Mississippi-class runabout
Starship name: USS Mississippi
Class: Mississippi-class runabout.
Length: 26.2 meters
Beam: 13.8 meters
Height: 6.5 meters
Departmental class: multi-purpose vessel
Cruise Velocity: Warp 4
Maximum Velocity: Warp 6 (for two hours)
Weapons systems: 3 type 10 phaser strips (one above the navigational deflector, and two mounted on the nacelles), two forward micro-photon torpedo launchers, two rear micro-photon torpedo launchers.
Decks: 2
Crew compliment: 15, evacuation limit of 50.
Design:
The ship is capable of landing on planetary surfaces, using four legs stored in the crawlspace below the lower deck. On all the production versions, the landing gear is tall enough that the average person can easily walk under it. This is to correct one of the problems that appeared in the prototype version, on which the nacelles sat quite low to the ground. When landed on a planetary surface, the Bussard collectors had the habit of ingesting “interesting things” such as mud, pollen, and dust, which then clogged the warp core, making it necessary to replace the entire warp core.
The Mississippi-class is also noted for being the smallest ship ever capable of “saucer separation”. In emergency situations, the front module of the ship can be undocked from the rest of the ship and used as a shuttle.
The front portion can also be swapped out for different modules, including tactical and cargo modules.
Alignment & Era: Federation, STO Era
Mission profile: This is designed as a multi-purpose vessel for large starbases, replacing the ageing Danube-class runabouts.
Purpose within Starfleet: Mississippi-class ships are embarked on most starbases, serving as transports and backup to the base’s weapons systems. They are also embarked on many larger starships.
Purpose within Star Trek Online: A small, easy-to get ship, good at both combat and transport duties. It is stronger than the Danube-class runabouts, but also more expensive.
