USS Jadzia Dax

"It's not a crime to believe in yourself."

- ship's motto, spoken by Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax in 2372

The USS Jadzia Dax (NCC-80145) was a science vessel in service to Starfleet starting in the late 24th century.

History
The Dax was named for Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, the science officer of Deep Space 9 during the lead-up to the Dominion War, slain in 2374. Her successor, Captain Ezri Dax of the USS Aventine, spoke at the ship's launch ceremony in 2388.

The Dax was initially assigned to the command of Captain Jennifer Kirkpatrick and spent two years on primarily humanitarian missions, delivering supplies to parts of what was left of the Romulan Star Empire after the Hobus supernova. Kirkpatrick and crew were then reassigned onto a long-term survey mission past the Federation's northwestern fringe.

After leaving Federation borders the Dax made a six-year loop through uncharted space and made first contact with seventeen species. Captain Kirkpatrick believed her greatest achievement during the voyage was to mediate an end to an interstellar war between the Fuima and the Aziri, both of whom expressed interest in joining the Federation.

Upon their return in 2396, however, they discovered the political situation at home had drastically changed. The Gorn and Klingons were Gorn-Klingon War at war, and the Federation was attempting to mediate peace talks with little success. The talks broke down for good in 2398 and the Dax was assigned to patrol the border.

Captain Kirkpatrick was rotated home to Earth in 2399 and took a teaching position at Starfleet Academy. She was replaced by her former first officer, now-Captain Amute Emyahl.

In 2404 the Dax was assigned to the Beta Ursae Fleet Area under Admiral Anthony Marconi.

In December 2409 the Dax, the USS Bajor, and the USS Amaterasu were on patrol in the sector block and responded to a distress signal from Dreon VII. The Bajor proved much faster than either of the other two ships and defeated the Orion Syndicate forces in orbit and on the surface, leaving little for the Dax to do but provide assistance to the attacked town of Tholis. 

Behind the scenes
The Dax was first mentioned in the  Foundry mission "Bait and Switch". Author StarSwordC mentioned in a forum post that in his head, the Dax was a.  is a novelization of that mission by the same author.