The Magee class was a Federation starship type, a frigate[5] class in Starfleet service from the 23rd century. (DSC episode: "Battle at the Binary Stars")
In the mirror universe, Imperial Starfleet employed ships of the class as auxiliary vessel aboard Styx-class dreadnought cruisers.[6] (STO - Mirror of Discovery missions: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock", "Spin the Wheel")
History and specifications[]
Physical arrangement[]
The ship's spaceframe consisted of a round saucer section, two decks high at the edge. The bridge marked the front end of a raised, rectangular section running from near the bow to the aft edge of the saucer. This beam was flanked by a pair of warp nacelles, which were fully integrated with the primary hull, running past its entire length to extend beyond the bow and rear. The total length of the ship, determined by the length of the nacelles, was 225.2 meters. (Shipyards reference: Starfleet Ships 2151 - 2293)
The ship's name and registry number decorated the sides of the saucer, on top and below. (DSC episode: "Context Is for Kings") The name, sans registry number, also appeared on the aft end of the saucer's raised beam. (Shipyards reference: Starfleet Ships 2151 - 2293)
In the mirror universe, the Terran Empire's logo adorned the upper depression behind the bussard collectors on both nacelles. (ARC website: The Emperor's Lock Box!)
Systems and armaments[]
In the mirror universe, ships of the class were deployed by Imperial Starfleet. They could operate independently, or be launched from the hangar bay of carriers. (DSC - Succession comic: "Issue 2", ARC website: The Emperor's Lock Box!)
Frigates of the class were produced alongside their Styx-class mothership but also sold separately by ship requisition officers at Earth Spacedock and the Fleet Starbase for energy credits and other currencies. As so-called hangar pets, a vessel of the class was simply called "Terran Empire Frigate" during deployment. One such ship included the ISS Shran. Unlike other hangar pets, Magee-class frigates could only be launched from a Styx-class carrier. A carrier could deploy two Terran Empire Frigates at a time. The carrier itself could also be equipped with mirror universe shuttlecraft, however. These smaller fighter pets could be launched from any carrier class. Magee frigates had a range of 15,000 kilometers from their mothership.
The frigates were considered powerful and used various abilities to maximize their weapon output. This included the agony ray, an ability that debilitated a targeted foe by increasing their vulnerability and dealing radiation damage over time. (ARC website: Command the Mirror Styx Dreadnought Cruiser!)
Like most Starfleet vessels of the 2250s decade, ships of the class were armed with resilience-linked phaser arrays. Unlike regular phasers, these fired bluish-white bolts rather than beams. (STO - Age of Discovery mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock")
A baseline Terran Empire Frigate (Magee class) operated with a pair of resilience-linked phaser beam arrays, and a single quantum torpedo launcher at the fore. Another resilience-linked phase beam array sat at the aft. Abilities included the Mk. I rated agony ray, and Beams: Fire at Will mode. These ships were pre-equipped on any Styx vessel.
An advanced Terran Empire frigate of this class was sold by the dilithium store. While weaponry matched, Beams: Fire at Will and the agony ray were rated II, and the vessel gained Attack Pattern: Beta I.
Elite Terran Empire frigates were available from the Fleet Shipyard at the Fleet Starbase. It gained an omni-directional resilience-linked phaser beam array at the aft, which had a 360° firing arc. All four abilities were rated III, with the fourth being suppression barrage. (ARC website: Command the Mirror Styx Dreadnought Cruiser!)
Service history[]
The 'Magee-class science vessel was developed as part of Operation Next Step in the 22nd century, representing one of several ship classes meant to replace the ageing Daedalus-class. The USS Magee was launched from the Proxima Centauri Fleet Yards in the year 2198. (Star Trek Adventures module: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide)
Ships of the class were in service in the prime and mirror universes by the 2250s decade.
On stardate 1207.3 (11 May 2256), the USS Shran participated in the Battle of the Binary Stars between Starfleet and a Klingon fleet, led by the fanatic T'Kuvma. (DSC episode: "Battle at the Binary Stars")
In the following, a memorial image of the Shran decorated the mess hall aboard USS Discovery. (DSC episode: "Context Is for Kings") It remained there for at least a millennium. This graphic showed a beam bridging the saucer to connect the two nacelles. (Short Treks episode: "Calypso")
In 2258, the USS Cabot under Captain Lynne Lucero was ordered to Pragine 63 to assist in the planet's starvation crisis. Unfortunately, the crew, except for Lieutenant Edward Larkin, were forced to abandon the Cabot when Larkin's experiments with tribbles backfired. (Short Treks episode: "The Trouble with Edward")
The last Magee-class ship to be produced launched in 2261. Civilian centers of higher education at Earth, Luna, Mars and Proxima Centauri kept ships of the Magee class in use into the late 24th century. (Star Trek Adventures module: Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide)
At the time of the Attack on Mars, two Magee-class escorts were among a quartet of Starfleet ships parked in a drydock at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. With a pair of Zimmerman-type tugs in between them, the ships were serviced by worker bees. (Short Treks episode: "Children of Mars")
With the return of J'Ula and the House of Mo'Kai in 2410, the Shran appeared in a holographic simulation of the Battle at the Binary Stars made for Alpha Quadrant Alliance to prepare them for battling 2250s-era Klingons. (STO - Age of Discovery mission: "Task Force Operations: Battle of the Binary Stars")
Mirror Universe[]
An unnamed Magee was docked at Starbase K-3 at the moment of its destruction by the ISS Shenzhou in the year 2257. (DSC - Succession comic: "Issue 2")
When Starfleet and the Lobi Crystal Consortium recovered the ISS Styx from Emperor Philippa Georgiou's lock box at Pahvo soon after, the carrier's hangar bay included the ISS Shran. (STO website: Mirror of Discovery: The Emperor's Lock Box!)
Known vessels[]
| Magee-class starships | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Federation Starfleet (primary universe) |
standard configuration | USS Amosova • USS Anaxarchus • USS Cabot • USS Jemison • USS Magee • USS Makwa • USS Shran • USS Shran (II) • USS Wright • unnamed |  
|
| variant configurations | Shran-subclass: USS Shirgat • USS Shran • Cabot-subclass: USS Cabot | ||
| Terran Empire Starfleet (mirror universe) |
standard configuration | ISS Shran • unnamed |  
|
| variant configurations | Cabot-subclass: ISS Cabot • Shran-subclass: ISS Shran | ||
Appendices[]
Connections[]
Background[]
- The Magee-class was designed and named by John Eaves. He confirmed the class designation online at Facebook after the USS Shran was featured at StarTrek.com.
- The class might be named for the Human aircraft pilot John Magee, Jr.WP, a man of Canadian origin. (DISCOVERY’s ‘Battle of the Binary Stars’ Armada Identified article by Ken Reilly at TrekCore.com.
- Initial concept art named a vessel of the class USS Aldrin NCC-1166. This sketch included the beam seen in the "Calypso" display graphic. (ST reference: Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, p. 195)
References[]
External links[]
- Magee class article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Magee-class article at Star Trek Online Wiki.