Oberth class
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| Oberth-class | |
| |
| Type: | Science vessel |
| Length: | 120 meters |
| Decks: | 13 |
| Crew: | 5 to 80 |
| Weapons: | Phasers (type and number unknown, possibly other armaments |
| Defenses: | Deflector shields |
| |
| Aft view. | |
The Oberth-class was a type of small Federation starship used as a scout, science vessel, and transport by Starfleet and civilian scientists alike, from the mid-23rd to the late-24th century.
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[edit] History
In service during the 2280s, the Oberth-class was designed and used almost exclusively for the study of astronomical phenomena, including data gathering missions on stars and planets. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; TNG: "The Naked Now", "Hero Worship", "Realm of Fear")
By the late 2360s, these vessels served various roles in limited capacities, such as transports and supply ships. (TNG: "The Drumhead", "The Game", "A Fistful of Datas") They would be slowly phased out in the 2370s following the introduction of the more advanced Nova-class science vessel. (VOY: "Equinox")
[edit] Technical data
Despite its limited defenses, the Oberth-class starship was a highly valuable and adaptable class of vessel to the United Federation of Planets; it fulfilled a role that followed up on discoveries made by, and freeing up the resources of, the capital ships of the fleet.
[edit] Physical arrangement
In overall size, the Oberth-class is among the smallest long-range starships in the fleet.
The outboard plan of the Oberth's design incorporates a unique split hull design, with an upper primary hull that is composed mainly of the saucer section, which is mounted onto a rear extension that mounts the impulse drive, and warp drive nacelles to either side to the saucer. The secondary hull is connected to the primary hull at the nacelles by reinforced pylons. The secondary hull itself has a oblong shape.
[edit] Tactical Systems
- Weapons
The Oberth class are armed. The exact number and type of weapons is unknown, but they are fitted with at least one phaser. (Star Trek: First Contact)
- An unnamed Oberth-class ship at the battle with the Borg Cube on First Contact is seen firing phaser weaponry. Also, the USS Pegasus was said to have been refit with experimental weapons prior to its loss. Furthermore, the presence of one of these ships at the Battle of Wolf 359, as well as the fact that even medical ships such as the USS Pasteur and the supply vessel USS Lantree had at least minimal armaments suggest that they had SOME offensive capacity. However, the dialouge of Captain Esteban in Star Trek III, in which as the Grissom comes under attack, seems to contradict that, as he orders "Evasive action" only-no shields or weapons.
- Shielding
As a science vessel, some Oberth-class starships are designed with specialized shields, which allow them to push through gravitational wavefronts. In conjunction with this feature, the interior bulkheads are composed of victurium alloy to better facilitate shielding. (TNG: "Hero Worship")
- Escape pods
Oberth-class starships are also equipped with escape pods, having a minimum compliment of two. (TNG: "The Pegasus", "Realm of Fear")
- Test model
Some Oberth-class starships, such as the Pegasus served as a prototype for testing advanced starship technologies. The Pegasus was outfitted with an experimental engine and new weapon systems, some of which were used in the designs for Galaxy-class starships. In addition to this, the Pegasus was the prototype for a Federation cloaking device. (TNG: "The Pegasus")
- Due to the ulterior motive Admiral Pressman had, in terms of covering up the true nature of the importance of the Pegasus, it is possible that the ship may not have necessarily been used as a testbed for the Galaxy-class. Despite this, the timeframe that the Pegasus was operating in was during a period that the Galaxy-class was still being designed, making his comments at least plausible.
[edit] Crew Complement
An Oberth-class ship had an standard crew complement of approximately eighty, but was capable of operating with a crew of as few as five to seven. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages..."; TNG: "The Naked Now", "Realm of Fear", "Interface")
[edit] Interior design
[edit] Main Bridge
Located on Deck 1 of the saucer section, the Main Bridge houses the command center of the Oberth-class. The design lineage of the main bridge of an Oberth is fairly standard floor plan for a Federation starship. However, due to the ship's smaller size and subsequently smaller bridge, this class vessel featured only a single turbolift.
Located in the front was the viewscreen, with side-by-side navigator and helm consoles, which are in contrast positioned opposite to the arrangement found aboard Constitution-class starships. The captain's chair is directly aft of the aforementioned stations.
At the rear of the bridge, was the turbolift-entryway. The primary stations, which were located at either side of the captain's chair included a primary science station to port (pictured, right) with secondary stations trailing along the wall towards the back of the bridge. Along the starboard side of the bridge was the communications station (pictured, right). (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
The bridge layout during the 24th century included an emergency hatch set in the bulkhead, which could be used to escape from the bridge, into space, during an emergency situation. (TNG: "The Naked Now")
 Communications station, located on the starboard section of the Grissom bridge. |
 With a blown emergency hatch. |
- The bridge of the Grissom was a redress of the bridge of the USS Enterprise, altered only slightly to reflect the smaller size of the class. Among the more notable changes are the reupholstered chairs and the placement of center console.
- The bridge of the Tsiokovsky was described simply as a "small bridge". The set was, itself, only a partial, containing a few chairs and consoles, dominated by the view of the open emergency hatch (pictured, right).
[edit] Main Engineering
Main Engineering is where the ship's power systems are controlled and home of the ship's antimatter warp drive chamber and impulse engine controls. (TNG: "The Pegasus")
[edit] Corridors
Because of its small size, many of the corridors double as auxiliary access points to various parts of the ship.
Access to the computer core is also made from a corridor-like chamber that is designed with a couple of science consoles and small monitors against the wall. (TNG: "Hero Worship")
The anteroom, just outside the bridge is located at the end of a corridor. This section contains a viewscreen-monitor and the ship's dedication plaque. (TNG: "The Naked Now")
[edit] Science Ops
Section of the ship dedicated to scientific study. It contains a transporter pad. (TNG: "Realm of Fear")
[edit] Personnel Quarters
Crew quarters found aboard the Oberth-class were not unlike those found aboard other Federation starships. They included a main living area, with an attached bedroom and adjacent bathroom. (TNG: "The Naked Now")
 View of main room from entryway |
 View of main room from bedroom |
 Bedroom (left) and adjacent bathroom entryway (right) |
[edit] Ships Commissioned
- Named
- USS Biko
- USS Copernicus
- USS Grissom (NCC-638)
- USS Oberth (NCC-602) (prototype)
- USS Pegasus (NCC-53847)
- SS Tsiolkovsky (NCC-53911)
- SS Vico (NAR-18834)
- USS Yosemite (NCC-19002)
- Unnamed
- Uncertain
- USS Cochrane (NCC-59318)
- USS Raman (NCC-29487)
[edit] Appendices
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Background
[edit] Model
The Oberth-class model first appeared in Star Trek III as the USS Grissom. The model was designed by David Carson and built at ILM. Subsequent appearances of this class were re-dresses of the original Grissom model, with additional appearances using recycled footage of previous vessels.
The Oberth-class shows some slight similarities to Vulcan ships, like the Suurok-class.
[edit] Inconsistencies
Following the initial design of the USS Grissom for Star Trek III, which established an official length of 120 meters, the apparent size of the Oberth-class in special effects shots has varied from range of roughly 50% to 200% of the established size. Although a majority of these errors can be attributed to the special effects editors, the vessels subsequent appearances suggest a class of varying ship-sizes.
During the production of TNG Season 1, Andrew Probert reestablished the Oberth-class length at 120 meters. Despite this, the first appearance of the class in "The Naked Now," which reused the USS Grissom model to represent the SS Tsiolkovsky, can be comparatively viewed next to the Galaxy-class, USS Enterprise-D, and appeared to be significantly larger than the originally established size (image, right).
It should, however, be noted that the SS Tsiolkovsky was not intended to be an Oberth-class vessel at all, much like the later appearance of the USS Pegasus, and that both vessels should have been different models which were not built for budgetary reasons.
A later model constructed during TNG Season 5, used to represent the heavily damaged SS Vico in "Hero Worship," was designed at a scale that suggested a much larger size than was originally established. In this model, the saucer section has four decks, a number that would otherwise appear not to fit in the original design. The configuration of this design was, however, contradicted by a clearly visible MSD that also appeared in the episode. In this MSD, the Oberth-class appeared to be a ship with a total of 13 decks, with only two decks in the saucer section. This deck count was mostly confirmed in the episodes dialog, when Data stated that "decks 7 through 12 are exposed to space."
In contrast to its over-sized scale, the Oberth-class that appeared in Star Trek Generations, appeared to be much smaller than the originally established size. Visual evidence of this is supported during the flyby of the ship, escorted by a Miranda and Nebula-class starships, which appear to dwarf the Oberth-class (image, left) much more significantly that their previously established sizes suggest.
Please see external links (below) for a more in-depth assessment of the size inconsistencies of the Oberth-class.
[edit] External links
- Size of the Oberth-class at Ex Astris Scientia - an in-depth article assessing the size inconsistencies of the various on-screen appearances of the Oberth-class starship
- Oberth-class starship at Wikipedia
