For other uses, see Tritium.

The Tritium-class was an experimental type of Federation starship serving in the first decade of the 23rd century. (TOS reference: Spaceflight Chronology)

The Tritium-class has the dubious distinction of being the worst major ship ever built by the Federation. Its tri-nacelle design in theory should have given it added power and performance, but unavoidable imperfections accentuated warp field flaws and fluctuations and actually lowered efficiency and performance. During the Tritium's shakedown (which, given its flaws, actually did involve quite a bit of shaking), chief engineer Rex Opperman called it a "real Lemarian lemon" and revived an old term for a design fiasco: an Edsel.

A total of seven Tritium-class vessels were built, none of which managed to complete a standard tour of duty as they were too often taken out of service for repairs or attempts to compensate for their basic flaws. As a costly reminder to future generations, the USS Tritium itself may be viewed at the Spaceflight Museum on Memory Alpha. (TOS reference: Spaceflight Chronology)

Service LifeEdit

The Tritium was commissioned in 2148 SFC and all seven of the class were decommissioned by 2155 SFC, shortly after the introduction of the more conventional (but much more successful) Mann-class. A type of shuttlecraft developed for the Tritium was somewhat more useful, remaining in service until 2173 SFC.

There are very few solidly-dated events in this period which can be used to help adapt dates from the SFC timeline to the standard timeline. By prorating the dates for the period of time between the end of the Romulan War (2109 SFC/2160) and the commissioning of the Constitution-class (2188 SFC/2245), we can arrive at approximate dates for the Tritium: commission circa 2201, decommission by 2210, and the shuttle in operation until the late-2220s.

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By type	Federation cargo ship • Federation colony ship • Federation construction ship • Federation galaxy ship • Federation light cruiser (Intrepid-variant) • Federation mining freighter • Federation repair ship

Ships of the Spaceflight Chronology
Advance-class • Baton Rouge-class • Bode-class • Constitution-class • Declaration-class • Eagle-class • Hale-class • Horizon-class • Mann-class • Marshall-class • Portsmith-class • Rickenbacker-class • Sawyer-class • Stellarford-class • Tritium-class

External LinksEdit

• Vintage Starships contains an entry on the Tritium-class, including a rough 3-D model based on its SFC illustration. (Additional details and stats on the site are fan-created, and so are not suitable for inclusion here.)