USS Fairfax

"Men may die, but the fabrics of our free institutions remain unshaken."

    —Chester A. Arthur - 1881

USS Fairfax NCC-28461 is a Niagara-class Federation starship currently assigned to Fourth Fleet's Task Force 93. Officially her primary role is a Fast Response Humanitarian Cruiser, making her a first response vessel to disaster and crisis within range of her patrol route.

While this is her primary role, she is prided on her adaptability to fit a range of mission profiles and is generally called upon where her speed provide a meaningful advantage to the given task.

History

Laid down in 2343, Fairfax was the second of the Niagara-class to enter construction. She is the first of the production line of her lineage with USS Niagara NCC-28460 being the pathfinder and namesake of her class.

Construction of her hull commenced a full 2 years before USS Niagara was completed, as was typical of mid-24th century starship construction due to the length of time required for human work crews to complete the task. This is in contrast to more modern construction techniques being introduced in the following decades.

Primary construction was completed in late 2345 and her space frame was officially designated Fairfax as Starfleet ordered a total of 40 Niagara-class vessels to enter full production.

Like other ships of her line, Fairfax is named after a notable North American waterfall: Fairfax Falls, and, as was true with many vessels of that era, her name inspired several aspects of her identity such as:

• A quote from Chester A Arthur - 21st President of the United States of America, was chosen for her dedication plaque. Arthur was born Fairfield, Vermont in 1829
• Auxiliary Craft assigned to Fairfax are christened after the 14 counties of Vermont.
• Two Danube Class runabouts later assigned to Fairfax would be named Lamoille and St Lawrence after the rivers connected with Fairfax Falls
• The crew lounge was named the Montpelier lounge after the state capital of Vermont.

In April 2347 USS Fairfax launched on her maiden voyage from Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, orbiting Mars, Sol System. She was modestly outfitted for boarder patrol along the Romulan neutral zone, serving as a shakedown cruise while several of her sister ships neared the end of their construction.

Major Refits

Perhaps the most notable upgrade she received was the upgrade to her nacelle's and warp drive systems.

It is seldom remembered that Niagara-class vessels entered service towards the tail-end of the production of Ambassador-class starships, though the design philosophy is clearly shared between the two classes. Therefore originally Fairfax shared a similar powerplant and nacelle geometry with the Ambassador.

Following the design and production of the Galaxy-class, starfleet corps of engineers sought to upgrade compatible space frames to the more modern design that had been successfully implemented on the Galaxy. Niagara class vessels were amongst the few chosen for this upgrade, and by the mid 2360's most of the upgrade work had been completed.

Fairfax received her upgrade in 2363, significantly boosting her warp drive performance and breathing new life into her design. With the improvement in her performance, Fairfax joined her sister ships as a new sub-role of vessel; the Fast cruiser.

This significantly altered the Fairfax's mission profile, from unremarkable boarder patrol vessel, to a Fast response and humanitarian vessel.

Further alterations and refits were made to her design over the coming decades, including upgrades to her weapon and sensor systems to keep pace with current technology, and the galactic climate.

Wolf 359

In 2367, as the federation prepared to defend earth from the approaching Borg juggernaut, Faiirfax was called upon to intercept the Borg cube, along with the majority of the federation fleet at Wolf 359.

19 light years from rendezvous with the fleet, Fairfax was crippled when a faulty injector assembly caused an imbalance in her matter/antimatter intermix ratio. A subsequent investigation found the cause to be a manufacturing defect which had gone 4 years without discovery. General wear and tear on her engines had weakened the assembly over several years since refit but had gone un-noticed. When Fairfax pushed her engines to maximum power to make the rendezvous, the increased load stress combined with the assembly's weakened state necessitated an emergency shutdown of her warp drive leaving her stranded in deep space for several weeks until a vessel could be dispatched to tow her back to port.

Had Fairfax made her rendezvous with the fleet, she would have participated in the battle at Wolf 359 and would more than likely have been destroyed along with the rest of the fleet.

Hindsight to this event earned her a reputation amongst crew that served on her as 'Lucky'.

Notable Crew

Commanding Officers

• 2402 - Present : Captain Alexander Dubois