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USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was a Constitution-class heavy cruiser active in the 23rd century. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine"; Star Fleet Technical Manual)

Two fan Treknology sources — the Heavy Cruiser Evolution Blueprints and Ships of the Star Fleet — posited that Constellation had been refit from a Horizon-class vessel, hence the relatively low NCC number.

Alternate continuities[]

Assorted[]

One of Constellation's commanding officers prior to Matthew Decker was Ran Armstrong. (TOS novel: Dreadnought!)

Mikhail Manescu was a former chief engineer of the Constellation. After her destruction, Montgomery Scott sent Manescu a letter commiserating with him on the loss. (Star Trek II Biographies)

Rebecca Gallaudet, later commander of the first starship to encounter the Tzenkethi, was a navigator and junior science officer on Constellation in the early 2260s. (Star Trek: Shadowstar Station: "Blindspot")

Under Commodore Decker's command, Constellation discovered the meta-genome in the Taurus Reach in 2263. (Star Trek: Vanguard novel: Harbinger)

Four years later, on stardate 4202.1, Constellation investigated the destruction of solar systems L-370 and L-374. The ship was subsequently attacked by the so-called planet killer and heavily damaged. Commodore Decker beamed his crew down to planet L-374 III, while he remained aboard. The planet killer's next attack took out the ship's transporters, stranding the crew while it destroyed the planet.

The Constellation was left adrift. Discovered by the USS Enterprise, it was detonated inside the planet killer, rendering the weapon inert. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine")

TOS Remastered Constellation1

The Constellation, adrift

However this detonation caused the chronitons within the weapon to become active and sent the device back in time to 2254 where it destroyed Enterprise, creating an alternate timeline, a series of destructive battles known as the Doomsday War. (Star Trek: New Voyages: "In Harm's Way")

Another Constitution-class heavy cruiser would be named Constellation (and given the same registry number); her commander was Captain Mike Walsh. (TOS novel: My Enemy, My Ally)

In the early 2280s, the second Constellation, under the command of Captain Carmen Ikeya, would be destroyed when the star Achernar went nova. (TOS novel: Time for Yesterday)

A Federation starship from the early 24th century was thrown back in time by a Romulan device to several hours before the Doomsday Machine would destroy the third planet of L-374 and kill more than 400 of the Constellation 's officers and crew. That ship's captain was faced with a crisis of conscience. (Starship Deimos: "Butterfly Effect")

Tales from the Neutral Zone[]

In one continuity, not all of the Constellation's crew had been beamed down to the surface of L-374 III. While Commodore Decker was in Auxiliary Control, at least three officers (including Science Officer Masada, a navigator named Natalie, and a helm officer) were on the bridge. ("Doomsday: A Star Trek Fan Film")

Star Trek: Counter Worlds[]

The USS Constellation was heavily damaged in a firefight with three Klingon Battle cruisers. The Constellation was found by Captain James T. Kirk, who boards her with a landing party only to discover that the entire crew has been killed by the Klingons -including her Captain, Commodore Decker. After retrieving all pertinent information Kirk orders the Constellation to self-destruct in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Klingons. (Star Trek: Counter Worlds)

?[]

In one reality, the USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was originally a Bonaventure-class starship Launched in the 2200s and fought in the "Klingon Repulsion" in the 2220s. In 2243 Starfleet overhauled the old vessel to "Experimental Specifications". It was then given the registry NCC-1710 and relaunched in 2246 as one of the first Constitution-class vessels launched. It was eventually destroyed in 2266 by the Planet Killer. The replacement USS Constellation II launched in 2267.(Citation needed)

Delta Dynamics[]

Advance bc (DD) 3-ortho

The original Advance subclass configuration

Advance Flt II 2-ortho

The Advance Flight II configuration received prior to the incident.

Constellation ft (DD) 3-ortho

The former Constellation in her first testbed configuration

The USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was a Horizon-class heavy cruiser—of the Advance battle cruiser subclass—in Star Fleet service during the late-22nd century and into the early-23rd, serving for about 17 years before she incurred major damage to her bow structure in 2219, taking her off the line for repairs. She was selected as the primary platform of two vessels assigned to Chiokis to receive the brunt of the Project Starship engineering testing. In this configuration, she measured 243 meters long, 114.1 on the beam, and a height of 64.1, massing 592,600 metric tons. She was provided the third-generation PB-30A nacelles, with much more petite—though longer—pylons placed on the original respective hull mounts and at the same angle. An extremely large but advanced compression fusion powerplant was installed in the engineering hull and a relatively non-descript but fully-functional saucer, with an advanced impulse bank, replaced the dummy one. Though weaponless during the development, she was equipped with a 1-layer conformal forcefield, a navigational deflector on the forward secondary hull, and three auxiliary navigational deflectors on the forward primary hull. She cruised at warp 5.6 (OCU scale) and had a varied crew quantity, as determined by the testing requirements. She carried 2 light shuttles, 2 shuttlepods, and 1 work pod in the Horizon-style shuttlebay.

Constellation dt (DD) 3-ortho

The re-activated Constellation (now NX-1017) in her second testbed configuration

By 2238, the Federation’s first natural dilithium source on Deneva was in the opening stages of full mining and refining of the most critical component of a truly efficient annihilation core, with Star Fleet’s Project Starship a targeted recipient. The NX Constellation had the previous 4:1 matter/antimatter spicing compression fusion powerplant replaced by a custom-fitted dilithium-regulated antimatter reactor and the ship was formally re-activated (though not yet re-commissioned) as NX-1017. The new dual PB-31 warp nacelles were placed in positions elevated and further back than the PB-30As utilized during the fusion testing phase. The pylons were reshaped and lengthened, as was the saucer’s interconnecting dorsal, which added considerable internal volume for machinery, laboratories, and workspaces. In this configuration, she measured 278.8 meters long, 114.1 on the beam, and a height of 76.9, massing 595,000 metric tons. The test runs were considered successful, with a cruise speed of warp 6 (OCU scale) and a maximum speed of warp 8, a major confidence boost for the collaborating teams. As a result, the Republic was towed into the refit yard to closely track the changes that would be necessary to upgrade the remaining Horizons to similar standards. Concurrently, a new-build prototype (Constitution) was ordered, as there was considerable faith that the ships were far more capable than had been envisioned necessary in 2210, and thus the expense of greater numbers would provide far more utility.

Constellation os (DD) 3-ortho

USS Constellation (NCC-1017) in her original operational configuration as a Constitution class heavy cruiser

After 17 years as an active Advance class battlecruiser and over two decades as a test ship for Chiokis' development of Project Starship, Constellation was about done with her rebuilding to the early Constitution production standard. However, her sister's unplanned combat experience put a stop to Constellation's early 2243 re-commissioning, as it was already clear the project would require considerable refinement to resolve combat-related damage control issues. The re-conversion to match the standard Enterprise was now pathfinding began again in 2244 and continued into mid-2245. Externally identical, her internal spaces differed significantly due to structural holdovers from her Advance and testbed days. USS Constellation (NCC-1017) would rejoin the fleet after 26 years, serving in exploration and diplomacy roles for about another ten years before receiving the upgrades to the Flight II configuration.

Constitution Flt II (DD) 3-ortho

Constitution Flight II configuration

USS Constellation went through an extensive upgrade period to achieve full parity with the ten other ships of the Flight II standard.

Bonhomme Richard (Type 1) hc 3-ortho

The original configuration of the Bonhomme Richard subclass

Within a few years of her Flight II conversion, she went through yet another one to meet the standards of the primary configuration of the Bonhomme Richard subclass.

Constitution Flt III (DD) 3-ortho

Constitution Flight III

By 2265, all Bonhomme Richards (of the three types) had been upgraded to the Constitution Flight III standard. (Star Fleet Starship Recognition Manual: Report #298: Constitution Heavy Cruiser, Report #296: Horizon Heavy Cruiser)

Nomenclature[]

The ship was named after the star grouping constellation, as well as various Earth seagoing vessels and previous starships such as a Daedalus-class vessel of the 22nd century.

See also[]


External links[]

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