The Merian class was a type of Federation starship operated by Starfleet during the 31st century into the 33rd century. Its design featured a flat primary hull with four disconnected nacelles.
History[]
The Merian-class was in service prior to the Burn
In 3069, this class saw the loss of many of its ships to the Burn. Ships with active warp cores were destroyed when their dilithium became inert, resulting in antimatter explosions. (DIS: "People of Earth")
In 3189, the fleet at Federation Headquarters included at least one ship of this class. The collective energy of this fleet sustained a distortion field that concealed the headquarters' location. (DIS: "Die Trying")
At Archer Spacedock
In 3190, a ship of this class was docked with the USS Voyager-J and a Mars-class starship in the Archer Spacedock. (DIS: "Kobayashi Maru")
The Mitchel protects a shuttle from debris
Later that year, several Merian-class starships including the USS Mitchell, supported Earth's evacuation efforts response to the DMA, and were later present for the ceremony welcoming Earth back into the Federation. (DIS: "Coming Home")
In 3191, the Mitchell and the USS Locherer took part in the Federation's efforts to recover the Progenitors' technology, serving as support ships to the USS Discovery. The Locherer captured Moll and L'ak for the Federation while the Mitchell was positioned to take over Discovery's mission should diplomatic efforts with Primarch Ruhn of the Breen go bad. The Locherer was also one of four starships recalled to provide support to Federation Headquarters during the negotiations. (DIS: "Whistlespeak", "Erigah")
At some point, the Mitchell was equipped with the new pathway drive, causing the Federation to consider sending it to intercept Primarch Tahal's fleet. However, it was decided that such a move would be too provocative in the already tense situation. (DIS: "Lagrange Point")
In the 33rd century, ten or more starships of this class participated in a ceremonial honor-formation at Federation Headquarters for the launch of Zora and the USS Discovery's Red Directive mission. (DIS: "Life, Itself")
Ships commissioned[]
- Named
- USS Locherer (NCC-325062)
- USS Mitchell (NCC-325027)
- Unnamed
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- DIS:
- "People of Earth" (Season 3)
- "Die Trying"
- "Scavengers" (graphic)
- "There Is A Tide..."
- "That Hope Is You, Part 2"
- "Kobayashi Maru" (Season 4)
- "Anomaly (DIS)"
- "Stormy Weather"
- "All In"
- "Rubicon"
- "Coming Home"
- "Under the Twin Moons" (Season 5)
- "Jinaal"
- "Erigah"
- "Lagrange Point"
- "Life, Itself"
Background information[]
The Merian-class was co-designed by Ryan Dening, [1] and his North Front Studio employee Tracy Genereux. [2]
USS Curie was slated to receive its own outing in the British Star Trek Universe: The Official Starships Collection partwork publication as a Merian-class vessel. A prototype tooling master for the display model was in effect already produced, [3] as had been the in-universe article as reproduced in the second edition Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book (pp. 282-285) for the accompanying magazine, with regular production set to go. [4] The release came to naught however, due to the August 2022 bankruptcy of Collection (and reference book) publisher Eaglemoss Collections.
Apocrypha[]
It was in the Shipyards reference book that the USS Curie was mentioned as a Merian-class starship.
External link[]
- Merian class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works