USS Columbia A

The USS Columbia A ("Columbia") is an Ambassador-Class Starship of the United Federation of Planets that serves as a diplomatic and exploratory vessel in the Shackleton Expanse during the 2380's.

History

Columbia was commissioned in 2315, relatively late in the production of Ambassador-class vessels.  She was given an upgraded communications systems and sent to work as a diplomatic runabout between the Federation Core Worlds and outposts.  Her crew knew her to see little to no action, acting as an escort in relatively uncontested space.
This changed during the many wars of the mid-24th century.  Her duties were given to smaller, older vessels and she was assigned to the front lines of the war.  The Dominion War saw her get the most action, as she was stationed patrolling the Cardassia and later Kron'os systems.
After the war, Columbia spent two years in spacedock at Jupiter Station seeing a massive refit to all of her systems.  With the return of the USS Voyager (NCC-74656), and concerns growing over a Borg offensive against Earth, she was assigned to the Shackleton Expanse to replace the much better-equipped USS Venture (NCC-71854) in a mission of exploration and diplomacy with the Klingons she once fought.

Power Generation

An upgraded matter/antimatter warp core replaces the outdated core installed during its extensive refits at Jupiter Station allowing it to reach much higher speeds than the class frame had been able to achieve in the past.  Secondary fusion generators are situated on Decks 3-4 and 12-13

Propulsion

Thrusters are usable under fusion generation only, providing only slight movement and attitude adjustment.  Impulse engines, located on the aft of the saucer, provide substantial sublight speeds.  Two variable-geometry warp nacelles were installed during the Jupiter refits allowing Columbia a significant boost in speed while also diminishing negative effects on subspace.

Weapons & Armament

10 fore and aft phaser strips, 3 fore and 2 aft photon torpedo banks.

Armor and defense

Standard shielding.  The class does not boast the ablative armor the newer ships of the line may sport.

Hangars & docked vessels

The Columbia carries a fleet of 5 Type-8 Shuttlecraft and 2 Danube-Class runabouts named after the earth astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia incident.

Click here for Columbia's in-game stats

Class

Ambassador-Class

Nickname

Columbia

Designation

NCC-1163-A

Motto

"You are just your intelligence" - Kalpana Chawla

Manufacturer

Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards

Creation Date

31152.9

Owning Organization

Starfleet

Current location

Epsilon 19 Starbase

Related Technologies

• Warp Drive

Length

524.3 meters

Weight

3.71 million tonnes

Speed

Refit cruising speed of Warp 8.8, Maximum speed of warp 9.75

Complement / Crew

800

Click here for Columbia's in-game stats