The Shepard-class was a type of 23rd century Federation starship in service during the 2250s.
History[]
Several Shepard-class starships fought in the Federation-Klingon War of 2256. (DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars", "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum")
A Shepard-class vessel was destroyed during the Klingon attack on Starbase 1. (DIS: "The War Without, The War Within")
Schematics of a Shepard-class starship being stolen
When a probe altered from the future breached shuttlecraft DSC 05 and began rapidly taking in its memory core, it stole information on a Shepard-class starship. (DIS: "Light and Shadows")
In 2401, the Gagarin-class bore a strong resemblance to the earlier Shepard, honoring the legacy of the Shepard-class vessel named Gagarin. (PIC: "The Star Gazer")
Ships commissioned[]
- Named
- USS Gagarin (NCC-1309)
- USS Kerala (NCC-1255)
- USS Ride
- Uncertain
- Unnamed
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- DIS:
- "Battle at the Binary Stars"
- "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
- "The War Without, The War Within"
- "Light and Shadows" (display graphic)
- SNW: "Strange New Worlds"
Background information[]
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The Shepard-class was identified via the Kerala by designer John Eaves. [1] Eaves also named the class, which was later confirmed [2] after being revealed on StarTrek.com. [3](X) According to Eaves, the Shepard-class was named after American astronaut, Alan Shepard. (Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, p. 196)
Eaves' design was converted into a production CGI model at Pixomondo by Victoria Passariello for use in Star Trek: Discovery, [4] and was shortly thereafter endowed with its own entry as the third issue in Eaglemoss Collections' display model/magazine partwork, Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection.
The designs for the Kerala were said to have "continued to experiment with the streamlined hull and elongated nacelles." Eaves specifications for the design measured 1658'-7" in length, 203'-9" in height, and the diameter of the saucer was 737'-11". (Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, p. 197)
The USS Curie was a Shepard-class starship that was to have originally appeared in "Context Is for Kings" before being rewritten as the Crossfield-class USS Glenn. (Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, p. 196)
Apocrypha[]
The Shepard-class appears in the 25th century set game Star Trek Online, as a cosmetic "skin" for the playable Gagarin-class (β) starship and has as such likewise been released by Eaglemoss as the opening issue of their non-canon Star Trek Online Starships Collection sister partwork publication in June 2020. That version had been redesigned by Hector Ortiz and built as a digital model by Donny Versiga. It has the singular distinction of becoming canon as well as the similarly named class when it was featured as one of the first four specific Online game designs to become so (the three others concerned the Sutherland-class, Ross-class, and Reliant-class), in the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 episodes "The Star Gazer" and "Farewell". [5]
In both instances it was Fabio Passaro's Meshweaver Productions that provided the CGI model conversions from the original production software packages (Autodesk Maya in Discovery's case), into LightWave 3D, Eaglemoss' software package of choice, to make the models suitable for both print publications, as well as for turning them into the CAD files needed as templates for the display model manufacturing. [6] [7] [8]
Further reading[]
- Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection, issue 3, June 2018
- Star Trek Online Starships Collection, issue 1, June 2020
External links[]
- Shepard class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Gagarin class (25th century) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works