BRAD'S COMMENTS:  Dallas did the stats and story, Jeff did the art.  As received by me, the ship seems to have been hand-drawn; though I took the liberty of re-drawing it in Paint Shop Pro due to the limited size of the original file.  TOS-era ships are far and away the quickest to draw because you can get away with not having a lot of detail.  By contrast, TNG-era ships take forever to draw because they are ultra-detailed.  Yech.  Anyway, the backstory of the Firestorm is fairly cool, indulging in the apocryphal Four Years War that we all know and love so much.  I look forward to trying this class in a TOS scenario, if I can ever get around to playing again.  As with so many smallish ships, the addition of torpedoes seems to have been the decisive design decision.  Lacking power, this ship would be an offensive dunce without the ability to deliver up to 20 damage points for only 2 energy points expended.

FANSHIP DESIGN & STATS: Dallas Reinhart & Jeff Willoughby (collaborators), 2002
Firestorm Class V Destroyer
NOTES:  Shortly after the Four Years War, the vessel classes that took part in most of the combat were under heavy review, and some of the results were unfavorable.  Larsons had poor shields, Antons didn't have enough weapons, and the Loknar's photon torpedo system was well below combat expectations.  But when the Firestorm was first offered to the fleet, Starfleet Command quickly jumped at the opportunity to test the new combat vessel.
        Created shortly after the Four Years War, the Firestorm Class Destroyer was built for one purpose: to hunt down and destroy vessels.  The Federation wanted a cheap, small and powerful vessel.  Through the experimentation of cramming in the most guns in a rejected scout design, the designers at the Antares Shipyard came up with the Firestorm class.
        It was originally supposed to be armed with the experimental FH-6 or FH-7 phaser banks, and it was rumored that it would also be equipped with FH-3 long range phasers, but due to weight restrictions and computer problems, they opted for the reliable, economical and still powerful FH-5 phasers.  To give the Firestorm more offensive punch, it was given two FH-1 torpedos in response to the Loknar's lack of photon torpedo power and range.  The shields were added to be superior to it's closest competator, the Larson.
        The most important part of the ship are the warp engines themselves.  Using experimental FWB-2 warp engines, engineers were able to take destroyer speed to the next level.  The Firestorm's superior speed (clocked at warp 8 on safe cruise, as fast as a Nelson scout except for emergency speed which is Warp 9 and ample power gave the Firestorm the perfect traits for its role as a hunter/pursuer, and its cost was brought down enough to be readily bought in large numbers.  But first, the ship had to go through its growing pains.  Balancing out firepower and speed in a tiny package was not easy (as the Project Defiant team in the future later realized!) and there had to be a lot of compromise in the project.  They had to employ weaker phasers not only because of weight and room restrictions, but also because in combat it was found out that most ships, even Constitution class cruisers, didn't power their weapons to the absolute maximum without risking a major drain on the shielding systems.
        Not only that, the first experimental vessel, the USS Firestorm (NX-2088) later exploded after a flaw in the ship's photon torpedo/deflector dish rollbar.  Therefore, the twin torpedo tubes had to be relocated to the saucer section, and the deflector dish had to be moved to underneath the engineering section, much like a Klingon Bird of Prey or an Anton.
        The Firestorm was pushed off the assembly line shortly after the MK II Constitution class, and designed as a hunter/pursuer vessel.  They were not popular vessels because of the phasers, but they did act as excellent pursuit ships against Orion pirates and other smugglers thanks to their photon torpedoes.
They also acted in 'wolfpacks' of two or three, because the Firestorm was not well adapted to one on one combat against other vessels.
        Though it did have its flaws, it worked well in its intended role.  A pack of Firestorms were deadly opponents to face for even a large vessel, hence the name Firestorm; fast and furious, small, nimble... it was a very aggressive ship.  Some captains even gave their vessels lurid exterior hull markings like shark's teeth and menacing eyes to show their aggressive behavior.
        However, the Firestorm was the victim of peace.  They never saw any heavy combat, save for a few isolated incidents where they performed somewhat well.  The Firestorm was not needed so much when the Federation was at peace, so after ten years of service, most were phased out.  Some survived for combat training, while others were upgraded to MK II's at the same time the Constitution class vessels were being upgraded.
        The MK II variant was supposed to be equipped with the FP-4 photon torpedo laucher and an additional bank of FH-4 'Viper Fang' variant phasers. The refit was done on the USS Firestorm and the USS Dervish for test trials. Though the vessel functioned well, the Viper Fangs were inadequate as a weapon, and the single powerful photon torpedo launcher made the Firestorm a target with a well painted bullseye; to seek out and destroy when participating in wargames. Not only that, the costs to 'upgrade' the ship with impotent phasers and an overpowered photon was not worth the benefits gained. Therefore, the project was scrapped. The Firestorm and the Dervish were mothballed at Utopia Planetia Shipyards, while the other Mark 1 Firestorms were slowly phased out of service.

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