Changes: California class

Revision as of 07:31, 10 July 2022

"I guess those Cali-class ships can hold their own longer than people think."

– William T. Riker, to Carol Freeman, 2380 ("No Small Parts")

The California class, nicknamed the Cali class, was a type of Federation starship in service during the 24th century.

History

By the 2380s, the California class had been in service for a long time, such as that some examples of the class were beginning to "fall apart". However, new ships of the class continued to be commissioned. Starfleet Command was reluctant to change the senior staff of California-class starships. (LD: "Cupid's Errant Arrow", "No Small Parts", "First First Contact")

At least three ships of this class were lost in 2380: the USS Merced was irreparably damaged from exposure to terraforming emulsion that leaked from an ancient generation ship, the USS Rubidoux was subsumed by a space-dwelling lifeform, and the USS Solvang was destroyed with all hands by an enhanced Pakled vessel. (LD: "Moist Vessel", "Much Ado About Boimler", "No Small Parts")

Technical data

Physical arrangement

Its design consisted of a saucer section and a wide secondary hull positioned below and aft of the saucer between two elongated nacelles. The nacelles connected via pylons to the saucer, while separate pylons connected the secondary hull between them. The pylons contained turbolift access in their aft-most section. The navigational deflector dish was located on the forward face of the secondary hull. (LD: "Second Contact") The ship also carried an embarked captain's yacht. (LD: "Terminal Provocations")

Propulsion systems

Unlike Galaxy-class starships, the warp engine of this class incorporated inverted plasma distributors. It was believed that these caused the sound of their warp engines to be a little bit higher pitch, however, other sources maintained that the unique sound was caused by the vibrations in the dilithium dispersement manifold. (LD: "Terminal Provocations")

Tactical systems

The California class was armed with phaser arrays and photon torpedoes. The shield array of this class was capable of auto-repair, which was regulated by an isolinear core. If the core were removed, the shields would be drained faster than normal when under attack. (LD: "Terminal Provocations", "Strange Energies")

Interior design

The saucer section contained eleven decks. Among the noted shipboard facilities was Cetacean Ops. (LD: "Second Contact", "Terminal Provocations")

Main bridge

The bridge is located on Deck 1. The basic layout of the bridge was similar to bridges aboard Galaxy-class starships (specifically the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D). The captain's chair at the center, flanked by chairs for the first officer to the right, and an additional officer to the left. The first officer chair was equipped with a manual steering column. Unlike the bridges aboard Galaxy-class starships, the additional seats did not include side consoles. Behind the seats was the security station. (LD: "First First Contact")

Ready room

The captain's ready room was located off the bridge, with a single room-wide window to space. The room featured shelving and framing built into the walls, a desk and chairs, a replicator, and bench-style seating along the wall opposite the desk. (LD: "Second Contact")

Conference rooms

There were several conference rooms, including a senior conference room and Conference Room 5. (LD: "Moist Vessel", "Veritas", "First First Contact")

Main engineering

USS Cerritos engine room — Main engineering

See: Main engineering

Shuttlebays

Two main shuttlebays were at the aft of and to either side on the saucer section, spanning Decks 5 and 6 with further room for shuttlecraft storage deeper into Deck 6. The ship carried a complement of at least five Type 6A shuttlecraft and had at least four Argo-type ground vehicle stored on Decks 5 and 7 adjacent to the shuttlebay. An additional shuttlebay was located aft and center of the engineering secondary hull. This permitted engineering supplies, hazardous materials, and non-hazardous cargo to be separated from one another during shuttlecraft operations. The MSD also depicted several Type 8 shuttlecraft.

Repair bay

See: Repair bay

Storage bay

The class had at least seven storage bays. (LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers")

Transporter room

This class is known to have at least eight transporter rooms. (LD: "Second Contact")

Sickbay

See: Sickbay

Brig

The brig contained three prisoner cells, secured by force fields that could withstand the blast of a type 2 phaser set to kill. The brig was also equipped with a replicator. (LD: "Temporal Edict")

Recreation facilities

Upper decks of the saucer section had a bar where the crew could socialize. (LD: "Second Contact")

Deck 9 had squash courts near the crew quarters. (LD: "Second Contact")

The ship included at least three holodecks available for crew use. (LD: "wej Duj")

The ship had a gym with treadmills, weight training equipment, and an anbo-jyutsu area. There was also a large padded room for martial arts practice. (LD: "Mugato, Gumato")

There was a gift shop where one could obtain ship-branded merchandise such as T-shirts and baseball caps. (LD: "The Spy Humongous")

Crew quarters

USS Cerritos corridor — Lower Decks sleeping quarters

The lower-ranking members were barracks-style ld sleeping quarters, where bunk beds lined the walls in a shared living space at the lower aft portion of the saucer section. Each bunk had its own assigned compartment beside it, which could be extended out from the wall and the bunk occupant could use as a closet to store a few extra uniforms or other items. Like a drawer, the compartment could be removed entirely from its recessed alcove if needed. (LD: "Terminal Provocations") This area, known as a residential hallway, also featured a large aft-facing viewing window overlooking the secondary hull. (LD: "Second Contact") Differing duty shifts each had their own residential hallway to live in. Beta shift's hallway was known to be on Deck 11. (LD: "Terminal Provocations") Higher ranking crew members were afforded their own quarters. (LD: "Moist Vessel")

Sonic showers

Located off of the residential hallway were communal sonic showers. (LD: "Kayshon, His Eyes Open")

Ships commissioned

According to Mike McMahan, the USS Sacramento is California-class. [1]

As they are also named after cities in California, the USS Bakersfield and USS Ventura may be California-class vessels.

Appendices

Appearances

LD: (excluding regular appearances of the USS Cerritos)
- "Moist Vessel"
- "Much Ado About Boimler"
- "Veritas"
- "No Small Parts"

Background information

File:Two California class starships.png

Two California-class starships with yellow and blue striping

The California-class is named for the state of California. Ships of the class are named after cities located in California, and their shuttles are named after national parks.

Mike McMahan stated that the shuttles are all named after California State Parks, but apparently he misspoke. [2]

Per series showrunner Mike McMahan:

The ship is in great condition. It’s a California-class ship, which has always existed in Starfleet – [this is] what we’re saying – that they’re the utility support ships. In the California-class [line], there are three types of hull painting: there’s blue, red, and yellow.

We’ve extended the visual metaphor of the uniforms to the ships, and the Cerritos has yellow on the hull because it’s primarily a second contact engineering ship. They show up to planets that need engineering stuff done on them in order to be able to communicate with the Federation.

There’s also, you’ll see in the show, blue-hulled California-class ships, which are usually deployed to places where there has to be more medical expertise, and red-hulled ships that are like for moving around ambassadors and doing more command-level stuff. [3]

McMahan also stated that he was always a fan of the (Miranda-class) USS Reliant, and used that design mixed with the stylization of the (Galaxy-class) USS Enterprise-D as the visual inspiration for this class. (The Ready Room, "LD Season 1 Premiere Special")

The class has three shuttlebays facing aft, two in the primary hull and one in the engineering module. [4]

Unlike most Federation starships, the ship's registry and name plate of the California-class was located aft of the bridge on the primary hull's dorsal surface.

According to Brad Winters, this class is 535.2 meters long and 121.3 meters high. [5]

@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 ===Conference rooms===
-There were several conference rooms, including a senior conference room. ({{LD|Veritas|First First Contact}})
+There were several conference rooms, including a senior conference room and Conference Room 5. ({{LD|Moist Vessel|Veritas|First First Contact}})
 <gallery>
 File:Conference room california class.jpg|A conference room