Constitution class


 * For its Mirror universe equivalent see: Sato class

Constitution class was a type starship in service to Starfleet in the Mid to Late 23rd Century. The design underwent several refits in its many decades of service. The original configuration and refit variants of this class influenced starship design significantly, and accelerated the standardization of the fleet. It is also one of the oldest used class.

Development
Development of the Constitution-class began in the 2230s when key Fleet personnel, including Admiral William Jefferies and Captain Robert April, came to see the necessity of an all-purpose vessel that could explore space while protecting Federation interests and expanding its reach. When a design team led by Doctor Lawrence Marvick finished plans late in that decade for just such a ship, a new class was swiftly approved by Starfleet Command.

Starfleet authorized its Fleet Yards in San Francisco to build two vessels, with Admiral Jefferies overseeing NX 1700 -- christened Constitution -- and Captain April supervising its sister ship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). Later on, 12 were created in all.

2255
When Captain Pike took command of the Constitution class USS Enterprise, it was refitted for the first time since it's commissioning in 2245. This would become a refit for all Constitution class starships.

2271
Beyond minor modifications, the successful design saw no major changes until the 2270s, when a significant refit had been more than earned. Upgrade proposals all shared a more efficient power plant, with some versions streamlining the hull for greater warpfield geometrics, and others emphasizing enhanced weaponry or science capability; the final design merged many of the proposals. 

2403
In 2403, the class of starship got it's first refit in 134 years. Starfleet decided to just refit the Constitution class because designing an entirely new starship would take years and the Borg threat was getting worse. This refit was strikingly exactly the same design as in the alternate reality that Ambassador Spock visited.

Design Layout
The largest and most elaborate vessel class Starfleet had yet fielded, with an unprecedented fourteen research labs each, ships of the Constitution class became the most extensive mobile research platforms ever deployed by the Federation, and were responsible for expanding known space by thousands of cubic parsecs.

The class utilized a greater level of modularity, which allowed for incremental changes to configuration -- so flexible that it became standard starship design practice. As other classes began to employ such modularity, Fleet design became increasingly more uniform.

The Nero Altered Universe
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in an alternate timeline created by Nero the Enterprise was more advanced in weaponry and very similar to the prime universe Constitution class refit of 2402.

The Rifteon Warship
FHM Dyson (RDV-02) - This ship is the polar opposite of the Dyson, it was encountered in the Negitive Zone and is pure evil as discribed by its captain. Unlike the Parallel Universe these "evil"-personas cannot be made to convert to good and their ships seem to posses almost every weapon and defence known in this universe. This ship's prefix (FHM) means the Four Horse Men.