Galaxy class

The Galaxy-class is a type of starship used by Starfleet in the mid to late 24th century.

History
The Galaxy-class began development in 2343 and gained the dubious distinction of having the longest design, development and construction period of any class in Starfleet history, with the prototype USS Galaxy finally launching in 2357 and its first two sister ships the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) and USS Yamato (NCC-71807) following six years later in 2363. Starfleet initially ordered a total of twelve Galaxy-class ships. Starfleet decided that six ships would be completed, with only the frameworks for other six built. These six frameworks were broken down and carried by cargo carriers to remote sites to be held in case a later period of emergency necessitated the completion of these ships.

The emergency came in the form of the Borg and the Federations major losses at the Battle of Wolf 359 - 39 starships were destroyed, with one of the ships lost being a Galaxy-class ship. The incident propelled Starfleet into a massive ship design and building program in which the first additional six galaxy class and many more after that were constructed to supplement the fleet. While the expected Borg invasion did not come as imminently as expected the Federation did find itself engaged in war with the Dominion. In 2370 the Galaxy-class USS Odyssey (NCC-71832) became one of the first casualties of the Dominion's forces when it was rammed by a Jem'Hadar fighter. Afterward Galaxy-class ships went on to play a major part in numerous engagements in the war.

To help get more Galaxy-class ships into service, existing spaceframes were outfitted with weapons and minimal crew accommodations to decrease construction time, leaving sixty-five percent of these spaceframes empty. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual)

The 2370s also saw the introduction of the Soverign-class, the Galaxy-class’s successor which effectively marked the end of future Galaxy class construction. (Reference Book: Starship Spotter) The Galaxy class space frame was designed with a hundred-year lifespan in mind, so the class will likely remain in service for many decades. In a possible future created by Q the USS Enterprise was refitted with an additional warp nacelle and additional phaser arrays. The USS Venture was later modified to hold two additional phaser arrays on the warp nacelles. (TNG episode: "All Good Things..." and novel Vendetta, DS9 episode "The Way of the Warrior", and Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual)

Features
The Galaxy class did not present any particular technological revolutions but was the culmination of Starfleet technologies to date. It was one of Starfleet’s largest classes accommodating not just the crew but their families and other civilians in spacious comfortable quarters and providing extensive recreational facilities including the latest in holodeck technologies. The class was intended to be used as a ship of exploration, its size and facilities allowing missions of up to a decade. In addition it could effectively become a mobile Starbase in the Federation's outlying territories maintaining the peace and Federation law and order.

The main technological breakthrough that the class did represent was the facility for routine saucer separation. Whilst separation had been available in a number of previous classes it had always been necessary to utilize Starbase facilities to reconnect the severed parts of the ship. The Galaxy-class was entirely capably of separating and connecting at will allowing a large proportion of the crew to escape hostile situations. (Reference Book: Starship Spotter)

The Galaxy-class starships also feature a large lounge and bar area where the crew can relax and get something to eat or drink in the most forward area of the ship on deck 10. On the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), this area was named Ten-Forward, and on the USS Challenger (NCC-71099), this area was known as Shuttlebay Four. (NF novel: Stone and Anvil and TOS novel: The Return)

Apocrypha
The various RPG supplements published by Last Unicorn Games after they had lost their Star Trek license listed many other Galaxy class starships: USS Vel'dna (NCC-72406), USS Kludy (NCC-71095), USS Courageous (NCC-72579), USS Indomitable (NCC-73462), USS Hentar (NCC-71093), USS Frontiersman, USS Nevsky (NCC-71038), USS Benton (NCC-69130), USS Ishtar (NCC-70856), USS Pel-Gaash (NCC-71246) and the USS Vanuatu (NCC-68208).