Excelsior class The " Excelsior " - class was a type of Federation starship used by Starfleet from the late 23rd century through the late 24th century . It was the backbone of Starfleet for nearly a century , making it one of the longest serving starship designs , and one of the most recognizable ships in the fleet . History . The " Excelsior " - class was initially constructed during the early 2280s at Starfleet ' s San Francisco Fleet Yards orbit ing Earth . ( " Star Trek III : The Search for Spock " , and " dedication plaque " ) Starfleet had high hopes for the first ship of this class , the prototype , which was equipped with transwarp drive , and was regarded as that century ' s " Great Experiment . " ( ) Despite the failure of the " Great Experiment , " Starfleet forged ahead with employing the " Excelsior " design . After remaining in the Earth Spacedock until at least 2287 , the prototype " Excelsior " was subsequently recommissioned for active service by 2290 . ( , , ) In 2293 , the fate of the " Excelsior " design was sealed when Starfleet passed on the name of a legacy . The launch of the opened the door for the " Excelsior " - class to become one of the most widely used designs in all of Starfleet , a design lasting well into the late 24th century . ( ; ; – ) Once fully integrated into the fleet , the " Excelsior " s sister ships were used for a variety of mission profiles , ranging from deep space exploration and terraforming missions , to patrol duty , to courier and transport runs . ( ; ; , etc . ) The " Excelsior " - class was also frequently used by the Starfleet flag officer s for use as a personal flagship . ( ) The " Excelsior " - class was present in several major Federation engagements , including the Borg invasion of 2366 - 2367 , where it participated at the Battle of Wolf 359 , as well as the engagement against the Borg sphere that entered the Sol system in 2378 . ( ; ) They were also present in numerous Dominion War battles , seeing action during Operation Return , the First and Second Battles of Chin ' toka , and the Battle of Cardassia . Many " Excelsior " - class vessels were stationed on the front lines near Deep Space 9 during the war . ( , etc . ) Details of this class would be retained well into the 31st century , when Captain Jonathan Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed viewed schematics on the class in the 22nd century while accessing the database belonging to temporal agent . ( ) Technical data . Physical arrangement . The " Excelsior " - class featured the saucer section - engineering section - warp nacelle layout common to most Starfleet vessels . However , it featured a more streamlined design than was seen in previous classes . Design features of the primary hull included a docking port located on the port side of the hull . ( ) Design upgrades . Following its initial , and somewhat unsuccessful origins , the " Excelsior " underwent a minor refit , which included a new bridge module , in addition to a significant modification to the aft portion of the saucer section , surrounding the impulse drive , and a modification to the cargo bay on the aft ventral portion of the ship . This configuration would remain the standard for the " Excelsior " - class throughout its service . ( ) In less than a decade , the " Excelsior " design underwent a second , more significant overhaul , as introduced with the launch of the . While remaining true to the original design , this new configuration added several modifications to the basic hull , including the addition of a second pair of impulse engine s , an expanded scoop surrounding the deflector dish , and the addition and removal of a number of fins located on the saucer and nacelle s . ( ; ) As this class aged , Starfleet continued to incorporate the latest technology , through continued upgrades , refits and repairs , well into the 2360s and 2370s . In 2364 , the underwent significant repairs at Starbase 74 , while in 2367 the underwent a major system upgrade at Starbase 174 . ( , etc . ) Tactical systems . The original " Excelsior " design was outfitted type 8 phaser emitters in five dual phaser bank emplacements on the forward saucer section , and one dual emplacement on the aft of the saucer . Phaser bank s were also positioned laterally , located port and starboard , near the point that the primary and secondary hulls meet , as well as one emplacement located between the nacelles . ( ; " " ; , etc . ) In addition , the " Excelsior " was equipped with several photon torpedo launchers . The two primary launchers were located in the forward section , on both sides of the deflector dish seen as two dark colored ports ahead of the starfleet hull banners . The upper forward launchers were located on the neck section , also allowing ship access for cargo management unit s . Aft launchers were located above the main shuttlebay . ( " " ) In addition , the shields were stronger than the refit , capable of withstanding a direct photon torpedo strike without suffering any visible damage to the outer hull . ( ) With the impending threat of the Dominion against the Federation , Starfleet began to experiment , in 2372 , with performing a refit on the " Excelsior " - class . Upgrades included improved phaser emplacements , quantum torpedo es , and other improvements to make the ship competitive with such ship designs as the . ( ) Propulsion systems . Initially the " Excelsior " was designed under a radically new principle in propulsion , the transwarp drive . While an awe - inspiring concept to some , it was the traditional engineer s who remained skeptical of this new form of warp drive . ( ) Following this failure , the " Excelsior " spent the next two years in spacedock before being fitted with a traditional warp drive . ( ; ; ) By the early 24th century , " Excelsior " - class vessels were normally equipped with dilithium recompositing and recrystallization technology . The theta - matrix compositor of the time , which later became outdated , was upgraded by the time the was introduced . This new recrystallization process was ten times more efficient than that of the " Excelsior " - class . ( ) The " Excelsior " - class also used micro - power relay s in its warp core matrix compositor . ( ) Interior design . Main bridge . Located on top of the primary hull , the " Excelsior " s main bridge directly supervised all primary mission operations and coordinated all departmental activities . Due to the age and variety of configurations of the " Excelsior " - class , bridge configurations varied from ship to ship . Against the aft wall of many " Excelsior " bridges was the large engineering master systems display monitor , showing a cutaway of the ship and status information . This was not originally part of the USS " Excelsior " configuration but added later , a feature shared with sister ship USS " Enterprise " - B . ( ; ; ; ) At least one " Excelsior " - class starship , the , had a holo - communicator installed in its main bridge in 2373 . Upon first use of the technology , " Malinche " Captain described to Captain Benjamin Sisko , who was on the transmitting end on board the , " " you appear to be sitting on my bridge . It may take me a while to get used to this . " " ( ) Ready room . The captain ' s ready room was located adjacent to the bridge , and contained a desk and chair , along with a personal viewer , and was backed by several LCARS interfaces and an MSD . ( ; ) Ensign Nog of Deep Space 9 once explained to Chief O ' Brien how Al Lorenzo liked to sneak into famous starship captain ' s offices and take holophoto s of himself sitting behind their desks . Included in Lorenzo ' s collection was a holophoto of himself sitting behind Captain DeSoto ' s desk on board the " Hood " . ( ) Deflector room . The deflector room , located on Deck 15 , Section 21 - alpha , was positioned directly behind the " Excelsior " s deflector dish . It was a small control room that could be accessed by a series of catwalks and ladders . The deflector room housed several consoles , in addition to the ship ' s deflector relay s . ( ) Shuttle and cargo bays . The " Excelsior " - class contained several cargo bay s , including one located in the aft dorsal section of the secondary hull as well as several bays located along the ventral section of the secondary hull . ( " production art " ) The main shuttlebay was located in the stern by the landing bay doors , which housed several shuttle s of different types , including the Type 7 shuttlecraft . ( ) Accommodations . Senior officer s , such as the captain , had private quarters below decks . Captain Hikaru Sulu ' s quarters were located on Deck 3 . Many of the enlisted crew , junior officer s and officer s shared quarters and bunk areas . They varied in occupant size from four to nine . ( ; ) Appendices . Background information . In the script for " Star Trek III " , the " Excelsior " was described as " " a super starship . Her lines are similar to " Enterprise " , but she is clearly bigger , sleeker , and very new . She sits at her mooring like the new Queen of Space . " " In relation to the " Enterprise " , " " their size differential is apparent ( to ) . " " Size . The generally accepted length of 1 , 531 feet ( 466 . 6 meters ) can be traced back to a size comparison chart developed for and published in the June 1987 issue of " Cinefantastique " . The related comment below was posted by Bill George of ILM : " I really don ' t think there is a definitive answer to this question . The only description we had at the time was that it was " souped - up " and bigger than the " Enterprise " . The size the miniature was built to was determined by the camera guys as being the optimal size to shoot . As I recall Nilo [ Rodis - Jamero ] did that size comparison chart , but it wasn ' t necessarily followed . The issue of true scale wasn ' t a consideration . Budget , ease of use , art direction and dramatic intent were what influenced the construction of the ship . " ( " The Trek BBS " ) Andrew Probert extended the ILM chart for , sizing his " Ambassador " concept halfway between the " Excelsior " and the " Galaxy " . Visual Effects Supervisor Gary Hutzel would use 1 , 500 feet around 1998 . " Technical Manual " . The following information of specifications and defenses comes exclusively from the " " : Apocrypha . The advent of the " Excelsior " design and transwarp are referenced in Diane Carey ' s novel " Battlestations ! " and also the non - canon licensed reference " Mr . Scott ' s Guide to the Enterprise " by Shane Johnson . Shiplists and specifications of many unseen and conjectural " Excelsior " - class vessels are included in many role - playing game supplements such as the " Federation Ship Recognition Manual " and the " " from FASA , and the Decipher sourcebook " Starships " , although much of the information conflicts with other sources . According to the novel " Ghost Ship " , some " Excelsior " - class ships in the 24th century have the ability to separate their saucers , including the and the " Hood " . In the video game " " , the player character leads a mission aboard the " Excelsior " - class vessel USS " Dallas " , NCC - 2019 . The dedication plaque states that the " Dallas " is the " last starship of her class . " " Star Trek Online " features the " Excelsior " - class and her refit as a commander level ( Tier 3 ) " Advanced Heavy Cruiser " and rear admiral level ( tier 5 ) " Advanced Heavy Cruiser Retrofit " respectively . This ship is equipped with a Transwarp Computer allowing you to Transwarp to different Sector Blocks . As of now a Tier 6 Excelsior is now available on star trek online alongside upgraded version ( fleet ) In the novel adaptation of , Captain Sulu is performing an emergency saucer separation drill aboard the when he receives word about Kirk ' s death aboard the . The projections around the Enterprise - B ' s deflector dish were added specifically so the studio model of the ship ( which was just a modification of the original excelsior model ) could sustain apparently severe damage without damaging the underlying model , allowing it to be further reused .