Editing Star Trek Starships (section)

====2250s-2350s====
*'''Miranda class''': The light cruiser to complement the heavier Constitution; smaller, presumably cheaper, and evidently very easy to modify for non-standard equipment, additionally, according to some nerds on the internet, despite being smaller, it actually has more available internal volume than the Constitution class, making it a more efficient use of resources. Also unlike the Constitution, these ships served well into the 24th century. Where they are destroyer-sized vessel compared to other ships. While TNG still used the model from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. During Deep Space Nine, the Field Grills aka blue strips on the Warp Nacelles were also changed from black to depict them being upgrades over the older vessels. The Miranda Class at the time of the Dominion War was the most common vessel in Starfleet. So many of them were destroyed during the CGI battles. It also had at least two variants with out the roller bar. The Soyuz class had a different bridge and replaced the bar with sensor bods. All other versions except the upgraded Miranda seemed to have been retired after The Battle of Wolf 359 or before the Dominion War.
*'''Oberth Class''': Tiny vessels at only 140 metres long, with 13 decks and a very unusual set-up where the saucer was only connected to the secondary hull by two thin pylons. They had almost no defensive capabilities at all and were used almost exclusively for science and survey missions, though one was used as an illegal test-bed for Federation phase cloaking technology. Also had the rather unique distinction of being a class that was also designated for civilian use ''outside'' of Starfleet, with SS Vico NAR-18834 being presented in the shows. They tended to get into trouble a lot and most of their appearances on screen end up with them getting destroyed. Not that they were unsuccessful, as the design carried them through from the Search for Spock set in 2285 all the way through to their last appearance in Star Trek Generations set in 2371.
*'''Excelsior class''': The first ship of its class(NX/NCC-2000 USS Excelsior) began its life as an ambitious engineering prototype for Transwarp drive that fell short of expectations. Eventually, it matured into a VERY long lived multirole cruiser on account of the studio model still being around for TNG and DS9. Canonically, this class was in service for about a century up to the end of the Dominion War. Starting out as a Battlecruiser at its introduction to a Light Cruiser in the late 24th century. The Excelsior herself served with distinction under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu. The former helmsman of the original Constitution-class Enterprise. Too bad she was only seen in action twice. Though the ship did make a big impression during her appearance in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. There are at least two versions of the Excelsior class. Three if you consider the TNG era ship a variant as well. As like the Miranda the CGI artists just adjusted the color of the Nacelle Grills to blue. The second type Enterprise-B/Lakota, first seen in Star Trek: Generations, has extra impulse engines on the saucer section with a wider Stardrive. The Lakota also had Quantum Torpedoes, according to dialogue. This subtype didn't appear again during the jump from physical models.
*'''Constellation Class:''' Originally designed specifically for one episode where the Enterprise-D would face off against a vessel from an older era, the showrunners decided ''not'' to have a Galaxy class completely outperform a Constitution on screen, so we ended up with this. In universe, the Constellation was said to have entered service around 2278, so it existed alongside more storied classes, and was designed for deep space exploration and defensive patrols. Notable for its four warp nacelle design and VERY thick saucer section which accommodated for its shuttlebays to be dispersed around the circumference of the hull rather than in the rear. Beta-canon sources explain that it had the ability to "warp coast", whereby they only used a pair of nacelles at any given time, and switched them over mid-transit while they heated up, allowing for much greater endurance at warp rather than pushing for top speed. 
*'''Ambassador Class:''' Designed by the showrunners to bridge the gap between eras from the Excelsior class to the Galaxy class, and the influence shows. As a "flagship" class it was designed to have the best of everything on board, with the Enterprise-C coming from this class. As an unusual development in Starfleet, it was one of the ''first'' classes that actually permitted families to travel on board with the crew, with the apparent provision that the crew-member in question had served at least six months time.