Vessels of Starfleet - Oberth Class

Oberth class surveyor

For a hundred years the Oberth class has seen service as a survey vessel. This ship has been a mainstay of both Starfleet and civilian navies, and although it has earnt a reputation for being easily damaged the longevity of the class speaks for itself. In addition to survey duties some of these ships have been used in the courier role, transporting passengers and light cargo over distances too great for a warpshuttle or runabout but not worth the assignment of a major starship. Other uses have included supply ship and experimental test bed.

I've created a page detailing some of the Oberth variants which populate fan created publications.

In addition see my short essay on scouts and surveyors.


NCC-602U.S.S. Oberth
History:commisioned in 2266 (or earlier, or later: the LUG RPG gives 2275), first ship of her class.
On a deep space exploration mission in 2291.
Notes:"ST VI: The Undiscovered Country" ref.
NCC-617U.S.S. Lagrange
Notes:"Starfleet Academy" computer game.
NCC-618U.S.S. Lake
Notes:"Starfleet Academy" computer game.
NCC-623U.S.S. Copernicus
History:In service in 2387.
Notes:"ST IV: The Voyage Home" ref.
NCC-631U.S.S. Shepard
History:In service in 2387.
Notes:"ST IV: The Voyage Home" ref.
The registry and class aren't given for the U.S.S. Shepard in ST IV so I used those from an old fandom ship of the same name.
NCC-638U.S.S. Grissom
History:Destroyed by Klingons in 2387.
Notes:"ST III: The Search for Spock" app.
NCC-838U.S.S. Banting
Notes:"Starfleet Academy" computer game.
NAR-18834SS Vico
History:Destroyed in Black Cluster in 2368.
Notes:Civillian vessel (but presumed ex-Starfleet due to the presence of starfleet pennant on the hull).
TNG "Hero Worship" app.
NCC-19002U.S.S. Yosemite
History:Damaged by plasma streams in 2369, possibly recovered.
Notes:TNG "Realm of Fear" app/ref?.
NCC-31600U.S.S. Bonestell
History:Destoyed by Borg at Wolf 359 in 2367.
Notes:DS9 "Emissary" app.
Listed in Omnipedia, ship seen "Emissary" is not identified on screen and may be another Oberth class vessel.
NCC-35911U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky
History:commisioned in 2363.
destroyed in 2364.
Notes:TNG "The Naked Now" app.
Commisioning date is given on dedication plaque as the Stardate 40291.7, this does not tally with the registry. Solutions include: possible recommisioning after a refit; misprint and the plaque should read 04291.7 which puts the commisioing in 2327 which fits the registry much better.
The dedication plaque apparantly gives the registry as NCC-53911 which still doesn't match the date.
"The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever." - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
NCC-50331U.S.S. Biko
History:Still in service in 2369 as supply ship.
Notes:TNG "A Fistful of Datas" app.
Omnipedia lists this as Olympic class, but seen in episode to be Oberth.
NCC-53847U.S.S. Pegasus
History:Lost presumed destroyed in 2358.
Found embedded in asteroid in 2370.
Notes:TNG "The Pegasus" app.
NCC-59318U.S.S. Cochrane
History:Still in service in 2369.
Notes:TNG "The Drumhead" app.
DS9 "Emissary" app.
NCC-59983U.S.S. Raman
History:Destroyed in 2370.
Notes:TNG "Interface" app.
Registry is from the Omnipedia, a display in the episode might have given NCC-29487.
NCC-?????U.S.S. Montgomery
History:Assigned to study Collapsar 49.
Notes:LUG TNG RPG core rules and A Fragile Peace campaign book.
NCC-?????U.S.S. Khyber
History:Investigated the wreckage of the U.S.S. Horatio.
Notes:LUG TNG RPG supplement Planets of the UFP, whilst not identified as Oberth class in the text the accompanying illustraion strongly suggests that it is.

The LUG RPG supplement Ship Recognition Manual, Volume 2: Starships of The Orginal Series Era mentions the U.S.S. Lowell NCC-664 and the U.S.S. Ve'hal NCC-681.

For this class I've limited myself to the so called canon sources (plus the computer game and LUG) here as the Fandom and FASA sources are very confused. FASA has Gagarin and Sagan classes. Fandom has Gagarin, Garneau, Komarov and Glenn classes.



Last updated July 13th 2001. © Stephen Pugh <steve@pugh.net>
Star Trek™, ® & © by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Star Trek is a registered trademark of and all characters and related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures.