The U.S.S. Gullwind is a Sao Paulo Escort vessel, a retrofit variant of the Defiant-class; it is presently under the command of Captain Jenled Lar.


U.S.S. Gullwind
Captain: Jenled Lar
Starship Data
Ship Class:	Sao Paulo Escort
Registry:	NCC-91561
Faction:	Starfleet
Status:	Active (as of 2410)

History

Gullwind has gone though a number of crews in its service history. Its first crew was killed during a conflict with the True Way, when a hull breach penetrated the ablative armor and vented the bridge crew out into space. The second died during a battle on Deneva during a probing assault by Klingons. The ship was quickly getting a reputation for being bad luck.

That seems to be continuing with the current command of Jenled Lar. Its major action has been at the Battle of Starbase 26, where it was taken out by a Klingon battlecruiser; unlike previous crews, however, Lar's crew managed to patch together the ship to the point where impulse drive was restored-enough to get it back to the starbase. Unfortunately, it was close enough to the station to have been caught in the space warp taking the station and the 26th Fleet out of explored space. The good news is that after a period of weeks, contact was established and a transwarp conduit was set up so that Gullwind could return back to Federation space.

Features

Sao-Paulo-class Features

The Sao-Paulo-class escort was designed off of the template offered by the Defiant-class, and accordingly, is a ship that's overpowered and dangerous to both opponent forces and the crew on board.

Gullwind is equipped with a Starfleet designed cloaking device, installed after the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire and the effective nullification of the Treaty of Algeron. It also has a single Class-10 shuttlecraft to assist in operations where the transporter is unable to for any reason.

Defense Systems

Gullwind has a considerable weapons array installed. This includes fore and aft photon torpedo launchers, phaser arrays, dual phaser cannons, and-exclusive to this class of vessel-a single quad phaser cannon, giving the Gullwind a potent offensive punch.

The shields are derived from a Reman prototype, offered by the Romulan Republic in return for valiant service in the First Battle of New Romulus.

Engineering Systems

Gullwind uses a standard warp core for its class. The impulse engines are likewise standard, designed for intense combat situations. An impulse capacitor cell is attached to the engines, allowing a short burst of intense speed just short of warp velocity-although ship maneuverability is strongly limited during such usage.

Additionally, supplementing the tractor beam systems is a short range grappler cable, allowing a physical link between Gullwind and exterior objects. The cable has been used to hamper defensive maneuvers in opposition starships, which has caused no end of consternation to the various chief engineers of the ship over time-as this causes no end of stress upon the ship. Fortunately, the ship's own maneuverability is able to compensate for the worst of it.

Notable Crew Members

CPT Jenled Lar Starship USS Gullwind Position Commanding Officer Species Trill (Joined) Biography Captain Jenled Lar commands the Gullwind.	CDR Milisir sh'Vann Starship USS Gullwind Position Tactical officer, XO Species Andorian Biography Commander Milisir sh'Vann is a close combat expert with several reprimands for temperamental behavior. Despite this, Captain Lar believed he could help her settle down, much as he had learned to do. Results have been mixed thus far.	LT Norenn Cisal Starship USS Gullwind Position Science officer Species Trill (Unjoined) Biography Lieutenant Norenn Cisal, an unjoined Trill, is an expert at sensory systems, someone who was intrigued by the use of cloaking devices and how to penetrate such concealment. Cisal hopes to go onto the command track, but feels that she needs more experience.
LT Tannelak th'Klesh Starship USS Gullwind Position Chief Engineer Species Andorian Biography Lieutenant Tannelak th'Klesh is an expert in remote manipulation of technology. With the way equipment is operated by microcomputers, he believes that is a great vulnerability that can be exploited by the knowledgeable-like him.	Dr. Kath Starship USS Gullwind Position Chief Medical Officer Species Klingon Biography Dr. Kath is one of the Klingons who chose to remain with Starfleet when the Klingon Empire broke ties with the Federation. He considers repairing injuries to be a battle worthy of saga-to bring back the injured from near-death to full health again is a victory over the enemies of Starfleet.