USS Nellie Bly

USS Nellie Blye
General Information
Registry	NCC-57588
Class & Type	Challenger-class scout
Affiliation	Starfleet
Status	Active
Commissioned	2357
Assignment
Unit	Fourth Fleet Operations
Squadron	Arcturus Squadron
Role	Scout Diplomatic Courier
Template:Starship

USS Nellie Bly is a Federation Challenger-class scout/courier assigned to support Olympia Station. Commissioned in 2357, the Bly, as she is often referred to by her crew, is an aging but capable vessel, now so finely tuned after decades of refits and optimizations that she can run circles around her newer stablemates.

History

Construction on USS Nellie Bly began in 2355 and she was commissioned in 2357. She was pressed into service into conflicts with both the Talarians and the Cardassians throughout the late 2350s and into the 2360s, serving both as a scout and a high speed transport for flag officers. While not a combat vessel, she nonetheless participated in several fleet actions and minor skirmishes on both borders.

From the 2360s onwards, the Nellie Bly was based out of Avalon Fleet Yards in the Grazer sector. She did not have a direct role in the Dominion War, as she was part of a token force left behind the main theater of operations to maintain the security of the Federation's other borders. Over the decades, she received regular rounds of upgrades and refits to keep her up to modern standards, allowing her to perform well above her original design specifications.

In 2401, the Nellie Bly changed her homeport to Olympia Station in the remote Olympia sector, where she is used for exploratory scouting missions to systems near to the station and as a transport for the station's senior staff when their presence is necessary on an away mission.

Configuration & Operational Parameters

Though nearly 50 years old, the underlying architecture of the Nellie Bly is solid and she has been upgraded many times to reduce the workload on her crew and improve performance. While she can't quite keep up with newest ship's Warp 9.99, she can easily hold Warp 9.6 indefinitely in a pinch.

The Nellie Bly spends about a third of her time in port at Olympia Station. The rest of the time, she is performing scouting missions within a day or so of the station, so that she can be recalled for missions when necessary.

Main Bridge

The main bridge of the Bly is in the same overall configuration as it was when the ship launched in 2357, albeit with modern holographically-enhanced LCARS displays. The arrangement of the consoles is standard for Starfleet, with a combination helm and operations console located down two steps from a single command chair and other consoles on the port and starboard walls. The two aft doors lead to a corridor that rings the bridge on deck one, with two turbolift stations directly aft of these doors. Deck one contains a briefing room forward, and twin quarters for the captain and first officer on either side of the deck, which are each connected to a ready room.

Notable Crew

Commanding Officers

As a starbase support ship, the Bly is regularly used for missions commanded by the station's senior staff members, many of whom have the substantive rank of captain, but the ship's actual commanding officer is in day-to-day command of the vessel. When aboard, other senior officers may function as the mission commander, issuing orders through the commanding officer.

• 2401—Present: Commander Adir Goodman