Ambassador class starship

Infobox Fictional Spacecraft
name = "Ambassador" class


caption = The USS "Enterprise" (NCC-1701-C)
first = "Yesterday's Enterprise"
last = "Emissary"
Service Period = 2320 -2370
Length = 526 Meters
Width = 320 Meters
Height = 125 Meters
Crew = 700
Crusing Speed = Warp 6
Max. Speed = Warp 9.5
affiliation = United Federation Of Planets
armaments = Phasers
Photon torpedoes
defense = Deflector shields
primeref =

The "Ambassador" class is a fictional Starfleet starship class that first appears in the Star Trek series "".

Description

The "Ambassador" class is first mentioned in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"'s "Conspiracy", but an "Ambassador"-class ship does not appear until "Yesterday's Enterprise". "Ambassador"-class ships subsequently appear in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"'s "Data's Day", "Redemption Part II", and ""'s "Emissary".

A golden sculpture of the "original" "Ambassador"-class "Enterprise"-C hangs on the "Enterprise"-D's conference room back wall during the first seasons of the series. This ship was designed by Andrew Probert to suggest a natural progression from the older "Excelsior" class to the newer "Galaxy" class. As a practical, budget-saving consideration during the early production days of the series, the filming miniature of the USS Excelsior was intended as a stand-in for Ambassador Class starships, usually used in the background (a miniature of the original Ambassador Class starship was never built).

This production policy changed with "Yesterday's Enterprise", when a different design was created by Rick Sternbach and Greg Jein. [cite book|title=The Star Trek Encyclopedia|last=Okuda|first=Mike|coauthors=Denise, Okuda with Mirek, Debbie|publisher=Pocket Books|id=ISBN 0-671-53609-5|year=1999]

The Sternbach-Jein design deviates significantly from the original Probert design. The confusion in literature stems from the fact that Andrew Probert (designer of Kirk's motion picture and Picard's Enterprise) is indeed the father of the original Ambassador Class design, but which bears little or no resemblance to the filming miniature design Sternbach and Jein came up with during the third season (Andrew Probert had left the production art department after season one).

The class design has a saucer section attached to a tubular engineering section and two warp drive nacelles attached to the rear of the engineering section. At the bow of the engineering section is the navigational deflector, while the shuttlebay is at the stern. The main bridge, lifeboats and dorsal phaser arrays are embedded into the top of the saucer section, while the ship's ventral phaser arrays, a sensor dome, and more lifeboats occupy the bottom half of the ship. The USS "Yamaguchi" and USS "Zhukov" have a modified navigational deflector, additional lifeboats, a different sensor dome and an additional shuttlebay.

The first example of the 'new' "Ambassador" class starship seen on screen is the USS "Enterprise"-C in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".

With the appearance of the Enterprise-C all previous Excelsior stand-ins as Ambassador Class starships were reclassified as Excelsior Class starships. Given two existing Ambassador Class designs (the Probert one, displayed on the Enterprise-C conference room wall, and the Sternbach-Jein one, visible as a model miniature) some confusion remains whether Ambassador Class starships mentioned in the series (but not shown on screen) are of the Probert or Sternbach-Jein design.

Andrew Probert provides NX-10521 as the official registry number for the USS Ambassador, suggesting that the USS Horatio (NCC-10532) is equally a Probert design. Considering that the Enterprise-C started as a Probert design (displayed on the sculpture wall of the USS Enterprise history on Picard's Enterprise) and literally ended as a Sternbach-Jein design ("Yesterday's Enterprise"), this suggests either a considerable refit or the construction of a new type of Starfleet starship while maintaining the class designation.

List of known "Ambassador" class starships

; USS "Adelphi" (NCC-26849) : Commanded by Captain Darson, the starship "Adelphi" was assigned to a first contact mission with the planet Ghorusda in 2366. However, due to a misunderstanding, a conflict broke out and 47 crewmembers, including the captain and two friends of William Riker's, were killed.cite episode| title=Tin Man| episodelink=Tin Man (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation]

; USS "Enterprise" (NCC-1701-C) : The fourth Federation starship to bear the name "Enterprise", the starship "Enterprise"-C was commanded by Captain Rachel Garrett in 2344. In 2344, the "Enterprise"-C responded to a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III. When the "Enterprise" arrived, it fought several Romulan warbirds before being destroyed and several members of the crew captured. The "Enterprise"-C's sacrifice helped improve Klingon-Federation relations and prevented a Klingon-Federation war in the main Star Trek timeline.cite episode| title=Yesterday's Enterprise| episodelink=Yesterday's Enterprise (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation]

; USS "Excalibur" (NCC-26517) : The starship "Excalibur" was undergoing a major refit and repair at Starbase 234 in 2367. The "Excalibur" is briefly commanded by Commander William Riker during the Romulan tachyon blockade in 2368 during the Klingon Civil War.cite episode| title=Redemption| episodelink=Redemption (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation] Riker also commands it during the events of the fifth book in the Double Helix series, "Double or Nothing". This ship might have fought at the Battle of Sector 001 in 2373."" (1996)] This ship is the centrepiece for the first nine books of Peter David's book series.

; USS "Exeter" (NCC-26531) : The starship "Exeter" was a former assignment of Lieutenant Tom Paris. The "Exeter" was assigned to the Ninth Fleet during the Dominion War. The "Exeter" briefly visits Deep Space Nine for resupply in 2374. Commanded by Shelby and later Alexandra Garbeck, Star Trek New Frontier"

; USS "Gandhi" (NCC-26632) : Named for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the starship "Gandhi" was assigned to the Lagana sector for a terraforming mission in 2369.cite episode| title=Second Chances| episodelink=Second Chances (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation] The "Gandhi" was a former assignment of Lieutenant Tom Riker who left the "Gandhi" in 2371 to join the Maquis.cite episode| title=Defiant| episodelink=Defiant (DS9 episode)| series=Star Trek: Deep Space 9| serieslink=Star Trek: Deep Space 9]

; USS "Horatio" (NCC-10532) : The starship "Horatio" is commanded by Captain Walter Keel in 2364 when it is destroyed near Dytallix B to cover up a conspiracy within Starfleet Command.cite episode| title=Conspiracy| episodelink=Conspiracy (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation]

; USS "Valdemar" (NCC-26198) : Sent to the Cardassian demilitarized zone in 2370 after the arrest of Chief Miles O'Brien by the Cardassian government. (DS9: "Tribunal")

; USS "Yamaguchi" (NCC-26510) : Named for Yamaguchi Prefecture, the starship "Yamaguchi" was destroyed by the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2366.cite episode| title=The Best of Both Worlds| episodelink=The Best of Both Worlds (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation]

; USS "Zhukov" (NCC-26136) : Named for General Georgy Zhukov, the starship "Zhukov" was Lieutenant Reginald Barclay's first assignment under Captain Gleason ("TNG": "Hollow Pursuits"). The "Zhukov" transfers Ambassador T'Pel to the USS "Enterprise"-D.cite episode| title=Data's Day| episodelink=Data's Day (TNG episode)| series=Star Trek: The Next Generation| serieslink=Star Trek: The Next Generation] The USS Zhukov also appears in Star Trek Bridge Commander.

References

External links