Ithaca Class Starbase
History
High Capacity Shielding System
Ablative Armour
Hunley Shuttle: 2
Type 11 Shuttle: 6
Type 6 Shuttle: 12
Type 7 Shuttle: 18
Type 8 Shuttle: 24
Danube Runabout: 4
Talon Scout: 2
Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighter: 32
During the early 2370's, Starfleet came to realise that while the Regula class of base gave it some flexibility in being able to rapidly deploy starbases, their starship support capabilties left something to be desired. After inheriting Deep Space 9, Starfleet was impressed at how the cardassians had designed their bases to support starship operations. Starfleet began a series of projects to determine how best to incorporate some of the design principles of Deep Space 9 into their upcoming bases. The Ithaca class of base is one such example.
At first glance, the Ithaca bares a striking resemblence to the Nor series of bases used by the Caradassians. However, in a bid to reduce vulnerability and increase shield efficiency, the six docking ports placed on pylons by the Cardassians were directly integrated into the outer rings structure. To accomodate a reasonable amount of starships, without sacrificing too much space on the ring, the engineers utilised a double-ring arrangment. Six starships are capable of physically docking at the station, three on each ring.
The upper and lower rings are connected to the central section by means of three large "spokes" radiating out from the central core. Two large hangars were placed on the end of the spokes to accomodate small civilian traffic and incoming runabout sized vessels. The bases own auxillary craft are stored in these hangars and in the four hangar bays on the inner ring.
To accomodate large quantities of civilian and fleet personnel, the engineers decided the base would feature two large sections connected by a large vertical shaft which housed the fusion reactors and the primary life support functions. The spokes connect directly to the central shaft, and house additional crew quarters, labs and cargo storage. The inside of the outer ring sections also house cargo bays and quarters for visiting personnel and civilians.
The station also features an impressive amount of weapons and defensive systems. Following their success on DS9, it was decided to incorporate the retractable weapons pods used on there, as well as the more conventional Type XII phasers and torpedo launchers on the disk sections. There are 6 pods on each ring, and 2 on each spoke on the base, allowing the base to engage multiple targets with ease. Ablative armour covers critical sections of the base, and the base features a high-capacity shielding system with multiple-redundant generators. The bases shields also incorporate the metaphasic shielding technology to harden it against radiation events such as flares, ion storms, and cosmic radiation.
The first of the Ithaca class bases was built on the edge of the Calder system to replace Starbase 60 and guard the historic ruins on Calder II against further attack from pirates. It was passed to Obsidian Fleet's command in 2380.