Ambassador class starship (Star Trek)

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Ambassador class
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)
First appearance	Yesterday's Enterprise
Last appearance	Emissary
General Characteristics
Armaments	Phasers Photon torpedoes
Defences	Deflector shields

The Ambassador class is a fictional Starfleet starship class that first appears in the Star Trek series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Ambassador class is first mentioned in TNG's "Conspiracy", but an Ambassador-class ship does not appear until "Yesterday's Enterprise". Ambassador-class ships subsequently appear in TNG's "Data's Day", "Redemption Part II, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Emissary". A stylized model of the Ambassador-class Enterprise-C hangs in the Enterprise-D's conference room. In real life, the Ambassador class was designed by Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert for "Yesterday's Enterprise". The vessel's design was meant to suggest a natural progression from the older Excelsior class to the newer Galaxy class.^[1]

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 an intact Ambassador class starship seen on screen was the USS Enterprise-C in the TNG episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." The class was designed as an intermediary model between the Excelsior class Enterprise-B and the Galaxy class Enterprise-D, intentionally suggesting an evolution from B to C to D. It was similar, but not identical to the model in Picard's quarters.

[edit] List of 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 circa stardate 43779.3 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 (TNG: "Tin Man").

USS Enterprise-C (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 (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise").

USS Excalibur (NCC-26517) 

Named for the mythical sword Excalibur, the starship Excalibur was undergoing a major refit and repair at Starbase 234 circa stardate 44995.3 in 2367. The Excalibur is brielfy commanded by Commander William Riker during the Romulan tachyon blockade circa stardate 45020.4 in 2368 during the Klingon Civil War (TNg: "Redemption, Part II"). 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 (Star Trek: First Contact). This ship is the centerpiece for the first nine books of Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier book series.

USS Exeter (NCC-26531) 

The starship Exeter was a former assignment of Lieutenant Tom Paris [1]. The Exeter was assigned to the Ninth Fleet during the Dominion War [2]. Circa stardate 51721.3, the Exeter was commanded by Captain Henri K. Larsson who was later declared missing in action^{[citation needed]}. The Exeter briefly visited Deep Space Nine for resupply circa stardate 51725 in 2374 [3].

USS Gandhi (NCC-26632) 

Named for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the starship Gandhi was assigned to the Lagana sector for a terraforming mission in 2369 (TNG: "Second Chances"). The Gandhi was a former assignment of Lieutenant Tom Riker who left the Gandhi in 2371 to join the Maquis (DS9: "Defiant"). (This is contradicted by John Vornholt's book Double Helix: Quarantine, in which the Gandhi is a Galaxy class starship.)

USS Horatio (NCC-10532) 

The starship Horatio is commanded by Captain Walter Keel in 2364 when it is destroyed circa stardate 41775.5 near Dytallix B to cover up a conspiracy within Starfleet Command (TNG: "Conspiracy").

USS Valdemar (NCC-26198) 

Named for inventor Valdemar Poulsen, the starship Valdemar was sent to the Cardassian demilitarized zone circa stardate 47944.2 in 2370 after the arrest of Chief Miles O'Brien by the Cardassian government.

USS Yamaguchi (NCC-26510) 

Named for Yamaguchi Prefecture, the starship Yamaguchi was destroyed by the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359 circa stardate 43997 in 2366 (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II").

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"). Circa stardate 44390.1, the Zhukov transfers Ambassador T'Pel to the USS Enterprise-D (TNG: "Data's Day"). On stardate 45208.2, the Zhukov transfers several science teams to the Enterprise-D]] for its mission into the Phoenix Cluster^{[citation needed]}. Circa stardate 46357.4, the Zhukov is assigned to cultural observation of Alpha Laputa IV^{[citation needed]}.The USS Zhukov also appeared in Star Trek Bridge Commander.

[edit] References

1. ^ Okuda, Mike, Denise, Okuda with Mirek, Debbie (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.

[edit] External links

• "Ambassador class" at Memory Alpha
• "Ambassador Class Variants" by Bernd Schneider
• "Ambassador class" at the Neutral Zone Starship Database