The Ambassador-class starship was a type of heavy cruiser in service with Starfleet during the mid- to late-24th century. (TNG: "Conspiracy")

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History

The Ambassador-class had entered Starfleet service by the 2340s. One noteworthy Ambassador-class ship was the USS Enterprise-C. In 2344, while under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett, this ship responded to a distress call from a Klingon colony on Narendra III, which was under attack by four Romulan warbirds. The Enterprise responded to the attack, and despite being destroyed there, defended it long enough to impress the Klingon High Council; this act of bravery in combat was seen as extremely honorable, thus securing a treaty between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

Several ships of the Ambassador-class served during the 2360s and saw action during the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Klingon Civil War. The class was still in use by 2369. (TNG: "Redemption II", "Aquiel"; DS9: "Emissary")

The USS Exeter, which according to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 329) was Ambassador-class, was still in service in 2374 during the Dominion War. Ambassador

Technical data

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")

A number of Ambassador-class ships were constructed 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")

Tactical systems

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 had advanced considerably during the war, allowing the Galaxy-class to possess 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")

Interior design

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")

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")

Ships commissioned

Named

Uncertain

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

Name

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

Class ship

An internal list of starships, dated September 26, 1990, referenced a class ship, the USS Ambassador, with the registry of NCC-10521. [1] The ship was later mentioned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers' Technical Manual (3rd ed., p. 28) and in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (p. 75). In the latter source, the ship's registry was given as NX-10521. The Ambassador was, as well, mentioned in the Ambassador-class article in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (1st ed., p. 7), where it was identified as the prototype ship with the registry NCC-10521, and in subsequent editions of this reference work.

Size

The first and subsequent editions of the STE popularized a length of 526 meters for Rick Sternbach's final design. Several years before the Star Trek Encyclopedia was published, the number had been added to Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers' Technical Manual, which also gives an imperial equivalent of 1,725 feet. No reasoning has been provided for this size.

Gary Kerr calculated a second figure of 1,570 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. Kerr used 2,108 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. Nevertheless, Rick Sternbach fully supports the 1,570-foot calculation, saying that he worked with the same assumptions when drafting the Enterprise-C blueprints.

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. Greg Jein does not recall scaling up the blueprints, and whoever did remains unknown.

Andrew Probert has stated that his original concept is precisely 1,720 feet long (524.256 meters). The number is consistent with an early TNG size comparison chart, also provided by Probert, although he did not write the 1,721-foot callout on that drawing. [7] [8]

Studio model

See main article: Ambassador-class model

Supplemental information

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (p. 75) established that the Galaxy-class was designed to replace the aging Ambassador- and Oberth-classes as primary instruments of Starfleet's exploration programs. (p. 1) The Technical Manual also explained that during the design phase, the combined vehicle mass of Ambassador was expected to be at least 3.71 million tons. (p. 75)

A line in the final draft script of "Yesterday's Enterprise" [9] established that the initial crew complement of the Enterprise-C was seven hundred. The line was not included in the final cut of the aired episode.

Ships of the Line calendar

According to Star Trek: Ships of the Line (2012), Andrew Probert's original Ambassador was launched in 2325. The following specifications come from the tech fold in the calendar:

Category: Explorer / Emissary

Length: 524.256 meters [1,720 feet]

Width: 283.006 meters [928 feet, 6 inches]

Height: 101.955 meters [334 feet, 6 inches]

Mass: 3,710,000 metric tons

Number of Decks: 33

Officer crew: 320

Enlisted crew: 1,000

Apocrypha

Novels

The DS9 novel Antimatter mentions the Ambassador-class USS Hannibal (β) under construction at the newly-reopened Okana shipyards on Bajor's surface.

The Ambassador-class Excalibur (β) was the star of the Peter David Star Trek: New Frontier novel series.

The USS Gandhi, listed here as an Ambassador-class ship, is stated as being a Galaxy-class ship in John Vornholt's Double Helix book, Quarantine.

In the Star Trek: Typhon Pact novel Rough Beasts of Empire, the USS Assurance is an Ambassador-class starship in service at the time of Starfleet's war with the Tzenkethi.

Television

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.

Games

The Decipher role-playing games supplement Starships includes the USS Krotus (NCC-26544) (β).

The Ambassador-class ships Excalibur and Zhukov make appearances in the Star Trek: Bridge Commander PC game.

In Star Trek: Elite Force II, an Ambassador-class was among the ships sent to intercept Sphere 634, due to the game's reuse of Bridge Commander ship models.

The Ambassador-class was released as a playable starship as part of the third anniversary for the game Star Trek Online. In the game, the player gets the opportunity to take command of the USS Enterprise-C after she winds up in the 25th century instead of returning to Narendra III at the end of "Yesterday's Enterprise". The altered Ambassador-class seen in "Data's Day" and "Emissary" is an alternate skin in the Fleet version of the Ambassador-class and is referred to as the Yamaguchi-class, named after the USS Yamaguchi lost during the Battle of Wolf 359.

In Star Trek: Legacy the Ambassador-class is a playable Federation ship.

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