U.S.S. Monarch is the last Soyuz class starship operational. Monarch was the last to be decommissioned on stardate 8531.5 [Earth year 2288], having returned from a three year mission to Boronis IV under Commander Francis Hutchinson. The starship Monarch is operated by Starfleet Research and Development, she spends most of her time at Utopia Planitia spacedock in dock 17, the 'special' dock. N.X. 1943 had a very plain history during her brief operational period with Starfleet, she was the last Soyuz class to be refit.

U.S.S. Monarch was in refit for a year following her decommissioning ceremony. NX 1943 was stripped down before being rebuilt, modular part by modular part. The Soyuz class configuration was retained for the larger aft section which could be used for engineering projects.

U.S.S. Monarch has subsequently been used to test various pieces of prototype equipment, new refined equipment and new concepts/theories. Monarch, although still technically warp capable, rarely leaves the Sol system, spending much of her research time either docked at Utopia Planitia or running at impulse speeds around the solar system. Some of the more recent studies carried out onboard include prototype replicator technology, phaser strip technology studies phase one, photon torpedo MK VII testing, advanced duotronic computer technology assessment and ideonomothetic laboratory technology testing for current new starship generation.

The Commanding officer for the Monarch [since 2297] is Lieutenant Commander Susan Thornton, who commands the crew of 80. It is planned for U.S.S. Monarch to remain in service until 2310, by which time other more modern starships will be available for the research programs.

Soyuz class history:

Soyuz class vessels were all refitted from older vessels. After the Enterprise returned from her five year mission in 2270, Starfleet desired a new design of light cruiser/ heavy frigate to meet the new challenges. The first design of the two competing classes to enter service was the Soyuz class. This refit frigate design was ordered in 2270 as pathfinder concept NXP2270 FH [heavy frigate] and the first Soyuz class vessel was docked for conversion to refit specifications in 2270, emerging hurriedly in 2273 as NX 1834, U.S.S. Soyuz. This conversion work was hurried to get a lead on the other contending design which was the Miranda class.

Various items of new technology were installed on the Soyuz class, this included new sensor arrays, installation of the new linear warp drive as per the refit Constitution class and prototype sensor arrays. The Soyuz was tested extensively from its launch in 2273, being joined in 2274 by U.S.S. Edinboro [NCC 1857], 2275 by U.S.S. Aegis [NCC 1892], 2277 saw U.S.S. Bozeman [NCC 1941] joining the fleet and finally 2279 saw U.S.S. Monarch [NCC 1943] launched from Copernicus Fleet Yards. In 2275 the Miranda class was launched and the competition was afoot. Rapidly it became apparent that the Miranda class was both more manovreable and a better design. By 2279 the Advanced Starship Design Bureau had chosen the winning design, and Miranda Class was it. Soyuz class was assigned to the history books at a stroke and with it no further orders were placed after Monarch was completed.

With the Soyuz class losing the replacement programme in 2279, the surviving 4 members of the class [Bozeman was lost in mysterious circumstances in 2278] were used as the testbed for the development of the Miranda class design.

By the mid-2280s it was decided to withdraw the Soyuz class from service as non-standard. Fleet Admiral Morrow, Starfleet Commander, ordered the decommissioning of the remainder of the Soyuz class fleet by 2288. U.S.S. Soyuz was retired to the Fleet Museum whilst the remaining vessels were retained by the ASDB. U.S.S. Aegis, by quirk of name, was selected for testing defensive technologies and strategies, Edinboro was used for sensor studies and Monarch was selected for more general testing.

U.S.S. Monarch - or the 'Monolith' as her crew affectionately calls her - was one of two Soyuz class starships reconfigured after the fleet rundown was completed in 2288. The two starships: Monarch and Aegis were selected for testing new equipment. U.S.S Aegis [NX 1942] met her fate in 2289 when she was aptly used to test new shield technologies to destruction at the hands of the U.S.S. Lexington [NCC 1709]. Monarch was selected for rebuild as stated above and would allow a rare opportunity to have a constantly dynamic platform for studying and testing new internal arrangements and new technologies. Should she have any internal giveaways for classified projects when her days are finished, it is most likely, as with the Aegis, she will be used as target practice.

As part of the Starfleet Review, a medium sized technology demonstrator for the ASDB was proposed in order to advance starship design forward into the twenty-fourth century. With the first draft released of the Review, in 2303 the starship was selected for the role: U.S.S. Monarch. The Monarch was drydocked at Utopia planitia yard number 17, the 'special' dock. Extensive work was planned for this non-standard starship. The entire crew was re-assigned and the majority of the research and development work conducted by the Monarch was moved to other starships, including the Sheffield.

Eighteen months of redesign work was planned, involving the gutting of the starship, but retention of the enlarged engineering section in order to test warp cores for larger ships than Miranda class. Thus U.S.S. Monarch retains her unique status as Soyuz class, but without the sensor pods that made her visually distinguishable from Miranda class. She now resembles the rollbarless U.S.S. Lantree, but with an extended and enlarged aft section.

The Monarch was ready in her new configuration on stardate 11904.5. With the ship defined as a technology demonstrator, with a requirement for regular warp drive useage, the starship reverted to a captain rank Commanding Officer. Philip Truman assumed command with Commander Saran as his Executive Officer.

Author's Notes:

Why have a Soyuz class starship as a research prototype? Well, simply because in the history of planes, trains and warships it has been historically easier to keep 'tweaking' an obsolete version of a form of transport, improving it and testing radical new systems in them than by using current frontline examples [causing them to spend time in hangers or depots, wasting away their useful operational lives - U.S.S. Excelsior was an exception to this as the Transwarp Drive required a larger vessel and it was the actual starship class being tested]. Secondly if the starship in question is obsolete then you can strip it down to the bare frames and start again as often as you need - you can also test it to destruction if necessary.

Weren't all Soyuz class starships established to have been decommissioned in 2288? Yes. Monarch is the last of the class to have been decommissioned, probably the example in the best condition that hadn't been converted to Miranda class specifications. Once Monarch was transferred to the Research and Development department she is off the starfleet list technically and gains an NX registry number and an entry under research vessels.

The registry number for U.S.S. Bozeman was chosen as homage to the film '1941', whereas I chose 1943 for Monarch as a tip-of-the-hat to the birthyear of a close family member whose identity I shall keep secret to protect the innocent.

The history of the Soyuz class was created with many, many emails to Alex Rosenzweig contributing to the final product.

Left is an image of a previous vehicle, the real version that inspired this ship, called 'Monarch'.