Background

A derivative design of the Akira-class, the Paladin-class explorers were commissioned to help replace the many of the first-run Excelsiors still in service and to help bolster defenses in the face of rising local political tensions. 631 meters long, 464 meters wide, and 105 meters high, their sleek shapes evoke the sense of a spacefaring version of Earth's manta rays. Since the outbreak of hostilities with the Dominion, Paladin-class ships have proven themselves over and over to be exceptionally capable front-line combat vehicles, their Warp 9.885 speeds helping them to excel in interception and pursuit duties as well as fast strategic strikes behind enemy lines.

USS Damocles was one of the first vessels in the initial run, the 19th ship of the class, built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of United Terran Shipbuilding at their Pascagoula, Mississippi orbital yards. Damocles was commissioned in mid-2370 and named after the sycophant whom Dionysus of Syracuse rebuked by dangling a sword hung by a single hair over his head at a dinner table. She was also one of the first Starfleet explorers to do detailed surveys of the Gamma Quadrant after the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole, spending almost 2 full years mapping the areas immediately surrounding the Idran sector, and was one of the first vessels to be actively involved in a firefight with invading Jem'Hadar forces as they approached the wormhole in mid-2373.

• Bottom View
• Rear View