Danube Class
History
The Danube-class Runabout was a type of Federation runabout in operation during the latter half of the 24th century. The class grew out of a series of studies by the Advanced Starship Design Bureau which began in 2363 to create a small versatile vessel for use in a wide range of missions. The final design for the Danube-class conducted flight tests which were so successful the class went into immediate production, with the first ships of the class entering service in 2368. The first batch of Danube-class ships were assigned as support craft to Deep Space 9 for use in their daily operations: the USS Ganges, the USS Yangtzee Kiang, and the USS Rio Grande.
They were capable of operating with automatic helm control, yet were easy for anyone to pilot, especially someone who had third level flight experience. Ideally, a runabout was piloted by two crewmembers, although one pilot would suffice.
The Danube-class was designed as a multi-use vessel with potential missions including scientific research, personnel and supply transfer, a base of operations for missions from orbit or landed and as a support craft for larger vessels on other missions.
To achieve this versatility the Danube-class featured a modular design with the aft section being swappable for mission specific modules, such as a more spacious passenger module to accommodate a larger crew or passengers or modules containing specialized scientific equipment. These exchangeable components consisted of the aft-most living compartment or cargo section and the central multi-mission module pack. In the center of the craft, between the two wing pylons, a series of replaceable modules could be connected. These modules could be swapped to suit mission requirements. Examples of available modules included science laboratories, crew quarters, and photon or quantum torpedo bays. The craft was also equipped with an emergency unit for medical emergencies.
In the case of low power, each runabout had a contingency fuel cell to provide an emergency supply of power. The vessels also had the ability to eject their antimatter pods if so needed. It could also be modified so as to prevent sensors from picking up its power signature by modulating the engine's power emissions, reconfiguring the deflector shield grid, and installing field buffers around the subspace emitter coil.
The naming convention for Danube-class runabouts were earth rivers.