What Class Was That One? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Intrepid

The Intrepid-class was originally designed by Rick Sternbach as the class to which the name ship of the series "Star Trek: Voyager" belonged. The design was planned to appear different to the Enterprise, the lead ship of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", by being both smaller and sleeker, an effect that was obtained by giving the design an elongated, oval shaped primary hull. As the main ship in "Star Trek: Voyager", the Voyager itself appeared in all 176 episodes of that series, but the Intrepid-class only made one appearance outside of that show, in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges".

The starship Bellerophon appears in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" as the transport for a group of Federation dignitaries, including Dr Bashir, to a conference on the planet Romulus to discuss the ongoing Dominion War.

Answer: Miranda

The Miranda-class was a collaborative design by artists Joe Jennings, Mike Minor and Lee Cole. Originally developed for the 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" to serve as the starship Reliant, the type was introduced for two major reasons - to provide audiences with a visual aid to tell the Reliant from the Enterprise in the film, and to avoid using the large and cumbersome Enterprise studio model more than necessary during filming. As one of the already existing studio models, the Miranda-class made a number of appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation", including the episode "Night Terrors" as the starship Brattain, before going on to make many more in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".

The Brattain is a science vessel that becomes trapped in an uncharted binary star system in "Night Terrors". During its confinement, the entire crew becomes gripped by insanity and ends up killing each other, leaving a single survivor. When ordered to investigate, the starship Enterprise becomes trapped by the same phenomenon, with the crew beginning to suffer the same symptoms.

Answer: Sovereign

the Sovereign-class was originally designed by John Eaves for the film "Star Trek: First Contact" as the class of the new starship Enterprise, which replaced the previous Galaxy-class ship destroyed in "Star Trek: Generations". Eaves sought to move the design away from the Galaxy-class to something sleeker and more evocative of the Enterprise designed by Matt Jefferies for "Star Trek: The Original Series". As the lead ship for the "Star Trek" movie franchise from "Star Trek: First Contact" onwards, the Sovereign-class was not seen outside of the three films in which it appeared, with the Enterprise being the only member of the class to be depicted on screen.

Having spent almost a year in commission, the Enterprise responds to the threat of the Borg in "Star Trek: First Contact", becoming part of the fleet that is victorious during the Battle of Sector 001. Two years later, the ship prevented the implementation of a plot between a race called the Son'a and renegade Starfleet officers to violate the Prime Directive in "Star Trek: Insurrection". Four years after that, the Enterprise was pivotal in defeating the plans of the Romulan Praetor, Shinzon, in "Star Trek: Nemesis".

Answer: Nova

The Nova-class was designed by Rick Sternbach when a need arose for a Federation vessel to appear in "Star Trek: Voyager". Rather than use of of the pre-existing designs, Sternbach designed something new, but turned for inspiration to a design he had produced for the book "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual", which featured what were purported to be early designs of the starship Defiant. For the fifth season finale of "Star Trek: Voyager", entitled "Equinox", Sternbach modified the original design from the "Deep Space Nine Technical Manual" and modified it, converting it from a full-up warship into the eponymous science vessel of the episode's title. The Nova-class made a second appearance as the starship Rhode Island in the series finale of "Star Trek: Voyager". The class name, Nova, came from the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual", where it was used as the projected name of a future Galaxy-class successor.

The Equinox is a short-range, short duration science vessel that is abducted by an alien known as the Caretaker and left stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy, a fate later to befall the starship Voyager. Owing to its circumstances, the crew of the Equinox become further and further removed from the rules of the Federation as they make their way towards home. Eventually crossing paths with the Voyager, the crews of the two ships come into conflict with each other over the unethical means that the Equinox has been using to shorten its journey home.

Answer: Ambassador

The Ambassador-class was designed by Rick Sternbach for the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" to represent the starship Enterprise NCC-1701-C, the immediate predecessor to the lead ship of the series. This was initially seen as a half-relief sculpture on the wall of the Observation Lounge set in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" alongside other ships named Enterprise. When the time came to design a full up model, Sternbach attempted to appear as an intermediate stage between the Excelsior-class and the Galaxy-class. Following its initial appearance in "Yesterday's Enterprise", the Ambassador-class made further appearances as the starship Zhukov in the episode "Data's Day", and the starship Excalibur in "Redemption, Part II".

The starship Excalibur was one of the starships utilised as part of Captain Picard's blockade of the Klingon-Romulan border during the Klingon Civil War depicted in the two-part story "Redemption". As a result of crew shortages, a number of personnel from the Enterprise were assigned to the Excalibur for the mission, with Commander Riker placed in command of the ship. Although this was the ship's only on-screen appearance, it subsequently became the lead ship in Peter David's book series "Star Trek: New Frontier".

Answer: Excelsior

The Excelsior-class primarily came about through the work of Bill George, a model-maker at Industrial Light and Magic, who built upon initial design work by David Carson and Nilo Rodis during the pre-production period of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", which required the introduction of a brand new "super-starship" named the Excelsior to serve as a counterpoint to the aging starship Enterprise. Following its original appearance, the Excelsior-class went on to become the most frequently used "guest" starship, making multiple appearances in all three television series set in the 24th century, as well as four further film appearances.

The starship Hood is the second Federation ship to feature in "Star Trek: The Next Generation", when it rendezvouses with the Enterprise to transfer the last of the latter ship's crew, including its new first officer, in the show's pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint". The Hood makes a second appearance in the episode "Tin Man" when it transports a mission expert to the Enterprise. It makes further appearances in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" during the period of the Dominion War.

Answer: Galaxy

The Galaxy-class was designed by Andrew Probert primarily to appear as the starship 'Enterprise', the lead ship in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Probert took as the starting point for the design of what would become the Galaxy-class a painting he had done in 1979 following his work on "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", which depicted his vision of the Enterprise from that movie had he been given free reign. During the initial design work, Probert used the painting as a means of inspiration, until producer David Gerrold saw the painting and showed it to Gene Roddenberry, who approved the concept on the spot. Probert then used this as the basis for the final design of the new ship. As the lead ship in the series, the Enterprise appeared in all 178 episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", as well as the film "Star Trek: Generations". Additionally, another Galaxy-class ship, the starship Yamato, appeared in two episodes, "Where Silence Has Lease" and "Contagion". The Galaxy-class also made a number of appearances throughout the run of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", plus a handful in "Star Trek: Voyager".

The starship Odyssey appears in the episode "The Jem'Hadar", the season two finale of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", when it is ordered through the Bajoran wormhole to investigate the threat of a race called the Jem'Hadar who have taken Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Commander Sisko, prisoner. Upon being attacked by the Jem'Hadar, the Odyssey is eventually destroyed with the loss of all hands.

Answer: Nebula

The Nebula-class, designed by Ed Miarecki, originated in the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", the fourth season premiere of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". This episode featured the aftermath of the Battle of Wolf 359, which saw a large fleet of starships destroyed by the Borg, of which one, a kitbash model made using elements from model kits of the 'Enterprise' and labelled as the starship Melbourne, was designated as the Nebula-class. Later in season four, the episode "The Wounded" required the presence of a new ship, which saw Miarecki's design taken and used to build a detailed full scale studio model, which became the starship Phoenix. The Nebula-class made a subsequent appearance as the starship Sutherland in the episode "Redemption, Part II", before making several appearances in both "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager".

The starship Phoenix appears in "The Wounded" under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell who, against orders, takes his ship on a vigilante mission against the Cardassians, a race who have recently entered into a peace arrangement with the Federation, but who Maxwell believes are planning to renew hostilities.

Answer: Defiant

The Defiant-class was designed by James Martin, and was intended for use in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" to provide the series with a ship which could expand the range of stories that could be told away from the eponymous space station beyond those featuring the small, short-range runabouts. Originally envisaged as a "beefed-up runabout", the producers decided that this was the wrong direction, and instead asked for something closer to the size of a starship. The result was the starship Defiant, introduced in "The Search, Part I", the third season premiere of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". The Defiant itself appears in 66 episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", as well as the film "Star Trek: First Contact", while two more named ships, the Valiant and the Sao Paulo, also appear in the show. Two more unnamed Defiant-class ships appear in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Message in a Bottle".

Following its commissioning, the starship Valiant is assigned as a training ship to Starfleet Academy. In the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Valiant", the ship has been on a training cruise, manned by members of the Academy's elite Red Squad under the supervision of a handful of experienced officers, to circumnavigate the entire Federation. During this cruise, the Dominion War begins and the ship is trapped behind enemy lines, with all of the officers killed. Despite this, the cadets elect to man the ship and fight rather than attempt to return to friendly territory.

Answer: Oberth

The Oberth-class was one of two new Federation ship types designed for the film "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", and was used in the film to represent the science vessel Grissom. In the following film, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", the studio model was relabelled to become the starship Copernicus, while it was used again for a number of appearances throughout the seven-season run of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", perhaps most notably as the eponymous vessel in the seventh season episode "The Pegasus". The final appearance of the Oberth-class came at the end of the film "Star Trek: Generations".

The starship Yosemite appears in the episode "Realm of Fear", from season six of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". The ship has been assigned to study a so-called plasma streamer linking two stars together, when it suffers an on-board explosion. Investigation by the starship Enterprise finds all but one of the crew missing, with the sole remaining crew member dead from exposure to high energy plasma.