Sovereign-class

The Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E in 2375.

The Sovereign-class is a model of starship developed by the United Federation of Planets. It includes a number of technologies designed to help it defend the Federation against incursions by the Borg.

Technical Data

Specifications

• Affiliation: Federation Starfleet
• Crew: 855
• Length: 680 meters (originally 685 meters)
• Decks: 24-29 decks
• Maximum Speed: 9.985
• Armament: 16 Phaser Arrays (originally 12), 10 Torpedo Tubes. Photon Torpedoes, Quantum Torpedoes
• Defenses: Regenerative Shields, Ablative Armor

The Sovereign-class refit in 2379.

Relatively new technologies (for the Federation) installed on the Sovereign-class include the following:

• Regenerative shields - these allows the ship to constantly reinforce its shields, rapidly alter shield operating frequencies, and most importantly regenerate damage over time. This rate of regeneration can be adjusted by pumping more power into the shield grid. (Star Trek: Nemesis)
• Quantum torpedo turret - seen most prominently on the lower half of the primary hull saucer section this turret allows the ship to fire rapid volleys of quantum torpedoes. On screen we have seen up to 5 torpedoes launched in rapid fire mode like a machine gun. (Star Trek: First Contact) How this system is superior to the Galaxy-class's demonstrated ability to fire a spread of up to 10 photon torpedoes (TNG "Encounter at Farpoint"), however, is unclear. Perhaps the turret can fire more than five torpedoes at a time, or its rate of fire may be superior to the Galaxy's torpedo system.
• Advanced warp drives - The Sovereign-class is capable of sustaining warp 9.985. However, this has not been clearly stated in the films, and the figure comes from the novel "Ship of the Line". Nonetheless, the Enterprise-E has been observed performing high-speed warp sprints across large areas of space, as seen in "First Contact" when Picard orders the Enterprise to maximum warp from the Romulan neutral zone at the start of the Battle in the Typhon Sector, and she arrives 3-4 days later, just as the battle is finishing over Earth.
• High-powered phaser banks - As seen by the damage inflicted by Enterprise on the Borg Cube in "First Contact", the class apparently carries a more powerful phaser suite, and in "Nemesis" her rate of fire is certainly higher than the predecessor Galaxy-class. It originally only had twelve phaser arrays, but sometime between Insurrection and Nemesis, the Sovereign-class recieved 4 extra phaser arrays to the nacelle pylons.

Flaws

Despite all of these improvements, the Sovereign's on board systems are incapable of detecting Borg infiltration, and the Borg altering the engineering decks until Picard "senses" them.

Unit Run

Canon

• USS Sovereign (assumed to exist)
• USS Enterprise-E NCC-1701-E

Non-Canon

• USS Atlas
• USS Gibraltar
• USS Republic
• USS Tempest
• USS Musashi
• USS Destiny
• USS Tirpitz

External Links

• Sovereign-class Variations - Ex Astris Scientia
• Sovereign-class - Memory Beta
• Sovereign-class - Memory Alpha