Ambassador Class
Ambassador-class star cruisers served Starfleet as a venerable workhorse for most of the 24th century. Originally designated as heavy cruisers, they were gradually pulled back from most frontline operations and served capably as diplomatic, scientific, and tactical platforms for duties within Federation space. For their time, they were revolutionary, and they still remain quite powerful for their size. As of 2400, this class has now been retired from mainline Starfleet service, though the youngest members of the class are currently being disarmed to serve as transports and hospital ships for the Starfleet Auxiliary, continuing their yeoman's work in a new capacity.
Science and Exploration
The Ambassador-class starship was intended to be as revolutionary to the exploration of space as the Constitution was in her time; an order of magnitude more capable than the Excelsior-class ships serving as Starfleet’s premiere exploratory vessels in the 2330s. Indeed, this class was the first to be designated as an explorer rather than as a cruiser, given that she was designed to undertake true five-year unsupported missions outside of Federation space.
By the early 2370s, she had been reclassified as a heavy cruiser but retained impressive scientific and exploratory capabilities that have continued to make her a desirable command. The class contained the most powerful spaceborne sensor arrays of their time, and her eighteen modular sensor pallets continue to be able to use the latest scientific scanner equipment. Twenty-eight large dedicated laboratory facilities are included in the ship, along with facilities to convert three of the cargo bays to hold extra scientific equipment if necessary. This gave the Ambassador an estimated 325% increase in research capabilities over an Excelsior, and she remains significantly more capable than light cruisers and smaller, more modern-exploratory vessels.
With more and more of these vessels having been pulled off of front-line duties in the 2380s and later, some of them were retrofitted with even more impressive scientific suites in place of crew quarters or engineering support areas, to allow them to perform in-depth surveys of planetary systems with much greater speed than purpose-built surveyors, which tend to be a fraction of the size of an Ambassador.
By 2400, this class is no longer used for exploratory missions, as they have all been transferred to the Starfleet Auxiliary as transports or hospital ships. While their labs have been removed, they retain their sensor pallets and the capability to carry experiments and secondary mission equipment for various Starfleet and Federation science agencies, so they continue to participate in scientific missions in a passive way.
Diplomacy
As her name would suggest, an Ambassador-class starship were of the most capable diplomatic platforms in Starfleet and remained the ships of choice for most diplomatic missions in and near Federation space when a Galaxy or Odyssey-class ship was not available. She was one of the first classes to include extensive support for variable atmosphere and gravity accommodations to assist in diplomatic dealings with lifeforms who are not from M-class environments. A full 50% of her high-quality guest quarters and all of her elaborate conference facilities were originally able of being quickly configured for K, L, O, or P-class environments, and this capability was extended in the 2370s to include high-temperature environments. Most vessels of this type have also been retrofitted with holographic projectors either in the whole ship or in diplomatic areas to allow for quick reconfiguration of facilities for different negotiations. An Ambassador-class ship was capable of hosting multi-party talks in great comfort, while also being a suitably-powerful ship to not need an escort when going into hostile areas.
Presently, these ships are no longer used for diplomatic missions, but they remain a powerful symbol of the Federation's peaceful intentions in their new roles as transports and hospital ships. Indeed, many Federation citizens remember this ship fondly and many, many refugees have been served by them over the decades.
Engineering
Ambassador-class ships were among the fastest vessels of their time, retaining speed records that weren’t broken until the Galaxy-class was launched in the late 2350s. These vessels were the first to use the second generation of the semi-toroid warp coils that became standard after the launch of the Excelsior-class three decades earlier. Their large warp cores provided ample power for her scientific and tactical systems as well, and they boast large engineering crews to keep everything operating effectively.
An Ambassador-class ship also maintains relatively large cargo bays and auxiliary craft facilities, alongside industrial replicators and other systems that made her a very effective vessel for humanitarian missions or construction projects. Given her comfortable accommodations and facilities, she was also effective as a tender for frigates and escorts.
Now, her powerful engines make her an exceptional transport, and Starfleet's decades of experience with this ship have allowed them to reduce the crew complements substantially.
Tactical
The Type-IX phaser array was developed for use aboard the Ambassador-class. This measure greatly increased the ability of the Ambassador Class to fire sustained bursts and greatly reduced the recharge and cool down times. The use of an independent power system for every group of ten emitter segments in the array triples the survivability of the array compared to a ball turret, while there are also benefits to the reaction time, greater control of thermal effects, field halos, and target impact. Overall the phaser arrays of the Ambassador were over 50% more effective than the Type-VIII ball turrets found aboard Excelsior-class ships. Torpedo coverage was achieved with a single burst-fire torpedo tube forward and another aft.
An Ambassador-class ship was still a force to be reckoned with, even seventy years after their initial launch. They had a much higher survivability rate during the Dominion War than the Excelsior class did, and continue to be used for routine patrols of the core sector. They do lag behind newer ships in maneuverability and overall power, but most pirates and raiders would think twice about engaging one without support.
As of 2400, these ships have all been disarmed to serve in their new roles, but they retain their powerful shields. Firing on a ship of this class would generally be considered a war crime.
Shipboard Life
As with many designs that were once launched as flagships, the Ambassador-class is now a reliable workhorse for the Federation. Crews aboard these ships tend to enjoy their assignment, as the class has been retrofitted with most of the amenities you would find aboard newer explorers, such as holodecks, arboretums, and lounges, as well as comfortable crew quarters.
Medical Variant
The medical variant of the Ambassador is a step down from an Olympic-class hospital ship in terms of overall facilities and patient capabilities, but unlike the smaller Niagara-class star cruiser, it is fully capable of handling intermediate and critical care patients for extended periods. A medical staff of 500 supports up to 800 patients in various levels of care, and her large cargo bays allow her to deploy field hospitals. The Ambassador is also slower than either of these other classes, and so she is either sent on less critical aid missions or arrives as a second or third responder on the scene.
Transport Variant
In her transport configuration, the Ambassador uses the diplomatic facilities she was originally designed with as passenger recreation areas, and can transport up to 2,000 passengers on long-distance journies. While slower than the Olympic, she is larger and so the accommodation standard is comparatively higher.
Class History
Initially envisioned as early as 2300, the Ambassador-class was designed as not only the next greatest exploratory ship for Starfleet but also as the first of an entirely new classification of starship: explorer, as opposed to a mere heavy cruiser. Development was done at a relatively slow pace, given that the Federation was in a sustained period of peace and the Excelsior-class was performing above expectations. Starfleet wanted a design that would introduce as many revolutionary systems as her predecessor had, which led to a long prototyping period with other less-capable ships, such as the Renaissance-class light cruiser and the Freedom-class frigate. These technologies included the next generation in warp coils, phasers, shields, and scientific systems, as well as diplomatic facilities that would make the Ambassador a powerful symbol of the Federation’s values.
Construction on Ambassador, Surak (renamed Enterprise before launch, while the name Surak was transferred to a second-run vessel of the same class), and Zheng He began in 2323 at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Ambassador was launched in 2329, followed by her sister ships in 2332 and 2333, respectively. Despite retaining a crew size of 750, they required nearly twice the time and twice the resources of an Excelsior-class starship, while only giving approximately a 50% improvement in overall capabilities. Though they were markedly better at scientific and diplomatic missions, they were too expensive to replace the Excelsior in her role as a capable multi-mission platform, and both classes continued to be produced alongside one another until Excelsior and Ambassador were replaced by the Nebula-class in 2355 and the Galaxy-class in 2358, respectively.
During her production run, the Ambassador-class was generally built at a rate of two units per year, with 75 of the class built in total. This made them rare compared to the Excelsior-class which was built in the hundreds and they were generally reserved for high-status assignments. They proved popular in service to both their crews and to the admiralty, though they were eclipsed by the Galaxy-class which was substantially more powerful and useful in every respect.
They were generally a rare sight within the Federation for the first thirty years of their lifespans, as they were sent on long-range missions or reserved to put out diplomatic brushfires, but they gradually became more and more common within the core as they were supplanted. One was lost at the Battle of Wolf 359, and a handful were destroyed during the Dominion War, but they proved to be substantially tougher than the Excelsior-class thanks to their more powerful shields, something that was simply less important to the Federation during their initial production run.
Currently, Ambassador-class ships have been reclassified as heavy cruisers and see service in most areas of the Federation, remaining a rare but welcome sight. They have received regular refits to keep them up to modern standards. A few of them have received more specialized refits either for scientific, engineering, or diplomatic duties, though most of them remained multi-role vessels through the end of their mainline service. Starfleet has now retired this vessel and has transferred the remainder to the Starfleet Auxiliary to serve as transports and hospital ships, where it expects they will remain in that capacity through the 2430s until newer designs come into service.
In Play
- Ambassador-class ships were capable heavy cruisers built in smaller numbers than the older Excelsior, but still relatively common. Functionally, they had a lot in common with the Galaxy-class, but the newer ship eclipsed it in every measure. Because of this, the Ambassador was a solid, relatively-generic heavy cruiser that could go on nearly any mission and expect to perform adequately. They wouldn't often be sent on long-range missions alone anymore.
- Now, these ships are retired from mainline service and serve as transports and hospital ships for the Starfleet Auxiliary without their weapons.