History File: U.S.S. Archangel N.C.C. 73901
The U.S.S. Archangel, N.C.C. 73901, is the third Federation starship to bear the name; the ship's predecessors date back to the earliest days of the Federation itself and along with its rather distinguished service record, the ship also bears the distinction of belonging to a very small group of vessels that have never been lost in action.
The first vessel to bear the name was an Anton class Medium Frigate, N.C.C. 777, commissioned in 2235. It was initially designed as a test platform for various systems and warp propulsion units that would later be implemented on the larger Constitution class of starships that were in the design and testing phase during their construction; as such the Anton class was the first Federation vessel which was built as a modular system, making it easily upgradeable and interchangeable as newer systems were designed and tested.
This would prove to be the Anton classes greatest asset as the space frame could be easily modified as technology improved, keeping it up to date with the rest of the fleet and allowing it to continue its service life even long after the more specialized vessels were phased out of service. The Anton class would be upgraded a number of times during its service life and would outlive even the venerable Constitution class that it was designed to act as a test bed for, the ship would also serve as the basic design frame for the Miranda class of starship.
The first U.S.S. Archangel served in Starfleet for 52 years, the first 44 of which as a Medium Frigate. Its service record was extensive and the ship itself logged more combat hours than any ship in service to that point, to include the starship Enterprise. Four Captains would command the vessel during this period of time, including the legendary Commodore Elias Jenolan, who almost single-handedly repelled the Klingon incursion of 2267, which would mark the last major combat action of the vessel's career, and who would later have a ship class named after him.
HISTORIAN'S NOTE: This Incursion took place just prior to the Organian treaty being enforced and were considered the opening, and fortunately only shots to be fired during the war that never was. Never the less the Commodore scored no less than nine ships destroyed in under two hours of fighting, while only loosing three in his battle group.
It was after this battle and due to damages taken to the ship that Starfleet decided, in spite of the fact that the vessel had undergone major upgrades to its structure and systems only five years prior, that it would be reclassified as a Medical Frigate and removed from front line service.
In spite of this reclassification Commodore Jenolan remained in command throughout the remainder of the vessel's lifespan and even successfully lobbied to have the class renamed to 'Anton II Class' to reflect the radically different design that had evolved from the original space frame.
Commodore Jenolan would retire the vessel at the end of its 52 year service history in 2287 and take command of the second ship to bear the name, an Excelsior Class Heavy Cruiser, U.S.S. Archangel, N.C.C. 2777. The original U.S.S. Archangel, N.C.C. 777 is currently housed at the Federation Fleet Museum in orbit of Memory Alpha.
The second ship to bear the name was commissioned on July the 7th 2292, nearly five years after the retirement of the first Archangel. It was the second Excelsior class starship built and the first to be designed minus the experimental transwarp drive system. Ironically, the ship was initially to be designated as the U.S.S. Enterprise, N.C.C. 1701-A and serve as the Excelsior's sister ship, but due to pending legal action against then Admiral James T. Kirk and pressure from Commodore Jenolan, the designation was changed prior to christening and launch.
Commodore Jenolan would command the new Archangel for an additional 10 years, eventually being promoted to the position of Starfleet's Chief of Naval Operations and then later the President of the United Federation of Planets. The ship itself would also have a similarly illustrious and long service life as well and whenever possible the CNO and later President would return to the vessel as often as possible.
The history of the ship would begin in a baptism by fire during the tense aftermath created by the destruction of the Klingon moon of Praxis that would set the mold for the vast majority of its operational career. Although a peace treaty was indeed formed and ratified at Khitomer, tensions increased and limited scale engagements broke out across the Klingon Federation boarder by those Klingons not willing to adhere to what they considered to be a destruction of their way of life. This would ultimately lead to what has been referred to as 'the three month war,' which of course then lead to the prolonged cold war that lasted for nearly 25 years between the two governments.
During this entire period of time the U.S.S. Archangel was the command flagship in charge of all operations and actions within the Klingon sphere of influence, seeing 7 regular commanding officers and no less than 4 temporary commanders during the period of time that the neutral zone was patrolled and enforced.
A number of commanders of note would command the U.S.S. Archangel during its operational lifetime, among them are: Fleet Admiral Lakota, who would later become the CNO of Starfleet Command and the person most directly responsible for the redesign of the Excelsior class of Starship to its present configuration, Admiral Hahn, who would later become the superintendent of Starfleet Academy, Admiral Mitsuya, who would later head Starfleet Operations, and a temporary commander who would later become one of the most famous war heroes in recent Federation history, Admiral William Ross.
The U.S.S. Archangel, N.C.C. 2777, ended its long career after serving through the Dominion war. It participated in nearly every major battle of the war to include both battles of Chintoka, the retaking of Deep Space 9, the Battle of Betazed and the push into Cardassia. In spite of various upgrades the space frame was deemed too old, and had taken too much damage during the war to be able to continue to serve and was decommissioned from active service two weeks after the war ended on July 7th 2375, the ship had served continuously for 83 years, far outliving every other vessel in its class and logging more space flight hours than any other vessel in Starfleet history.
Due to this extraordinary record of service the vessel was sent to the Federation Fleet Museum at Memory Alpha, where it sits in berth, in pristine condition, docked next to its Anton Class predecessor and namesake.
The third and final starship to bear the name is a Sovereign Class Heavy Cruiser, N.C.C. 73901. It was commissioned on July 7th 2383 and was first commanded by Captain Daniel Cortez, who since has been promoted to Admiral. Captain Jasen Kane now commands and is the ship's second Captain.
The vessel would enter service just after the short Romulan Federation war and her first missions are that of exploration into the former Romulan boarder areas that have been previously unexplored to this point.
The ship has been equipped with a number of experimental and new design systems, such as a Quantum Slipstream Drive and an artificial intelligence unit. It is hoped that the near legendary status of this vessel can be maintained while exploring this potentially hostile and new frontier as it continues to uphold the highest standards and traditions of the United Federation of Planets and boldly go where no one has gone before.
