Odyssey Class Dreadnaught/Explorer
History, Design Philosophy & Purpose 

The Odyssey-class was a type of Federation starship that was the pinnacle of Federation starship design and would carry the Federation into a new generation of exploration in the late 24th century and well into 25th century. It was designed to be a dreadnought and an explorer. It is one of the largest starships created by Starfleet, surpassing even the Galaxy-class in size. (Star Trek Adventures module: Utopia Planitia Sourcebook)

History and specifications

Features

The Odyssey-class featured the ability for saucer separation much like the Galaxy-class. The chevron-shaped saucer section could be separated from the stardrive section, allowing greater maneuverability to the stardrive section. The chevron section can be reattached to the stardrive section at any time. In addition, an Aquarius-class escort ship is docked to the rear of the ship's stardrive (roughly where the secondary shuttle bay would be located on a Sovereign-class), which can be deployed at will. It also carries six workbees in the main shuttlebay for field repairs.

The pinnacle of the Odyssey-class's technological achievement was the advanced quantum slipstream drive carried aboard all Odyssey-class vessels. The advanced quantum slipstream drive propelled the Odyssey-class to its fastest speed, transwarp 34.71+.

The bridge of the vessel is cavernous and features a viewscreen separate from the forward viewport, with crew stations in an oval around the chairs for the commanding and first officers. The captain's ready room is on the starboard side of the bridge, with a turbolift on the port wall and a dedicated transporter pad set into the aft wall. There is an observation deck by the forward viewport and a second, partial crew deck down a flight of stairs. (STO mission: "The Odyssey Class")

Service history

24th century

The keel for the prototype USS Odyssey was laid in the 2380s. (Star Trek Adventures module: Utopia Planitia Sourcebook)

The USS Verity was active by the year 2381. Starfleet Command gave the ship to four-star Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, after reassigning him away from the USS Enterprise-E. Picard's first officer Worf was then appointed captain of the Sovereign-class cruiser. Meanwhile, Admiral Picard commanded the Verity on a mission to evacuate worlds of the Romulan Star Empire from an impending supernova. (PIC novel: The Last Best Hope)

The mission remained active until 2385. At the time, the Verity carried the NCC registry number NCC-97000. (PIC - Countdown comic: "Issue 1")

25th century

The prototype USS Odyssey (NX-97000) was launched in 2409 and taken on a trial cruise by one of Starfleet's leading captains. The first stage of the test involved scanning a group of satellites. During the subsequent weapons testing stage they attacked and destroyed a group of derelict Borg ships set up as targets.

At that moment a Klingon dreadnought arrived in Mars orbit. The captain took the ship after it and attacked the vessel, eventually inflicting severe enough damage to force them into retreat. (STO mission: "The Odyssey Class")

Starfleet began producing three additional variants of the class shortly afterwards. The Odyssey switched from its initial NX registry to NCC-97000. (STO - Klingon War mission: "Welcome to Earth Spacedock")

As the newest, most advanced class in the fleet, it was fitting that the seventh Federation flagship and the eighth iteration of the starship Enterprise be one of them. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-F) was launched later in 2409 under the command of Captain Va'Kel Shon. The Enterprise-F's first mission was to lead Starfleet reinforcements to Deep Space 9 to aid in the starbase's recapture from Dominion forces under First Kar'ukan. (STO - Lost Dominion mission: "Boldly They Rode")

Odyssey-class vessels were also sighted under the command of the Terran Empire during their inter-universal attack on Vauthil Station. This included the ISS Enterprise-F. (STO mission: "Mirror Invasion")

The ISS Enterprise-F was the flagship of the Terran Empire in 2409, and under the command of the recently promoted Admiral Leeta. When Imperial Starfleet forces from the 29th century arrived in the 25th century to turn the tide against the Iconians, Leeta insisted that the Imperial flagship be the first vessel to be outfitted with the uptime technology. (STO - New Dawn mission: "Message from Another Universe")

During the Second Battle of Earth between the Khitomer Alliance and Dominion against the Iconian Empire in 2410, the Odyssey-class USS Yorktown (NCC-97005) was destroyed, and the Enterprise suffered extreme structural damage. Towed to Mars for service, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers rebuilt the Yorktown hulk into an upgraded, "Block II" version of the Odyssey class. The new Yorktown was recommissioned with the registry number NCC-98300. Starfleet relaunched the Enterprise as a Yorktown-class starship. (STO - Emergence short story: "Jayce's Navy Interstellar: Through the Valley")

The Advanced Starship Design Bureau at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards developed two additional variants of the Odyssey, the Endeavour and Sojourner-class star cruisers. While the former was a more angular, military-oriented version, the Sojourner was geared towards exploration and featured a wide, circular saucer section. (STO mission: "First Contact Day")

In 2410, Admiral D'Vak, Worf's grandson, commanded the Odyssey-class/"Block I" USS Houston. The Houston was destroyed during a battle with the Borg Queen and her forces at Unimatrix 0047. (STO - Borg Advance mission: "Hive Onslaught")

Following the Battle of Excalbia on stardate 84999.22[9] in early 2411, which saw the prominent involvement of hero ships from the Federation's past and present, the Verity was among the command dreadnought cruisers that received a refit to legendary starship qualifications. Re-categorised as a Verity-class starship, the Verity carried the registry number NCC-97005. (STO website: Legacy : Legendary Command Dreadnought Cruiser)

The Khitomer Alliance partners also operated the Lexington-class dreadnought in 2411. This Terran dreadnought cruiser was based on the Yorktown class, or "Block II". The ISS Enterprise-F was refitted to this configuration. (STO - Terran Gambit mission: "Red Shift")

The USS Enterprise-F and ISS Enterprise-F led a joint fleet to Pahvo in the mirror universe to stop the machinations of Wesley Crusher, Emperor of the Terran Empire. (STO - Terran Gambit mission: "Eye of the Storm")

26th century

The class remained active into the 26th century. In 2554, at least one Odyssey-class star cruiser was wrecked during the pivotal Battle of Procyon V between the Federation, the Sphere Builders and their Temporal Liberation Front allies. This ship was part of the Federation fleet led by the USS Enterprise-J.

In one course of events, Admiral Leeta brought the ISS Enterprise-F from the 25th century to Procyon V. The Enterprise-F fought the Enterprise-J. The time travelling Odyssey-/Yorktown-class vessel was a match for the Universe-class temporal dreadnought cruiser. A boarding action by Admiral Leeta and Imperial Starfleet was repelled by Captains Pavel Chekov and Montgomery Scott. (STO - Future Proof mission: "Ragnarok")