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Star Trek Dreadnought Class

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  1. Star Trek Online Jupiter Class Dreadnought
  2. Imperial Dreadnought
Ships of the Federation

The list below is not all-inclusive. We have only listed the ships for which we have direct information. For a list of all the available Trek kits, by scale, see our constantly updated Star Trek Scale List.

For more images of Star Trek ships, check out our Readers' Gallery.

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Space Stations | Non-Canon Ships | Other Ships | Props | Copyright Info

The Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser, or simply the Dreadnaught, was a type of capital ship built for planetary occupation and space combat used by the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, New Republic, local governments, and various other organizations. It was one of the most ubiquitous ship designs in all of the galaxy. The keel of the Dreadnaught-class ran nearly 600 meters with the bow.


Ships of the Federation

Dreadnought-class The Dreadnought-class was an experimental starship class that was developed by the United Federation of Planets back in the 23rd century. 1 Development 1.1 USS Vengeance 2 Salvage 2.1 USS Leviathon The Dreadnought-class was designed to be a very powerful battlecruiser; with heavily advanced and experimental weaponry. The ship was designed to be manned by 1 or more people. Unpopular Opinion: I like the STO NPC Jupiter Class Dreadnought You know the one ( orthographic views, in game view ). Don't get me wrong, I know it's ugly, awkward and the thought of a Starfleet Dreadnought is questionable to the Federation ethos. 'Dreadnought' is the 33rd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 17th episode in the second season. This episode features B'Elanna, in a plot involving an old Cardassian weapon that was taken to the Delta Quadrant, and encountered by the Voyager starship.

USS Akira (Akira- class). This ship debuted in Star Trek: First Contact and has since been seen in DS9 battling the bad guys. A break from the traditional Starfleet design, this class dispenses with the primary saucer hull over a secondary hull - instead having two long booms supporting a 'roll-bar' and warp nacelles. Powerfully armed, with 15 torpedo launchers in addition to phasers, this class also sports three large shuttle bays. The Akira-class was designed by ILM's Alex Jaeger for ST:FC; no physical model exists (the films/series' have used CGI).

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Joe Hank's Starcrafts' Akira Preview

Dan Trescott's Jupiter Station Akira Preview
Rich Dula's Odyssey Slipways' Akira Preview

USS Appalachia (Steamrunner- class). Another ship first seen in Star Trek: First Contact and since appeared in DS9. Another break from the traditional Starfleet design, this class also dispenses with the primary saucer hull over a secondary hull - instead having two long booms supporting a 'roll-bar' and warp nacelles. It's fast, it's armed to the teeth and it sports four large shuttle bays. The Steamrunner-class was also designed by ILM's Alex Jaeger for ST:FC; no physical model exists (the films/series' have used CGI).

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998

Reviews:
John Lester's Starcraft' Steamrunner Preview

USS Prometheus (Promethus-class). Launched in 2374, the Prometheus represents the bleeding edge of of Federation technology. In addition to advanced tactical systems, regenerative sheilding and ablative armor, the ship is the fastest vessel in Starfleet. It was designed from the outset to separate into three distinct modules during combat, each highly maneuverable and heavily armed. First seen in Voyager's Message in a Bottle episode.

References:
Star Trek: The Magazine, Vol.2, Fabbri Publishing, Ltd 1999

Reviews:
John Zook's Starcraft's Prometheus Preview


Image: OneZero

USS Excelsior (Excelsior-class). Launched in 2285 as the test bed for an (unsuccessful) transwarp drive and later refitted with a conventional warp drive. Excelsior class ships are among the most common types in Federation service. First seen in ST:III. For references and reviews, please see listing for Enterprise-B.

USS Voyager (Intrepid-class). USS Voyager, NCC-74656, was one of Starfleet's first ships in a new class. Small, sleek, and fast, these ships are well armed for their size. They are also outfitted with advanced computer systems, in which some traditional optical processors are relaced by bio-neural circuitry. The ships are small enough that they could land if necessary on class M planets, and outfitted with specialized gear to make that possible. Voyager was apparently lost in 2371 while pursuing a Maquis ship in the Badlands.

References:
ST: Voyager Starship Reference
Voyager Painting Guide
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Jay Chladek's In-box Preview of the R/M kit
Josh Albright's R/M Mini-Voyager Preview
John Lester's Alliance Intrepid-Class Preview
Ivan Place's R/M Voyager Built
Tom O'Malley builds Bandai's Voyager
Various models in the Reader Gallery

Nebula-class Starship. A contemporary of the Galaxy-class starship, first seen in ST:TNG's 'The Wounded'. Slightly smaller than the Galaxy ships, the Nebula's sport a large upper equipment pod that can be reconfigured for different missions. Most often seen variants are sensor suites and weapons pods. The Nebula-class was designed by Ed Miarecki, Rick Sternbach and Mike Okuda; the filming model was built by Greg Jein.

References:
ST:DS9 Starship Reference
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
John Lester's FXM's USS Nebula Review
Kevin Parkison's Warp Nebula Conversion Preview
Dougie Bain's Warp Nebula Conversion Build Up
Scott Scariot's Warp Nebula Conversion Build Up

Defiant-class: Though officially classed as an escort, the Defiant class was originally developed as a small, agile and powerfully armed warship to meet the Borg threat. When the Borg threat receded, and design flaws discovered during the lead ship's shakedown cruise, the project was suspended (it would later be restarted with the outbreak of the Dominion War). The USS Defiant was assigned to Deep Space 9 in 2371, in part to meet the Jem'Hadar threat. First seen in DS9's 'The Search', the Defiant has also appeared in 'Star Trek: First Contact'. It was designed by concept artist Jim Martin under the direction of Herman Zimmerman; the studio model was built by Tony Meininger with Gary Hutzel.

References:
Starship Modeler DS9 Hardware Reference
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
John Lester's preview of NorthTrek Creations' Accurate Defiant Bridge Cap
Allison Cottreau's Spaceboy Re-Tooled Defiant Build-Up
John Lester's Spaceboy Re-Tooled Defiant Preview
Erick Muñoz's Spaceboy Defiant Review
Kirk Williams' ERTL Build-up Review
Several Reader's Gallery models https://hereofiles508.weebly.com/master-of-typing-in-chinese-3-2-2007.html.


Miranda-class. Introduced in the late 23rd Century, the Miranda class became one of the most numerous in service. The basic design has been modified and upgraded throughout it's long service, spawing several sub-classes (Soyuz and Saratoga among them). USS Reliant was the first ship seen on-screen. The Reliant was designed by Mike Minor and Joe Jennings, and built by ILM for Star Trek II.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Scott Scariot's Saratoga-class Conversion preview Tim Roy's USS Reliant on a Budget
Justin Miller's Starcrafts' 1/1400 Reliant preview
Scott Scariot's extensive Endurance-class Conversion feature

Oberth-class Also known as 'Survey' class. Small Federation vessel often used for scientific and supply missions, and also apparently in civilian service (SS Vico from TNG). The class was named for the 20th century rocket pioneer, Hermann Oberth. First seen as the USS Grissom in Star Trek III.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998

Reviews:
Sven Ferron previews Starcraft Models' 1/400 Oberth & Corvette Set
FineScale Modeler, Feb. '95

Constellation-class. Similar in size to the Constitution class, these ships were equipped with four warp nacelles. They were primarily used for extended patrolling and deep range exploration. First seen was USS Stargazer, Captain Picard's first command, in TNG's 'The Battle'.

The desk model was designed by Rick Sternbach and Andy Probert; Rick did most of the kitbash construction from 1701-refit parts, sheet styrene, and anime kits like Macross fighters, Gundam machines, and Crusher Joe weapons. Greg Jein built the studio shooting miniature using the desk model as a reference, which is why (in 'The Battle') you see a silver Enterprise on the pedestal where the Stargazer usually sat, because they didn't get the yellow model back in time for filming. Greg did pretty much what Rick did, using existing molds for the refit, and even used a larger scale Macross Valkyrie kit for some of the plant-on parts.

References:
Mike Trice's studio model photos
John Glentoran's studio model photos
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Scott Scariot's SFSM Vac Kit Build up Review
Garry Stahls' TM Lindsey 1/2500 Constellation Preview

Olympic-class (also referred to as Hope- and McCoy-classes). Federation medical starship. Beverly Crusher's Pasteur from TNG:'All Good Things.' was the first seen of this class. The ship was designed by ILM's Bob George.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Garry Stahl's Starcast 1/2500 Olympic-class Preview


Image: One Zero

Other Starfleet and Associated Vessels . New ships are constantly seen as the Trek franchise continues. Some of these include the Centaur (class unknown) from DS9, and the Nova-class Equinox and USS Dauntless (ok, that one was an alien ship pretending to be Federation - not to be confused with the ship you comand in the Star Trek Bridge Commander PC Game) from ST:Voyager. Winclone 5 free download.

References:
Star Trek: Voyager Starship Reference
Star Trek: The Magazine (various)
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998

Reviews:
Jeffrey Griffin's Gizmotron 1/2500 USS Centaur Preview
John Lester's USS Centaur Preview

Sven Ferron's Starcrafts' 1/1400 Cheyenne-class Preview
Scott Squibb's Odyssey Slipways' 1/2500 Coventry-class Review
Rob Schmitt's Cheetah Productions Daedalus-class Build-Up
Erick Muñoz's Nova-class USS Equinox Build-Up
Steve Cramsie's PNT 1/1400 New Orleans-class (refit) Preview
James Spry's Nova Hobbies' 1/1400 Norway-class Preview
James Spry's ASK 1/1400 Norway-class Preview
Jason Caldwell's Odyssey Slipways' 1/2500 Norway-class Preview
Scott Scariot's Ptolemy-class Tug Kitbash
Garry Stahl's Odyssey Slipways' 1/2500 Raven Preview
Jason Caldwell's Odyssey Slipways' 1/2500 Sabre-Class Starship Review
John Lester's Nova Hobbies' 1/1400 Surak-class Preview
Garry Stahl's Starcast 1/2500 Sydney-class Preview
Delbert Wells' Ravenstar 1/2500 Valiant-class Preview
Justin Miller's Vulcan Lander Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's Gizmotron 1/2500 USS Kelvin Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's Delta Quadrant 1/2500 Surak Preview
Scott Scariot previews Delta Quadrant's 1/1000 Vulcan Surak-class Starship
Scott Scariot builds Delta Quadrant's 1/1000 Vulcan Surak-class Starship

Space Stations


Deep Space 9 The Cardassians built 'Terek Nor' in 2351 as a mining station orbiting Bajor, and abandoned it 18 years later when the planet regained it's freedom. At the request of the new government, Starfleet assumed control - renamed the station 'Deep Space 9' and assigned the relatively low-ranking Commander Benjamin Sisko to run it. The station was designed by Rick Sternbach and Hermann Zimmerman; the model built by Tony Meininger.

References:
Starship Modeler DS9 Hardware Reference
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
None Yet

Deep Space Station K-7 Space station of a design used during the mid 23rd century. K-7 was located near Sherman's Planet, close by a Klingon outpost. It gained brief noteriety in 2267 when infested with almost 2 million tribbles ('The Trouble With Tribbles' TOS). Greg Jein painstakingly recreated the model nearly thirty years later for the DS9 episode.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
None Yet

Spacedock/Starbases Massive orbital stations where repairs, overhauls and 'depot-level' work are performed on Federation starships. First seen in Star Trek III, and later in several TNG episodes. The original Spacedock model was designed by Dave Carson and Nilo Rodis, and built by ILM.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998

Reviews:
Jeffrey Griffin's Preview of Nova Hobbies' Spacelab Regula 1

Shuttles and Other Small Craft

Runabout. Generic term for short-range Federation starships. The Danube-class Runabouts were introduced in DS9's first season as a way to get the characters off the station for adventures, and later seen in TNG. These vesseles are clunky, plain, and utilitarian . and proud of it. Resembling enlarged shuttlecraft, these ships have a short-range two person transporter and minimal living accomodations. Various specialized, detachable modules, forming the mid section, may be carried, increasing the craft's utility. The Danube-class was designed by Rick Sternbach and Jim Martin; the miniature was built by Tony Meininger.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Jack Brunner's Detailed and Lighted ERTL Runabout Rio Grande
Jack Grey's In-Box Preview of ERTL's Runabout
John Lester's In-Box Preview of Alliance's Danube-Class

Shuttlecraft Small, short range spacecraft intended primarily for transport from larger spaceships to a planet/planetoid's surface, or for short trips within a solar system. Two general types are in use: shuttlepods, which generally can transport no more than two persons, and shuttles, which can carry more personnel and equipment. Most are incapable of warp speeds. Game beach head 2003 full crack. A variety of these craft have been seen, from the original Gallileo introduced halfway through TOS' first season, to Tom Parris' 'speedboat' seen on Voyager.

References:
Star Trek:Voyager Starship Reference
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, Pocket Books, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Famous Spaceships, Kalmbach, 1997

Reviews:
Stephen Oakley Slater's TOS Shuttlecraft Diorama 'Embers of Empire'
John Lester's preview of Resin Ranger's Speedboat shuttlecraft
John Lester's preview of Resin Ranger's Galileo shuttlecraft
Jim James' LiquidSpace Models' 1/1400 Delta Flyer Preview
John Lester & Michael Smith preview Liquid Space Models' Voyager Small Craft
Marco Sheleoske & James Cho preview Enterprise-E Captain's Yacht (pre-assembled)
Scott Scariot takes a look in the box at Alliance's 1/72 Type 6 Shuttle
Jon Kunatz takes a peek at Alliance's 1/72 Delta Flyer
Allen Ury builds Alliance's 1/72 NX-01 Shuttlepod
Justin Miller's preview of Probert Designs' Standard Shuttlecraft
Steve Chung builds Probert Designs' Standard Shuttlecraft

Other Small Craft Starfleet possesses a number of other small one- or two- place ships, including some fighters/assault craft and maintenance vehicles.

References:
Star Trek: The Magazine

Reviews:
John Lester's In-Box Preview of Alliance's Peregrine Fighter

Work Bees first made their appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but Deep Space Nine showed that the timeless design is still in use in the 24th century. These little EVA pods are the forklifts and backhoes of Starfleet's orbital engineering endeavors. Their conception demonstrates exceptional depth of consideration for Star Trek engineering.

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998

Reviews:
Rob Caswell's Build-up Review

Vulcan Warp Shuttle. A small, warp-capable vessel used most often as a courier and VIP transport. It features a crew cabin that can detach from the warp section and travel short distances under its own power. So far, only seen in ST:TMP. This ship was designed by Andrew Probert and built at Magicam.

Star Trek Dreadnought Class

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Joe Hank's ERTL Kit Build-up Review

Non-Canon Ships


Star Trek in its various incarnations has always inspired modelers. Many have designed and built their own ships, carving up and/or combining existing kits to get something new - or completely scratchbuilding them. The genre lends itself to letting loose the imagination - so why don't you give it a try?

References:
Starfleet Technical Manual
Ships of the Fleet et al.

Reviews:
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of Jackill's Data Sheets (Federation, movie-Era)
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of RBM's 1/2500 Chandley-class frigate
Mark McGee's review of Ravenstar's Cordia-class
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of Gizmotron's 1/2500 Ascension and Belknap classes
Eric Lakie's VA Miniatures' 1/2500 Jenghiz-class Preview
Jim Layfield's Alliance Belknap-class Conversion Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's Nova Hobbies' 1/1400 Gallant-class Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of SSM's 1/1000 Larson Class Conversion
Daniel Trescott's preview of Ravenstar's 1/2500 Archer Class Border Cutters
Scott Scariot's Starfleet One Conversion Conversion
Scott Scariot's Detroyat-class Kit Preview
Scott Scariot's Detroyat-class Built
Aaron DeAngelis' review of Valiant Miniatures 1/2500 Dreadnought -Class
Justin Miller previews the Starship Modeler Kit Factory Loknar-Class Federation Frigate
Allen Ury builds the Starship Modeler Kit Factory Loknar-Class Federation Frigate
Aaron DeAngelis' review of Starship Modeler's 1/2500 Odonata -Class Frigate
Darren Bertrand's preview of PNT Models' Avenger and Indomitable Class Starships
J. Grey's USS Violator conversion
John Lester's preview of Ravenstars' Guardian-Class Battleship
John Lester's preview of McDaniel Models' Achernar-Class Heavy Cruiser
John Lester's preview of McDaniel Models' Surya-class Frigate
Brian Byrne's Federation-Class Dreadnought Review
Allison Cottreau's Ravenstar Scout
John Lester's Thomas Model's Scout
Rob Caswell's Ravenstar Border Cruisers Preview Garry Stahl's Manta-class Battlecruiser
Various Reader's Gallery models

Props

Star Trek Online Jupiter Class Dreadnought

References:

Reviews:
Owen Oulton's 23rd Century Pistol Preview

The Bad Guys.
Star Trek, DS9, Voyager and film names, characters, logos, and all related indicia are are copyright and trademark Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
Trek

References:
Star Trek Encyclopedia, Simon & Schuster, 1998
Star Trek Mechanics, Vol.4, Bunkasha (Japan) 1999

Reviews:
Joe Hank's ERTL Kit Build-up Review

Non-Canon Ships


Star Trek in its various incarnations has always inspired modelers. Many have designed and built their own ships, carving up and/or combining existing kits to get something new - or completely scratchbuilding them. The genre lends itself to letting loose the imagination - so why don't you give it a try?

References:
Starfleet Technical Manual
Ships of the Fleet et al.

Reviews:
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of Jackill's Data Sheets (Federation, movie-Era)
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of RBM's 1/2500 Chandley-class frigate
Mark McGee's review of Ravenstar's Cordia-class
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of Gizmotron's 1/2500 Ascension and Belknap classes
Eric Lakie's VA Miniatures' 1/2500 Jenghiz-class Preview
Jim Layfield's Alliance Belknap-class Conversion Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's Nova Hobbies' 1/1400 Gallant-class Preview
Jeffrey Griffin's preview of SSM's 1/1000 Larson Class Conversion
Daniel Trescott's preview of Ravenstar's 1/2500 Archer Class Border Cutters
Scott Scariot's Starfleet One Conversion Conversion
Scott Scariot's Detroyat-class Kit Preview
Scott Scariot's Detroyat-class Built
Aaron DeAngelis' review of Valiant Miniatures 1/2500 Dreadnought -Class
Justin Miller previews the Starship Modeler Kit Factory Loknar-Class Federation Frigate
Allen Ury builds the Starship Modeler Kit Factory Loknar-Class Federation Frigate
Aaron DeAngelis' review of Starship Modeler's 1/2500 Odonata -Class Frigate
Darren Bertrand's preview of PNT Models' Avenger and Indomitable Class Starships
J. Grey's USS Violator conversion
John Lester's preview of Ravenstars' Guardian-Class Battleship
John Lester's preview of McDaniel Models' Achernar-Class Heavy Cruiser
John Lester's preview of McDaniel Models' Surya-class Frigate
Brian Byrne's Federation-Class Dreadnought Review
Allison Cottreau's Ravenstar Scout
John Lester's Thomas Model's Scout
Rob Caswell's Ravenstar Border Cruisers Preview Garry Stahl's Manta-class Battlecruiser
Various Reader's Gallery models

Props

Star Trek Online Jupiter Class Dreadnought

References:

Reviews:
Owen Oulton's 23rd Century Pistol Preview

The Bad Guys.
Star Trek, DS9, Voyager and film names, characters, logos, and all related indicia are are copyright and trademark Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
Go back up | Starship Modeler Home | Site Map | The Enterprises | The Bad Guys | Feedback

This page copyright Starship Modeler™ © 1997-2012.
Last updated on 23 October 2012

Imperial Dreadnought

Dreadnought!
AuthorDiane Carey
Cover artistBoris Vallejo
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesStar Trek: The Original Series
GenreScience fiction
PublisherPocket Books
Publication date
1 May 1986
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages252
ISBN0-671-61873-3
OCLC13571480
Preceded byCrisis on Centaurus
Followed byDemons

Dreadnought! is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel written by Diane Carey. It is written in the first-person from the perspective of Lieutenant Piper.

Plot[edit]

The novel begins with Lt. Piper (no first name), a native of Proxima Beta, taking the Kobayashi Maru simulation at Starfleet Academy. After her 'ship' takes several hits and takes heavy damage, Lt. Piper uses an unusual method to issue commands to the ship's computer via handheld communicator. The technique results in the computer controlling the simulation crashing. The simulator's commander comments during the debriefing that she has come closer to checkmating the no-win scenario than any other command-line candidate, then tells her that she has been reassigned to the starship Enterprise by special request.

Lt. Piper meets briefly with Brian Silayna, an Academy cadet in the engineering program and her friend and lover. Piper and Silayna had originally been assigned to the same ship, but with Piper's reassignment (which Silayna reveals was from Captain Kirk, who had been observing the Kobayashi Maru simulation) they wind up saying their goodbyes instead.

Lt. Piper takes a shuttle to the Enterprise and reports to her assigned cabin. Here she meets her cabin-mates: a Gorn named Telosirizharcrede, a human from Earth named Judd 'Scanner' Sandage, a humanoid from Altair Four named Merete AndrusTaurus, and a Vulcan named Sarda. It is revealed that Piper and Sarda have a history together which has generated animosity between them.

Shortly thereafter, Lt. Piper is summoned to the bridge where she finds out that a top-secret Federation vessel named Star Empire, first of a new class of heavily armed and shielded dreadnought, has been stolen by persons unknown and that the Enterprise has been dispatched in pursuit. The head of the dreadnought project, Vice-Admiral Rittenhouse, is in pursuit as well aboard the destroyer Pompeii. She also finds out that the Star Empire has transmitted rendezvous coordinates to the Enterprise and that Piper's unique biocode would be needed to enable transmissions at the rendezvous point.

After a conference, Piper retires to her cabin and has a conversation with AndrusTaurus, where it is revealed why Sarda and Piper have strained relations. Sarda has a talent for defensive weapons design, which Starfleet keeps developing for offensive uses as well and that is something which Vulcans considered immoral. Piper, in her ignorance, informed the Academy staff of Sarda's talents, which led to his great personal embarrassment and being ostracized by other Vulcans in Starfleet. Piper and AndrusTaurus do some research on Vulcan and decide to consult with a Vulcan embassy that specialized in human-Vulcan relationships.

Upon arrival at the rendezvous point, the Enterprise finds Star Empire being attacked by four Klingon vessels. The Star Empire is apparently helpless, its crew unable to fight while the attacking Klingons inflict heavy damage on the dreadnought with phaser fire. Enterprise moves in to help the crippled dreadnought, engaging the Klingons with phasers and photon torpedoes. One is damaged and retreats to hide in an asteroid field. Hard fighting results in another Klingon ship being destroyed. However, the Enterprise is also damaged in the fighting and is left facing long odds against the two remaining Klingon ships. Suddenly, movement is detected in the asteroid field, and a second Star Empire appears. Conan exiles star metal map. Engaging the damaged Klingon ships with heavy photon torpedoes, this unhurt Star Empire destroys two of them and sends the last one fleeing. Then it is revealed that the damaged Star Empire is in fact a sophisticated sensor projection when it dissolves from sight shortly thereafter, followed by the creation of five more dreadnought projections. This projection device is one of Sarda's weapons projects he finds embarrassing.

Captain Kirk hails the Star Empire and after Piper's biocode is transmitted communication is established. To everybody's great surprise, Brian Silayna appears on the screen. He reads a message from Commander Paul Burch stating that they have seized the dreadnaught in the name of galactic civility and request an ambassadorial party of Kirk, Piper, and a Vulcan. Kirk refuses to comply and orders Piper arrested for conspiracy with terrorists, then cuts the transmission. Kirk orders the security guards to confine Piper to her quarters.

In her quarters, Piper reflects on the situation and decides she had to get over to Star Empire to find out what was going on, why Silayna was on the dreadnought, and why he had never revealed his intentions to her. She tricks open the door by cutting the fire-alarm circuits to the bridge then triggering the heat sensor with a curling iron so that the safety features override the door lock and lets her out.

Piper runs to the nearest transporter room and begins to activate the equipment with the intention of beaming over to Star Empire. Sarda finds her there, having deduced her intentions and location after discovering her missing from her quarters, and informs her that the Star Empire has moved out of transporter range. Instead, they move to the hangar bay, open the doors, steal a 2-seat Arco-class light attack 'sled', and head towards the Star Empire. During the flight Sarda informs Piper that 3 more starships (Hood, Lincoln, and Potemkin) have been ordered by Admiral Rittenhouse to the location, and also accidentally reveals another benevolent invention that Starfleet weaponized and that he is embarrassed about.

Their trip to Star Empire is cut short, however when the destroyer Pompeii drops out of warp, intercepts the attack sled and uses a tractor beam to haul it inside its hangar bay. They meet Vice-Admiral Rittenhouse, who informs them that Commander Birch was his personal aide but had deteriorated until Rittenhouse believe he had become sociopathic. They discuss the situation of Piper and Sarda briefly with Captain Kirk, then Rittenhouse discusses the recent galactic political situation and hints at his desire to unite the various galactic governments under a common flag of peace. He then leaves the conference room to attend to other duties.

Piper, sensing something in the hints that Rittenhouse dropped, uses the destroyer's computer to access Starfleet and Federation organizational charts. She and Sarda find a disturbing pattern: men that had served with Rittenhouse over the years had been placed in high levels of the civilian and military leadership, including the captains of the three other starships en route. Believing Rittenhouse may be planning a military coup, Piper tries to contact the Enterprise, but Rittenhouse and Dr. Boma, a civilian scientist who also worked on the dreadnought project, stop her and order Piper and Sarda thrown in the destroyer's brig.

While in the brig Piper and Sarda discuss Earth history and Piper explains the pattern of socialist political, military, and economic changes that Rittenhouse is repeating and how it would affect the Federation and its galactic neighbors. Suddenly, the power to the brig is briefly interrupted (by Boma, after he realizes Rittenhouse's plans for Star Empire's crew), and Sarda acts quickly, throwing himself through the cell's doorway before the forcefield could re-activate. Sarda then turns off the forcefield and he and Piper flee the detention area.

Moving through the destroyer, they spy the senior officers from the Enterprise and three other starthips walking through the Pompeii's corridor into the conference room. Fearing for the safety of Kirk and his officers, Sarda and Piper move to the engineering section, bluff past the engineers there, and find an isolated spot from which to contact the Enterprise. Sarda contacts AndrusTaurus and Sandage, who transport over. With Sandage's help they manage to use the ship's intercom system to listen in on the meeting.

During the meeting, Rittenhouse and his hand-picked captains square off against Kirk, with Rittenhouse advocating for harsh measures and indifferent to the potential deaths of the crew on Star Empire and Kirk advocating talks and negotiation with the Star Empire. Kirk becomes increasingly suspicious of Rittenhouse's unwillingness to let him contact the dreadnought's crew and disregard for their lives and balks. Rittenhouse finally orders security to arrest Kirk and his officers and lock them in a stateroom.

Piper, Sarga, Sandage, and AndrusTaurus surprise and disable the guards outside the stateroom and an effort to free Kirk and his officers. They find that Kirk and his officers have disabled the guards inside their room and were planning to come and rescue them. They then sabotage the Pompeii's phasers before meeting in the transporter room. Kirk, Spock, Scott, and McCoy beam back first; however, before the others can leave the Pompeii's crew disable the transporter.

They move immediately to the hangar bay; where they have another encounter with a security team. A fight ensues, ending when AndrusTaurus grabs a guard's dropped phaser and shoots him with it. Against regulations the phaser is set to disintegrate instead of stun and the guard is vaporized. AndrusTaurus feels horrible guilt about her action as they continue to flee to the hangar deck.

Once at the deck, they are confronted by Rittenhouse and more guards. Piper threatens to self-destruct the Arco attack sled they arrived on and take the destroyer with it. Rittenhouse, seeing that she's serious, withdraws from the deck and allows them to escape. The four of them escape in two attack sleds, skimming along the destroyer's hull to avoid being shot by the Pompeii's phaser batteries. Piper destroys one phaser bank, then the two sleds vector away from the destroyer and towards the Star Empire before the Pompeii can bring more phasers to bear.

They escape to the Star Empire and rush to the bridge. There they find a skeleton, untrained, largely bureaucratic crew that has only basic control over the ship's systems. Commander Burch explains the situation and they try to contact the Enterprise. Pompeii tries to jam the signal, and when that fails the destroyer opens fire on the ill-prepared Star Empire. A fierce battle then ensues. The Pompeii's phasers were disabled after the initial shots, leaving three other starships against Enterprise and Star Empire.

Piper is able to unlock the ship's systems, giving Star Empire increased shielding and weapons ability to withstand the heavy attacks by the opposing starships. However Star Empire still takes significant damage, as Burch is not a combat commander and is reluctant to fire on other Federation vessels. Enterprise feigns fatal damage, luring Rittenhouse to order two other starships in to evacuate the Enterprise crew. Kirk then fires on the two starships, inflicting heavy damage and evening the odds. The two sides maneuver warily, until Commander Burch is disabled in an attack. Piper is forced to take command of Star Empire and begins to move aggressively, using the dreadnought's multiple phaser banks and newly activated secondary shielding to dish out heavy hits on the opposing starships. With Rittenhouse's three starships considerably damaged, Piper bluffs their commanders by arming Star Empire's heavy photon torpedoes, a single hit from which would destroy any of the damaged starships killing all on board. Rittenhouse's ships fall back, and Star Empire presses in.

Rittenhouse, seeing that he no longer has the upper hand and that victory is out of reach, orders Pompeii to make a suicide run on Star Empire. Kirk, seeing this, moves in quickly and destroys Pompeii before she can collide with Star Empire.

With Rittenhouse dead, the commanders of his three other starships surrender. The novel ends with medals being awarded to several of the crew and Piper gets promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Then Captain Kirk extends an offer to Piper to go sailing with him on his schooner.

Reception and characterization[edit]

The novel made the New York Times best-seller list for paperbacks on May 18 and May 25, 1986.[1][2]Robert Greenberger called the book 'a page turner' but noted that 'One more time, however, a brave, plucky, courageous woman holds the key to success.'[3]

In a reply to Greenberger's review, Carey commented:

I'm not much of a feminist myself—I'm more of a people-ist. Piper is only female because I am and she is my alter ego (Boris Vallejo even put myself and my husband on the cover, speaking of fannish wishes). Only success in women's fiction forced me to use female main characters when I actually preferred males, but that's the fallout of being a professional. Now I do whatever works. I make no conscious sexual statements, and wonder if the 'plucky female' observation would have been brought up at all if the characters had been plucky males.[4]

The hero of the story, Lt. Piper, has been cited as an example of Mary Sue characterization.[5][6][7] Greg Brodeur, Carey's husband and editor, commented in an interview that 'According to the fans who write to us, everybody wants to be her.'[8]

See also[edit]

  • Battlestations!, a sequel

References[edit]

  1. ^'PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: MAY 18, 1986'. The New York Times. May 18, 1986.
  2. ^'PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: MAY 25, 1986'. The New York Times. May 25, 1986.
  3. ^Greenberger, Robert (November 1986). 'Dreadnought'. Starlog (112): 67.
  4. ^Carey, Diane (June 1987). 'Novel Ideas'. Starlog (119): 7.
  5. ^Gardner, David (March 2004). 'Mary Sue Gives Birth, Baby Undergoes Sex Change. The Role of Star Trek Fan Fiction in the Creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation'. The Internet Review of Science Fiction. I (3). Archived from the original on 2010-06-05.
  6. ^Cheeseman-Meyer, Ellen (April 26, 2012). 'Mary Sue Fights Fascism: Diane Carey's Dreadnought! and Battlestations!'. tor.com.
  7. ^Bacon-Smith, Camille (December 1, 1991). Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN978-0-8122-1379-9.
  8. ^Hall, Wanda J. (October 1990). 'Beyond the Final Frontier. By logic alone, Diane Carey & Greg Brodeur pen 'Star Trek' bestsellers'. Starlog (159): 84.

External links[edit]

  • Dreadnought! at Memory Alpha (a Star Trekwiki)
  • Dreadnought! title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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