Built in the late 2270s when the Oberth class was first introduced, U.S.S. Ballard was commissioned in 2281 as part of the first production cycle. Like most Oberth class starships, U.S.S. Ballard was named for the famous 20th Century oceanographer and explorer Dr. Robert D. Ballard. Ballard is credited with the discovery of hydrothermal "Black Smokers" on the sea floor, along with being the first to study the diverse lifeforms that make their homes and live out their existence in the boiling water of these phenomena. Dr. Robert Ballard is also famous for the discovery and/or studying of undersea shipwrecks and filming them as an undersea museum. These wrecks include: Bismarck, R.M.S. Lusitania, U.S.S. Yorktown, U.S.S. Thresher, U.S.S. Scorpion and the legendary R.M.S. Titanic. Ballard worked tirelessly to bring the wonders of the deep to the person on the street, striving to create "telepresence" - not only seeing these wonders but really feeling that you are there.

The missions of the Ballard in the mid-late 2290s were as the Starfleet academy training vessel. This veteran Oberth class was used for third and fourth year cadets to suppliment a skeleton crew of trained officers and crew. By this time, the Ballard had over a dozen missions under her belt. Despite this, the Ballard still had her original salmon pink Bridge furniture.

NCC 642 was used to familiarise the cadets with actual operations in space. The use of an Oberth class scout class vessel allowed the 80 cadets and trainers to travel the solar system, and slightly beyond, and practice their area of study in a real environment. The Ballard was a dedicated science vessel with limited defensive capabilities and limited cargo space. The cadets were berthed in communal dormitories to appreciate that in this, the most common starship class in starfleet, the accomodation was anything but spacious.

U.S.S. Ballard has three shuttlecraft, these are names Jason - for the JASON Foundation for Education that Ballard created, Argo for the unique underwater system Ballard used and Todd, for Ballard's son who accompanied him on the Bismarck expedition.

The U.S.S. Ballard visited many planets on the Academy training missions from 2295 - 2297. Amongst the planets visited were: Mercury, venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Vulcan and Andor. After 2298, USS Ballard rejoined the frontline Oberth class starships, allowing another member of the class to be rotated in as Academy Training Vessel.

Oberth class history:

The Oberth class can be traced back to the end of James T. Kirk's five-year mission in 2270. Starfleet realised that a more resilient scout class vessel was required if it was to survive the hazards that the Enterprise had successfully endured over the last five years. The previous classes of scout vessel - derived from the Constitution class design - were not cutting it in the new, more dangerous universe that the Enterprise had begun to discover. What was proposed was a 'Super Scout' class vessel, one that utilised the most advanced technology available. The pathfinder designation given for the design was NXP2272 SS/L [Pathfinder design for 2272 Super Scout/Laboratory]. The design eventually came down to a 120 metre long scout class vessel with a standard crew compliment around 40, compared to the 115 required for the previous classes of scout.

The first vessel, U.S.S. Oberth - NX 602 - was laid down in 2273 and completed in 2275 at the Copernicus Fleet Yards [San Francisco was at the time focussing on the redesigning and refitting of Enterprise]. U.S.S. Oberth's motto was: "Because that is the goal: To secure any place on which life can exist and prosper, give life to any dead world, and to give purpose to any living world" - Hermann Oberth, "Men into Space" 1954. The Oberth class was designed for 2 - 3 year length missions, following up probes or earlier missions by explorer class starships, studying phenomena in greater detail. All of the non-senior staff quarters were fitted with bunk beds, to accomodate the crew with only senior staff allowed quarters with a single bed - such was the requirement for space aboard such a small vessel.

Despite a minor setback in the loss of U.S.S. Gagarin in 2279 to then unknown causes - later found to be an attack by a rogue Klingon vessel - the Oberth class has gone from strength to strength, the final design internally and externally finalised in 2290. There are now dozens of Oberth class vessels in service with countless more in production, recent members including NCC 19002 U.S.S. Yosemite and NCC 20000 U.S.S. Valiant. The earlier Constitution class-derived scouts are now being phased out as the new generation of super scout takes the Starfleet to the edges of the Final Frontier.

Crew:

Officers: 8

N.C.O.'s: 63

Cruising Warp: 5.

Maximum warp: 6.

Starship primary mission: Planetary Exploration. [Usually probe follow-up missions].

Length: 120 metres.

Shuttlecraft: 3 of various classes.

Oberth class arrangement

Deck 1 Bridge, conference room, officer quarters, mess hall, lounge.

Deck 2 Shuttlebay upper deck. Enlisted crew quarters, gym, laundry, cargo bay.

Deck 3 Shuttlebay main deck, cargo bays, escape pod access, cryogenic tankage.

Deck 4 Sickbay, life sciences, transporter, main engineering, computer core, life support, waste recycling.

Deck 5 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull

Deck 6 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull, plasma flush vent

Deck 7 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull, deflector generator, structural integrity.

Deck 8 Science/cartography sensor array, science labs, communication buoy magazine.

Deck 9 Science/cartography sensor array, science sensor processing compartment, buoy/torpedo/probe workshop,

Deck 10 Science/cartography sensor array, aft sensor compartment, life support, batteries.

Deck 11 Science/cartography sensor array, batteries.

Oberth class [A list of all the known members mentioned to-date]

Name	Starship Registry	Notes	Author's Notes
Oberth	602	Prototype. Launched 2275.	The registry number is the number given in the Okudagram in Star Trek VI.
Gagarin	603	Lost in 2279.	In the Name of Honor
La Grange	617		Starfleet Academy PC game guidebook
Hawking	618		Starfleet Academy PC game
Banting	619		Starfleet Academy PC game guidebook
Copernicus	623	Seen in spacedock in Star Trek IV	Starfleet Academy training vessel by the Stargazer novels
Carver	630		Klingon Academy PC game guidebook
Aamot	631		Klingon Academy PC game guidebook
Freedom	632		Klingon Academy PC game guidebook
Grissom	638	In Star Trek III	Destroyed
Ballard	642		Named for the discoverer of the Titanic
Noam Chomsky	4279
Uganda	18720	Academy Training Vessel
Vico	18834	Federation science vessel	Hero Worship
Bicester	18836
George Kelly	18880
William Penney	18881
Blazer	18882		Hawkins learned to be an XO on this vessel.
Edward Jenner	18883
Urbani	18884		Named for Carlo Urbani
Merlin
Upholder
Chaser
Yosemite	19002	Realm of Fear
Valiant	20000	Seen in Star Trek: Generations

U.S.S. Ballard Bridge, 2295.



Author's Notes:

The Oberth class is the most numerous of the starships that Starfleet possesses. Given a construction time of circa twelve - eighteen months, compared to 3 years for a Miranda, 5 Years for a Constellation and 7 for an Excelsior, an Oberth class can be built in a very short time. As has been seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Oberth class vessels tend to be named for famous scientists and discoverers, although some have been named for mythical creatures - as seen in 'The Pegasus', although this was supposed to be a Cheyanne class starship.

Oberth class scout vessels are short-range ships with plenty of triple-deck bunks for the crew, minimal officer compliment and a large proportion of senior enlisted crew running departments. The cramped living arrangements would dictate missions of a few months to a couple of years in length - although the psychological pressures of such small living accomodation would make such missions rare.

I had to decide what the Oberth class were replacing - what the purpose was for the design. The answer was obvious: a replacement for the aging Hermes and Saladin class vessels, although I have gone to pains not to use the class designations in the above class history. To allow for the registry numbers of the Oberth class vessels, and to account for the fact many fans [myself included] do not like the idea that the Oberths have a three-digit registry, I have given mine a five-digit registry to match what was the Oberth vessel that fired up my enthusiasm for the class - U.S.S. Valiant, from Star Trek: Generations. My rational for such high registries being the registry of the 'executive shuttlecraft' seen in Star Trek VI - NAR 25820 - seen in 2293.

Construction of the Oberth class began in earnest after the first vessel, NCC 602 U.S.S. Oberth, was commissioned in 2275 - based on the fandom date for the commissioning of the first Gagarin/Oberth class vessel. Oberth class construction will continue until the replacement design, Nova class, begins construction in 2368. Indeed when seen in Star Trek: Generations, rescuing the surviving crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D from the surface of Veridian III [supporting Nebula class U.S.S. Farragut and Miranda class U.S.S. Bozeman] the U.S.S. Valiant NCC 20000 was completing her final mission, to be replaced shortly thereafter by NCC 74210, U.S.S. Valiant - Defiant class.

By this time, there have been hundreds of Oberth class constructed, although their service life tends to be shorter than the larger ships. Phasing out of the Oberth class will take decades after the introduction of Nova Class, although Nova is inspired from many of the lessons learned from Oberth class. The cutaway of the S.S. Vico gives an idea for the configuration post-2340s when replicators freed up more space for crew accomodation, please visit Owen E. Oulton's website for more cutaways reflecting a variant of the original configuration of 2275.

Sources for this Oberth class history include: Bernd Schneiders Ex Astris Scientia website, Strategic Designs Oberth class blueprints for the deck configuration, Owen E. Oulton's superb website with Oberth class details and deckplans, and the model of S.S. Vico, NAR 18834, built for TNG episode 'Hero Worship' that has damage showing the internal deck arrangement. Added to this is Alex Rosenzweig's brilliant 'Starship Spotter' book, Herman Zimmerman, Rick Sternbach and Doug Drexler's DS9 Technical Manual and Deciphers Star Trek roleplaying supplement on Starships. Finally a mention must be made of Franz Joseph's original Starfleet Technical Manual.