I think you guys have effectively convinced me to do less of a hatchet job on the
Ambassador class design. I spared Captain Styles, I can spare the
Ambassador. 
I've revised my text to be a bit more forgiving and also to incorporate the idea that the
Ambassadors were sent out on far-flung missions exploring. Perhaps it was just too difficult to try to recall them from their deep space missions, and the
Galaxy class ships, fresh off the lines and early into their 100-year design life, were just nearer the Federation core and therefore at hand to enter battle. I also quite like the idea that the Federation hordes surplus ships; this does indeed explain the surplus yard.
I am going to soon put up a rudimentary website from which to share my works-in-progress with you guys. My intent is to make this the home of an interactive version of the
Excelsior technical manual, as well as any other side projects that come along.
Meanwhile here's the latest version one of my favorite chapters, quite out of context. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Eight - Proliferation
Captain Hikaru Sulu and
Excelsior saw the end of the twenty-third century together, and the dawn of the twenty-fourth. Talks between the Federation and the Klingon Empire were making slow progress. It was a time of increasing peace and prosperity for the galaxy, and optimism was high. The Federation agreed to various concessions as part of their ongoing peace talks with the Klingons. Some were relatively significant, while others were more semantic. Starfleet agreed to disarmament specifications, re-purposing several destroyers as scouts or light cruisers and limiting the number of heavy cruisers it constructed and operated as the primary instrument of its exploration and defense programs. Starfleet was left with a decision that proved a relatively easy one.
The grafting of
Excelsior program technology to the
Constitution class refits had proven problematic not only with the prototype
Enterprise-A but with all members of the
Constitution class, and each
Excelsior was ship-for-ship a bigger and more powerful vessel. Since tonnage was not an issue, Starfleet was free to construct the much larger
Excelsiors to replace the
Constitutions. To comply with the quotas stated in the Khitomer Accords, the Admiralty finally agreed to a plan to decommission the remaining
Constitution class ships and replace many of them with
Excelsior class ships. As part of compliance to the Klingons' stipulations, over 70% of the remaining members of the
Constitution class were scrapped, while almost all the others were placed in mothball fleets at various Federation surplus depots.
By 1 January, 2300, there were 14 more
Excelsior class starships in service, and over a dozen more under construction, with 50 more under contract. For every three
Excelsiors launched, another was partially completed and placed in Ordinary Reserve to comply with the Khitomer treaty. Publicly, Starfleet respected the treaty, but privately they were concerned with the stability of their treaty with their long-standing enemies and wanted to be able to rush more heavy cruisers into service quickly should the need arise, as well as make use of the many shipyards and drydocks that would otherwise sit idle due to the treaty quotas. Within the next couple of decades, several variants based on the
Excelsior class were pioneered in shipyards across the Federation, from the
Mediterranean class frigates to the
Shelley class through-deck cruiser/transports to the
Medusa class experimental deep space cruisers. The
Excelsior had pioneered a revolution in Starfleet technology and exploration, and was truly building a legacy to be admired. However, the same period of prosperity that allowed the Excelsior class to thrive would also bring about its potential successor as the forefront of Starfleet technology: the
Ambassador class.
The
Ambassador program was the next step in the logical expansion of the role of heavy cruiser that the
Excelsior had begun. A number of officers at the ASDB long saw the niche for a massive multi-mission vessel capable of an unprecedented, and indeed fantastic, level of independent long-range missions and extended deployment. They termed this concept starship an Explorer-type vessel. The concept that became the
Ambassador class was long back-burnered by Starfleet, given the ship's broad scope and seemingly unachievable technology specifications, particularly in the wake of the
Excelsior class's near-failure. However, in the era of peace that came about in the early twenty-fourth century, the concept was given more consideration. A number of Starfleet officials were concerned by fleet's new 'supership' idea, much as they had been when the
Excelsior was under construction, but by 2310 the
Ambassador design process was fully underway and making great strides. Since the ship was technically of a new type, it was could sidestep many limitations imposed by the Klingon treaties. As outlined by the ASDB, U.S.S.
Ambassador would not replace or endanger the
Excelsior class, but rather relieve her of many of her missions of long-range exploration and defense, and ultimately relegate
Excelsior to the role of fleet workhorse, much as
Excelsior had done to the
Miranda and
Oberth classes.
Meanwhile, the members of the
Excelsior class were enjoying prosperity. The ships stayed ahead of modern technology, thanks to the modularity and adaptability of their design.
Excelsior herself had served with distinction under the command of Sulu, participating in a number of extensive missions of exploration and scientific research in both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, but a strange twist of fate awaited her. In 2308, the
Excelsior was lost without a trace. Her fate would not be known for many years later, but initial findings came up with nothing. This was a tragic blow to Starfleet. Her crew had become a family, and many of her officers grew reluctant to accept promotions or transfers to other vessels. The
Excelsior had become a source of great pride of the Federation fleet, dubbed "Old Reliable" by the officers who served on her. She endured many dangerous missions, sometimes seeming to escape only by luck. In reality, it was a measure of the skill of her crew and her commanding officer. As was traditional with the loss of a starship without a trace, Starfleet would wait to launch another ship of the same name. This was both done in case the ship later was discovered unharmed, and in worst case scenario, in honor of the loss of the crew and vessel.
In 2311, the design for the
Ambassador was finalized, and construction soon well underway. In that same year, the event Federation historians call the Tomed Incident occurred. An experimental Federation starship malfunctioned catastrophically along the Romulan border, destroying the ship and severely damaging a large region of space. The suspicious Romulans, already feeling somewhat cornered by the fledgling peace between the Federation and the Klingons, began a military deployment that quickly threatened to develop into full-scale war. The
Enterprise-B was present at subsequent events that culminated in a new treaty between the Romulan Star Empire and Federation, a ban on development of any Federation cloaking technology, and was coupled with a renewed period of Romulan isolation that would last for over 50 years.
In 2313, according to Starfleet regulations, the U.S.S.
Excelsior was officially declared lost with all hands. As such, orders were issued to temporarily retire the use of the name U.S.S.
Excelsior for an additional period of five years, out of respect for the loss of the crew and vessel. By late 2318, orders would be issued requisitioning a replacement U.S.S.
Excelsior in a new production block estimated to launch in 2325.
In 2319, U.S.S.
Ambassador, NX-10521 was launched and began her space-worthiness testing and shakedown. Many Starfleet officers were astonished by the mere sight of
Ambassador; at 526 meters long and 3,700,000 metric tons in mass, she was massive and highly advanced. The techniques used in her structural design built upon the advances developed to build the
Excelsior, utilizing a simple monocoque hull structure reinforced by powerful structural integrity fields while no longer using any pressure compartment structure. The class introduced a number of other technological advances, including collimated phaser arrays rather than turret phaser banks, and was among the first Starfleet ship classes designed to accommodate families (although only in limited capacity).With over one hundred
Excelsior class starships in service or under construction, the
Ambassador class was in no position to endanger
Excelsior class’s proliferation. Mathematically, Starfleet could build two
Excelsiors for one
Ambassador, and more conservative elements of the fleet favored
Excelsior. More often than not, that thinking won out and the number of
Ambassadors produced would prove limited. However, those built would meet with great success on the deep space missions to which many were assigned.
Also in 2319, a remarkable discovery was made by the
Enteprise-B under the command of Demora Sulu.
Enterprise discovered over five hundred survivors of the crew of
Excelsior on a remote planet. The crew, their ship having been destroyed as it tried to explore a portal believed to lead to another universe, had survived for eleven years on the other side of the same portal. Captain Hikaru Sulu had kept the rest of his crew alive, and a happy reunion occurred between father and daughter. Enterprise brought
Excelsior’s survivors home. An investigation concluded that
Excelsior had been a victim of unforeseen circumstances and the ship itself had experienced no technical faults, though some questioned whether the stress of the ship’s original transwarp trials had caused undetectable quantum damage to the ship’s structure that caused her to break up more quickly than she should have. Hikaru Sulu was exonerated for any wrongdoing, and awarded for the survival of so many of his crew under such difficult circumstances. Almost immediately, Starfleet ordered the expedited construction of the new U.S.S.
Excelsior, NCC-21445.
In 2322, the new U.S.S.
Excelsior left drydock. After a period of rest and rehabilitation, Hikaru Sulu accepted promotion to Admiral in time to take command of the new Excelsior as his flagship. This ship would be the testbed for upgrade plans for the class, originally intended to begin as a full refit of the prototype
Excelsior herself before her untimely loss. Cosmetically almost identical to her predecessor, the ship was equipped with numerous system upgrades that enhanced her performance significantly over the original. Ultimately, Admiral Hikaru Sulu would retire from the Admiralty a few years later and eventually run for Federation President. The new
Excelsior would continue without him, and Sulu would win the election and go on to serve an impressive three terms in office.
In 2325, the Federation made official first contact with a civilization that would help shape its future for the next fifty years: the Cardassian Union. The Cardassians were a technologically advanced but economically poor species from the Alpha Quadrant who, at the time, sought to secure claims on multiple worlds rich in natural resources they desperately needed. Peace overtures from the Federation were met with suspicion and contempt. Over the next twenty years, the lack of dialogue between the two governments would lead to a series of bloody, and some believe unnecessary, conflicts. A military buildup developed on both sides. For its part, Starfleet ramped up its production of
Excelsior and other starships by nearly thirty percent, increasing each production block of
Excelsior class ships by twenty-four and later thirty ships each.
In 2331, the
Enterprise-B was lost in the line of duty though most of the crew survived. As a result, the under-construction
Ambassador-class starship U.S.S.
Alaska was redubbed U.S.S.
Enterprise, NCC-1701-C. The
Alaska/
Enterprise-C was to be the pioneer of a new subtype of the
Ambassador-class. Launched in early 2336, the
Enterprise-C would ultimately play a crucial role in the history of Federation-Klingon relations, sacrificing herself to protect the Klingon colony on Narendra III from Romulan attack in 2344 and opening the door for a new era of detente between the Federation and Klingon Empire that would eventually solidify their previously-established uneasy peace into genuine friendship and cooperation. It is interesting to note that many Federation historians speculate that had the Narendra Incident and ensuing relationship development not occurred, once the Klingon economic recovery had been a success there would have been little incentive to maintain the delicate truce between the Klingon Empire and Federation. This could have led to a period of renewed hostilities and even eventual war.
No matter the historical significance of the incident, the loss of the
Enterprise-C also directed criticisms at the
Ambassador class program. The
Enterprise was, by all subsequent accounts, far more maneuverable than her Romulan counterparts. Klingon intelligence indicated the
Enterprise was outnumbered three to one, but tactical simulation indicated the
Enterprise should have been able to survive the assault. Some questioned the new structural integrity technology used in the construction of the
Enterprise. Starfleet review boards were unable to assign blame to man or machine, but this and other factors would later be used to reinforce the CinC's previous determination that the
Ambassador class production run would be relatively limited. Through the class’s success, however, Starfleet had finally realized that a large multi-role Explorer-type ship such as the
Ambassador could easily double as a battleship, while still having something useful to do in peacetime. Starfleet had already begun initial design work on it’s next generation Explorer starship: the
Galaxy class.
