The Bainbridge class was designed as a platform for gathering electronic and signals intelligence at extremely long range. Starfleet Intelligence requested the ship to be as small as possible in order be innocuous while still mounting some of the most powerful sensor and communications systems in the fleet. The ships were also also fitted huge arrays of data processing systems crewed by SFI analysts.

In peacetime the ships would be stationed on the borders of belligerent powers or at the edges of combats zones, soaking up as much information as possible. During wartime the ships would operate as forward scouts and reconnaissance platforms, reporting enemy movements for combat fleets, and monitoring enemy communications.

The final requirement was for the ships to be able to arrive at a scene as quickly as possible. The final solution was deceptively simple. Rather then relying on the typical cruising speed/emergency speed dichotomy typical of starships, the Bainbridge class would have two pairs of warp nacelles linked to a single warp core. The ships would then operate at emergency speeds, running the nacelles to the absolute limit, before dropping out of warp, diverting the plasma flow to the second set of nacelles and jumping back to warp and allowing the first set to cool. This way the ships could maintain cruise speeds very close to their emergency speeds.

During trials USS Bainbridge managed to sustain Warp 9 (old scale) for 96 hours before suffering catastrophic damage to her warp coils, and being towed back to port. This highlighted the biggest disadvantage to the system. The load on the nacelles is many times higher then traditional cruising, and results in unacceptable levels of warp coil degradation.

During the 2278 border conflict with the Kzinti it was reported that Bainbridge and Leon class ships were building up years worth of wear and tear in a matter of weeks. Additionally, the second set of nacelles added considerable mass, lowering the ship’s maximum speed. Despite the limitations Starfleet would develop more ships based on this concept as fast reaction fleets, culminating the massive Atlas class fast dreadnoughts, and the Ark Royal class fleet carriers.

Although the Fast Fleets fell out of favor with the adoption of the Transwarp Drive, tandem warp ships would continue to serve in specialist roles into the next century and beyond.

I got the idea for this ship watching the US SIGINT aircraft circle Ukraine in the first hours of the invasion. It seemed like it would be valuable to the more militaristic Starfleet in the last half of the 23rd century. Or maybe I’m just too Romulan for my own good. The tandem warp drive isn’t really a new or unique concept, I just did my own spin on them.

Length: 149 meters
Width: 69 meters
Height: 37 meters
Displacement: 61,800 tonnes
Crew: ~80
Phasers: 7x Type 6
Torpedoes: none