Ship of the (Yester)Day

Class: Intrepid Class Starship
Affiliation: Starfleet, United Federation of Planets
Description: Following the devestating defeat to the borg at Wolf 359, Starfleet ship designers turned their attention to creating battle-oriented starships such as the Defiant and Akira Classes. However, since Starfleet also remained chartered as the exploratory arm of the Federation, work on exploratory vessels did not stop: in many ways, it was able to move forward unhindered by the military needs of Starfleet Command for the first time in decades. The first great success of this development process was the Intrepid Class. Built as an exploration-oriented medium-cruiser for extended duration in the far reaches of Federation space, the Intrepid boasted abilities that had been ruled out in earlier designs. The variable-position warp nacelles, combined with advanced computing systems capable of making adjustments to the warp field every 10^-18 seconds, permitted Intrepid Class starships to become the fastest starships ever built. After the loss of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2371 and the subsequent, sucessful (though irreversible) planetary landing of the Primary Hull, the design yard at Utopia Planitia concluded that planetfall and liftoff capability was possible for the Intrepid Class with minimal impact on ship arrangement. This capability was designed and implemented within months, being sucessfully installed on the second ship of the class (USS Voyager) prior to her launch the same year. The Intrepid Class was initially critisized by Starfleet command as being too generic at a time when Starfleet was moving toward specialized military starships (e.g., Akira Class) and research starships (e.g., Nova Class). However, following the return of USS Voyager from the Delta Quadrent, Starfleet command ordered a re-evaluation. During this study, many of the systems of the USS Voyager were literally torn down to base parts and measured on the molecular level before being refurbished and re-installed aboard Voyager. This study determined that the Intrepid Class design and systems were far more robust and far better suited for military missions than previously thought. As a result of this study, Starfleet increased the procurement rate of Intrepid Class Starships 200% and ordered CAPT Janeway's logs mandatory reading for all officers aspiring to command duty (in addition to selected log readings of CAPTs Kirk, Altruth, Soronis, and Picard). As of three years following these decisions, the robust Intrepid is beginning to rival the Akira as Starfleet's preferred medium cruiser for military missions.
Abilities: As a result of the aforementioned study, Intrepid Class starships have been outfitted with abilities that make them especially effecive at countering borg vessels.
