessel: a supplement. It was decided that a long-range science vessel would be the best choice for the new ship. The original Ethos would explore potentially interesting planets and spatial regions that the Endeavour encountered but did not explore in depth.

This Faraday-class USS Ethos was already under construction when the threat of Khan re-emerged. As a result, Starfleet and Frontier Aerospace believed it necessary to use the ship's superstructure as a template for a multi-purpose warship.

Warship Construction
The only portion of the ship that had been constructed at that point was the base of the engineering hull. After a week or so of design tweaking, the construction of the Sentry-class USS Ethos began.

The most radical design change was the lack of a neck between the saucer and engineering hulls. The only necessary re-engineering involved molding the engineering hull's superstructure to blend seamlessly with the existing saucer section. This change was dealt with without incident. Unfortunately, this new design called for a ship that was nearly twice as large as the original design. The base of the engineering hull that had already been constructed was dismantled and reused. The massive size increase, though, allowed the Ethos to adopt Frontier Aerospace's Quantulus warp system. The projected maximum warp velocity was increased from just Warp 10.323 to Warp 13.095.

Initially, it was thought that numerous science laboratories and crew quarters would have to be removed from the design. Such a change would mean that the Ethos would require major refitting before it could be commissioned as a science vessel, assuming that the threat of Khan was neutralized. To reduce those potential costs, Frontier decided to reduce the planned quantity of weapons bays and replace them with science laboratories and crew quarters. The change had a marginal impact on the Ethos 's performance as a warship.

The Ethos was launched on May 29th, 2257 under the command of Captain Conor Doyle and the registry NX-1753.

Exploration Refit
Frontier Aerospace executives planned on refitting the Ethos to serve as a science vessel when the domestic threat was over. However, the ship's new size meant that a science vessel configuration would be inefficient. Instead, Frontier decided to refit the Ethos as an independent exploration vessel. This refit took place after the Syntropas Incident, during which the Ethos 's warp system and impulse reactors had been rendered inoperable. The refit was conducted by Frontier Aerospace at the Euclid Shipyards, with assistance from Starfleet.

During the refit, the Ethos was equipped with an entirely new second generation Quantulus drive core and Hyperion impulse manifolds. The starboard nacelle was replaced, along with the Bussard collector on the port nacelle. These repairs, coupled with structural damage repairs, took almost six weeks.

The pulse cannons on the saucer section were also removed during this refit to make room for more scientific laboratories and crew quarters. The four pulse cannons surrounding both aft torpedo bays remained.

Shuttlecraft
The Ethos has a complement of 12 shuttlecraft, all designed by Frontier Aerospace and produced in conjunction with Starfleet. Shuttlecraft Newton was lost on Epsilon Thodorus as the result of an accidentally-triggered thermonuclear explosion. The thermonuclear bomb was a latent remnant of a nuclear war in the Thodorus System that occurred at some point during 1700s.

Commanding Officers
The Ethos has been under command of three officers: Captain Conor Doyle, Commander Thomas Kelvin, and Lieutenant-Commander Varek.

Captain Doyle was given initial command of the Ethos on stardate 2257.5.31, and retained command until stardate 2257.9.30 when he was captured by the Drakovian Order.

Commander Kelvin took command of the Ethos that same day, on stardate 2257.9.30, and retained command until stardate 2257.10.28 when he declared himself emotionally compromised per Starfleet Regulation 619.

Lieutenant-Commander Varek was given command by Commander Kelvin on stardate 2257.10.28, and retained command until stardate 2257.11.24 when Captain Doyle was declared physically fit to resume command.