Timeships are fun and all, but I'm sure you guys want some good old starships to check out. Let's start out with the Apollo class article, by TSN. This one also has some pictures to go along with it, also by TSN.
-=A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE APOLLO CLASS OF STARFLEET SHIPS=-
HISTORY: In Terran year 2320, the first of a new class of Starfleet transport vessels was launched, the USS Apollo, registry NX-11570. After three months of intense testing, the class was declared successful, and construction of the first batch of Apollos (registry numbers 11571 through 11579) began at the 40-Eridani A Fleet Yard. These nine sister-ships to their prototype were the USS Bellerophon, USS Daedalus (at one time designated NCC-100-B, acknowledging its status as third ship to bear the name), USS Herakles, USS Ajax, USS Theseus, USS Odysseus, USS Clotho, USS Lakhesis, and USS Atropos, all named for characters in myths from the ancient peoples of the Terran region called Greece. This method of nomenclature continued with the second batch of Apollos, NCC-11630 through NCC-11639. The third batch, 11670 through 11679, were named for people involved in the American Revolution on eighteenth-century Earth. The last batch of Apollos, 12530 through 12539, were built and commissioned much later, and not all together, so their naming was much less organized. The only commonality among them is that they all seem to be named for people, which is almost certainly only a coincidence. Oddly enough, even though the ship was derived directly from a Vulcan ship design, the only Starfleet Apollo to bear a Vulcan name was the USS T'Plana-Hath. All the others have Terran names.
As transport ships, the Apollo class has seen its share of action, but very few of the ships have made especially noteworthy contributions to history. The USS Gage, for example, fought at Wolf359 during the Borg Incursion of 2367 and was one of the 39 ships destroyed there. Fifteen months after this, a decommissioned Apollo-class (though not Starfleet) ship, the Vulcan-registered SS T'Pau, was stolen from the Qualor II junkyard and used, with two other Apollos, to transport Romulan troops. When this was discovered, the Romulans destroyed the ships and their occupants. In 2364, USS Aegisthus was nearly captured by Cardassian forces near the Bajor system, but it managed to destroy one of the ships and cripple two others. The Aegisthus was carrying some advanced short-range sensor equipment at the time which was used to detect inherent weak spots in the Cardassian shielding. The Cardassians have since corrected the design flaw which left their ships open to this attack.
Perhaps the most famous Apollo-class ship is the USS Waters. In 2354, the Waters was attacked by two Tholian ships which attempted to form a "Tholian Web" around the transport. However, through an ingenious maneuver, the crew of the Waters noted the regularity of the Tholians' paths and were able to calculate a precise moment when the ships would come close to one another. The Waters used a tractor beam to knock one ship slightly out of alignment. It wasn't a large difference, but the ships were near enough to one another that they crashed together. The one that was crashed into was destroyed immediately, while the one the Waters had tractored was disabled. The Waters brought this ship back to Starfleet to be studied. The information gathered from the captured ship was a major contributor to the Federation victory in the Tholian War of the 2350s.
DESIGN: The major design elements of the Apollo class were taken directly from the Vulcan Iloerme class, which was mainly in service from 2286 to around 2330. Both ships have a single, elongated hull, the back half of which is surrounded by an annular warp engine, containing the verterium cortenide coils which would be located in the nacelles of most Starfleet ships. The ship has eight main decks, the uppermost of which contains the bridge. Another deck is dedicated mostly to engineering. Being a transport vessel, most of the ship's space is taken up by living quarters and other passenger amenities.
SHIPS OF THE APOLLO CLASS: USS Apollo NCC-11570 USS Bellerophon NCC-11571 USS Daedalus NCC-11572 (NCC-100-B) USS Herakles NCC-11573 USS Ajax NCC-11574 USS Theseus NCC-11575 USS Odysseus NCC-11576 USS Clotho NCC-11577 USS Lakhesis NCC-11578 USS Atropos NCC-11579 USS Helen NCC-11630 USS Menelaus NCC-11631 USS Paris NCC-11632 USS Priam NCC-11633 USS Tantalus NCC-11634 USS Cassandra NCC-11635 USS Aegisthus NCC-11636 USS Iphigenia NCC-11637 USS Agamemnon NCC-11638 USS Clytemnestra NCC-11639 USS Adams NCC-11670 USS Prescott NCC-11671 USS Gage NCC-11672 USS Revere NCC-11673 USS Hancock NCC-11674 USS Washington NCC-11675 USS Lafayette NCC-11676 USS Cornwallis NCC-11677 USS Howe NCC-11678 USS Allen NCC-11679 USS T'Plana-Hath NCC-12530 USS Downs NCC-12531 USS Waters NCC-12532 USS Hamlet NCC-12533 USS Farnsworth NCC-12534 USS Arthur NCC-12535 USS Zeppelin NCC-12536 USS Clement NCC-12537 USS Howard NCC-12538 USS Melrose NCC-12539
Available pictures: (1) (2) Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
I still contest the canonicity of this design as the Apollo. Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
As do I: Why would a Vulcan design be named after an obscure aincent Earth god?
Better (IMHO) to use Sternbach's unused MSD of the "nebulized Ambassador" as the Apollo.
Besides, I've built that version, and wou;d contribute pics if you like.
Solid article though and the ship names are a nice touch (though the "USS Howard" is kinda goofy if it's inspired by Dr. Crusher.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Why would a Vulcan design be named after an obscure aincent Earth god?"
It appears I addressed that in the last paragraph.
"...though the 'USS Howard' is kinda goofy if it's inspired by Dr. Crusher."
I assume I named it after Moe, Curly, and Shemp. Actually, all those names in the NCC-12xxx range look pretty random. I think it was because I had no idea where they came up with the name "Clement", so I didn't have a pattern to follow. Thus, we have ships named after Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), Led Zeppelin, Philo T. Farnsworth (or, possibly, Prof. Farnsworth from "Futurama", but I think it's the former), some of the Three Stooges, a Shakespeare play, a mythical king (unless I had some other Arthur in mind at the time), one of the few Vulcan ships we knew of then, and a couple of friends of mine.
And now you know... the rest of the story.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Well, they're nice pics if nothing else- great for modeling reference!
Although it's one of Trek's ugliest designs, IMHO.
Posted by Brown_supahero (Member # 83) on :
Nope, i agree with the Apollo being a Vulcan Design. It cheap to get an off the shelf design.
It is the first time we see SF get an off the shelf design. We have seen UFP cargo ships use off the shelf, because show producers wanted to save on cash.
Naming it Apollo Class.............. its just a f&*kin' name. You guys put too much significants in names on ships.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Well, in the U.S. Navy doesn't it take a f&*kin' act of Congress to f&*kin' name a f&*kin' ship? Or something all official like that. So I wouldn't say they're insignificant.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
The Vulcans would consider your use of f&*kin' instead of the more clearly understood slang fucking to be most illogical.
I raise my eyebrow to your entire post.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I didn't think it was necessary the first time it was used... so I decided to use it to death... hopefully.
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