Chimera class

The Chimera-class starship was a Federation heavy destroyer designed for high-combat situations and launched in the early 25th century.

History
During the Third Federation-Klingon War, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers worked to design a new destroyer class starship meant for high-level combat situations. Access to the Utopia Planitia shipyard was restricted for months due to the secrecy of the project. Eventually, the USS Chimera was launched in 2409, with many others of the class to follow.

Technical Information
As war with the Klingon Empire raged, Starfleet Command sought a universal starship design combining elements of escorts, light cruisers, and science vessels. The Chimera-class was the child of this desire. The class was developed with a Dynamic Tactical System (DTS) that allowed the vessels to alternate between regenerative and tactical modes.

While in its innate regenerative mode, excess power was transferred to the vessels auxiliary and shield systems. This allowed the Chimera-class to fire a tachyon inversion beam to siphon shields from multiple targets. Activating tactical mode transfered additional power to the starship's weapon systems and provided access to a powerful multi-targeting phaser lotus. However, the tachyon inversion beam and phaser lotus were only available in their associated modes due to the immense power requirements.

Subclass
After the launch of the USS Chimera and her sister ships, Starfleet engineers saw ways in which to improve on the starship. This led to the development of the Manticore subclass, which was launched in 2410.

Ships Commissioned

 * USS Bad Wolf (NCC-99104)
 * USS Chimera (protoype, NX-97400)
 * USS Echidna (Manticore-class, NCC-97793)
 * USS Epyon (NCC-99013)
 * USS Hanseatic (NCC-93245)
 * USS Manticore (prototype Manticore-class, NCC-97765)
 * USS Sphinx (NCC-93469)