The Highlander Class USS Hunter (NCC 79105) was commissioned in 2373. After falling by the wayside in favour of the Galaxy and Sovereign class ship designs, the Highlander class became increasingly vital as older, less advanced ships were destroyed or decommissioned. After numerous teething problems, the Highlander class was finally brought to fruition in 2371 with the launch of the USS Highlander (NX-79101)

Named Hunter, this is the second starship to bear the name. The Daedalus class USS Hunter (NCC 177) was destroyed in 2176. The incident remains classified

The latest Hunter has had 4 captains since she was commissioned. She is currently the Delta Fleet flagship and is commanded by Captain Amathus Bre'Nazari following the promotion of her previous commanding officer, Katherine fforbes, to the Admiralty. The ship was briefly commanded by Commander Conner Talin. Her first Captain was Thomas Halloway, who slipped into a vegetative state during the fleet's encounter with the mysterious 'Entity'.

The USS Hunter has been the fleet's flagship since it's assignment to the Delta Quadrant in 2373. The ship sustained heavy damage in 2373 during the encounter with the entity, but survived, unlike many of it's counterparts, and was quickly repaired. The ship has since been involved in the liberation of New Terra, following the Ssoran war, and continues to be a key vessel in the Falcarian war. Originally, the ship was a fully active sim and a member of the Starfleet Sim Group (SSG). The sim was pulled from the group in 2001 and was used as an NPC ship for a long time before being restarted as an active sim in 2004.

SPECIFICATIONS

Name: U.S.S. Hunter
Registry No: NCC-79105
Class: Highlander Class Cruiser
Commissioned: Stardate 50512.5
Construction Site: San Francisco Fleet Yards, Orbiting Earth
Design Life: 100 years

Dimensions:
Length : 385 m
Beam : 225 m
Height : 95 m
Decks : 20
Mass 3,055,000 tons

Crew:
230

Armament:
16 x Type IX Phaser banks
4 x quantum torpedo tubes
2 x photon torpedo tubes
8 x Tertrenon Torpedoes (long-range, highly destructive and unstable. Designed for assaulting the Borg)

Warp Speeds:
Normal Cruise : Warp Factor 7
Maximum Cruise : Warp Factor 9.2
Maximum Rated : Warp Factor 9.85 for two hours

Refit Cycle:
Minor : 5 years
Standard : 10 years
Major : 20 years

Significant Areas of Note:
Deck 1 - Bridge
Deck 2 - Senior officers quarters, Escape pods
Deck 3 - Crew quarters, Recreation area
Deck 5 - Arboretum, Personnel Transporters
Deck 8 - Sickbay, Counseling Office, Main holodeck, Escape pods
Deck 12- Main shuttlebay
Deck 15 - Main Engineering (Upper level), Emergency transporters
Deck 16 - Main Engineering, Matter/Anti-matter Reaction Chamber
Deck 17 - Torpedo Launchers, Deflector control
Deck 18 - Brig, Anti-matter Storage
Deck 19 - Antimatter injection reactors

Apart from the highly unstable Tertrenon torpedoes, the Hunter is equipped with a few other advance technological features of note. The ship is one of the few with a Shield Demodulation Pulse, which can decipher the shield frequency of enemy ships, rendering them useless against the Hunter's armaments. The Pulse emitter can burn-out with excessive use, and Sheild Demodulation can be prevented by simply remodulating the shields. The Hunter has also been retrofitted with a cloaking device in the Delta Quadrant.