Brief History of the USS Besiege
USS Besiege NCC-74326 is a Leviathan-class
warship launched from Utopia Planitia Fleetyard, Mars in 2372 under the command
of Captain Val'ri Raiajh. Built with
war in mind, the Leviathan design was based on the prototype Defiant-class,
but on a larger scale. The
Leviathan-class ship is very maneuverable despite being twice the size of
its cousin, the Defiant, with a full
crew compliment of 125. Armament
includes six phaser cannons, four phaser emitters and eight torpedo
launchers. The torpedo launchers are
able to handle both photon and quantum torpedoes. Besiege
also has updated deflector technology and advanced ablative armor
shielding.
In 2373, command of the Besiege was turned over to Captain
William McLeod shortly before the Battle
of Sector 001, in which the Besiege
participated. Besiege was then used extensively during the Dominion War as a front
line battlecruiser from 2374 to 2375.
The vessel was badly damaged just prior to the Second Battle of
Chin’toka. As a result the warship
had to sit out the remainder of the war in drydock.
After the Dominion War
ended, the Besiege was moved back
to Utopia Planitia for upgrades.
Upon completion, the ship, now officially classified an Escort, was
assigned mostly to diplomatic duties with a reduced crew compliment of 60
while inside Federation space.
In early 2386, the Besiege was reassigned to the Federation
Fifth Fleet, along with the Dauntless,
Bellerophon and Sarek, attached to Starbase 719. Much like the Defiant from whose design the Leviathan-class was derived and
its assignment to Deep Space Nine,
the Besiege is mainly used for
sector defense in the Typhon Sector in the vicinity of the starbase and
many of its crew, the compliment restored to 125 again, also share duties
aboard Starbase 719.
