The Flammarion-class was a Federation class VIII research vessel starship, later uprated to class IX, in service to Starfleet in the late 23rd century.
Specifications[]
Flammarion was a scientific and general-purpose exploration starship outfitted with dozens of laboratories. The class was intended for long-term interdisciplinary research of a nebula, system, or other region. Deck six featured specialized facilities to study anthropology, archeology, astronomy, astrophysics, botany, chemistry, cybernetics, electronics, energy, geography, geology, linguistics, marine biology, metallurgy, meteorology, paleontology, physics, robotics, stellar cartography, xenobiology, and zoology. Deck seven was equipped to study biochemistry, computer science, radiation and other fields. That deck also contained five large habitat simulators and two marine habitats able to support aquatic animal specimens.
This class vessel was powered by twin-mounted FWE-1 warp engines much smaller than those of combat vessels, as the ships weren't seen as needing battle redundancies, only sturdy engineering and light maintenance. The class carried four standard shuttlecraft, 2 cargo shuttles, and two labmobile ground vehicles.
In 2286, following the loss of the USS Grissom in the Mutara sector, Starfleet Command decided that lightly-armed science vessels could be a liability in wake of increasing tensions with the Klingon Empire, and would not assign escorts to such ships. Themis Shipyards designed an uprated variant, increasing the vessel's armament, shields, and tonnage to better defend itself in a conflict. Existing vessels were subsequently refit to the new specifications at Aldebaran, Sol and Alpha Centauri shipyards. Laboratories were added for cryptography and munitions research. Exercise space was reserved for a contingent of Starfleet Marines, and the shuttlebay would carry a troop carrier shuttle.
Service history[]
The class entered service in the late 2260s, on reference stardate 2/0905.
By the mid 2280s, before the uprated Mk III was introduced, 130 Mk Is and 112 very similar Mk IIs had entered service, many from the Themis Shipyards.
By the late 2280s, 27 original Mk IIIs had been built, making 269 Flammarion-class ships in all. 231 were still in regular service, with 10 assigned to Starfleet Intelligence, 7 lost during research missions, 3 lost in combat, 5 disappeared and presumed lost, 2 scrapped and 11 sold to private interests in the Federation. (Stardate Magazine vol. 3, Issue 5: "Federation Flammarion Class VIII/IX Large Research Vessel")
Appendices[]
Background[]
The class was probably named for Camille Flammarion, a 19th century astronomer who wrote the first science fiction story about warp drive. (Star Trek: Communicator Issue 131: "At the Core of Matter/Antimatter")
The prototype of this class would presumably be a USS Flammarion, but no ship names were provided by the source. A Ptolemy-class USS Flamarion was authorized for construction in the 2260s.
