Recognising the issues with the stress around the secondary hull connector of the Vagabond class, Starfleet took a radical approach in resolving the problem.

The USS Tyrannis, the planned 15th ship of the Vagabond class was modified while under construction to have two ventrally mounted warp nacelles and no secondary hull. The primary hull was largely unchanged from the Vagabond except for the nacelle mounts.

The Tyrannis class resolved the problems in the Vagabond class, and proved to be an effective exploration cruiser, supplementing the new Anton class.

Like the Anton class these ships proved to be too lightly armed, and with the advent of the four years war construction was curtailed at 14 vessels in 2254.

After the war, four Vagabond class ships were converted to this configuration, making good the four vessels lost during the war.

The Tyrannis class received a refit in 2261-63 gaining phasers and photon torpedoes, which gave the ships the ability to mount a more robust defence. The ships survived in until 2290, and many were sold onto the private sector.

The Wayfarer class  cruisers built upon the lessons of the Antares class, providing an affordable cruiser design which was well suited for independent patrol and exploration duties.

The design by the independent designer, P.T.Riley was a compact looking ship with a deflector mounted in a recess in the front of the saucer section, with a tapering elongated primary hull with upward swept nacelle supports.

In 2245 USS Pathfinder had additional hybrid nacelles mounts added to produce a four engine variation of the class,  following the trials of the USS Nelson. The smaller size of the Wayfarer and its more warp dynamic design meant that recently developed M1 could provide the required level of computer power. After successful trials four additional craft were converted to the configuration for use as long range exploration cruisers entering service from 2248 onwards.

The Wayfarer class  cruisers built upon the lessons of the Antares class, providing an affordable cruiser design which was well suited for independent patrol and exploration duties.

The design by the independent designer, P.T.Riley was a compact looking ship with a deflector mounted in a recess in the front of the saucer section, with a tapering elongated primary hull with upward swept nacelle supports.

Compared to the Antares class it was far more warp dynamic, giving much better cruising range despite utilising the same power plant.

In 2241  USS Pathfinder (NCC-1541) had its nacelle mounts flipped over as part of trials which led to the Anton, Tyrannis, Surya and Coventry classes. Pathfinder retained these mounts until 2245

The Wayfarer class  cruisers built upon the lessons of the Antares class, providing an affordable cruiser design which was well suited for independent patrol and exploration duties.

The design by the independent designer, P.T.Riley was a compact looking ship with a deflector mounted in a recess in the front of the saucer section, with a tapering elongated primary hull with upward swept nacelle supports.

Compared to the Antares class it was far more warp dynamic, giving much better cruising range despite utilising the same power plant.

USS Wayfarer commissioned as NCC-1535 as the ranges of construction contract numbers were spread across four yards, meaning the highest numbered batch actually commissioned first.

The Wayfarer was notable for a wide range of variations of the design:

2238 – USS Wanderer (NCC-1512) was fitted with a secondary hull in the dorsal position for use in trials of the design intended for the Vagabond class, the ship retained this hull until she was lost without trace in 2253

2241 – USS Pathfinder (NCC-1541) had its nacelle mounts flipped over as part of trials which led to the Anton, Tyrannis, Surya and Coventry classes. Pathfinder retained these mounts until 2245

2245 – USS Pathfinder had additional hybrid nacelles mounts added to produce a four engine variation of the class,  following the trials of the USS Nelson Four additional craft were converted to the configuration for use as long range exploration cruisers.

The Vagabond design shared many concepts with the later Constitution class, they were designed in tandem, but the Vagabond entered service first due to the use of lower risk components in the design, where the Constitution pushed the envelope of many of the technologies. The secondary hull of the Vagabond was tested on the USS Wanderer of the earlier Wayfarer class (also designed by P.T.Riley).

The elongated saucer of the Vagabond was utilised for laboratories and an enhanced planetary sensor suite. In service the Vagabond proved useful, and when pressed into combat was manoueverable and a useful addition to the fleet. However the elongated saucer was found to be prone to stress around the primary hull connector owing to the stresses caused by the propulsion system being dependent on the same connector unlike the configuration of the Wanderer.

• Class: X
• Year: 2240
• Ship Source: Riley Dynamics
• Ship Datasheet: Coming Soon

Commissioned Ships (include)

• USS Vagabond NCC-1671
• USS Gypsy NCC-1672