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Ambassador class

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Ambassador-class
Forward view

Forward view

Affiliation: Federation Starfleet
Type: Heavy cruiser
Active: 24th century
Armament: Ten phaser banks; two photon torpedo launchers
Defenses: Deflector shields
Aft view

Aft view

Profile view

Profile view

The Ambassador-class starship was a Starfleet heavy cruiser launched during the mid-24th century. (TNG: "Conspiracy")

Contents

[edit] History

The origins of the Ambassador-class date back to the first half of the 24th century.

One of the most notable Ambassador-class ships was the USS Enterprise-C. In 2344, while under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett, the ship responded to a distress call from a Klingon colony on Narendra III. Four Romulan warbirds had ambushed the colony. The Enterprise responded to the attack, and despite being destroyed there, defended it long enough to impress the Klingon High Council; hostilities ended almost immediately between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. A lasting peace agreement would not be reached until 2352, but the cessation of nearly sixty years of conflict between the two powers was a welcome step toward galactic peace. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

Ships of the Ambassador-class were utilized during the Klingon Civil War, and fought against the Borg and the Dominion. (TNG: "Redemption II"; DS9: "Emissary", "You Are Cordially Invited")

[edit] Technical data

[edit] Physical arrangement

The Ambassador-class featured the saucer section-engineering section-warp nacelle layout common to most Starfleet vessels. It was intermediate in size between the Excelsior-class and the Galaxy-class. In addition, the class boasted at least three engineering levels. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

Several Ambassador-class ships were seen with minor alterations from the original design. The saucer section's connection to the engineering hull was shifted slightly aft, with the nacelle pylon assembly moved a corresponding distance in the same direction. Cowlings were added around the Bussard collectors, making them appear closer to that of the Galaxy-class, while the impulse engine exhaust changed from a blue to a red glow. The lower sensor dome became more elaborate and closer in appearance to the Excelsior-class and the deflector dish was modified. Finally, the width of the shuttlebay was increased and a second facility resembling that on the Excelsior-class engineering hull was mounted directly underneath the original one. Graphics were upgraded with the Starfleet insignia of the 2360s. (TNG: "Data's Day"; DS9: "Emissary")

Families were allowed aboard Ambassador-class ships, but only if they were related to a Starfleet crewmember who had served on the ship exceeding six months. (TNG: "Second Chances")

[edit] Tactical systems

Forward ventral phaser emitter

The Ambassador-class was armed with both phaser banks and photon torpedoes with coverage to both fore and aft firing arcs.

A phaser emitter was also located on the secondary hull in proximity of the deflector dish. (DS9: "Emissary")

According to Natasha Yar, during the 2340s, the Ambassador-class had "a lot more maneuverability than the Romulan counterparts of that era." Yar went on to explain that in her alternate timeline, deflector shield technology of the 2360s would advance considerably during the war, allowing the Galaxy-class to posses a heat-dissipation rate that was almost double those of the Ambassador-class, allowing the Galaxy to hang in a firefight longer. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

[edit] Interior design

[edit] Main bridge

Primary operational control of the Ambassador-class starship was provided by the main bridge. Located on top of the primary hull, the bridge directly supervised all primary mission operations and coordinated all departmental activities.

In 2344, the central area of the bridge provided seating for the captain only. Directly fore and to the right of the captain was the ops station, with the helm station to the left. The consoles were similar to that used on the bridges of Excelsior- and Galaxy-class starships. At the very front of the bridge was a large viewscreen, with a freestanding console located directly below. Against the back walls of the bridge were consoles for the tactical, engineering, and science positions. Additional displays flanked the aft consoles. The bridge was accessed through two doors, located on the forward halves of the port and starboard walls. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

Original bridge configuration

Bridge with upgraded LCARS interface

Desk with communications station

The original design incorporated flat-panel, LCARS-based, control panels using the interface introduced in the late 23rd century. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise") By the 2360s, the Ambassador-class bridge was upgraded to include the standard LCARS interface and consoles typically found on board modern vessels of that era. (TNG: "Redemption II")

The bridge of the Enterprise-C, the only internal space seen in detail aboard an Ambassador-class starship, was a modification of the battle bridge, which in turn was built on the remains of the bridge set from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge were seen on the Excalibur in "Redemption II", but the scene was filmed against a generic console, with an Ambassador MSD, recycled from the set used for the Enterprise-D science lab, among other locations.

[edit] Ships commissioned

Named
Uncertain

[edit] Appendices

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Background

Very little is known about the Ambassador-class starship. The term Ambassador-class actually dates back to an early draft of TOS: "Patterns of Force", which describes the source of cultural contamination arriving aboard a small Ambassador-class vessel called the Magellan. The term was later used in TNG: "Conspiracy" to describe the starship Horatio. It was connected to the Enterprise-C design on display graphics in "Yesterday's Enterprise."

[edit] Studio model

The studio model was designed by Rick Sternbach, based on sketches produced by Andrew Probert for the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The design was intended to suggest an intermediate step between the Excelsior-class and the Galaxy-class starships. A relief sculpture of Probert's design was placed in the observation lounge aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Unfortunately, the model was needed for "Yesterday's Enterprise" much sooner than the time it would take to fabricate the smoother lines of Probert's concept, requiring Sternbach's alterations which ended up on Greg Jein's final model. Time constraints also meant that the model was of less quality than normal, but in this particular case this was not necessary since the battle-damaged model was intended to appear only in wide shots on relatively low-resolution TV screens. In order to have the model ready in time Jein also needed the help of David Merriman, who build the nacelles and Ed Miarecki who build the secondary hull master. The battle damage on the Enterprise-C was painted on, but Jein also used sparkling fireworks, held close to the model, to apply smudges and scorching.[1] The model came in at 41.19 inches in length.

Crated studio model, prior to auction

The next appearance of the Ambassador-class was as the Zhukov in "Data's Day". As noted above, the model was noticeably changed after it was rehabbed to remove the battle damage it sported as the Enterprise-C. Apart from these changes the lay out and the number (from 16 to 20) of life boat hatches on the bridge module was changed. This later appeared in "Redemption II" as the Excalibur, appearing both as a redressed model and recycled footage, and made its final appearance in "Emissary" as the Yamaguchi. At the time of its retirement, the studio model bore the markings of both the Excalibur and Yamaguchi. [2]

The studio model was featured in the documentary Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier due to its appearance in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction. The model, known as Lot #694,estimated at $8,000-$12,000, was sold on October 7, 2006 with a winning bid of US$40,000 (US$48,000 including buyer's premium) to the same British collector who also acquired the USS Voyager and the D'deridex-class models.[3]

Ambassador display graphic

Aside from the frequent appearances of the Ambassador-class relief sculptures throughout TNG, and later Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek Nemesis, there were at least two other depictions of the Ambassador-class appearing on various LCARS displays, including a display shown in TNG: "Second Chances", and a classroom "Starship Chronology" display appearing during DS9 Season 2.

Since the class was already established as an older one, the remaining units being in the process of being phased out, no computer generated model of the Ambassador-class was ever created.

Futurama's take on the Ambassador-class design (background).

In non-Trek related media, a cartoon version of the Ambassador-class vessel appeared in an episode of the Cinar-Paramount animated series The Busy World of Richard Scarry. A Futurama parody of an Ambassador-class, with Scott Bakula at the helm, also appeared in the direct-to-DVD film Bender's Game.

[edit] Size

The Star Trek Encyclopedia popularized a length of 526 meters, although the number was not explained. Gary Kerr calculated a second figure of 1570 feet and a metric conversion of 478.5 meters, explaining that the Enterprise-C is just short of 35.75 inches long in the blueprints of its miniature, and that the blueprints are in scale with the four-foot miniature of the Enterprise-D. [4] Kerr used 2108 feet for the length of the latter and 48 inches for the length of the four-foot miniature, although he also determined that it was probably closer to 49.25 inches long. [5] Nevertheless, Rick Sternbach fully supports the 1570-foot length, saying that he worked with the same assumptions when drafting the Enterprise-C blueprints. [6]

Aside from the unexplained figure of 526 meters, it is unclear whether the size implied by Rick Sternbach was deliberately changed during the original development process. His initial full-scale blueprints were blown up by 15%, which means that the final size of the miniature (41.19 inches) could have influenced the ship's conceptual size next to the Enterprise-D. [7] Greg Jein does not recall scaling up the blueprints, and whoever did remains unknown. [8]

[edit] Supplemental information

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, the prototype of this class was the USS Ambassador, registry number NX-10521.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual further explained that during the design phase, the combined vehicle mass of Ambassador was expected to be at least 3.71 million tons. (pg. 75)

In a line established in the script, but not the final airing, of "Yesterday's Enterprise", the crew complement of the Enterprise-C was 700.

Finally, the Technical Manual established that the Galaxy-class was designed to replace the aging Ambassador- and Oberth-classes as primary instruments of Starfleet's exploration programs. (pg. 1)

[edit] Apocrypha

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ambassador_class"
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