The USS Lancaster is generally considered to be one of the first “modern” starship with all primary facilities in the same general positions as in current vessels, for example the bridge was placed in the top of the primary hull. Although this position has been criticized as reckless and unnecessary, it symbolizes the bridge’s command of the entire ship. Despite being compared to a “warp-capable brick” because of its stark, almost brutal, contours and thick, relatively short warp nacelles the Lancaster class inspired a loyalty amongst its crews that few other Starship classes could match.

USS Lancaster commissioned in February 2205, and the next 15 vessels followed in the subsequent 24 months. The new class was hailed as a significant advance in starship engineering. However, perhaps the best measure of a ship’s success is the opinions of their crews, and the Lancaster class ships were loved by their crews. This fierce loyalty was reflected by the perversely prideful nicknames, such as “Thunderhog” (USS Olympia) and “Death Slab” (USS Texas), that they gave their ships. These ships were often decorated with unofficial hull “nose art” and kill markings. In fact, many crews were reluctant to give their ships up when newer classes entered service.

One reason for their popularity was that they were the most powerful warships of their time, with the highest speeds, strongest shields, and greatest firepower. Because of their reputations as superb fighting ships, the class tended to attract many Starfleet’s finest personnel. Lancaster class captains were probably the most aggressive in the history of Starfleet, however, this leadership style perfectly suited the spirit of the times and Starfleet fulfilled its popular mandate to protect Federation citizens from danger. As such ,the Lancaster ships were constantly in action throughout their careers. The class was refitted with modern weapons and shields in 2248, and saw much action in the four years war.

After an illustrious career, the Lancaster class was withdrawn in 2264. The last to retire, USS Unicorn, the recipient of 7 battle stars is now on display at the Starfleet Museum.

The first Krechet class ships entered service in 2157. They were the first ships to serve in the fleet with matter/antimatter reactors since the experimental (and expensive) NX class of 6 years earlier. The reversion to matter/antimatter reactors was caused by the need to give combat vessels a far greater range as a result of the need to undertake offensive rather than defensive operations. The Krechet class had a range of 1000 hours at warp, 5 times that of the Amarillo. Otherwise performance was similar to the earlier class, although total power and speed were slightly higher

The command hull was based on that of the Amarillo, the main structural change being the relocation of the Warp nacelles to front of the vessel in an attempt to improve warp field dynamics and efficiency

August 2157, UES Krechet and UES Bowen, were on patrol in sector 23, 10 light years from the nearest starbase or outpost. Because of their longer ranges and higher speeds, the Krechet class was able to monitor what had previously been a potential route of invasion. On August 23, UES Bowen detected a high interstellar deuterium concentration. The cruisers tracked the deuterium to three Romulan tankers. Remaining out of sensor range to avoid alerting the tankers, they fired a message torpedo towards starbase 44 then continued along the tanker’s projected course until they found the Romulan invasion fleet 1 light year inside UE Alliance space. After reinforcements, including Tannhauser class heavy cruisers, arrived and engaged the Romulans near Hell’s Gate, the remnants of the badly mauled and surrounded invasion fleet self-destructed to avoid capture.

In all just eight Krechet class ships were built, of which only two were lost. Although the Krechet class was a transitional design that was not effective across the entire performance spectrum, it did allow the fleet to gain valuable experience in maintaining and operating M/AM powered vessels under wartime conditions. As the UE Alliance went on the offensive in mid- 2158, Krechets were largely relegated to secondary roles by the newer and more capable Conqueror and Powhatan classes.

The KRECHET-class cruiser UES FEUERSTEIN (CCM-4) is now on display at the Starfleet Museum.

The Amarillo Class fusion powered Heavy cruiser served in the Fleet at the outbreak of the Romulan War. Although eclipsed by the far larger battle cruisers that served during the war, it can be argued that the Amarillo class marked the start of the proud tradition of Starfleet Heavy Cruisers.

The first 5 Amarillo Class ships entered service in 2152. At the time of the outbreak of the Romulan War they were still the most advanced Cruiser Class in service.

The ships compared well to the far larger Pioneer Class they served alongside, they had a similar power output and were far easier to handle in combat due to their smaller size. The Amarillo having similar firepower, but less combat persistence due to its limited number of missile relaods.

As with all ships of the period the Spherical Command hull held virtually all of the ship’s vital functions and crewed areas. The Design was also notable for starting the tradition, long maintained by Federation ships of mounting all of its weapons to cover the forward firing arcs.

Technically the only real flaw with the design lay in its power generation system. The ship was powered by Fusion reactors, although this did not generate less power than later Matter/Antimatter reactors it did use far more fuel, hence the operational range of these ships was only 100 hours at warp speed.

Despite this the class took the brunt of the early fighting in the Romulan War, and served alongside the later Krechet class (which basically added an antimatter generator to the same basic design) until finally replaced in 2158 by the Powhatan, Torsk and Conqueror classes. In all 16 of the 25 ships of this class were lost in action during the conflict, this should not be taken as a failure on the part of the design, more as a failure of Earth’s defensive preparations. The class performed as well as any could have hoped, but in the face of overwhelming opposition suffered inevitable losses at the hands of the Romulan Fleet.

The AMARILLO-class cruiser UES WOLVERTON (CC-47) is now on display at the Starfleet Museum.

Commissioned vessels

• UES Amarillo CC-33 **
• UES Shikoku CC-34 **
• UES Kursk CC-35 **
• UES St. Petersburg CC-36 **
• UES London CC-37 **
• UES Kamina CC-38 **
• UES Syracuse CC-39
• UES Celebes CC-40 **
• UES Sarajevo CC-41 **
• UES Portland CC-42 **
• UES Wilmington CC-43
• UES Xiaguan CC-44
• UES Cairo CC-45
• UES Jakarta CC-46 **
• UES Wolverton CC-47
• UES Milan CC-48 **
• UES Charleston CC-49
• UES Bozeman CC-50 **
• UES Stockholm CC-51 **
• UES Kinshasa CC-52
• UES Melbourne CC-53 **
• UES Bremen CC-54 **
• UES Johannesburg CC-55 **
• UES Agata CC-56
• UES New Orleans CC-57