Header Truth OR Myth? Beta Canon - The Daedalus Class

Truth OR Myth? Beta Canon – The Daedalus Class

Hello and welcome to another episode of Truth OR Myth Beta Canon, a Star Trek web series that dives into the history of any given topic using Beta Canon sources and my own imagination to fill in the gaps.  In today’s episode, we’re taking a look at the Daedalus Class of Starfleet Starships, to better understand its place in Star Trek History.

As always, Because this IS a Beta Canon video, all information relaid should pretty much be taken with a grain of stardust, and only considered a little bit of Star Trek Fun!  And so, with all that out of the way, let us begin.

Starting out as a new wave, low warp Cargo Vessel, the Daedalus Class would be propelled into the forefront of Starfleets Fleet during the Earth/ Romulan War.  But what do we know about this early class of starship?

With the advent of warp technology, Earth began to venture outwards into neighbouring star systems and establish both colonies, mining and otherwise, as well as diplomatic relations with various species…

Cargo running became a lucrative field as a result… Humanities thirst for exotic alien trinkets had continued to grow by leaps and bounds, causing many private cargo companies to pop up virtually overnight.

Daedalus Class Star trek Starship
(CBS) The Daedalus Class

Starfleet Command for its part, wanted in on the action, requiring various resources to continue to develop and build a fleet to explore the cosmos, and as a direct result of this position, the Daedalus Class would be born.

Originally, sitting at a length of 105 meters and 7 decks tall, the Daedalus Class was designed to be operated by a crew of 100 Officers and crew members.

Constructed in 2144, and to gain a leg up on its competition, the Daedalus Class would include the Warp 2 Engine System devised and tested for the NX Delta Class.

This would allow these cargo ships to become some of the fastest in the fleet, with a maximum speed of warp factor of 2.5. And with its simple shapes, a Sphere and Cylinders meant this starship design could be easily constructed in a much faster time than many of Earths other Cargo Vessels.

Starfleet Command constructed 12 original Daedalus Class starships, and for the next decade-plus, these ships would run circles around other cargo vessels, becoming Earths Leading Cargo Vessel design, but as Starfleet continued to develop warp drives, breaking the warp 3, 4 and 5 barriers, these Vessels were beginning to lose their lustre, feeling old and outdated by the mid-2150s.

Furthermore, Starfleet Command made the decision to decommission the class over the next 5 years, but as with most things in life, the plans quickly changed.

(CBS) NX01 Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise
(CBS) NX01 Enterprise

2151 had seen the launch of Starfleet’s first true exploration vessel the NX 01 Enterprise. Part of an entirely new and fresh class of starships known as the NX Class, Enterprise was proving its worth with each light-year it travelled.

As a result, Starfleet began constructing several more of the class, with the second vessel of the line, the Columbia, being launched in late November of 2154 and 3 other vessels launched shortly thereafter, and several more in various stages of construction.

By 2156, it was clear that the NX Class would become the leading class for Starfleet when the Earth/ Romulan War erupted unexpectedly. Subsequently, Starfleet’s Vessel losses began to mount quickly, including the destruction of several of the NX Class starships.

To combat these losses, Starfleet Command began to pull various decommissioned starships out of its scrap yards, refit them, and quickly pressed them into service.

During this process, a junior member of Starfleet’s Starship design team, Lieutenant Jonathan Styles, jokingly made the suggestion that Starfleet should look into upgrading and refitting the decommissioned Daedalus Class starships into combat vessels… And shortly thereafter, was given the project to do so.

Refit of the Daedalus Class ships went quickly, with most taking only a month of intensive reconstruction and refit before they could join the front lines.

Daedalus Class Ventral View Star Trek Starship
(CBS) Daedalus Class Ventral View

Impressed with this fact, along with their successes in bolstering the fleet in several battles, Starfleet began to consider constructing whole new vessels of the class and pausing all construction of the NX Class vessels.

This was done because construction projections showed that for every NX Class starship that could be constructed, 3 Daedalus Class Vessels could be constructed in its place, and so Starfleet gave Styles the go-ahead to redesign the class, keeping its basic shape but upgrading internal technologies to help Earth win the war.

Other than all new components based on the NX Class technology, Style would also slightly increase the volume of the secondary hull, and the Daedalus Class would be increased from 7 decks to 10 decks.

Having an enhanced Warp 5 Engine, the Daedalus Class would get a huge bump in speed, being able to almost reach warp factor 6 in case of emergency.

Her phase canons would also be the most advanced in the fleet.  Having 8 installed at various places on the hull, giving the ship a full 360-degree targeting arc and 3 Photonic torpedo launchers would also be included in the design, with 2 forward launchers and 1 aft launcher.

Daedalus Class Dorsal View Star Trek Starships
(CBS) Daedalus Class Dorsal View

Its shuttlebay would also be modified to house several specially designed fighter pods which could easily be deployed during the heat of battle. The Daedalus Classes Hull Plating Strength would also see great improvement over the NX Class, increasing its strength by over 85 per cent.

One downside to all this upgrading, however, was the fact that the Daedalus Class now needed a much larger crew to operate.  Increasing its crew complement from 100 to 229.

This huge increase also meant that most junior officers and crew members had to reside in barrack style quarters with 6-10 other crewmates.  Though because it was wartime, no one complained.

With the Entry of the Andorians, Tellarites and the Vulcans into the war in 2159, along with the NX Class Refit being introduced early in that year, the tides would be turned and the Romulans would finally be defeated in 2160 at the Battle of Cheron, and the United Federation of Planets would be created shortly thereafter in 2161.

There were many logistical nightmares for Starfleet to figure out after the conception of the Federation.

One of the biggest problems was the integration of Member world donated technology into Starfleet Starship designs.  Starfleet also knew that Just getting most of these systems to even work with each other could be a decades-long process, and in the meantime, Starfleet still needed a fleet to protect its member worlds.

Daedalus Class Front View Star Trek starship
(CBS) Daedalus Class Front View

Several starships would be donated to Starfleet from the different species to bolster the fleet until Starfleet’s own shiny new assets could take over, but in these early days, Starfleet wanted to ensure that humanity was also doing its part. 

And thus decided to keep the Daedalus Class in service and continue to construct more alongside resuming construction on the various NX Classes in dry dock, which were now being reconstructed to the NX Refit designs.

This meant that the bulk of Starfleet’s Force was Daedalus Class-based.  And although its armaments would be decreased slightly, and various scientific and exploration instruments and laboratories would be installed, most of the exploration discoveries done in the latter part of the 22nd Century would be done by this class, even though everyone would be continually looking towards the NX Class refit Vessels as the jewels in Starfleet’s Crown.

But by the late 22nd Century, When Starfleet had finally worked out all the bugs in the combined technologies donated by the Member Worlds, the Daedalus Class was truly showing its age.

But even then, the classes life was not over.

Daedalus Class Ventral/Front View Star Trek Starships
(CBS) Daedalus Class Ventral/Front View

Instead of the standard decommissioning protocols, Starfleet offered the Daedalus Class starships to Colony and member worlds for defensive purposes.  And many worlds would take Starfleet up on this offer.

And as a result, this class never really died, still having some even operating today in private fleets through out the Federation, many of course being refit and upgraded with 24th Century Technology.

But officially, the Daedalus Class ended its service to Starfleet at the turn of the century in 2201.

An unusual design, with equally as unusual service history in Starfleet, the Daedalus Class is still often overlooked by many in the Federation, for the important role it played in early Starfleet and its War with the Romulan Star Empire.

Never the Less, the Daedalus Class was one of the most important introductions to Starfleet, serving the fleet with honour and distinction in a time when the hazards of deep space were still relatively unknown to humanity.  Earning the Daedalus Class its Place in Starfleet History…

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Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth or Myth Beta Canon, what do you think of the Daedalus Class, and the historical narrative I’ve created here.  Would you like to see more videos like this one?… Well leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Thanks again for watching, Live long and prosper…

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