Ambassador class heavy cruiser

In the early years of the 24th century Starfleet decided to invest in a totally new type of starship: the Explorer. Larger than anything before these ships would be at the forefront of the effort to expand the Federation's boundaries into previously uncharted space. This mission profile would remove the Constellation and Oberth class ships from the very front of the expanding frontier where their small size often placed limits mission duration. It would also free the Excelsior class for the more general purpose and military functions for which they were ideally suited, finally it would enable the decommissioning of the last few Constitution class vessels.

The first Explorer type was the Ambassador class, these ships saw many technological advances. As well as new engines they were the first ships to be fitted with phaser emitters mounted in strips rather than single point turrets.

In the 2360s and '70s Ambassadors remain in service, though the increasingly hostile nature of the galaxy has relegated them to the margins of fleet activity. They have now been reclassified as heavy cruisers to reflect the advances made in later explorer classes.

The Enterprise model differed from later ones in some details, this may suggest an upgrade at some point after 2344. See The Model Citizen's Trek Modeller's Reference Guide for details.


NCC-1701-CU.S.S. Enterprise
History:Destroyed by Romulans in 2344.
Notes:TNG "Yesterday's Enterprise" app
"...to boldly go where no one has gone before."
NCC-10521U.S.S. Ambassador
History:Commissioned in 2322 (according to LUG) first ship of her class.
NCC-10532U.S.S. Horatio
History:Destroyed by sabotage in 2364.
Notes:Referred to in dialogue as a heavy cruiser
TNG "Conspiracy" ref
NCC-26136U.S.S. Zhukov
History:Still in service in 2368.
Notes:TNG "Hollow Pursuits" his; TNG "Data's Day" ref; TNG "The Game" ref.
Model and Okudagram gives registry as NCC-62136. The registry here is given in the Encyclopedia and is much more suitable for an Ambassador class.
NCC-26198U.S.S. Valdemar
History:Still in service in 2370.
Notes:DS9 "Tribunal" ref.
NCC-26510U.S.S. Yamaguchi
History:Destroyed by the Borg at Wolf 359 in 2366.
Notes:Model part of "Star Trek: The Exhibition."
Presumed to be the Ambassador class seen in DS9 "Emissary".
NCC-26517U.S.S. Excalibur
History:in service by 2368.
Destroyed in c.2374
Notes:TNG "Redemption, Part 2" app.
Central ship in the New Frontier series of books.
NCC-26531U.S.S. Exeter
History:In an alternative reality in service in 2372.
In service by 2373.
Notes:VOY "Non Sequitur" his; DS9 "You Are Cordially Invited" ref.
NCC-26632U.S.S. Gandhi
History:Still in service in 2369.
Notes:TNG "Second Chances" ref.
NCC-26849U.S.S. Adelphi
Notes:TNG "Tin Man" his.
NCC-?????U.S.S. Manassas
Notes:Ship used in combat examples in the LUG ST:TNG RPG Core Game Book.

The LUG RPG supplement The Dominion War Sourcebook: The Fires of Armageddon mentions the U.S.S. Finian NCC-47955.

The Decipher RPG supplement Starships also lists U.S.S. Krotus NCC-26544.

The Deep Space Nine novel Antimatter features an Ambassador class ship, the U.S.S. Hannibal being launched from the newly reopened Okana shipyards on Bajor in 2370.


The Ambassador class is the predecessor to the Galaxy class, hence my preference towards giving it the Explorer designation. A possible explanation of the canonical heavy cruiser designation given to the unseen U.S.S. Horatio could be that those ships still with the original configuration are no longer suitable for Explorer duties and have been reclassified as Heavy Cruisers, whilst those that have upgraded or were built at the newer configuration continue to serve as Explorers.

As for dates, well it had to be in service before 2244, when the U.S.S. Enterprise was lost. Other than that, all we have to go on is the registries. They suggest that these vessels were built in two batches. One, with the NCC-10xxx registries were probably built early in the 24th century, (2310s or 2320s). The second batch with the NCC-26xxx registries would have been built a few years later. LUG say that production started in 2322.



Last updated July 6th 2004. © Stephen Pugh <steve@pugh.net>
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