Daedalus class (Starfleet)

Ah the Daedalus-class starship was an early class of starship that, unlike the vast majority of Starfleet starship designs featured a spherical primary hull, outwardly similar to the Federation Starfleet's Olympic-class. This class, which operated with a crew of approximately 229 was decommissioned by the year 2196.

History
The Daedalus-class cruiser was in service with the United Earth Space Probe Agency in the mid-22nd century, being first utilized around the 2140s, and was later incorporated into the United Earth/Federation Starfleet throughout the latter half of that century.

By the mid-2150s, the Daedalus-class was considered somewhat outdated, superseded by the newer NV-class and NX-class designs. However, the growing conflict with the Romulan Star Empire gave the starship class a new lease on life, and those Daedalus-class vessel still in service were upgraded with technology from the NX program; newer Daedalus ships could be built three times the rate as an NX-class starship, thus refitting the dated ships to standard was implemented. With wartime pressures on Starfleet to emphasize numbers over quality, the refitted Daedalus design was put into full production.

The Mark III Daedalus-class vessels would go on to serve as a secondary exploratory starship for the fledgling United Federation of Planet and fully incorporated Starfleet, following a complete overhaul in 2161. One Daedalus-class vessel was awaiting completion of its retrofit that year, and was of sufficiently advanced characteristics that its command was a sought after posting for several Starfleet captains.

Despite numerous losses in both combat and disappearances, the Daedalus-class would serve with distinction until they were finally retired from service in 2196.

Later Role
Despite the class' decommissioning at the end of the previous century, at least three Daedalus-class vessels were brought back into service throughout the mid-23rd century. Two were taken from a Federation surplus depot, repaired and refitted, and operated by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and used to transport teams of engineers to various assignments, while the third was utilized as a training vessel for Starfleet Academy cadets.

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