Hello all! Ric here with a video that in no doubt will be completely un-divisive and in
no way cause arguments. The top 10 Federation Starfleet ships of all time. So, to preface this,
I’m only drawing from canon vessels, however I will be using apocrypha to attribute details
to these ships. For example books, schematics and games say the Sovereign could reach warp
9.975 while canon says warp 8 because that is the highest speed we see verbalised on screen.
Also I am going to essentially look at these ships when they launched and in the context
of their sci-fi times. The Miranda class faded into a background ship by TNG, but at its launch
it was more capable in comparison to other vessels of its time. So let’s get started.
The Odyssey Class. I put this at 10th position on this list for one reason only and that is
that most of what we know of it is from apocrypha. Its appearance is limited to background info and
although it featured as the Enterprise F, that ship was decommissioned early because it had a
total systems failure. Emerging around 2382, the Odyssey Class was a massive undertaking in terms
of resources and time to construct and the pivot into the Romulan Evacuation limited its production
even more. Saying that, at its time of launch, it was clearly the most advanced and capable ship
of the fleet. So much so that any mission it was assigned was not utilising it to its fullest. Its
sheer scale, at over 1 kilometre long, makes it a multirole vessel purely for the facilities it can
carry. Effectively the Galaxy class, with extra. By the 25th century it was still in its prime,
although other vessels were beginning to exceed its capabilities in specialist fields,
a theme that we will see repeated in this list as it goes along. Sometimes,
Starfleet just looks at the best tech they have from every field and says,
“all of it” and creates a pinnacle of Starship and the Odyssey was in this line of thinking. As
mentioned, the only real criticism is that it may be considered a bit too excessive.
The Walker class was one of Starfleet’s first vessels that shaped things to come. The design
featured some uncharacteristic uniqueness, but internally established a lot of next
steps for the Federation to springboard off of. It experimented with horizontal transporter arrays,
had the bridge on the underside of the saucer and was capable of atmospheric flight. This
hodgepodge of technology was a combination of winning ideas and an experiment in of itself,
yet the product was greater than the sum of its parts. Created in 2195, it began with the
winning designs from the Starfleet of yesteryear then added new developments and a warp 7 engine.
Over its life it served in much the same role as the NX had, being at the forefront of deep space
exploration and a year later the Shepard class was built as a more streamlined but stripped back
version. A lot of work went into developing warp profiles for the next step in Starfleet
development. With Duotronic upgrades in the 2240s, the Walker maintained its position in the fleet,
although by this time it was regarded as outdated which was its ultimate problem. I can’t place it
higher on this list as it was clearly the most advanced in the fleet at its launch, performing
better than expected, but in the following flurry of innovation, it was quickly surpassed.
You would probably expect me to put the Sovereign higher but honestly I think I can justify its
position here. First off however, at its time of launch, it was clearly the most advanced
ship in the fleet, in certain areas. It was certainly a step up when it came to armaments,
but at this time, the Akira, Norway, Saber were contemporaries in that field and arguably the
Defiant might even outclass it. It could reach an incredibly high warp factor and did so with
minimal damage to subspace, but the Intrepid class matched this and could do it for longer.
It did have diplomatic suites and fantastic sensor systems, not eschewing the other duties
of Starfleet, but they took a backseat as it was built to weather the rising threats. If you
were to “aggregate its scores” as it were, you’d probably find that it’s total did indeed put it
at the forefront of the fleet, it’s just there were individual specialty classes that outdid
it and honestly a lot of the innovation in the Sovereign was merely a few years ahead of what
went into the Galaxy decade. The next burst in innovation was just around the corner however,
and the Sovereign would take a step back to become a background vessel.
It hurts for me to put the Excelsior class here on the list but looking objectively I
think this is where it needs to sit. At the time of its launch,
it was supposed to be a revolutionary ship, and if the dream of transwarp came to fruition in full,
it may well top this list. But that is a what-if scenario. In reality,
while the Excelsior was a culmination of technology produced by Starfleet in the 2280s,
it had already received an overhaul by 2290 and failed to deliver on its promise. Aside from that
however, it generally was the most advanced and fastest ship in the fleet, designed to replace the
Constitution class and take on any role needed. Even by the time of the Dominion War,
the Excelsior got one last hurrah as a frontline cruiser in engaging Jem Hadar forces and served
as the flagship for many admirals. The USS Lakota shows us what they were truly capable off, with
that vessel receiving specialised systems upgrades to make it one of the most formidable ships in
the fleet, so even by this time, the Excelsior could be revamped to continue. The only reason
this class of ship seems to have faded from use is simply that it became more practical to create a
new line than continue to overhaul the original. Having said that, the layout and aptitude of the
Excelsior was so exemplary, that they went on to replicate it not once, but twice, with the Obena
and Excelsior 2. When you get a design that is so well established that Starfleet simply says,
“another round?” I think you’ve made a winner. Nevertheless, those are separate classes because
yes… the Excelsior was eclipsed even if it did linger well beyond what people thought probable.
The Sagan class as well as a shout out to its better armed cousin, the Echelon. The Sagan
class was built on the four-nacelled principles of the warp coasting starship to reach deep space
for exploratory or survey missions and while built primarily for scientific mission profiles,
the Sagan featured multiple adaptations that made it more advanced than many contemporaries.
It was the single vessel to feature extensively reverse-engineered Borg technology, from hardware
to algorithms. This gave it incredible computing potential and unexpected variability with its
scientific toolkit. While not the most powerfully armed ship in the fleet, its intelligent systems
could most often create workarounds for any situation and at the turn of the 25th century,
it was undoubtedly the most advanced science vessel in the fleet. The only thing that keeps
it from being higher on this list is that its major exploit was the ease at which the Borg
could use their familiarity with its systems to their advantage. Borg tech is always a risk,
not only because it might attempt to you know… assimilate you… but the payoff can be exceptional.
Maybe the Sagan overdid it a bit, but now that the Borg are out of the picture for the near future,
well… that’s the last time they commandeer a Federation ship’s sys-... oh for gods’ sake.
Now, personally I’m not a fan of the Ambassador class, I find it kind of generic, but it cannot
be said that the vessel was not a major step in the development of many technologies in Starfleet.
It was one of the first to feature fully isolinear systems, and phaser strips replacing the standard
turret arrays and set the groundwork for future design. The Ambassador class was developed around
the 2320s, emerging in 25 and being in its heyday until the mid 40s. These vessels would go on to
remain in service until the 2370s too, although the class was eventually eclipsed by the Galaxy
Class cruiser. The Ambassador was another one of those ships that was there to do a bit of
everything, but honestly one of the first to be largely dedicated to diplomatic overtures
since the Constitution. This means that alongside its multirole explorer functions,
it was designed to be seen which made it a target. Nevertheless, it held up, equipped as it was with
the best gear from every field that the 2320s had to offer, so it deserves this spot in my list.
I’m going to put the Intrepid Class here because quite simply, Voyager proved that this class
could outperform and exceed its expectations, accomplishing far more than it was initially
thought to. The Intrepid class was originally designed to be the fastest ship with a sustainable
high warp factor for deep space exploration. Its new warp system minimised warp damage and its
bio neural circuitry made it one of the “smartest” ships in the fleet capable of a multitude of rapid
calculations and optimisations. And remember, Voyager itself was operating with half its
bio-neural circuits because they retrofitted it with isolinear tech to keep some spare.
Its sensor systems were unparalleled too and it had an abundance of science labs. However
on top of this, it was far more robust and its shielding system was smartly maintained. Whereas
some classes relied on power, the intrepid relied on efficiency and quickness. In combat,
it held its own too, and the only real lacking element it had was comfort. While hardly spartan,
like a Defiant, it was not made to operate for 5 year missions away from the Federation.
Despite this, at its launch the Intrepid class opened up a whole new angle of exploration
for the Federation and established new design and mission profiles moving on.
The Sutherland class, yeah. Yeah that came outta nowhere right? This spot was
a toss up between this, the Reliant or Inquiry Class. Inquiry, on paper
might have been one of the most advanced ships at launch, but it was a combat ship
first and foremost and only really held the spot of most advanced for about 3 years.The
Reliant and Sutherland classes were created for the sole purpose of testing how a bunch of new
innovations worked together ushering a new era of starship design. While the Reliant and Sutherland
share many similar abilities, the difference was in scale and role, with the Reliant built
to replace the Miranda and the Sutherland to act on a larger scale, replicating the Nebula class.
I would slide the Andromeda Class in here, or the Ross class instead, but the Andromeda
is not canon at this point and the Ross class, aside from some innovations, was on par with the
Sovereign but constructed later. So the Sutherland effectively combined the most advanced sensors,
intensive automation and smart systems, new hull composites, top of the line weapons
arrays and many labs. Just as the Nebula class was a slightly more specialised Galaxy class,
losing a little of that adaptability, the Sutherland was operating in that same surveyor
sphere. However the innovations across the board still made it the most advanced ship even as
its new developments were then applied to later designs like the Alita and Pathfinder.
Of course the Constitution was going to make this list. First launched in 2245, this vessel was
the forefront of new design innovations and the culmination of much development from the preceding
decades. While the rest of the fleet consisted of ships that even originated in the 22nd century,
the Connie took the latest advancements in warp engine refinement to create a
long range exploratory cruiser that could handle multiple assignments. Postings on these vessels
quickly became sought after with ships like the Enterprise trailblazing new contacts and
encountering many new things. On top of this, recent additions to canon have made the connie
a more modular ship than its initial outings in the original Star Trek, ensuring that the vessel
continued to remain at the forefront of design for decades to come. It was frequently the testing
ground for new innovations too and expected to be able to operate on long term missions
without major overhaul for 5 year stretches. In the 2270s, the line was pulled in for its
most ambitious refit program yet, all in the hopes of prolonging its time in the stars and
while the Constitution Mark 2, in my opinion looks even better, it does mark the beginning
of its end. This was the last attempt to keep it relevant as technology moved on and while it did
work, all it really did was keep it in line with models like the new Miranda and saw it
outclassed by things like the Excelsior. Nevertheless the Constitution class was
created to be the poster ship of Starfleet and best typify that organisation. Exploration,
diplomacy and defence. Regardless of design style preference, the Constitution was best in
any of these roles and held that crown through overhauls and updates for at least 3 decades.
At this spot, I’m going to give a couple of honourable mentions. The NX class of course,
it’s excluded for not being a Federation vessel but obviously stood out from the very
little competition it had. The Inquiry class, despite its poor introduction was undoubtedly
a hyper advanced craft but much like my next runner up, it was tailored for one thing. The
Defiant class again is in this vein for me and more temperamental to boot. The Lamarr
class is likely to be on this list, but as of writing this, we don’t know enough about
its specs. And lastly the Constitution Mark 3. This one certainly was a good ship and punched
above its weight, but ultimately, while it was the fastest and most agile for its size,
it was deliberately scaled back in other areas. It could have been more powerful but was not.
The Galaxy class was ambitious and powerful. Originally work began on this class back in
2343 already, but with such a long development period, multiple reworks and alterations were
made. Initially concerns were voiced too at how simply powerful the ship would be,
and what need would Starfleet have for such an overbearing vessel? For this reason,
attempts were made to make it seem even more diplomatic and peaceful than ever before with
crews including civilian infrastructure and extensive diplomatic and recreation suits.
Internally too the vessel was more comfortable than other ships with an abundance of space.
The Galaxy class was excessive and a true marvel of Starfleet. It contained top of the
line systems at its launch and even pioneered new ones, such as redoable saucer separation.
Numerous labs and systems meant that it could handle almost any topic, from single handedly
performing planetary surveys to warding off threats with its mere presence. It emerged at
a time when Starfleet thought itself untouchable and had events unfolded differently, it might
still be around. Certainly recent Trek has shown that it can still carry its ample weight. But the
Borg happened. The Dominion War, subspace damage was uncovered. Multiple factors ate away at the
development of newer Galaxy classes and the vessel eventually was considered too resource intensive
to produce. Additionally, the dangers of the war gave Starfleet pause on the notion of including
children on a Starship. This is a case of the environment changing and leaving behind a ship,
rather than technology outpacing it. Although in the wake of the USS Voyager’s return,
that too eventually happened. We saw a future that never came to pass where the Galaxy class
continued on and was even overhauled to keep it top of the line and if events had not transpired
as they did, it’s a very feasible outcome for this class. So for these reasons, it tops my list.
So there we go, my rundown of the 10 “Best” Federation Starships. Sure there
are others that might perform better in one field or another,
like the honourable mentions, but to me the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none,
Though oftentimes better than a master of one.” applies more to what makes a better vessel. Some
of these might not even have maintained their crown for long, but I picked them because they
either best exemplified an era of innovation, or ushered in new ones. What do you think? Agree,
disagree, is there something I should have included and why? Thanks for watching,
I have been Ric and I’ll see you later for another video, I have a couple more of these top
10s planned but they take a little longer to put together, so until then, thanks again and goodbye!