USS Santa Ana

USS Santa Ana NCC-73364 Career (Starfleet) Ordered: February 25, 2373 Laid down: March 29, 2373 Launched: July 12, 2373 Commissioned: February 25, 2374 Decommissioned: N/A Status: Assigned to Palmetto Station General Characteristics Mass: As built: metric tons light metric tons full load with Science Module installed: metric tons light metric tons full load in Emergency Configuration: metric tons full load Length Overall: 23.1 meters Beam Overall 13.7 meters Height Overall 5.4 meters Propulsion: Toenjes KT4 light MARA Warp Drive Columbia 206 Impulse Drive RSRCT-5 Reaction Control Thruster System Flank Speed: Warp 5.15 Maximum Crusing Speed: Warp 4 Range: kilomters at Flank Speed kilomters at Maximum Cruise Complement: 2 Flight Crew 2-10 nominal Mission Crew up to 40 passengers (Std. Configuration) up to 100 passengers (Emg. Configuration) Armament: As built: 1 × TypeIX phaser emitters (fore) 2 × Micro Photon Torpedo Launchers (fore/aft) As modifed on USS Khai Tam: 2 × TypeIX phaser emitters (fore/aft) 2 × Micro Torpedo Launchers (fore/aft) 1 × Antimatter Charge Launchers (fore) Armor: SDS-05 Deflector Shield SND-03 Navigational Deflector Nickname: Three's No Crowd Honors and awards: Starfleet Unit Citation The fictional USS Santa Ana was one of two runabouts detached to the USS Khai Tam when she set out on her maiden voyage. The other was the USS Kaskaskia. The Danube-class runabouts gave extra reach to the Khai Tam's sphere of influence. It is the Starfleet tradition to name ships of the class for Rivers, in this case the Santa Ana River in Southern California on Earth. The Santa Ana was typically configured to transport Marines for Special Operations, and it was the only runabout with a dedicated diet coke replicator -- WITH a cup holder -- at the pilot's station. Origin The Santa Ana close to its source in Riverside, CA The Santa Ana River runs straight through Anaheim, CA where Kevin McNulty grew up. In fact, Anaheim is German for "home by the river." When developing ideas for the Technical Manual, Kevin and Editor Colin Toenjes decided to name each of the two runabouts after a river by where they grew up. Kevin's pick of the Santa Ana was an easy choice. Usage It became common after that to start referring to Kevin's car as the Santa Ana and Colin's as the Kaskaskia, especially on away missions when both would be in caravan. When Colin left, he said that he was taking the Kaskaskia with him literally and figuratively. From that day, the fictitious Khai Tam never again embarked the Kaskaskia. The replacement runabout turned out to be the Appalachicola, though no one's sure if Kevin actually told anyone that.