A stepping stone between two pivotal design era’s, the Ambassador Class was introduced by the 2320’s as a replacement for the Excelsior and Constellation lines before being itself replaced with the larger and more adaptable Galaxy Class. Constructed during a time of cautious optimism in the decades following the original Khitomer conference and relative silence from the Romulan Empire. Strong and sturdy in it’s nature, the Ambassador line were installed as a key front line heavy cruiser as a deterrent against enemies of the Federation to take advantage of the relative peace of the early 24th century.
Traditional in it’s layout, the design process was more drawn out than most and included several variations in style and layout before a more solid and simple base was produced for the final model which included a traditional secondary hull linking back to the Constitution Class designs, and some modern aspects including the L-Shaped warp nacelle pylons.
Internally the layout would take design cues from the 2270’s with it’s aluminium panelled core internal design throughout; a feature that would continue nearly unchanged for most of the century. The command centre, while adaptable, primarily used stripped down versions of the layout designed for the same 2270’s era consisting of a tight enclosed bright with central flight and command stations. A simplified internal layout would see a more streamlined series of surrounding stations, ranging from three to five additional controls to the rear of the Captains Chair.
The prototype, USS Ambassador, was given it’s test flight near the Tzenkethi border in 2319 not just to trial the new internal systems and iron out design flaws, but to remind their volatile neighbours of Starfleet’s strength and resilience. Within five years since that original test, at least five Ambassador Class Ships were in service with the most famed being, of course, the USS Enterprise.
Under the command of Rachel Garrett, The Enterprise flew the flag of Starfleet until answering a distress call from a Klingon colony at Narendra III. Fending off four Romulan Warbirds, the Enterprise would eventually lose the battle, but it’s destruction and the loss of the entire crew in answer to what was still seen as the enemy would lead to a more solidified and lasting peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.
After four decades of being the front line defender of the Federation, the Ambassador Class was succeeded by the Galaxy; a larger, more exploration focused design that could accommodate civilians and comforts for extremely long voyages and operate independently from the rest of the fleet with limited or no support. The Ambassador Class would still continue in support roles including a fresh line of productions serving into the Dominion War
Original concept artwork for what would become the Ambassador Class was originated by Andrew Probert. With The Next Generation jumping ahead almost a century, the ships between the A and D were conceptualised as the B being an Excelsior – later introduced in Generations – and the C being an intermediate step in design between the two. When it came to introducing the C in Yesterdays Enterprise, the design of the ship began to change….
For most ships that carry the name Enterprise, there’s a long and detailed design process. For the studio model of the Enterprise-C, there was simply the same production time as everything else in a weekly format. Charged with the task, artist Rick Sternbach had to make some changes to meet the turnaround time needed to get the Enterprise-C on screen. Using Proberts painting as a base, Sternbach’s first major changes were to the elliptical saucer and hull knowing that model maker Greg Jein would have a far easier time in building the physical model with a shape and sstyle that was easier and faster to build.
With the works of Jein and Sternbach, the Enterprise-C made it on screen with a simple detail that worked for the angles planned for filming. A second Ambassador Class model was made with further modifications to the design, primarily changing the shuttle bay, adding caps to the warp nacelles and more detail around the saucer section. The second model would be used well into Deep Space Nine before being retired.
The original design did however live on. The Ships of the Line calendar would feature variations of the design with Dan Uyeno adding more Excelsior-style details while Tobias Richter would reconstruct the ship imagined by Proberts original painting. Star Trek Online would add Proberts design as a sub-class of the Ambassador line; the Narendra Class.
New Captains within Q2 can opt for both the original Ambassador or the sub-class Narendra as options when applying to join the Captains Table. You can find out more at out Starship Recognition Guide, or New Unit Application.
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