In light of increasing tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, a new larger class of Destroyer was developed to fight alongside the existing Saladin Class. However, only a few of this new class, the Manhattan Class, were launched before the Organian incident in 2267 which effectively put an end to open hostilities with the Klingons.
In light of this, while construction continued the order of Manhattan Class ships was halved. While initially an impressive fifty ships of this new class had been budgeted for, in the end only twenty-five were constructed and entered service.
The Manhattan Class is large for a Destroyer. It was initially designed with eight photon torpedo launch tubes (four forward facing, four aft facing), an already impressive number that was doubled when the class underwent a refit in the 2270's. The 2270's refit also added four megaphaser canon emplacements. All together, this makes the Manhattan Class one of the most heavily armed ship classes in Starfleet.
In addition to ship mounted weaponry, the Manhattan Class has another feature not commonly found on Destroyer Class vessels. Where as most Destroyer classes will feature at most one single-craft landing bay (and often, no auxiliary craft facilities at all), the Manhattan Class boasts a dozen single-craft bays. These bays each hold one Killer Bee, giving a Manhattan Class ship a small squadron of craft to support it in combat situations.
In light of this, while construction continued the order of Manhattan Class ships was halved. While initially an impressive fifty ships of this new class had been budgeted for, in the end only twenty-five were constructed and entered service.
The Manhattan Class is large for a Destroyer. It was initially designed with eight photon torpedo launch tubes (four forward facing, four aft facing), an already impressive number that was doubled when the class underwent a refit in the 2270's. The 2270's refit also added four megaphaser canon emplacements. All together, this makes the Manhattan Class one of the most heavily armed ship classes in Starfleet.
In addition to ship mounted weaponry, the Manhattan Class has another feature not commonly found on Destroyer Class vessels. Where as most Destroyer classes will feature at most one single-craft landing bay (and often, no auxiliary craft facilities at all), the Manhattan Class boasts a dozen single-craft bays. These bays each hold one Killer Bee, giving a Manhattan Class ship a small squadron of craft to support it in combat situations.
Original Configuration:
List of Ships:
NCC-1970 U.S.S. Manhattan *
NCC-1971 U.S.S. Xanatos NCC-1972 U.S.S. Burnett NCC-1973 U.S.S. Hudson NCC-1974 U.S.S. Bronx NCC-1975 U.S.S. Brooklyn NCC-1976 U.S.S. Angela NCC-1977 U.S.S. Demona * NCC-1978 U.S.S. Macbeth NCC-1979 U.S.S. Renard NCC-1980 U.S.S. Coldstone NCC-1981 U.S.S. Titania NCC-1982 U.S.S. Phoebe |
NCC-1983 U.S.S. Selene
NCC-1984 U.S.S. Luna NCC-1985 U.S.S. Duncan * NCC-1986 U.S.S. Gillecomgain * NCC-1987 U.S.S. Sevarius * NCC-1988 U.S.S. Yale * NCC-1989 U.S.S. Hacker NCC-1990 U.S.S. Chavez NCC-1991 U.S.S. Morgan NCC-1992 U.S.S. Bluestone NCC-1993 U.S.S. Maza NCC-1994 U.S.S. Goliath |
* ship lost in the line of duty
Behind the Scenes Notes
Fans of the Disney animated television series Gargoyles may recognize the ship names above as having been taken from characters of that show. It is an unfortunate omission that this class cannot have a U.S.S. Lexington, but of course that name is canonically assigned to the Constitution Class NCC-1709.