California class

The California class, nicknamed the Cali class, was a type of Federation starship in service during the late 24th century. They were support ships designed for second contact missions. ()
==History==
By the 2380s, the California class had been in service for a long time; as such some Starships of the class were beginning to "fall apart." However, new ships of the class continued to be commissioned. Starfleet Command was reluctant to change the senior staff of California-class starships. () At least one California-class ship, the , carried children aboard. () 
At least three ships of this class were lost in 2380: the was critically damaged from exposure to terraforming emulsion that leaked from an ancient generation ship, the was subsumed by a space-dwelling lifeform, and the was destroyed with all hands by an enhanced Pakled vessel. () The Merced was eventually repaired and returned to service by the end of 2381. ()
In 2381, Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo advocated decommissioning the California class and replacing them with his new automated starships. Protesting that the Texas-class had not been tested, Captain Carol Freeman of the convinced Starfleet Command to hold a "second contact race" between her ship and the . Though the Aledo won the race, it was later discovered its artificial intelligence not only blatantly disregarded the Prime Directive by planting its deliveries without regard of the possible ecological consequences that the organic competitors accounted for in their mission, but the AI's programming was fatally flawed due to possessing similar code to that used by Badgey, a hologram created by Ensign Sam Rutherford who developed patricidal impulses and had repeatedly attempted to murder Rutherford.
Unwilling to countenance a problem that could set his pet project back decades, Buenamigo switched the Aledo to independent control and ordered it to destroy the Cerritos. Instead, its AI went rogue, killing him and attacking Douglas Station alongside its sister ships. The Cerritos crew managed to bait them away and destroyed two of them by detonating its warp core between them, but this desperation attack left the Cerritos dead in the water while the Aledo survived. Meanwhile, Beckett Mariner had rallied all thirty-two other active ships of the California class to aid the Cerritos, and together they destroyed the Aledo. Thus with the discrediting and death of both Admiral Buenamigo himself and his project, the California class resecured its place in Starfleet. ()
==Technical data==
===Physical arrangement===
The California class consisted of a saucer section with a pair of warp nacelle pylons attached directly to its ventral surface. The pylons contained turbolift access in their aft-most section. A small secondary hull, bearing the navigational deflector dish, was mounted between the nacelles via a second pair of pylons. ()
===Propulsion systems===
The maximum safe velocity of the California class was warp 8. It could exceed this speed for short bursts, but at the risk of severe structural damage. The warp core was located in the secondary hull. The warp core ejection system required simultaneous authorization from two officers who each used a keycard to unlock it. () 
Unlike starships, the warp engine of this class incorporated inverted plasma distributors. It was believed that these caused the sound of their warp engines to be a little bit higher , however, other sources maintained that the unique sound was caused by the vibrations in the dilithium dispersement manifold. ()
===Tactical systems===
The California class was armed with phaser arrays and photon torpedoes. The shield array of this class was capable of auto-repair, which was regulated by an isolinear core. If the core were removed, the shields would be drained faster than normal when under attack. ()
File:USS Cerritos firing photon torpedoes.jpg|Firing full torpedo spread from dorsal launchers
File:USS Cerritos firing aft phasers.jpg|Aft phaser array
File:USS Cerritos shields.jpg|Shields defending from incoming debris
==Interior design==
The saucer section contained eleven decks. Among the noted shipboard facilities was Cetacean Ops. The corridors used graphenated corridor joists, which could be susceptible to fire. ()
File:California class corridor.jpg
File:California class corridor 2.jpg
File:California class corridor under red alert.png|Under red alert
=== Main bridge ===
The bridge was located on Deck 2. The basic layout of the bridge was similar to bridges aboard Galaxy-class starships (specifically the bridge of the ). The captain's chair at the center, flanked by chairs for the first officer to the right, and an additional officer to the left. The first officer chair was equipped with a manual steering column. Unlike the bridges aboard Galaxy-class starships, the additional seats did not include side consoles. Behind the seats was the security station. ()
File:California class bridge, forward view.jpg|Forward view
File:Solvang bridge crew.png|Aft view
File:California class command chair.png|The captain's chair
=== Ready room ===
The captain's ready room was located off the bridge, with a single room-wide window to space. The room featured shelving and framing built into the walls, a desk and chairs, a replicator, and bench-style seating along the wall opposite the desk. ()
File:Flag of California - Ready room.png|The entrance
File:Carol Freeman ready room.jpg|The work area
File:Carol Freeman's ready room exterior.jpg|Wide view, including the replicator by the entrance
===Conference rooms===
There were several conference rooms, including a senior conference room, executive conference room, and Conference Room 5. ()
File:Conference room california class.jpg|A conference room
=== Main engineering ===
=== Shuttlebays ===
The main shuttlebay was located in the secondary hull and faced aft. Two additional shuttlebays were located on either side of the saucer section rim, spanning Decks 5 and 6 with further room for shuttlecraft storage deeper into Deck 6. 
The ship carried a complement of at least five Type 6A shuttlecraft and had at least four Argo-type ground vehicle stored on Decks 5 and 7 adjacent to the shuttlebay. The MSD also depicted several Type 8 shuttlecraft. The ship also carried a captain's yacht in a separate bay. ()
=== Repair bay ===
This class contained a number of repair bays. () Repair Bay 5 was located on Deck 11, close to the upper hull. ()
=== Storage bay ===
The class had at least seven storage bays. ()
=== Hydroponics bay ===
The class was equipped with a hydroponics bay that was said, by D'Vana Tendi, to be "great for biomedical research, or just for flower fans." Below the hydroponics bay was, in essence, a swamp that, on the Cerritos, contained dangerously high levels of nitrous oxide due to a Tamarian defrin root being cultivated on that vessel, which one of the Doopler emissary's duplicates fell victim to. ()
=== Transporter room ===
This class is known to have at least eight transporter rooms. ()
===Sickbay ===
Sickbay was located on Deck 8. The chief medical officer's office was room 08.019. ()
File:USS Cerritos sickbay 1.jpg
File:USS Cerritos sickbay 2.jpg
=== Brig ===
The brig contained three prisoner cells, secured by force fields that could withstand the blast of a type 2 phaser set to kill. The brig was also equipped with a replicator. ()
===Recreation facilities===
Upper decks of the saucer section had a bar where the crew could socialize. The mess hall was equipped with several large replicators and where the crew typically had their meals, breakfast in particular, but the bar also had two replicators imbedded within the two pillars on either side of the bar that could provide food. ()
Deck 9 had squash courts near the crew quarters. ()
The ship included at least three holodecks available for crew use. ()
The ship had a gym with treadmills, weight training equipment, and an anbo-jyutsu area. There was also a large, padded room for martial arts practice. ()
There was a gift shop where one could obtain ship-branded merchandise such as T-shirts and baseball caps. ()
File:USS Cerritos bar.png|The bar
File:USS Cerritos front bar.jpg|The front bar
File:California class mess hall.png|Mess hall
File:USS Cerritos holodeck.png|The holodeck
File:Gymnasium USS Cerritos.jpg|Gymnasium
=== Crew quarters ===
There were crew quarters on Deck 1 and Deck 4. ()
The lower-ranking members were barracks-style sleeping quarters, where bunk beds lined the walls in a shared living space at the lower aft portion of the saucer section. Each bunk had its own assigned recessed compartment beside it, which was opened to extend out from the wall like a drawer, and the bunk occupant could use as a closet to store a few extra uniforms or other items. Also like a drawer, the compartment could be removed entirely from its recessed alcove if needed. () This area also featured a large aft-facing viewing window overlooking the secondary hull. () Differing duty shifts each had their own sleeping quarters to live in. Beta shift's hallway was known to be on Deck 11. () Higher ranking crew members were afforded their own quarters. ()
=== Sonic showers ===
Located off of the LD sleeping quarters were communal sonic showers. ()
==Ships commissioned==
;Named
* (NCC-75256)
* 
* 
* (NCC-73110)
* (NCC-75567)
* 
* (NCC-74543)
* 
* 
* (NCC-87075)
* 
* (NCC-75012)
* 
* 
* 
* (NCC-12109) (Destroyed)
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* (NCC-12101) (Destroyed)
* (NCC-72707)
* 
* 
;Unnamed
* Unnamed California-class starships
;Uncertain
* 
* 
* 
== Appendices ==
=== Appearances ===
* 
** (Season 1)
**
**
**
** (Season 3)
**
**
* (Season 2)
=== Background information ===
The California-class is named for the state of California. Ships of the class are named after cities located in California, and their shuttles are named after national parks.
Per series creator/showrunner Mike McMahan: 
The ship is in great condition. It’s a California-class ship, which has always existed in Starfleet – [this is] what we’re saying – that they’re the utility support ships. In the California-class [line], there are three types of hull painting: there’s blue, red, and yellow.
We’ve extended the visual metaphor of the uniforms to the ships, and the Cerritos has yellow on the hull because it’s primarily a second contact engineering ship. They show up to planets that need engineering stuff done on them in order to be able to communicate with the Federation.
There’s also, you’ll see in the show, blue-hulled California-class ships, which are usually deployed to places where there has to be more medical expertise, and red-hulled ships that are like for moving around ambassadors and doing more command-level stuff. 
McMahan also stated that he was always a fan of the () , and used that design mixed with the stylization of the () as the visual inspiration for this class. (, )
Unlike most Federation starships, the ship's registry and name plate of the California-class was located aft of the bridge on the primary hull's dorsal surface.
According to Brad Winters, this class is 535.2 meters long and 121.3 meters high. 
=== Apocrypha ===
The Star Trek: Coda novel The Ashes of Tomorrow features a California-class ship from an alternate timeline called the USS Saticoy (NCC-75404).
The California-class is a in Star Trek Online.
=== External links ===
* 
* 
de:California-Klasse
ja:カリフォルニア級
Category:Federation starship classes