USS Melbourne

"She asks us for so little, and gives us the stars in return."

- Captain Maya Charpentier, USS Melbourne (NCC-62043), 2362.

USS Melbourne (NCC-71944) is a Nebula-class Federation starship currently assigned to the Fourth Fleet.

History

Construction and Commissioning

NCC-71944 was one of a batch of Nebula-class cruisers ordered from Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in the mid-2360s. Originally to have been named Campania, she was laid down in mid-2366, but was only about 30% complete when the Battle of Wolf 359 in early 2367 rocked the Federation to its core. Construction on Campania was paused a few days later as Starfleet conducted their investigation of the battle and an analysis of the designs present- including the Nebula-class.

By the time the investigation was over and the class was deemed not irrevocably flawed, UPFY was already starting to crank out more tactically proficient vessels and overhauling existing ships, and thus the continued construction of Campania was of low priority. At just about 30% complete, she was in something of a grey area where scrapping the hulk wasn't necessarily easier than finishing the ship, but one way or another that slipway needed to be cleared.

In 2369, construction of NCC-71944 was resumed in full, and later that year she was given a new name- Melbourne, after the Excelsior-class NCC-62043 that had been lost at Wolf 359. She was launched in early 2372 and commissioned on August 8th that year, Stardate 49603.2.

Dominion War, 2373-2375

Melbourne was still on her shakedown cruise when the Borg attacked again in the Battle of Sector 001, but saw combat through the breadth of the Dominion War. She missed the Battle of Tyra, busy as she was with serving as a second-line patrol ship to back up scouts and frigates duelling with Dominion attack ships. However, she was engaged in Operation Return, surviving with only light damage and proving herself well.

Cardassian orbital platforms severed her starboard nacelle and weapons pod during the First Battle of Chin'toka later in 2374, forcing her to return home for repairs and likely saving her from being destroyed by the Breen when the Dominion retook the world. Repaired just in time to barely dodge their attack on Earth, Melbourne then rejoined the frontline for the Battle of Cardassia, and the end of the Dominion War.

Peacetime Operations, 2376-2385

After repairs from the battle over Cardassia were completed, Melbourne was mildly upgraded with a quick overhaul to her science labs. The cruiser undertook a three-year voyage of exploration from 2376 to 2379, surveying some of the vast unexplored space between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants. When she returned, Melbourne underwent a significantly more comprehensive overhaul from 2380 to 2382 at the San Francisco Fleet Yards. She left later that year for her second voyage of exploration, and was meandering her way back home when news of the Attack on Mars and the destruction of her birthplace, Utopia Planitia, arrived.

Patrol Duty and a Return to Normalcy 2385-2402

As the Federation turned away from the wider galaxy, Melbourne found herself reassigned. Now serving as a patrol vessel, the now thirteen-year-old cruiser spent much of the next half of her life bouncing between border patrol and convoy escort duties, filling in the gaps where newer Inquiry-class ships weren't available. However, by the late 2390s, the ship was showing her age- new vessels were leaps and bounds ahead of her technologically, and plans were made to withdraw her from active service by 2405 as large amounts of newer, more powerful vessels hit the fleet.

Being an old and not particularly notable vessel, Melbourne was not present for the disaster at Frontier Day 2401, and this provided her a new lease on life. Plans to decommission the ship were effectively halted- with so many ships and crew lost in an increasingly dangerous galaxy, Melbourne was seen as still capable- and thus, still needed. In 2402, she was assigned to the Columbia Division, seeing action against the invading Vaadwaur during the Battle of Andoria.

Notable Crews

Commanding Officers