Ambassador Class Starship 

For such a limited appearance, people really love this ship. Gotta admit, it really does capture the essence of a ship in-between.

IMO the ambassador is a brilliant in-between point of the rugged workmanship of the excelsior, and the elegance of the galaxy. The C is such a beautiful ship, I hope we get to see more of her some day

This is one of the most underrated Starfleet ships out there. I’ve always loved how it has Galaxy nacelles, an Excelsior saucer & a Constitution hull & deflector. I wish there were a Trek series that featured the Ambassador class.

I know it was designed to look like the missing link between Excelsior and Galaxy classes, but at a glance it's always struck me as rather like a futuristic Constitution.

It's almost hard to believe that Starfleet would still be using the Excelsior class into the Galaxy class & Dominion War era, but not the model immediately preceding the Galaxy class, the Ambassador class as a very powerful and still resilient class of ship vs an older ship that by that point, the Excelsior class being close to a full 100 years old.

Ah the _Ambassador_ class, while I love so many UFP designs, I think she has to be my favorite. Not to large, not too small (for a deep space explorer/command ship/capital ship), from some angles she looks sleek and fast while from others she looks rugged and like she can turn on a dime, and from a design standpoint you can see elements from the other classes to bear the name _Enterprise_ up to the _Galaxy_ class. I wish we got to see more of the class in the shows.

I know there's some debate over which design works better as a Galaxy-class predecessor, but I personally love both the canon design we got and the Probert concept. I like Online's backstory lore of the Narendra-class being built as an evolution of the Ambassador-class following the Enterprise-C's destruction. It's a nice way to keep the original idea while still working it into what we see on the show.

I always fancied the idea that the Ambassador class was like the constitution, super advanced and hard to build test platform. The follow up Excelsior and Galaxy took all the lessons learned and were more cost effective. Which is why both follow up ships had such long service lives.

I would love a series set in the "Lost Era".

When I used to play star trek online , I used to spend hours just looking at this ship and using different paintjobs . Then looking at the ship from different angles .

fun fact the Ambassador class has a shuttlebay on the saucer.

Probert’s enterprise c design is one of my favorite trek ships

I like the idea of the Ambassador class. It's enduring Shields are one of the most important parts of it and it's heavy armaments and weaponry. It almost seems like it'll hold up better or longer than a Galaxy class. Like the defiant class we set up to be more power than needed but not quite to that extent. Either way they had the right idea. Durable vehicle that's built to last.

In RL, someone dropped the onscreen Ambassador model. Which is why we were shown endless Excelsiors instead. RL fact 2. The Ambassador we got, was due to Probert's design being too expensive and slow to construct for a Ship of the Week. It appears that the curvy nature killed Probert's design.

I have a soft spot for the Ambassador class, perhaps for its underdog charm, and the C is still one of my favorite Enterprises. I also think its design is more balanced compared to the Galaxy class, which to me always looked like it would tip over if gravity were a factor with a starship.

The Ambassador class is one of my favorite ships appearance-wise because it ties the three generations of Constitution Class, Excelsior Class, and Galaxy Class ships nicely. Back in the day when star trek clubs were their own ships or shuttles, I was toying with creating an Ambassador Class ship named the USS Barre in honor of the town I resided in.

For the RPG Star Trek Adventures, I actually prefer this space frame...it's not the tanking cruiser the Galaxy-class can be, but the phaser arrays and are a nice upgrade to an Excelsior's standard phaser emitters.

Such a great looking design that, imo, seems like a perfect Starfleet ship. I wish there was a series featuring it as the primary ship.

All of the variations and super effective lore continuity are exactly *why* it's one of my favoruites. It's nearly a perfect design to bridge the eras and the fact we see it evolve over time makes it even better. It really did feel like "yesterday's Enterprise"

This (along with the Galaxy) has always been one of my favorite ships. I think it's the symmetry of this ship that does it for me. Would love to see a show with this ship featured. Like the Enterprise F, I think we really missed out by more or less skipping this one in the canon.

If you want more about the Ambassador class, I would recommend "Triangulum Audio Studios" and their Truth or Myth early design history on the Ambassador. They pulled from Beta canon and "added a little from their imagination, so take it with a grain of stardust" but I think it really fleshes out why in-universe they stopped the Ambassador and kept up the Excelsiors. (Hint: The computers and some shenanigans in Starfleet Command.) Truth or Myth episode 160 & 161.

I love this ship. Although Enterprise D has grown on me I prefer this ship. Main reason is with the D, the saucer section just looks to big, with the C it looks more in proportion.

They my favourite covered at last! Always loved the simple look of this design honestly found it beautiful in its sleekness

Such a great looking ship. It was perfect as the in-universe “bridge” between the generations of Enterprise.

Something I find curious is the odd gap between Ent-C's destruction, and the launch of the Ent-D. There's a gap of nearly 20 years there. It doesn't feel like the Federation without an Enterprise in the fleet...

Regarding design, it really connects the different era very well.

I hope they make an anthology series that includes the Era where the Ambassador class was the top ship!

The model which is in great shape was up for auction recently and featured on the Adam Savage YT channel. Great looking ship. * Kind of stubby, late 80's/early 90's feel to it.

Just asking for conversation but isn't the Constitution class technically the longest serving ship? It was commissioned in the 2240s and the last one was seen, if only partially during the 1st Borg attack at Wolf 359 in the 2360s. Sounds like the Conny is the longest serving ship to me.

Ambassador is such an odd bird. Lots of familiar pieces that never quite gel together pleasingly.

One of my favorite Enterprises. And one of my all time favorite episodes of TNG is "Yesterday's Enterprise".

I always found it weird how many Excelsiors continued to pop up in STTNG and beyond despite being positively ancient, but for some reason Ambassadors were pretty much forgotten.

The Ambassador class ships had heavy armor in addition to the strong shields. A tough ship.

Love this ship. Wasn't Calhoun's Excalibur the last in service before it was destroyed?

Thank you SO MUCH for covering this. The Ambassador Class is one of my four favorite classes (along with the Excelsior, Galaxy, and Defiant classes). Your videos are great.

I remember FASA used to claim Ent-C was "Alaska" class, until contradicted by Yesterday's Enterprise. I've always head-canon'ed it by adding an incident where the first ship of the class was destroyed, and they renamed the entire class after the second ship instead, much like USN did with the Thresher / Permit class of submarines. I then tried to write a story where both the Stargazer and the Romulans are involved, as well as a deep-cover agent Romulans planted in Starfleet... ;)

My Federation Romulan Admiral of Engineering made great use of the ship in STO. Kinda miss taking out the Fugazi sometimes...

The Ambassador does look like the personification of the "average Starfleet ship," almost literally.

Would love to see a video comparing how "Small" the galaxy has gotten over Star Trek history, Travel time has increased as shows air and, in part, i feel some of us have lost track of how fast ships can get around now. (and no, i don't mean how fast ships are, but how the galaxy is viewed by its residents)... hope this made sense.

The Ambassador class looks like the bastard offspring of the Constitution Class and Galaxy Class. I liked it.

Third favorite Federation ship after the Constitution and Constitution refit.

I really want a Canon explanation of why we see plenty of Excelsiors and Mirandas but so few Ambassadors.

I would love to see a video on the Federation class, if you think you can find enough information about it

One of my favorite fan versions is the Apollo class, which is Nebula class style Ambassador. But I always had the view that Ambassador was used in frontline diplomatic, science and exploration missions. As her name implies she was not meant for combat, but was more geared to the UFP mission of peace than Excelsior before her or the Galaxy that came after her. But as the brush fire conflicts and boarder skirmishes of early 24th century showed. The Ambassador was too under gunned for the reality of the 24th Century Alpha Quadrant and so her production run was slowed early and soon nearly stopped until the class was discontinued. So when the Galaxy class and other new designs came on line (especially the Nebula class), the Ambassador class was used only for diplomatic, scientific and exploration missions (in less dangerous situations).

I absolutely love the Ambassador class!

The link between the old, and the new.... I love this design !!!!

MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE STARSHIP CLASS IN ALL OF TREK HISTORY, everyone else can take the battle lowprofile Defiants, there Classic Contitutions, the Ugly Excelsiors even ships like the Sovereign, Intrepid and Galaxy Classes, which i agree are beautiful... for me, no other ship, side ship or hero ship, to me couldn't compare to this magnificent Ambassador Class, to me it just FEELS like a True Federation ship, its design when in the show was honestly breath taking, and i even agree it feels like its the prototype to the Galaxy Class, especially when put side by side... XD its like the Ambassador Class is the father to his proud bigger sized son the galaxy class, but also, the Ambassador class holds many similarities to our few favourite ships that came before and even get made after, the Deflector, saucer and hull is similar to the Contitution with there more round design, the Nacelles and profile of the ship are similar to its succsessor of the Galaxy Class, even the little details like the grill neck and low hanger bay are similar to the Excelsior class (to my unfortunate hate)

Right..IT was so good a ship class that the Federation produced and still used the Excelsior class and Miranda's through the entire Dominion war instead of the Ambassador

I always got the feeling they didn't make to many.

The Ambassador Class looks like a cross between the Enterprise D & Enterprise A

I really like this ship. Its a perfect mix of TOS and TNG in ship design. I'd like a show set in this time period. Written not by the current people writing Trek of course.

I kind of like this one. It's both Constitution refit and Galaxy Class nicely bridged together in a pretty thick, durable looking design.

The Ambassador Class looks like an afterthought and something thrown together. I never liked how this ship looked, but perhaps that's because I love the Excelsior class so much.

I've always loved the Ambassador Class. I never liked the Excelsior myself, but i initially hated the Galaxy Class when I first saw it, but it grew on me, lol. Wish they would have shown more of this class.

Excellent, the Enterprise-C is from my favourite episode of TNG

Definitely one of my favourites, many years ago I took part in a Star Trek RPG and it was initially set aboard the Ambassador class USS Phaeton, she was old and slow in comparison to other ships in the fleet but she was ours and did an admirable job in the backwaters of Federation space near the Gorn Hegemony. Great times!

I LOVE this Ship! The early 24th century is the *Golden Age!*

That pre-NextGen period of design is one of my favorites . . . The Ambassador and the Renaissance are ships IMM beautiful. I'd love to see them given some love in a fan film or a ST piece.

oddly enough, the ambassador class has been one of if not my most favourite starfleet ship. its combines the tos and tng ship designs perfectly

Your comment about them being "too intensive to produce for menial tasks" immediately had my mind racing over the mind boggling amount of cargo one could pull when stripped down 🤯

Thanks once again Rick for the informitive video. I usecto play star trek online some time ago. I waguely remember in part of the story a Unviverse class. If i remember correctly. I think thats what it was called 🤷‍♂️ Basically a massive version of one of The Enterpriises. That woud be great.

The latter Ambassador class was amazing.

This is my favorite looking starship, the mix between galaxy class smooth futuristic and cantitiution angular practical looks amazing ino.

I find it funny that in this ship’s first appearance: it acts both newer and older than it should. It’s supposedly “way outdated” but also “not so much has changed”. Plus (and this has always made me smile): Captain Garret should have recognized Picard. He’d already been Captain of the Stargazer for something like eleven years when her ship vanished, and you can’t tell me the Captain of the Enterprise didn’t know Jean-Luc Picard, youngest Captain ever up to that point.

Absolutely love the Ambassador class. Easily my all time number 1 favourite federation starship design

It is such a good ship for what it was suppose to be. Some ships to maybe consider Saber class steamrunner class Loknar class and Chandley class ( the last two would be entirely beta cannon though)

1:00 Aaaand thats why "Fan-Cannon" is best. It side-steps the bosses that messed up the franchise, and takes the side of the artist and *fans* that actually love this.

Definitely one of Starfleet's most beautiful ships. A shame it was only seen once. Thanks for the nicely done presentation!

I think your headcanon is perfectly fitting regarding the Ambassador getting squeezed out by a more capable new brand name coming on the scene while also having a reliable and cheaper alternative.I think the same thing happened to the Connies with the Excelsiors and Mirandas.

I really love both the Ambassador we got and the Probert version. I wish, I wish I wish I wish that we'd got to see more of them.

The ambassador is my favorite design used for an Enterprise.

i really hoped back then, that we would see more Ambassador Ships in TNG since well, the Downside when filming with Real Models: you have to have a Real Model at hand and the Reason the Excelsior was often shown is simplyfied: they had a Model of it and those Models are not cheap, otherwise i would say, that they would have build a smaller Model that would be more fitting as a Spacebus and sad to (not) see the ENT-C Model used as Admirals-Ship like the Excelsior

It's exactly how old Computer Chips look when compared to new ones in real life! It succeeds at being "Antiquated" compared to the D, while looking like the future compared to the Excelsior! What a cool design language! Those Extra Large Naccells really help to do the trick, all the newer ships make those a lot smaller or in a shape that is complementary to the overall design of the specialist design of the future ships. The bulky design language suggests they were thinking from the inside out, how the rooms fit together, whereas later designs took the Apple approach and looked at the ship from the outside first, then squeezed everything to fit into the design. I wonder if someone who served on both designs, the Ambassador, and Galaxy, if they would be able to testify, that the cargo bays for instance, on the Ambassador would perhaps be larger and have more convenient design features for usability rather than being squished to fit the overall shape of the ship's outside? Although, the Galaxy make make up for this by simply being larger? Or maybe all the features thought of during the lifetime of the Ambassador would inform the design for the Galaxy later on and it could be just superior in every way? But it would be nice to think some of the more seasoned engineers would actually say that they still have old preferences for the Ambassador in some cases, speaking to the feel of the older class in general, much how Scottie does the Older Ships, especially the original Enterprise... Anyway, just some thoughts! Thanks!

Can you please explain the dangerous parts of the warp fields.... The reason that the nacelles are out away. And what are the safe parts that cover the whole ships.

One nice little Factoid about the Class is it "should" have Blue Impulse Exhausts not red - but people making models keep getting that wrong. The later versions did change it to red though - but one can presume any active Lost Era ship would have Blue Exhausts. I note Blue Exhausts are quite common on modern trek ships too. I like the class for it's size - it can perhaps hit as hard as 2 or 3 Excelsiors could all on it's own. I guess if they wanted to make the same basic class but also make it smaller a triangular or other shape primary hull could be used to reduce the over all mass. I would speculate that this ship is rare in part due to only being made i small numbers and at a single location - where as I would also headcanon that the Excelsiors were made much later at smaller yards too to be used as a training tool for how to make and construct other vessels.. so there is likely a heck of a lot of Excellsiors around and they may have even been making them way past the point they really should have stopped. However now we have a bunch of new sub-classes and spin offs for the Excelsior that raises some interesting questions about if the same happened for the Ambassador as well. I think people would appreciated the Star Trek Online take on it showing up on Lower Decks sometime.

"Contemporary Starfleet" is such a tricky term if you think about it. I could say that we're all being played for fools by the "contemporary" makers of Star Trek as they show totally disregard for what has gone before. However, the Ambassador is a ship that still respected that canon, and I am glad you are featuring it here. This ship was a big step up in terms of size and mass. It sadly has become a signal of bigger things to come... and most Starfleet ship designs have suffered from an overall "inflation." The jump from the elegant Excelsior to the brutish Ambassador class is quite jarring.

I LOVE your starship reviews and your style of doing them is unique. Seriously too tier

I really liked the Enterprise C in every way

One of my favorite ships

Much like the Constellation Class, the Ambassador Class is one of my Favorites.

Hi Cert, great video. Thanks for the hard work.

I love the way it looks!

definitly still has that starflett saucepan section :P

I love how you can see the lineage in the designs of the enterprises. Might slot the Ross class in before the sovereign.

After the Excelsior-class, the Ambassador-Class is my fav Federation class ship.

I sure do like the Ambassador class for a "bridge" ship between the TOS era and the newer TNG era ships! I wish we could see more of the fine ships.

I've always thought the Ambassador Class was Much better looking then the NCC 1701D (and other Galaxy class). It's really a shame the studios never think about *Substance and always Glit, Glamor, Bigger and Flashier. A good story about this forgotten era would strengthen both past, TNG and future Star Trek lore and depth.

I notice you didn't include any shots of what I presume to be late-production Ambassadors, referred to in STO as the "Yamaguchi" after the one that made an appearance in this form in TNG. Said changed details include shorter nacelle pylons, caps on the bussard collectors (making them more resemble the ones on the Galaxy class), modified deflector dish, and a slight shifting back of the saucer section.

the best ship class of the tng era would love to see a series set on one

I feel like you can do more Star Gate. Maybe you could cover the Daedalus or Prometheus class ships from SG-1.

One of my favorites

I wish DS9's big CGI scenes included Ambassador Class ships. It would make sense that these would still be around for the Dominion War.

I feel like nobody seems to notice how there's SO much constitution in the Ambassador's hull, couples with a more excelsiorish saucer and the general vibe and aesthetic of the galaxy Probert's version was a direct halfway between the B and D, (okay they didn't have the B yet but shush) but the final version feels like a blend of all of them

It would be very cool to see more ships from this "lost era." At least as long as they were done in such a way as to be faithful to the design aesthetic the Ambassador Class established.

One of my favorite old ones! Sto I got my Miranda TOS epic ship

I doubt they discontinued them . They build Reliant and Constitution variants. I'd like to see one with newer warp nacelles and the pylori location and appearance in the same location as a Constitution refit class.

What at gorgeous ship!

We need a monster maroon series

My headcanon is that its production stopped because the facilities that produced it were the ones given the task of producing newer ships for the Dominion War. And they'd already produced plenty of Ambassador class ships.

The Ambassador class was one of my favorite ship designs. I wish that we could uave seen more of it and the Nebula class during the 90"s instead of constantly reusing 23rd century ships. Unfortunately I am sure what we got was way more cost effective for production.