Odyssey class

*For similarly named articles, see Odyssey (disambiguation).*

The ***Odyssey* class** was a type of Federation starship that served (in varying configurations) as a dreadnought, star cruiser, and explorer. Originally developed in the 2380s, the class would not go into full production until the early 25th century. (*PIC* comic: *Picard: Countdown*; *Star Trek Online*)

Over the course of the 2410s, at least four variant subclasses were introduced. Most of the Mark I *Odysseys* would be upgraded to the *Yorktown* class, a science-focused multi-mission star cruiser. Additional variants included the *Sojourner* class, an operations-focused star cruiser; the *Endeavour* class, a tactical star cruiser; and the *Verity* class, a command dreadnought cruiser. (*Star Trek Online*)

## History

### Conception

During the 2370s, Starfleet reconsidered their stance on the development of large dreadnought classes after encountering two massive enemy starships.

The first of these incidents was during the Dominion War, when the USS *Valiant* encountered a prototype Jem'Hadar dreadnought, twice the size of a *Galaxy*-class starship and three times as powerful. Later during the war, further such vessels would be encountered, even larger, up to three times the size of the *Galaxy*, with massively increased power output.

The second incident came several years after the war, when in 2379, the USS *Enterprise* encountered the Reman warship *Scimitar*, and was nearly destroyed by her in the Bassen Rift.

Since the end of the long Federation-Klingon Cold War, over the last century Starfleet's starship design philosophy had shifted away from large dreadnought-style ships, and the few battleship designs in service were small, maneuverable escorts such as the *Defiant* class and *Prometheus* class designed to harass larger foes like a Borg Cube or a *D'deridex*-class warbird. At the time, such warships were few, and most of the fleet was built upon the backs of exploration cruisers like the *Galaxy* and *Sovereign* classes. The wartime encounters with Jem'Hadar dreadnoughts had already forced Starfleet to reconsider this stance, and the *Scimitar* incident only served as further confirmation that a new class of dreadnought was needed.

### Development

As typical when a new design mandate is given, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and the Advanced Starship Design Bureau began work on two dreadnought classes during the later half of the Dominion War, anticipating a prolonged conflict. The first was envisioned as an upgrade and structural overhaul of the *Galaxy* class into a configuration along the lines of the last century's *Federation*-class dreadnought, and would develop into the *Olympus* class. Work began at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2374, and easier than developing a ship from scratch, the refit was ready within three years, and the first vessels of the *Olympus* configuration entered into service in 2377.

The development of a totally new spaceframe would take much longer. The new class was named after the USS *Odyssey*, the first Starfleet casualty in conflict with the Dominion, and the spaceframe that would become the USS *Odyssey* was laid down at San Francisco Fleet Yards. The spaceframe of a sister ship, the *Verity*, was also laid down not too long after.

### A New Mandate

In 2381, work on the *Odyssey* was just over half-complete, and somewhat further behind on the *Verity*, when Starfleet learned of the impending Romulan supernova. Admiral Picard was looking for a flagship for the rescue armada, and it was decided that the one of the new dreadnoughts would be the only vessel large enough to serve the purpose. Though the *Verity* was farther from completion, this was considered a boon, as it meant the necessary changes to her internal structure could be completed faster. Work was abandoned on the *Odyssey* as *Verity* became the top priority at San Francisco Yards, while Commander Geordi La Forge oversaw the development of a full fleet of evacuation vessels at Utopia Planitia. Within months, the *Verity* was ready for service, and Picard took her out to begin the great work of rescuing the Romulan people from an extinction-level event.

The *Odyssey* herself was left on the backburner as most of Starfleet's ship-building efforts were focused on pushing out the existing *Wallenberg*-class transports and La Forge's new rescue fleet.

### Attacked and Abandoned

On First Contact Day in 2385, the entire Federation watched in horror as the synthetic labor force of Dayston A500 androids went rogue and destroyed Utopia Planitia, obliterating the evacuation ships, and igniting the Martian atmosphere; the death toll of that day exceeded 93,000 souls lost.

In the wake of this tragedy, the Federation banned all synthetic life, and abandoned the Romulan rescue mission altogether. The *Verity* was recalled to Earth and mothballed, while the unfinished *Odyssey* lay forgotten in storage as the work of rebuilding the UFP's starship construction capabilities commenced.

### New Threats, Second Chances

In the early 25th century, new conflicts brought Starfleet back around again to concept of larger battleships geared for war. With the Klingon Empire having launched their *Vo'quv*-class dreadnoughts a few years earlier, and the looming threat of the Undine, Starfleet decided to finally complete the *Odyssey* and develop an entire line variable mission sub-classes based on her design.

Having spent a quarter century gathering space dust, the *Odyssey* was upgraded with the latest technologies, and additional spaceframes were laid down immediately. The *Odyssey* underwent shakedown, and was commissioned in early 2409, launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards.

On April 5, 2410, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Mars attack, the rebuilt Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards commissioned its first starship, the second of the new *Odyssey* class to enter service -- the USS *Enterprise*-F, under the command of Captain Va'kel Shon. Already differing from her older sister *Odyssey*, the *Enterprise*-F's aft section was redesigned to house an *Aquarius*-class light escort as a combat support craft. (*Star Trek Online*: "Boldly They Rode", "First Contact Day")

More vessels soon followed, including the USS *Houston*, assigned to Task Force Omega under Admiral D'Vak. (*Star Trek Online*: "Hive Onslaught")

### A Design for Every Mission

Within a few years, variants of the *Odyssey* were introduced as sub-classes, equipped for different mission profiles.

The first of these was the *Yorktown* class, a science star cruiser design; the *Enterprise*-F was eventually reconfigured to this layout. The *Sojourner* class and *Endeavour* class entered service at roughly the same time, as operations and tactical cruisers, respectively. (*Star Trek Online*: "Scylla and Charybdis")

A fourth variant, the *Verity class* class was introduced later, as a "legendary" command dreadnought cruiser, in honor of the earlier *Verity* and her tragic, yet noble history. (*Star Trek Online*: *Legacy*)

Further developments of the *Yorktown* class would lead to a fifth variant, the *Lexington* class. (*Star Trek Online*: *Terran Gambit*)

## Technical data

### Technologies

#### Mark I *Odyssey*

At her official launch in 2409, the Mark I *Odyssey* was equipped with the following equipment:

Propulsion
* 1 Yoyodyne 46A M/ARC warp core
* 2 Charon Yards hyper impulse engines
* 10 Zhiv/Ren SR83 impulse thrusters
* transwarp drive
* advanced quantum slipstream drive

Sensors
* 4 DYN-75 multi-band linear sensor suites
* 4 omniwave passive sensor matrices
* 1 J-DOME omnidirectional sensor array

Armaments
* 18 mark XII phaser arrays
* 4 variable payload torpedo launchers

#### Mark II/S *Yorktown*

The Mark II *Yorktown* refit was upgraded to the following loadout:

Propulsion
* 1 Yoyodine 47B M/ARC warp core
* 2 Keenser/Pegg heavy impulse engines
* 2 inline flux secondary impulse engines

Sensors
* 12 DYN-90 multi-band linear sensor suites
* 4 omniwave passive sensor matrices
* 1 JAWS active directional sensor array

Armaments
* 21 mark XIV phaser arrays
* 6 variable payload torpedo launchers

## Ships commissioned

* USS *Odyssey* (NX-97000)
* USS *Verity* (NX-97001)
* USS *Enterprise* (NCC-1701-F)
* USS *Yorktown* (NCC-97005)
* USS *Houston* (NCC-97284)
* USS *Ulysses*
* USS *Dennison*
* USS *Columbia*
* USS *Yorktown* (NCC-98300) (MK II/S)
* USS *Sojourner* (NCC-98400) (Mk II/E)
* USS *Endeavour* (NCC-98500) (Mk II/T)
* USS *Hikaru Sulu* (NCC-92420)

## Appendices

### Background

* The *Odyssey* class was designed for *Star Trek Online*, as a the class for their USS *Enterprise*. In the game, the class was first launched in 2409, and variant designs were introduced in 2410.
* When the *Star Trek: Picard*: *Countdown* comic book depicted the USS *Verity* as a member of the *Odyssey* class in 2385, STO designer Thomas Marrone crafted a retcon explanation for how the *Verity* could predate the *Odyssey* in service by a quarter-century. He provided that answer on a QueueTimes stream on March 10, 2020.

### External links

* Odyssey class article at ***Memory Alpha***, the canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* Odyssey class article at ***Memory Beta***, the non-canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* *Odyssey* class article at the official ***Star Trek Online*** wiki