Baton Rouge class

The ***Baton Rouge* class** was a type of starship in use by the Federation Starfleet (primarily) during the 23rd century. Designed as cruisers and explorers, starships of this class bridged the gap between the *Daedalus* class/*NX* class and *Constitution* class eras, being the latter's immediate "top of the line" predecessor. The *Baton Rouge* class continued to serve in secondary and support roles for over a century, long after they had been supplanted as front line vessels. (*Spaceflight Chronology*, et. al)

A contemporary of the *Einstein* class, the *Baton Rouge* class entered service during the 2190s. The class would remain on active duty in various capacities for until the 2270s, when her younger *Constitution* sisters were undergoing their major refit. (*Federation: The First 150 Years*; *Spaceflight Chronology*)

## History

### Early years

The prototype USS *Baton Rouge* launched 2194, with several more ships following soon after. Early results were so promising that between the new *Baton Rouge* and *Einstein* designs, and the proven *Bonaventure*-class explorers, Starfleet felt fully confident in mothballing the last of their decades-old *Daedalus*-class fleet in 2196. (*Federation: The First 150 Years*; *Ships of the Line*; TNG: "Power Play")

While the earliest *Baton Rouge* vessels were launched in the 2190s and 2200s, the bulk of the class was produced during the 2210s and 2220s. Most ships of the first three construction blocks were assigned registries in the 1300 series, with some overlap between them and the *Walker* and *Shepard*-classes, while the registry numbers for the fourth block (starting in the 2230s) were in the 1500 and 1600 and range.

Like the many cruiser classes before and since, the *Baton Rouge* had a number of variants and sub-classes, including the *Nordenskjold*-class galactic explorers and *Valley Forge*-class battlecruisers. She also inspired more "spin-off" designs than almost any other starship class in history, including the *Cook*, *Coventry*, *Detroyat*, and *Marklin*-classes. Additionally, designs like the *Ranger* class and *Andraste* class combined elements of the *Baton Rouge* with their *Bonaventure* class origins, and would go on to influence the *Constitution* class. (*Jaynz' Starships*: *Ships of the Baton Rouge Era*; *Ships of the Line*)

With Starfleet's development of the *Constitution* class, production slowed and eventually ended on new *Baton Rouge* vessels; the last two ships of the class were launched in 2246, after which Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards fully shifted to focus on producing the *Constitution* and her sister classes. Unused *Baton Rouge* registry numbers were shifted to the *Constitutions* and their *Miranda*-class contemporaries. (*Jaynz' Starships*: *Ships of the Baton Rouge Era*)

### Conversion and refits

By the 2240s, the class was growing outdated, soon to be relegated to secondary status, in favor of more technologically-advanced designs.

However, the *Baton Rouge* class had proved durable and versatile, and structural tests indicated that ships of the class could be reconfigured to more modern designs supporting new technologies. Starfleet's early losses during the Four Years War saw a conversion plan put into action, allowing the woefully-outgunned *Baton Rouge* vessels to be transformed into state-of-the-art *Constitution*-class heavy cruisers. The older *Bonaventure* class was also found to be capable of upgrade to *Constitution* specs, though doing so was more costly and fewer such conversions were made. (*Trekmania*; *Jaynz' Starships*: *Ships of the Baton Rouge Era*)

Unfortunately, none of the *Baton Rouge* or *Bonaventure* converts nor their newly-built sister vessels were completed before the war's end. However, the upgrade plans continued in order to more rapidly build up a fleet of *Constitutions* as Starfleet's front line class for the next generation.

Conversions would continue throughout the 2250s, allowing a handful of ships to be refit and rushed into service during the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-2257, with many others replenishing the fleet after the conflict's end. (*Star Trek: Pendragon*)

### Second line, second life

With the full advent of the *Constitution*-class era, in 2248, the *Baton Rouge* class found itself downgraded from "Class I" to "Class II" status. The surviving, unconverted vessels of the class continued to prove eminently capable in such support roles, including escort, patrol, survey, transport, and training duties.

By the mid-2260s, a number of unconverted *Baton Rouges* had been either mothballed, scrapped or sold as surplus. Others continued in service, undergoing their own refits that fell short of full spaceframe conversion. By the 2280s, the last ships of the class had been decommissioned, marking an unprecedented 85 years of active duty with Starfleet.

## External links

* Baton Rouge class article at ***Memory Beta***, the non-canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* Baton Rouge class article at ***Star Trek Expanded Universe***, the fanon and fanworks *Star Trek* wiki.