Starfleet Cruisers for the early 23rd Century.

The Cochrane Class heavy frigates (NCC 1040 - NCC 1045) are named in honour of Earth's most successful sea captain in history, the legendary Thomas Cochrane. Apart from the class ship, all the other vessels are named (in historical order) after the ships he personally commanded whilst serving in the British Royal Navy & Revolutionary Chilean Navy. 

These are:

NCC 1040 USS Thomas Cochrane
NCC 1041 USS Speedy (after the sloop HMS Speedy).
NCC 1042 USS Arab (After the frigate HMS Arab).
NCC 1043 USS Pallas (After the frigate HMS Pallas).
USS 1044 USS Imperieuse (after the heavy frigate HMS Imperieuse).
NCC 1045 USS O'Higgens (after the Chilean frigate O'Higgens).

In the 2230's Starfleet decided to expand the the frigate fleet, looking for something that could operate independantly, which was capable of transporting and delivering at least two companies of marines where they might be required. The smaller fleet frigates (FF) obviously we not capable of being used for such a role, so Starfleet looked at various tendered designs, settling on the Siemens designed Cochrane class. Six were ordered and all completed between 2235 and 2238. Designated heavy frigates (FH) the class class served for several decades, receiving various refits & upgrades. The last Cochrane class heavy frigate was withdrawn from active service in 2292, having served many years as a cadet & rookie marine training vessel.

The Cochrane class was originally built with the then latest SB24 Warp 7 engine & nacelles. This gave a cruising velocity of Warp 6.6 with a maximum velocity of Warp 7.8. Over the years of service, various refits saw the nacelles changed to SB32, SB40, SCNN (1041 Speedy & 1044 Imperieuse) and LN64 (1042 Arab, 1045 O'Higgens).
