The Magee class was a type of 23rd century Federation science vessel in use during the 2250s. At least two ships of this class remained in service through the 2380s.
History[]
The Magee-class was introduced sometime prior to 2256. One ship of this class, the USS Shran, participated in the Battle of the Binary Stars with the Klingons in that same year. (DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars")
Another ship of this class, the USS Cabot, was given to Lynne Lucero when she was promoted to commanding officer sometime in the 2250s or early 2260s. Her first mission brought her and the Cabot to Pragine 63, a planet on the edge of Klingon space which was facing starvation. The Cabot was destroyed, however, when Lieutenant Edward Larkin went against orders and genetically modified tribbles in order to increase their reproductive rate for use as a food source. (ST: "The Trouble with Edward")
A Magee-class ship in drydock in 2385
In 2385, on First Contact Day, two ships of this class were docked in a drydock at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards above Mars. (ST: "Children of Mars")
Physical arrangement[]
The Cabot launches an escape craft.
The Magee-class broke from the traditional Starfleet primary hull / secondary hull configuration, and instead incorporated everything into a compact form, consisting of a saucer with two nacelles housed in large cowlings that swept back along the length of the ship. Each nacelle contained a Bussard collector in the front and the warp field grille in the back. The bow of the ship housed an escape pod.
Described as a "little research ship", especially compared to the Constitution-class, the Magee-class had at least six decks. (ST: "The Trouble with Edward")
Interior design[]
The Magee-class interior design was nearly identical to contemporary Federation starships like the Crossfield and Hoover classes. Featuring the same style corridor and mess hall as the Crossfield-class, the Magee-class was distinguished by a blue color scheme, with powder blue panels in each compartment.
The starship class featured a conference room with viewports into space on at least two sides, and a captain's office with viewports into space from at least three sides.
The mess hall food synthesizers aboard a Magee-class were divided into functions, marked with icons such as a beverage, a bowl of soup (which could prepare salads), an ice cream cone, and a burger.
A science lab aboard the Magee-class was located at the junction between two standard corridors and featured a wall of computer monitors and scientific equipment. (ST: "The Trouble with Edward")
The sets used for the USS Cabot in "The Trouble with Edward" are the same sets used for the USS Discovery throughout Star Trek: Discovery, with most of the same spaces aboard Discovery redressed for use as spaces aboard the Cabot. However, the Discovery sickbay was used for filming as the USS Cabot conference room and captain's office.
Ships commissioned[]
- USS Cabot (NCC-1427)
- USS Shran (NCC-1413)
- Unnamed Magee-class starships
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
- DIS:
- "Battle at the Binary Stars"
- "Context Is for Kings" (display graphic)
- ST:
- "Calypso" (display graphic)
- "The Trouble with Edward"
- "Children of Mars"
Background information[]
The Magee class was identified via the Shran by designer John Eaves, who later confirmed the designation after being revealed on StarTrek.com. [1](X) [2]
In the article "DISCOVERY's 'Battle of the Binary Stars' Armada Identified" by Ken Reilly at Trekcore.com, this class was "possibly named for Canadian pilot John Magee, Jr., author of famed aviation poem "High Flight" – most notably used by president Ronald Reagan when addressing the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986." [3]
Studio model[]
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Eaves early concept art and CGI models of this class were designated as the USS Hoover (NCC-2422), and later, the USS Aldrin (NCC-1166). (Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection issue 11, p. 10, Star Trek: The Art of John Eaves, p. 195)
Eaglemoss Collections released the USS Europa display model as part of their Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection model/magazine combo partwork publication on 5 February 2018, featuring input from designer John Eaves, and listing the ship as 225.5 meters in length. The article was republished as part of Star Trek: Discovery Designing Starships in September 2019.
The Magee-class appears in the 25th-century-set game Star Trek Online, as a cosmetic "skin" for the playable Shran-class (β) starship, and has as such likewise been released by Eaglemoss in their non-canon Star Trek Online Starships Collection sister partwork publication in April 2021.
In both instances it was Fabio Passaro's Meshweaver Productions that provided the CGI model conversions from the original production software packages (Autodesk Maya in Discovery's case), into LightWave 3D, Eaglemoss' software package of choice, to make the models suitable for both print publications, as well as for turning them into the CAD files needed as templates for the display model manufacturing. [4] [5] [6]
Apocrypha[]
Star Trek Online has given an in-universe explanation why the 23rd century Magee-class and 25th century Shran-classes resembled each other so much. See here.
Further reading[]
- Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection, issue 11, February 2019
- Star Trek Online Starships Collection, issue 14, April 2021
External link[]
- Magee class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works