ORIGINS
IN RESPONSE TO THE XINDI ATTACK ON EARTH IN 2153 WHICH KILLED NEARLY 7 MILLION, UNITED EARTH STARFLEET COMMAND RECALLED 47 STARSHIPS TO EARTH FOR UPGRADES, REFITS, AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARATION FOR A POSSIBLE XINDI INVASION. THE INITIATIVE WAS KNOWN AS 'PROJECT: DEPLOY' AND WAS OVERSEEN BY ADMIRAL GREGORY BLACK AND CAPTAIN W.M. JEFFERIES.
MISSION PROFILE
OVER THE NEXT YEAR, STARSHIPS IN THE DAEDALUS, DELTA, POSEIDON, FREEDOM, AND INTREPID CLASSES WERE REFITTED WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART UPGRADES IN COMMUNICATION, DEFENSIVE AND TACTICAL SYSTEMS. WEAPONS UPGRADES INCLUDED PHOTONIC (M/AM) WEAPONS, PHASE CANNON BATTERIES, AND THE OMNIBUS ANTI-MISSILE DEFENSE PACKAGE. ALL STARSHIPS PASSED A RIGOROUS SHAKEDOWN, TRAINING, AND INSPECTION REGIMEN IN THE BELT AND MOST OF THE FLEET, IF PRESSED, COULD REACH A TOP SPEED OF WARP FIVE*.
OTHER FLEET OPERATIONS
MEANWHILE, HAPPENING PARALLEL TO PROJECT: DEPLOY, THE NX PROJECT CONTINUED TO CHURN OUT THE MORE ADVANCED NX-CLASS STARSHIPS. COLUMBIA NX-02 LAUNCHED AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER 2154, FOLLOWED BY THE LAUNCH OF CHALLENGER NX-03 TEN WEEKS LATER. THREE MORE NX'S WHICH WERE ALREADY ON THE DRAWING BOARD WERE APPROVED AFTER THE SECOND XINDI INCIDENT AND BY MARCH OF 2155, STARSHIPS DISCOVERY NX-04, ATLANTIS NX-05, AND ENDEAVOUR NX-06 ROLLED OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE.
AFTERMATH
PROJECT: DEPLOY CONCLUDED ON SCHEDULE AND THE 47 NEWLY-UPGRADED VESSELS RETURNED TO DUTY, BUT BY THEN THE XINDI THREAT HAD ENDED. WHEN THE ROMULANS DESTROYED STARBASE ONE IN SEPTEMBER 2155. STARFLEET'S SHIPYARDS AT EARTH AND LUNA WERE BROUGHT BACK TO FULL CAPACITY. THE YARDS AT UTOPIA PLANITIA WERE ALSO EXPANDED TO FULFILL THE UESC'S MANDATES FOR PROJECT: ICARUS AND PROJECT: PIONEER.
* EINSTEIN-CLASS VESSELS, WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY BUILT AROUND THE "UNI-CELLE" CONFIGURATION, COULD NOT MAINTAIN A STABLE WARP FIELD ABOVE WF 3.5 AND WERE RESTRICTED TO THAT SPEED.
THE DAEDALUS-CLASS CRUISER HAD BEEN IN SERVICE TO THE UNITED EARTH SPACE PROBE AGENCY FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES AS A SCIENCE VESSEL. THE SPHERICAL DESIGN OF HER PRIMARY HULL ALLOWED FOR MORE INTERNAL SPACE TO CONDUCT THE VARIOUS EXPERIMENTS DAEDALUS’ MISSION CALLED FOR.
AFTER THE ROMULANS’ AMBUSH ON STATION SALEM ONE, THE UNITED EARTH PARLIAMENT APPROVED SEVERAL MAJOR DEFENSE BILLS, INCLUDING A CONTRACT FOR TWELVE NEW DAEDALUS-CLASS CRUISERS KNOWN AS "PROJECT: ICARUS."
SEVERAL DAEDALUS-CLASS CRUISERS WERE RE-DESIGNED SO THAT MODULAR SECTIONS OF THE SECONDARY HULL COULD BE ADAPTED FOR DIFFERENT MISSION PROFILES. SOME WERE MODIFIED AS TROOP CARRIERS CAPABLE OF CONDUCTING GROUND ASSAULT MISSIONS WHILE OTHERS WERE CONFIGURED TO CONDUCT TACTICAL NUCLEAR MISSILE STRIKES.
AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TEST FLIGHT BY THE NX PROJECT, A WARP FOUR ENGINE IS INSTALLED INTO FRANKLIN NC-061, MAKING IT THE FIRST STARSHIP TO TRAVEL AT THAT SPEED. THE FREEDOM-CLASS WAS ALSO A TESTBED FOR RAPID-FIRE PULSE CANNONS, WHICH WOULD PAVE THE WAY FOR MORE ADVANCED WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT IN THE YORKTOWN PROJECT.
DESPITE THE LINE'S HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS, CONTROVERSY HAS SURROUNDED THE FREEDOM-CLASS FOR GENERATIONS. RUMORS ABOUT THE USE OF STEALTH TECHNOLOGY AND A PROTOTYPE CLOAKING DEVICE PERSIST, AS DO ALLEGATIONS OF BLACK OPS, ASSASSINATIONS, AND ABDUCTIONS. WHILE STARFLEET HAS LONG DENIED THESE CLAIMS, MANY RECORDS FROM VARIOUS FREEDOM-CLASS VESSELS REMAIN CLASSIFIED.
IN 2145, AFTER MONTHS OF RAIDS AGAINST EARTH SHIPS ALONG THE VEGA RUN, STARFLEET SENT A TASK FORCE OF INTREPID-CLASS CRUISERS UNDER CAPTAIN AARON STILES TO LAY DOWN THE LAW. STILES’ TASK FORCE HAMMERED THE NAUSICAAN PIRATE FLEET AND DESTROYED ITS MAIN BASE. WORD OF STARFLEET’S NAUSICAAN CAMPAIGN GAVE NOTICE TO OTHER ALIEN SPECIES ABOUT THE HAZARDS OF HARASSING EARTH SHIPS. FOR ABOUT A DECADE, THE INTREPID CRUISERS WERE A SYMBOL OF EARTH NAVAL POWER THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
THE EARTH-ROMULAN WAR TOOK A HEAVY TOLL ON SHIPS OF THE INTREPID LINE. BY WAR’S END, ONLY THREE OUT OF 21 IN CLASS SURVIVED THE CONFLICT.
INTREPID NC-400 IS DISPLAYED AT THE STARFLEET MUSEUM’S NEW BERLIN ANNEX.
AFTER THE KZINTI CONFLICT ENDED, THE UNITED EARTH SPACE NAVY REQUESTED AND RECEIVED FUNDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BORDER PATROL PICKET FLEET TO PROTECT THE SOLAR SYSTEM FROM INTERSTELLAR THREATS. AFTER NEARLY A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT, THE POSEIDON-CLASS "DESTROYER" BOASTED A RAPID-FIRING WEAPONS POD WHICH COULD HANDLE HIGH-YIELD PHOTONIC, NUCLEAR, OR CONVENTIONAL MUNITIONS.
SHIPS OF THE POSEIDON LINE WERE FORMIDABLE ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE EARTH-ROMULAN WAR. THE POSEIDON'S UNIQUE CONFIGURATION WOULD INSPIRE THE DESIGN OF MIRANDA-CLASS STARSHIPS CONSTRUCTED FOR THE FEDERATION STARFLEET DECADES LATER.
THE DELTA PROJECT OF THE LATE 21ST CENTURY DROVE HUMANITY'S MAJOR ADVANCES IN IMPULSE, WARP, AND WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY IN RESPONSE TO THE THREAT POSED BY THE KZINTI PATRIARCHY ON HUMAN COMMERCE AND EXPLORATION.
BY THE MID-22ND CENTURY THE ONCE-PROUD DELTA FLEET HAD EITHER BEEN SOLD OFF TO ALPHA CENTAURI OR USED AS TRAINING SHIPS FOR CADETS AT THE UNITED EARTH SPACE ACADEMY. THE AGING SHIPS WERE SLATED FOR RETIREMENT UNTIL THE XINDI INCIDENT CONVINCED STARFLEET THAT IT NEEDED A STRONGER BORDER DEFENSE.
PROJECT: DEPLOY'S UPGRADES GOT THE DELTAS ON A WAR-FOOTING AGAINST THE ROMULANS, WITH THE SHIPS PRIMARILY SERVING AS ESCORTS FOR LARGER CAPITAL SHIPS. THE CLASS WAS FINALLY RETIRED AFTER THE FORMATION OF THE FEDERATION, WITH SOME HAVING SEEN NEARLY A CENTURY OF SERVICE, INCLUDING NC-05 CRUSADER, WHICH IS ON DISPLAY AT THE STARFLEET MUSEUM'S NEW BERLIN FACILITY.