The Excelsior class Starship is my favourite and I’ll be doing a video covering that
class at some point in the near future, but in the meantime, I wanted to cover a specific
vessel, the USS Lakota NCC-42768.
This is kind of a legacy series video, however there is only this one vessel and another
Akira class that may have replaced it that I could find in the beta canon content and
there was not much on that latter vessel.
The Excelsior class was a powerful vessel when it was launched in the 2280s and continued
to see upgrades and refits well into the late 24th century, although they did take increasingly
back seat rolls to newer ships.
However, the Lakota seems to be the recipient of several more upgrades that possibly make
it the most advanced classic Excelsior out there.
The name is from the Teton Sioux native American people, the Lakota of whom Crazy Horse was
also a member, one of the more prominent cultures.
Launcher 2328, the Lakota was already the recipient of the advancements made for the
Enterprise-B refit of the Excelsior class.
While the Enterprise Variant was more advanced, not every new ship of this line would be built
to those specifications and the classical Excelsior still continued although waned with
only 2 a year being built by 2330.
These newer builds had also been routinely upgraded from the earlier models with an in-built
adaptability The USS Lakota was deployed extensively during
the Dominion War and in 2372 was assigned to Admiral Leyton’s fleet where it arrived
at Deep Space Nine to escort Captain Sisko and Constable Odo to Earth to assess security.
While at Earth it also underwent further refits and upgrades as well as a change of commanding
officer with the freshly promoted Captain Erika Benteen assigned to the post.
However, the vessel, under orders from Admiral Leyton took part in his attempted Coup until
it became clear the Admiral was acting outside of the chain of command and it stepped down.
Benteen was demoted for her involvement back to Commander for a further year before she
was assigned as Captain to the USS Appalachia.
Meanwhile the Lakota went on to aid survivors of the Maquis to relocate after they were
defeated and in 2375, the Lakota was back in the Sol system alongside the Enterprise
E in defence against the Breen attack on Starfleet Headquarters.
The Lakota started as a Excelsior refit class but had numerous updates installing current
technology including Quantum Torpedo launchers and Type X phaser banks.
Naturally, the computer systems were completely overhauled from the Duotronic variety to Isolinear
systems too, but these adaptations were not visible from a simple visual inspection.
The most notable change was that it possessed the two additional impulse drives on the rear
of the saucer section as well as its additional reactors.
This gave it increased speed and a higher turn rate at impulse, but These were present
on the Enterprise refit subclass too, but the Lakota was special: they were also tied
into a number of other systems.The reactors supply additional power to the weapons systems
and also the structural integrity field, allowing for feats of manoeuvrability that bely the
ship’s size.
It also featured an expanded secondary hull like the other refit classes, however this
added volume was not dedicated to Deflector systems like the others, but held an expanded
targeting array, planetary sensor systems and a wider complement of Quantum torpedoes.
From this added specialisation, it sounds like the Lakota was spec'd out for planetary
bombardment, which is a terrifying prospect.
But the advancement’s don't stop there, the warp nacelles themselves were adapted
with additional field stabilisers that allowed the vessel to coast at warp speeds, even if
depowered for a time, as well as generally improving efficiency.
Additionally, the number of warp coils in the Nacelles was increased too as they got
smaller with time, leading to a much faster vessel than the Excelsior was originally.
It was rated as being faster than a Galaxy class, but not as fast as an intrepid, putting
it around the Sovereign class in terms of maximum warp.
Future of the Lakota is uncertain with it still being in service in Star Trek Online,
but destroyed in the First Splinter Timeline of the books., although it was due for further
adaptation in 2375 after the war to receive some TLC at the Andorian Imperial Fleetyard.
If I had to speculate though, eventaully I believe it had been replaced by one of the
new Excelsior II class starships of the early 25th century.
Overall, the Lakota was in service for 47 years that we know of, probably longer and
it continued to hold its own against the wings of the Dominion even into the fiercest parts
of the war.
Ships like this go on to show how and why Starfleet continues to utilise older designs
in their armada especially when they are made to be easily upgraded.
The Lakota in particular outlasted many other Excelsior vessels and even outshone newer
ships in terms of its capabilities, power and performance, not bad for a half-century
old relic from Starfleet’s golden era of exploration.
Thanks for watching this video on the Lakota, I’ve been Ric and I’ll see you next time
for another lore byte, until then thanks again and goodbye!