Hermes class (scout)

The Hermes-class was a type of Federation starship in service in the 23rd century. (Star Fleet Technical Manual), and is classified as a scout ship.

Development History
Built on the Saladin-class hull, the Hermes-class was designed to be the electronic eyes and ears of the fleet, using its long-range sensors and scanners to search much farther than other ships could.

The large number of special sensors made this ship particularly effective on scientific missions, though these came at the cost of no torpedo armament and a reduced phaser suite.


 * (From the instruction manual for the game: Star Trek: Starfleet Command, itself taken from the original Star Fleet Battles source material)

These ships were eventually replaced by the more specialised Oberth-class science vessels for survey missions, and superceeded on long-range mapping cruises by more modern sensor technology embarked on standard starships.

Existing ships of the class were uprated beginning in 2271 to make use of new technology and capabilities that were developed for the uprated Constitution-class. This greaty increased the performance longetivity of the class, carrying them into the 2300's.

The class was retired in the early part of the 24th century, but a handful of the vessels were uprated once again to face the threats of the Dominion and Borg in 2373 in a desperate move by the Federation to field numbers against the twin threats.


 * ''(From the storyboards and novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and from artist notes on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Known Ships
From the Star Fleet Technical Manual.

Hermes Sub-Type

 * USS Hermes (NCC-585)
 * USS Anubis (NCC-586)
 * USS Albany (NCC-587)
 * USS Aeolus (NCC-588)
 * USS Diana (NCC-589)
 * USS Quintillus (NCC-590)
 * USS Bridger (NCC-591)
 * USS Carson (NCC-592)
 * USS Batidor (NCC-593)
 * USS Cody (NCC-594)
 * USS Revere (NCC-595)
 * USS Spaker (NCC-596)
 * USS Bowie (NCC-597)
 * USS Sacajawea (NCC-598)
 * USS Tonti (NCC-599)
 * USS Crockett (NCC-600)

Monoceros Sub-Type

 * USS Monoceros (NCC-601)
 * USS Aries (NCC-602)
 * USS Equulus (NCC-603)
 * USS Lupus (NCC-604)
 * USS Taurus (NCC-605)
 * USS Camelopardus (NCC-606)
 * USS Leo (NCC-607)
 * USS Lynx (NCC-608)
 * USS Ursa Major (NCC-609)
 * USS Lepus (NCC-610)
 * USS Canis Major (NCC-611)
 * USS Pegasus (NCC-612)
 * USS Vulpecula (NCC-613)
 * USS Leo Minor (NCC-614)
 * USS Canis Minor (NCC-615)
 * USS Ursa Minor (NCC-616)

Cygnus Sub-Type

 * USS Cygnus (NCC-617)
 * USS Apus (NCC-618)
 * USS Tucana (NCC-619)
 * USS Corvus (NCC-620)
 * USS Columbia (NCC-621)
 * USS Pavo (NCC-622)
 * USS Aquila (NCC-623)
 * USS Grus (NCC-624)
 * USS Phoenix (NCC-625)

Background
The Hermes class was designed by Franz Joseph for the Star Fleet Technical Manual. It was one of four 'new' designs of starships in that manual, and represents one of the oldest official Star Fleet designs, though it has never been seen in a definitively 'canonical' sense.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, two ships of the class (Revere and Columbia) were explicity mentioned in dialog, being ordered along with the Dreadnought Entente, to investigate the upcoming V'Ger threat. Original storyboards of the movie actually show the 'refit' versions of other ships in the class nearing completion.

The Hermes-class should not be confused with the Nelson-class, created by FASA in 1982 with a similar (but not identical) profile and role.

The Last Unicorn Games verion of the Star Trek role-playing game included the Hermes officially into its 'Ships of the Original Series' guide, though with numerous errors in its text. This does formally and finally bring back the class into the 'offical Trek lore', however.

Star Fleet Battles
The Hermes class is one of the most recognizable ships found within the Star Fleet Universe series of games (such as Star Fleet Battles), and is one of a handful of ship designs which cross over from 'official' Star Trek literature into the Star Fleet Universe lore. In that game series, the Hermes continues to serve as a large scout.

The series has several Hermes class vessels also in the Star Fleet Technical Manual and an additional ship the "USS De Gama (NCC-587)":

USS Hermes (NCC-585) | USS Diana (NCC-589) | USS Bridger (NCC-591) | USS Carson (NCC-592) | USS Cody (NCC-594) | USS Revere (NCC-595) | USS Bowie (NCC-597) | USS Crockett (NCC-600)