Star Fleet Technical Manual (1st Edition, Red Cover)

The Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual features detailed technical information, though non-canon, about Starfleet's organization, ships, and members, and was used as the basis for many elements of the strategy game Star Fleet Battles. At the time this book was first published, it was considered so canonical as to be beyond question, despite its clear depiction of several elements that openly contradicted the television series (such as the presence of a second exit to the bridge, and the placement and internal arrangement of the conference room).

The manual presents a number of different starship designs beyond the standard Constitution-class design exhibited by the USS Enterprise. The book gives has diagrams of the following classes:

Ptolemy-class tug
Hermes-class scout
Saladin-class destroyer
Constitution-class heavy cruiser
Bonhomme Richard subtype
Achernar subtype
Federation-class dreadnought

It provides some detail on the workings of the technology used in the original series, including ships, weapons, personal communicators, tricorders, universal translators, and medical equipment. There is even a blueprint and electronics diagram of a working communicator built using 20th century electronics.