Trekipedia

Miranda class

A Starfleet fixture of long-range scientific, supply, and exploratory missions for more than a century, Miranda class vessels probably logged more parsecs than any other single Federation vesel class. During the 23rd century, Starfleet Command placed an increasing emphasis on deep space exploration and surveying. The first ships launched after the inception of the exploratory vessel initiative, Miranda class vessels represent the most notable result of Starfleet’s renewed focus on exploration and discovery.^[30] First commissioned during the period known as “The Great Awakening,” the Miranda class cruiser was in the forefront of that expansion effort. At the time, Starfleet itself was expanding in response to the changing and expanding economic and political goals of the Federation. To meet the demand of a larger navy, the Military Appropriations Committee authorized the development and testing of hundreds of vessel types, the Miranda among them.^[6]

During this same period, the concepts of ship design were rapidly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, and the technology to build and operate starships was going through a revolution. Advances in all facets of the technology required to construct, maintain, and operate a starship were changing so rapidly that some ships were obsolete before they were completed. The Miranda design was changed no fewer than twelve times before the tooling and machining was begun. When these new cruisers were launched, they were only capable of performing three-year missions with resupply at one-year intervals. This made their dual-purpose role of research cruiser harder to perform. With the great distances that had to be travelled, they could not get more than six months travel time from a friendly outpost. This meant they could only advance as fast as the frontier was expanding. The class required some alterations during its trials and was to see many more changes after its commissioning, the last of which was a major refitting in the 2270s similar to that of the Constitution class.^[6] Merging a host of diverse capabilities, versatility quickly became a hallmark of the class. Although Miranda class ships would primarily undertake scientific and exploratory missions, certain systems modules were swappable. These Miranda variants enjoyed great popularity in the early 24th century, and their expanded tactical and defensive systems were more than a match for most foes. Ships of this class participated in every major battle of the 24th century, often serving on the secondary or reserve battle lines.^[30]

By the middle of the 24th century, Starfleet recommissioned many Miranda class vessels and sent them to surplus depots, scrapped them for parts, or used them as training vessels. Federation member planets and allied systems such as Altair and Betelgeuse first began to add reconditioned Miranda class ships to their own space fleets by the 2360s, after the active production life of these ships ceased. Hence, many Miranda class vessels continued to serve with distinction throughout Federation space and beyond for decades after their theoretical obsolescence.^[30]