Of all the great ships to be found across the galaxy, none are granted such boundless purpose
as those that bear the flag of the United Federation of Planets.
Like their crews and captains, these vessels are expected to be equally suited towards exploration,
research, diplomacy, commerce, and when necessary, war. Compared to the exploratory cruisers of the
Federation, even the most capable warships of the other powers of the galaxy, are reduced to dull
instruments of limited ambition. Yet even among Starfleet Command’s legendary roster of vessels,
of all the triumphant designs ever to be put into service, the success of one alone has exemplified
the spirit and purpose of the Federation like no other. There are certain names that history
will never forget, but a special place will always be reserved… for the Galaxy Class.
As an exploratory cruiser, the Galaxy Class was a multi-role vessel intended to operate
independently for extended periods of time. It was the latest in an honored
lineage of such vessels stretching back to before even the founding of the Federation.
They were deployed far from friendly ports, expanding the boundaries of the frontier
and fulfilling Starfleet’s oldest mandate: to seek out new life and new civilizations.
At a length of 642.5 meters, and a mass of 4.5 million metric tons,
ships of the Galaxy Class were amongst the largest ever put into service by Starfleet Command.
1012 officers and enlisted personnel served aboard the vessel and a further 200 visitors could be
comfortably accommodated within various guest staterooms and quarters. Its evacuation limit
was roughly 15,000 people, although this was only possible for a limited duration.
Its design utilized the same basic structure that had defined Starfleet’s exploratory cruisers since
the days of the NX-01 class. Its primary hull was known as the saucer section, named for its roughly
oval shape, and housed much of the vessel’s living quarters and various crew support systems.
Its secondary hull, sometimes referred to as the stardrive section,
was dedicated towards engineering and featured two warp nacelles supported by curved pylons.
This physical arrangement separated potentially dangerous systems from the majority of the ship’s
crew. In the event of catastrophic damage to the warp core or other emergencies,
the two hulls could be detached and separated. In such a situation, the saucer section could serve
as a kind of lifeboat, while maintaining its vital systems. Both the primary and
secondary hull were capable of operating independently for long periods of time,
and as a consequence featured many duplicate and redundant systems within them. When the
emergency situation had been resolved, the two sections could then be reconnected together.
To enable the ship to perform the long-range, high endurance missions for which it was designed,
the Galaxy Class was outfitted with the most advanced and powerful warp core of the era.
The fastest ship in Starfleet at the time of its introduction, the vessel could maintain
an average cruise velocity of Warp 6, and a maximum sustainable speed of Warp 9.2.
During emergencies, this could be extended to Warp 9.6 and potentially even a velocity of Warp 9.8,
albeit with extreme risk. Sublight speeds were provided by three impulse engines,
two located on the saucer and one on the stardrive section, allowing each hull to
move independently during separation. Both the warp core and impulse engines would be
heavily modified by their individual crews and during periodic fleet-wide standardized refits.
The tactical systems of the Galaxy class were similarly advanced and based around
twelve phaser banks distributed across arrays on various points of both hulls.
Multiple phaser beams could be fired simultaneously from a single array
with the power and duration of the beam manually or automatically controlled. The
phasers aboard the Galaxy Class starships were particularly adaptable, able to cut through a
mile of solid bedrock in mere seconds or serving as merely a tactical rangefinder.
In addition to its phasers, fore and aft mounted torpedo launchers were located on
the engineering section. Each launcher could fire up to five torpedoes simultaneously
with each torpedo capable of independent targeting and yield specifications. In
addition to the standard 250 photon torpedoes typically carried aboard the Galaxy Class,
these launchers could fire antimatter mines, automated probes or other such devices.
Early tactical doctrine for Galaxy Class Starships called for its two hulls to be separated at
the start of hostile action. Non-essential crew, civilian families, or passengers were
to be evacuated to the saucer section or to crash stations within the secondary hull. Command of the
engineering section would then be transferred to the “battle bridge”, a specialized command center
from which tactical control of the ship could be maintained. The saucer section would be free to
withdraw or support the stardrive section as the situation dictated. In most engagements however,
it was impractical to separate the ship during combat and the use of such a tactic fell out
of favor with most Galaxy Class captains. During wartime or periods of heightened alert, civilian
families and non-essential personnel would instead be evacuated before the ship was deployed.
Defense elements aboard the Class included a navigational deflector dish
mounted on the prow of the engineering section.
Its use was mostly passive, utilized to protect the ship from small debris fields,
asteroids, and microscopic particles that could be dangerous to the ship when travelling at warp.
Against direct attacks, the Galaxy Class was equipped with a high capacity deflector shield.
Like the phaser arrays, these could be quickly modified, rotating through various frequencies
to allow certain types of matter or energy to pass through, or more effectively block others.
In addition to these offensive and defensive systems, the class also carried the tractor beams,
advanced sensor suites and countermeasure systems standard across Federation starships. While all
these systems together made the ship one of the most heavily armed and armoured in local space,
rivalling even the dedicated warships of the Romulan Star Empire or Imperial Klingon Empire,
the true strength of Galaxy Class was its adaptability. Nearly every major tactical
system could be heavily modified, completely transforming the ship’s capabilities.
In the hands of a qualified engineering team, even the deflector dish could be
used as offensive weapon, or the phaser arrays employed as an engineering or even medical tool.
To enable the efficient command and control over these systems,
the interior of the Galaxy Class was equally advanced. The bridge, located at the peak of
the saucer section on Deck 1, was the primary operational center. Its design was typical of
a Federation starship, inheriting many of the advancements and features of the earlier NX
and Constitution class starships. Central to the bridge was the command area, in which the
Captain was flanked by their First Officer, and an additional officer at the Captain’s discretion.
Ahead were the operations and conn stations, as well as the ship’s viewscreen which dominated
the entire room. Behind the command area were the tactical, science, propulsion,
environmental and engineering stations. Every station was completely customizable, and might
be changed at the judgement of the captain, or as a situation or mission might require.
It was essential that access to the most critical areas of the rest of the ship were maintained from
the bridge, and so the design of the Galaxy class housed several dedicated turbolifts.
Other features included an attached observation lounge and a ready room for the ship’s captain,
a meeting place for the ship’s senior staff and a private office respectively.
In the event the ship were incapacitated, the bridge included many redundent power backups,
environmental systems and even food replicators so the bridge crew might
continue to work, even if access to the rest of the ship were cut off.
Second only to the bridge in importance was main engineering, spanning twelve decks of
the secondary hull. From here, the warp core was directly monitored and routinely accessed
along with numerous engineering support systems. Central to the room, in a similar arrangement to
the Bridge’s viewscreen, was a Master Situation Monitor which typically provided a cutaway
overview of the ship’s operational status. This was further supplemented by a display table
often focused on a particular system, objective or task. As part of the many redundancies present in
the design of the Galaxy Class, Main Engineering could also serve as a complete backup of the
Command Bridge were it disabled or destroyed. Likewise, in the event of a warp core breach or
other critical failure, the entire section could be sealed with isolation doors and force fields.
To enable the uninterrupted deployment of the starship, every major section of the Galaxy
class featured the same level of sophistication, redundancy and flexibility as found on the bridge
or within engineering. Its medical facilities in many ways resembled a terrestrial hospital,
equipped not only to handle the types of injuries typical on a starship, but also major surgeries,
long term recoveries and advanced medical research. Four medical laboratories could be
dedicated to specific research, supplementing the ship’s already considerable scientific facilities.
Over one hundred multi-purpose labs were located across the Galaxy Class.
Most of these were relatively short term centers, and few remained under the same discipline of
science for more than six months. They were highly modular and shared the same design, while only a
few maintained extremely specialized equipment. Among the latter were the ship’s cybernetics lab,
an arboretum which doubled as a social area, and the Cetacean labs which housed a myriad of aquatic
species and crew. Other dedicated facilities included Stellar cartography, projecting a
vast 3-dimensional display, that assisted in navigational plotting and planetary surveys.
Various transport and cargo bays made up the more utilitarian components of the Galaxy Class. Twenty
transporter rooms were spread across the vessel and three shuttlebays supported many varieties
of smaller craft. The largest of these was located in the saucer section and served as the principal
physical method of entering the ship. 5 auxiliary hangers were also located across each hull,
storing additional shuttlecraft and other vehicles. Among these was the Captain’s Yacht.
Maintaining crew morale and comfort over potentially multi-year missions
was a major priority of the Galaxy Class and it featured many diverse amenities.
First among these were the unusually spacious crew quarters.
The Captain, Senior Officers and visiting VIPs all enjoyed private cabins featuring a living area,
separate bedroom and bathroom. Most officers and even junior personnel enjoyed similar
private accommodations with only ensigns and enlisted personnel required to share.
Further amenities included a large array of social and recreational facilities.
The forward section of Deck 10 was often the center of off-duty gatherings aboard Galaxy
Class vessels, typically arranged as a lounge with various beverages, food replicators and
games. These spaces were often named by the crew of the ship or at the discretion of the Captain.
On board holodecks were routinely used for recreational purposes, allowing the crew to
take part in fictional narratives, engage in extreme sports, or training purposes.
Additional gymnasiums, theaters and concert venues were likewise aboard the ship, for when a more
realistic method of performing or exercise was desired. These were made available to the spouses
and children of the ship’s crew, with the latter even able to attend school aboard a Galaxy Class.
On launch, the starships of the Galaxy class were the most technologically sophisticated and complex
vessels ever built by the United Federation of Planets. Their design and development took
place across a multitude of worlds, and included many of the Federation’s most brilliant minds.
The Galaxy Class Starship Development Project, headquartered on the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards
utilized the research and engineering methods of dozens of different Federation Species
and federal research departments. The Theoretical Propulsion Group in particular
was credited with overcoming many of the class’s matter/antimatter reactor challenges.
While an innovative and transformative design, the Galaxy Class was still in many ways the
successor to the earlier Ambassador and Excelsior class vessels. Indeed, many
of the systems ultimately used aboard the Galaxy would be first tested on these earlier starships.
The first six hulls of the Galaxy Class were constructed both in orbit
and on the surface of Mars reaching completion in 2364.
Service aboard these ships was considered an extremely prestigious assignment and their
initial Captains and Crews represented some of Starfleet’s finest officers. Once deployed,
their immense capabilities were respected both within the Federation and even by its major
rivals. During periods of heightened tensions, Galaxy Class ships would be specifically deployed
to ward off the provocations of the Romulans, Cardassians, and other smaller regional powers.
The ship’s luxurious amenities also allowed them to serve as mobile embassies, hosting delegations
from neighboring states, brokering treaties and presenting conferences. Despite the diplomatic,
cultural, economic and scientific advancements these ships made possible,
the class suffered an early tragedy when the USS Yamato was lost with all hands.
Yet the most prominent Galaxy-Class starship was the Federation flagship, the USS Enterprise-D.
From its acceptance into the fleet to the ship’s eventual destruction 8 years later
by Klingon renegades, the Enterprise fell under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Among its many accomplishments were its dozens of first contact missions and the
decisive role the ship played in preventing the assimilation of Earth by the Borg in 2367.
The discovery in 2369 of a stable wormhole in the Bajoran system brought the Federation
into contact with the immensely powerful Dominion. The USS Odyssey, a Galaxy class
starship was involved in the disastrous first contact that ended in the ship’s destruction.
By the outbreak of open war in 2373, Galaxy class vessels, now in full production,
made up the backbone of Starfleet battlegroups. Many of these wartime
vessels featured thorough modifications aimed at countering Dominion tactics and technology.
Additional phaser arrays were the most common change from the initial production line,
but as the war progressed, these alterations became more comprehensive.
Amidst growing losses to the Dominion, and a desperation for new hulls, many wartime
era Galaxy Class vessels were rushed off the assembly line, lacking their typical scientific or
diplomatic facilities, and deployed to frontline fleets with 65% of their space frame empty.
These ships played a central role in the Dominion War, taking part in every major engagement. During
the largest fleet actions, ships of the class were organized into “Galaxy Wings” and tasked
with breaking through the heaviest formations of Dominion, Cardassian and later Breen warfleets.
The class successfully performed a number of missions; attacking Dominion fleets,
supporting planetary landings, enforcing blockades and transporting troops. Their most critical role
however was as command ships, utilizing their advanced sensor suites to coordinate the actions
of entire battlegroups. With the successful end of the Dominion War, the Galaxy Class starships were
slowly assigned back to their peacetime missions. By the late 2370s, they had become a common sight
across Federation space, once again performing the role for which they had been designed.
An argument can be easily made that the Galaxy
Class was the most significant starship in Starfleet history.
Their consistently outstanding performance and distinguished achievements in every field of
service elevated the class from mere starships, to focused expressions of Federation ideals.
On thousands of worlds both inside the United Federation of Planets and far past its boundaries,
trillions of people today live better lives as a direct result of these starships.
The Galaxy class has overcome dangerous anomalies, they have unlocked vast new expanses of space for
exploration and commerce, they have opened borders and stopped the march of armies.
But above all, they have embraced the legacy of their forebearers,
and boldly gone where none have gone before.