U.S.S. GRISSOM NCC-638
The Oberth-class starship is a small Federation starship typically used for scientific missions. The Oberth-class is not heavily armed, but it has a large computer core, very powerful sensors and other scientific instruments, contained in the equipment module. This makes it a popular research vessel as well as a testbed for new projects. The Oberth-class is one of the few Federation vessels that is used in non-Starfleet research missions.
The class was named after Herman Oberth, a 20th century German rocket scientist.
In 2285, the U.S.S. Grissom NCC-638, under the command of Capt. J.T. Esteban, was sent to study planet Genesis with lead scientist Dr. David Marcus. It was destroyed by Klingon Commander Kruge.
One classified test was the phased cloak protoype aboard the U.S.S. Pegasus NCC-53847, commanded by Captain Erik Pressman. In 2354, the Pegasus was secretly fit with an illegal prototype Federation phased cloaking device. (The Treaty of Algeron, signed by the Federation and the Romulan Empire in 2311, ended hostilities between the two and prohibited the Federation from developing cloaking technology.) The phased cloak functions as a standard cloak, which allows the ship to appear invisible. It also is slightly phased which allows it to pass through normal matter. While conducting dangerous tests, the crew became concerned that Captain Pressman had become obsessed and was endangering the ship and the crew. The crew mutinied and Captain Pressman and his supporters (including then Ensign William T. Riker) were forced to abandon ship. After Pressman escaped from the Pegasus, the ship appeared to be destroyed by a warp core breach.
In 2370, the Pegasus was found trapped inside Asteroid Gamma 6-0-1 in the Devolin System. Starfleet Security sent now Admiral Erik Pressman with the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D to salvage the cloak. Captain Jean-Luc Picard was suspicious of Admiral Pressman's motives as he endangered the Enterprise and its crew to salvage the Pegasus, but he was under orders. When Commander Riker finally told Captain Picard of the mission and of the cloaking device, Picard took Admiral Pressman into custody for violating the Treaty of Algeron.
By the 2370s, the aging Oberth-class vessel was phased out of Starfleet, replaced by the Nova-class starship.
The class was named after Herman Oberth, a 20th century German rocket scientist.
In 2285, the U.S.S. Grissom NCC-638, under the command of Capt. J.T. Esteban, was sent to study planet Genesis with lead scientist Dr. David Marcus. It was destroyed by Klingon Commander Kruge.
One classified test was the phased cloak protoype aboard the U.S.S. Pegasus NCC-53847, commanded by Captain Erik Pressman. In 2354, the Pegasus was secretly fit with an illegal prototype Federation phased cloaking device. (The Treaty of Algeron, signed by the Federation and the Romulan Empire in 2311, ended hostilities between the two and prohibited the Federation from developing cloaking technology.) The phased cloak functions as a standard cloak, which allows the ship to appear invisible. It also is slightly phased which allows it to pass through normal matter. While conducting dangerous tests, the crew became concerned that Captain Pressman had become obsessed and was endangering the ship and the crew. The crew mutinied and Captain Pressman and his supporters (including then Ensign William T. Riker) were forced to abandon ship. After Pressman escaped from the Pegasus, the ship appeared to be destroyed by a warp core breach.
In 2370, the Pegasus was found trapped inside Asteroid Gamma 6-0-1 in the Devolin System. Starfleet Security sent now Admiral Erik Pressman with the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D to salvage the cloak. Captain Jean-Luc Picard was suspicious of Admiral Pressman's motives as he endangered the Enterprise and its crew to salvage the Pegasus, but he was under orders. When Commander Riker finally told Captain Picard of the mission and of the cloaking device, Picard took Admiral Pressman into custody for violating the Treaty of Algeron.
By the 2370s, the aging Oberth-class vessel was phased out of Starfleet, replaced by the Nova-class starship.
SPECIFICATIONS
| NAME/REGISTRY | U.S.S. Grissom NCC-638 |
| CLASSIFICATION | Oberth-Class Science Vessel |
| YEAR COMMISSIONED | 2354 |
| LENGTH | 160 M |
| WIDTH | 41 M |
| HEIGHT | 38 M |
| WEIGHT | MT |
| DECKS | 13 |
| CREW COMPLIMENT | 80 |
| PRIMARY PROPULSION | Matter/Antimatter Reactor (warp core) |
| SECONDARY PROPULSION | Deuterium Fusion Drive motors (impulse engines) |
| WARP FACTOR | 7.0 (Cruise Velocity); 8.5 (Sustainable); 9.0 (Max) |
| ARMAMENT | 4 Type-VII Phaser Arrays; 3 Mark-VIII and Mark-IX Photon Torpedo Launchers |
| COMPUTER CORE | Redundant primary computer cores. Isolinear optical circuits |
| AUXILIARY CRAFT | Classified |
NOTABLE OBERTH-CLASS STARSHIPS
| REGISTRY | DESIGNATION | CMD. OFFICER | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | U.S.S. Olympia | Capt. Lisa Cusack | Crashed on L-class planet in Beta Quadrant in 2371; found by U.S.S. Defiant in 2374 ("The Sound Of Her Voice") |
| NCC-638 | U.S.S. Grissom | Capt. J.T. Esteban | Assigned to study Genesis in 2285; Destroyed by Klingons (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) |
| NCC-640 | U.S.S. Copernicus | ||
| NCC-19002 | U.S.S. Yosemite | Hull breached while studying binary star system plasma stream ("Realm of Fear") | |
| NCC-31600 | U.S.S. Bonestell | Destroyed by Borg at Wolf 359 in 2367 ("The Best of Both Worlds, Part II","Emissary") | |
| NCC-53847 | U.S.S. Pegasus | Capt. Erik Pressman | Testbed for illegal prototype phased-cloak ("The Pegasus") |
| NCC-53911 | U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky | Destroyed by stellar core fragment in 2364 ("The Naked Now") | |
| NCC-59983 | U.S.S. Raman | Crew was accidentally killed in 2370 by subspace lifeforms on Marijne VII ("Interface") |