The Luna-class was a type of Federation starship operated by Starfleet during the late 24th century.
History[]
Designed as a capital ship, the Luna-class had entered service by 2379. (LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers"; Star Trek Nemesis)
In 2401, two ships of this class were sent by Starfleet to join an armada opposing an unknown Borg vessel. The Borg liaison sent to the USS Stargazer briefly commandeered this vessel and others, before the crew managed to engage their auto-destruct system. (PIC: "The Star Gazer") Later that year, thirty-six ships of this class took part in Frontier Day celebrations near Sol Station, where they were also taken over by the Borg. (PIC: "Vox", "The Last Generation")
Technical data[]
Physical arrangement[]
Its design consisted of a saucer section with a secondary hull positioned below and aft of the saucer. Two warp drive nacelles connected dorsally to the secondary hull with pylons that angled ventrally. The navigational deflector dish was located on the forward face of the secondary hull. A roll-bar mounted near the aft-dorsal of the saucer section resembled a similar structure seen on the Danube-class and housed photon torpedo launchers. The saucer section also housed a phaser array strip mounted on top. The secondary hull also houses two quantum torpedo launchers, one on each side of the deflector dish.
The main shuttlebay was at the aft-most section of the secondary hull.
Primary impulse engines were aft-facing on the saucer section. (LD: "No Small Parts")
Tactical systems[]
The Luna-class was equipped with a forward phaser array, along with both photon and quantum torpedoes.
This class was tactically superior to California-class starships and was capable of driving off a force of three Pakled Clumpships without assistance. (LD: "No Small Parts")
Interior design[]
Bridge[]
The bridge was similar to that of the Galaxy and California-class, though the aft section lacked the slight elevation the other two classes' bridge designs had. (LD: "No Small Parts")
Observation lounge[]
The observation lounge was similar to that of the Sovereign-class. (LD: "Kayshon, His Eyes Open")
Ready room[]
The captain's ready room doubled as an office and a second private cabin in addition to the commanding officer's private quarters. (LD: "Kayshon, His Eyes Open")
Transporter room[]
Shuttlebay[]
Ships commissioned[]
- Named
- Uncertain
- Unnamed
- Unnamed Luna-class starships
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- LD:
- "No Small Parts" (First appearance)
- "Strange Energies"
- "Kayshon, His Eyes Open"
- "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption"
- "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus" (LCARS graphic)
- PIC:
- "The Star Gazer"
- "Farewell"
- "Disengage" (model)
- "Seventeen Seconds" (interior; hologram)
- "Imposters" (model)
- "The Bounty" (model)
- "Dominion" (model)
- "Surrender" (model)
- "Vox"
- "The Last Generation"
Background information[]
The class was first mentioned in a trivia question for the "Nepenthe" episode of The Ready Room, in which it was stated that the USS Titan was a Luna-class starship, named after the moon of Saturn. The name of the class was finally made official when it was spoken in dialogue in LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers".
The ship's design was created by Sean Tourangeau and first appeared on the cover and in bonus pages of the 2007 novel Sword of Damocles of the Pocket Books Star Trek: Titan series. Tourangeau's design was the winning entry in a reader contest announced by the publisher in the first volume of the series, Taking Wing, in 2005 (see "Apocrypha" below).
According to the Star Trek: Picard Logs, Starfleet designated the Luna-class as tactical heavy cruisers. [1]
The total number of Luna-class vessels present at Frontier Day was established by Picard Research Assistant Jörg Hillebrand. [2]
Apocrypha[]
Pocket Books released a series of novels, called Star Trek: Titan, which are based aboard Riker's ship. The class's pathfinder vessel was the USS Luna (β). All Luna-class (β) ships were named for moons in the Sol system.
- USS Amalthea (β) (NCC-80108)
- USS Callisto (β) (NCC-80109)
- USS Charon (β) (NCC-80111)
- USS Galatea (β) (NCC-80112)
- USS Ganymede (β) (NCC-80107)
- USS Io (β) (NCC-80105)
- USS Luna (β) (NX-80101, later NCC-80101)
- USS Rhea (β) (NCC-80110)
- USS Triton (β) (NCC-80106)
The Luna-class was designed by Efrosian engineer Doctor Xin Ra-Havreii (β) of Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars and was initially conceived for scientific exploration of the Gamma Quadrant following the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole. The project was sidelined by the impending threat from the Dominion and was suspended during the Dominion War but was renewed soon afterwards.
In a rare exception, the class and registry of the Titan from the novels were referenced in the fourth edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 401. Included with the entry was an image of the Titan.
A competition to design the new vessel was held. Despite early conjecture that the Titan would be as large as its name suggested, the stipulations of the contest revealed that the ship was approximately 450 meters long, which was notably smaller than the last two starships Enterprise and was only slightly bigger than the Intrepid-class. The contest rules established that within the novels' continuity, the Luna-class had a crew complement of 350 and was intended as an extended-mission, deep-space explorer, apparently as a result of Starfleet's efforts to get back on an exploration standing following the Dominion War.
The winning design was created by Sean Tourangeau and appeared similar to the Sovereign-class, but on a smaller scale, and with a "roll-bar" above the saucer section, similar to that found on the Akira-class. See the winning illustration on the artist's website(X).
For more information on the Titan design contest, which ended on 15 August 2005, see Pocket Books' Starship Titan Design Contest Rules(X).
In Star Trek Online, the Luna-class became so successful that by the early 25th century, it spawned three variants: the Comet class (β), the Polaris class (β), and the Sol class (β). Following the Titan's appearance in Lower Decks, the model received a much-needed facelift in November 2020, as well as a new design variant christened the Titan class (β).
External links[]
- Luna-class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- USS Titan(X) – the winner of the Titan design contest