USS Triton
- "To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life"
- —T.S. Elliot - Ship's Dedication Quote
The USS Triton (NCC-80106) is a Luna-class Federation starship operating in the 24th Century and 25th Century and is the third starship to bear the name. The ship is known for being one of a few ships in Starfleet to host a crew that has a wide range of species serving on it, including those that aren't humanoid-based. The Triton serves in the Fourth Fleet’s Odyssey Squadron from 2401. Famed for her time under the command of several notable Starfleet captains, including Captain Evelynn Vangelos, Captain James Preston McCallister, Captain Rio Canção and Captain Horatio McCallister. In late 2401, Captain Corella Banfield took command of her.
The Triton received heavy damage during the Frontier Day celebrations in 2401. As a result, her crew abandoned her and she was left adrift. Starfleet eventually salvaged her, and she was towed to the San Francisco Fleet Yards for major repairs. Her crew were reassigned elsewhere in the fleet. When the ship was eventually repaired, the Triton was sent to Deep Space 19 to receive its new commanding officer and crew. Members from the crews from the USS Odyssey and Deep Space 19 were assigned to the ship to ensure it could participate in the Odyssey Squadron's efforts to explore the Gradin Belt.
Design & Layout
Physical arrangement
The Triton shared many of its designs and styles based on a mixture from the Sovereign-class and Galaxy-class after its first major refit in 2385. Most of the aesthetic improvements were ordered by Captain McCallister, who found Triton's original arrangements (the main colour scheme was grey and silver) to be bland and believed it would be detrimental to the crew if they had to work in such a dull-looking workplace. The main colour scheme running through the ship in 2385 was one of dark Prussian blue and deep maroon. After its overhaul and repairs in 2401, the colour scheme was set to more Earthy tones of bronze and barn red.
Bridge, Deck 1
The layout of the Triton's bridge followed the standard layout for a Luna-class ship. The curved wooden handrail that holds the stations for Security and Tactical is located in the rear half of the bridge behind the captain's chair and the command pit. The Master Situation Diagram sits behind this. On the port side of the bridge, the primary station for Science faces the main viewscreen with an additional two stations designated for additional science officers. Next to it is the station for Mission Ops I. The door to the observation lounge is also on the aft-port side of the bridge. On the opposite side of the science station is Engineering, beside it sits Damage Control, then Communications and finally Mission Ops II. On the starboard aft is access to one of the turbolifts. In front of the command pit is the Helm, and beside it, Operations. On the starboard forward section is the door to the ready room, while on the portside is another turbolift.
Shipboard life
Triton operated on three duty shifts.
- Alpha shift started at 0700 hours and finished at 1500 hours.
- Beta shift started at 1500 hours and finished at 2300 hours.
- Gamma shift started at 2300 hours and finished at 0700 hours.
All enlisted officers on board the Triton were expected to share quarters with three others, while those with the rank of ensign and who weren't department heads would have to share with an officer of a similar position. The senior staff and those ranked from lieutenant junior grade had their own quarters. Triton's civilian population was small compared to Galaxy-class ships. Some civilians are allowed to hold important jobs in the ship's science and medical departments, as well as support areas like the crew lounge and the ship's school or the Arboretum.
Due to the nature of the Triton diverse crew, where only approximately fifteen per cent are Human, and the rest are from other Humanoid or non-Humanoid backgrounds, Triton's environmental controls as well as crew support facilities are designed to support such a variety of races. In 2386, Captain McCallister attempted to ensure that at least sixty per cent of the crew represented at least one Federation member state. This remained the same after his departure over the next fifteen years.
Holographic ship-wide systems
Like most other Starfleet ships, Triton is equipped with integrated holographic projectors on every deck through every section to support the use of the ship's Emergency holographic programs.
In 2386, the ship was one of many ships to be the test-bed for the latest development in Emergency holographic programs being developed by Jupiter Station. Along with the newest model of the Emergency Medical Holographic program, the ship had an Emergency Repair Holographic Team (ERHT) installed. These were the early versions of the Emergency Engineering Hologram. The ERHT was designed to support the engineering staff during critical situations where holographic systems are operational in a dangerous zone that prevented a damage control team from entering without safety gear. The ERHT was activated before the Triton was launched from its refit in 2385, and they had helped in re-installing a number of power relays and went on to aid in the completion of the last upgrades to the ship’s secondary computer processors. The ERHT was made up of four holographic crew members. Due to the nature of using the holographic systems, the hologrid, which managed and powered the holographic crew, ran its energy off from an independent power system away from the ship's primary fusion generators. Triton was also equipped with an Emergency Command Hologram, but to date, it has yet to be activated.
By 2401, the Triton's holographic systems were already using the latest holographic LCARS controls and Emergency Holographic systems.
Support Craft
The ship was permanently outfitted with twelve shuttles and two runabouts by 2401.
Support Craft Assigned
The following shuttles and runabouts were assigned to the Triton. The shuttles are all named for large bodies of water (e.g.: seas or gulfs) near to Greece on Earth. The runabouts are named after two of the daughters from the Greek god Triton.
- Shuttles:
- Runabouts:
- Delta-Class: Calliste
- Other support craft:
- Captain’s Skiff: Triteia
History
2380-2385
The Triton was launched on January 2nd 2380, on stardate 57005.35 and was the last of the first batch of twelve Luna-class ships to be constructed. She was built at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in the orbit of Mars. Like her sister ships, the Triton would have a diverse crew, with only twenty per cent of her crew being human and the other eighty per cent being crewmembers from all walks of life with different backgrounds. Captain Evelynn Vangelos took command of the Triton at the ship’s christening service. The Triton would be Vangelos’ last time in the captain’s chair before her decision to retire.
After a six-month shakedown cruise in Federation space, Vangelos would command the Triton on its first five-year deep space mission in the Beta Quadrant. The exploration mission was a success, and the Triton made contact with twenty-one new races, catalogued and mapped just over three thousand light years of unexplored space. For Vangelos’ efforts on her final assignment, she was highly decorated and awarded a presidential award. Once the Triton returned to Federation space, Vangelos retired from Starfleet, and the ship was sent to Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards for some repairs, a refit to its computer and propulsion systems as well as a resupply. The entire process would take between nine and twelve months; as such, the entire Triton crew were re-assigned elsewhere in the fleet while the yard's engineers got on with the upgrades.
2385-2387
At the end of 2385, it was announced that Starfleet Command had selected a new commanding officer who would be taking over the ship. James Preston McCallister, a young but experienced officer, would assume command. The Triton had been sitting at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards for twelve months, receiving extensive upgrades, particularly on her warp drive and computer core. Before the Attack on Mars, she had been moved to McKinley Station. Originally, Starfleet had someone else in mind to command the Triton, but that person was undertaking another assignment. As a result, Starfleet ordered McCallister to oversee the last of the refits and select his new crew. The last of the updates would take up to two months, giving the new captain plenty of time to choose his crew. Deciding he wanted a diverse crew, similar to the other Luna-class ships that were in service, McCallister found himself handpicking everyone to serve on his ship.
With only two weeks before its upgrades were complete, Triton was rushed out of drydock by Starfleet when McCallister was ordered to head up a relief force to Starbase 378 in the Alcor Sector in anticipation of the collapse of the Amorgia star. After arriving in the sector, the sun collapsed, and millions of Federation citizens were evacuated due to their planets being affected by the star’s collapse. The ship was tasked with dealing with a crisis with a nearby nation, the Hayde’nk Commonwealth, a Federation protectorate that had taken hostile action against refugee ships and Starfleet assets. The Federation Council wanted the threat to Federation interests removed immediately and to know precisely why the Hayde’nk took such drastic measures against an ally. The crew had to help a deposed crown prince deal with possibly losing the rest of his family whilst attempting to open diplomatic channels with the new leaders of the Hayde’nk Commonwealth. Eventually, the crew discovered that a dissident movement had manipulated military and political leaders against each other on the Hayde’nk homeworld. The crew also found that a Ferengi DaiMon supported this rebel group with weapons and other supplies. This DaiMon (after surrendering to the Triton) disclosed that the Hayde’nk dissidents had captured their crew. They were being held hostage in return for aid being provided; they would release them. In an attempt to prevent an all-out war with the Ferengi Alliance and in hopes of restoring peace in the sector to help with the collapse of the Amorgia sun, the ship mediated a peace settlement between the Hayde’nk military leaders, its royal family and civilian elected officials. The dissident movement interrupted the talks, where its leader decided to reveal himself but was killed by another dissident who was part of the military leadership. Ultimately, the crew got all sides to compromise and restore peace and order to the Hayde’nk Commonwealth. McCallister went on to report to the Ferengi government what had happened and how the Hayde’nk rebels had forced the Ferengi to provide their needed aid. No repercussions came from the Ferengi government over the situation. The Triton’s crew were commended for their efforts and successes in finding a peaceful endgame to the crisis. During this mission, the Triton herself was badly damaged and returned to Starbase 378 for repairs and to finish off installing any systems that were not put in before her rushed launch. The ship remained moored at the station for a few weeks before being ordered to help the colony on Olbari II with evacuation.
When a massive snowstorm threatened the Bajoran colony on Olbari II, Captain McCallister volunteered for Triton to help evacuate the colony. Once the ship arrived in the Olbari system, it quickly responded to the underway emergency relief efforts. Between McCallister’s crew and the colony’s government agencies, the civilians of Olbari II were slowly evacuated to temporary shelters on Olbari III. During the mission, the ship was joined by other Starfleet ships to help speed up the evacuation process. The Triton's hard work hit a brick wall when they discovered the colonists were becoming infected by a virus that had laid dormant in the deep arctic ice. With the climate changing and many parts of the polar regions’ ice plates melting, the virus had entered the colony’s water systems and infected those who drank it. James had the difficult choice of suspending the evacuation process and placing a quarantine around the planet. The relief effort became a blockade, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the planet while the medical personnel worked hard to find a cure. As time progressed and casualties began to pile up, the ship was confronted by a Bajoran Militia relief force from Bajor) to bring its citizens home. The Bajoran ships attempted to bypass the Starfleet blockade, believing McCallister wouldn’t give the order to fire. However, the Starfleet ships were ready based on a plan devised by Captain McCallister. They set up a probe network that blocked all transporter signals around the planet. The Bajoran crafts would be unable to land either due to the extreme weather, making it difficult to do so safely. The loss of lives on both sides was not acceptable. Captain McCallister found an adversary in the Bajoran task group’s commanding officer, Colonel Lin Kelsi. Colonel Lin was bent on rescuing her people under the orders of Governor Marstar Petrisha. Luckily, a cure was found before more conflict erupted between McCallister and Lin’s ships. Together, they worked to evacuate and cure the last of the colonists. With the colonists saved and set up in their new temporary homes, Triton remained in the system for several more weeks to ensure the colony’s new homes were safe and secure.
The Triton remained in the Olbari system and the Alcor sector for several more months. The ship was involved in several more missions within this time frame, ranging from simple search and rescue to dealing with political matters. The Triton crew, was invited to return to the Hayde’nk homeworld to witness the marriage of Crown Prince Rehys to his new husband. At the same time, they strengthened the Federation’s relationship with the Hayde’nk Commonwealth by setting up a permanent agreement in which the Hayde’nk Royal High Guard were involved in joint missions with Starfleet to protect and develop the worlds within the Alcor sector. Starfleet and the Federation Council commended Captain McCallister and his crew's efforts by making inroads to setting up talks in bringing the Hayde’nk into the Federation as full members.
Eventually, Triton was ordered to Farpoint Station under the pretext of gaining its new mission orders to begin its deep space exploration mission of the Alpha Quadrant. James was informed that the ship’s mission would be joint with the Sovereign-class starship USS Odyssey (NCC-79011). Together, the ships would investigate the possible and unexpected arrival of the Kovar system and Deep Space 19 along the Breen border. Kovar and DS-19 had been reportedly destroyed by Iconian technology that had ripped a massive subspace shockwave in the Beta Quadrant earlier in the year. The mission was led by Fleet Admiral Luke Duncan, the man responsible for making McCallister a captain.
Finally, after almost two weeks of travelling, the ships arrived at their destination to find the entire Kovar system along with Deep Space 19 present at the location they were believed to be at; however, they were not alone. Along with them was a group of sixteen Breen warships. The Breen had detected the arrival of the new system and sent a group of ships to investigate its sudden appearance from nowhere. The Breen task force was able to damage the station and overwhelm the colony’s defence network, but at a cost. Triton detected a debris field that belonged to at least fifteen other Breen ships. The remaining Breen ships could not send in troops to occupy the colony or station as they would be outnumbered; instead, they planned to hold the system until help arrived from the Confederacy. Together, both the crew of the Odyssey and Triton hatched a plan to send a small covert away team down to the colony to contact its militia and government in hopes of determining the situation and if they could re-take back the system. Unfortunately, the runabout was detected by the Breen. The Triton received heavy damage during the fight with the Breen to save the runabout. It resulted in the loss of several members of the crew and a number of them being injured. Not willing to lose to the Breen, McCallister developed a plan to use the ship’s already damaged warp core in a manoeuvre to defend the ship. The core was ejected, and enough power was routed to fire a tricobalt device at it. The shockwave from the breaching core caused significant damage to the Breen ships, including the destruction of several of them. Sadly, Triton was severely disabled, and the crew were ordered to abandon the ship and take refuge on Kovar. Eventually, a heavily damaged Odyssey, with the aid of three Klingon ships and a repaired nation-pulse cannon on Kovar III, was able to drive the remaining Breen forces out of the systems and back to the Breen Confederacy. Triton docked at Deep Space 19 and received repairs while the crew helped with relief efforts on the colony.
Once Triton was fully repaired, the ship began its exploratory mission beyond the Deneb Sector. In three months, the ship made first contact with four new warp-capable species. They always left these races hoping to develop further relations with them. The Triton mapped eleven systems by the time they returned to port. During their return home, the crew was able to avert a disaster with the Breen involving a pre-warp society. Together with a good friend of his, Captain Rio Canção, McCallister was able to stop the Breen from gaining their hands on a Borg transwarp coil. This mission itself was classified; however, it did cause some tension between the captain and the rest of his senior staff as he was unable to share with them the information about the coil and why Triton was involved in such a highly secretive mission.
By the end of 2387, the crew of the Triton discovered how the Iconian technology that had moved DS-19 and Kovar from the Beta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant worked. Assisting their colleagues on DS-19, they were able to return the space station and colony back to their original position in the Beta Quadrant. Sadly though, during the process, the Triton was heavily damaged, and the Odyssey was destroyed.
2387-2399
While the Triton was taken to the Beta Antares Shipyards for major repairs, the entire crew was reassigned elsewhere. Only twenty engineers were assigned to repair the ship, a job that would take another five years to complete, which suffered from numerous delays. By 2392, Triton had completed its repairs and was re-launched. Assigned to assist with limited operations in the Gamma Quadrant, the Triton would go on to be one of a few Starfleet ships assigned to limited deep space exploration so far away from Federation territory. In 2398, the ship returned from the Gamma Quadrant in need of its next refit and was sent to the Devron Fleet Yards
2399-2401
The refit for the Triton took over a year, and a majority of the work included computer enhancements. With Starfleet wanting to undertake further exploration missions, it was decided that the ship would be assigned as part of the Federation's efforts in exploring the Delta Quadrant. Eventually, command of the ship was handed over to Captain Rio Canção, a former friend and mentor of Captain McCallister.
For the next two years, the Triton was part of the Delta Exploration Initiative and primarily assigned to exploration efforts in the Gradin Belt. Like so many other ships in the region, her orders were to seek out those civilisations encountered by the USS Voyager during its trip through the region and reestablish contact with them. Along with exploring other local phenomena, including a two-month joint operation with the Turei Alliance studying Chaotic Space, the Triton was fortunate enough not to find itself at the end of many combat-type situations.
After two years, the Triton was assigned to the Odyssey Squadron with its primary purpose to explore the Delta Quadrant beyond the Gradin Belt. It rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron at the Markonian Outpost in early 2401. Initially, the interaction between the squadron went extremely well, especially as most of the senior staff were aware of each other. Upon their journey towards the Swallow Nebula region, they detected an active Borg interlink frequency. While mapping a system visited by Voyager briefly, the squadron discovered the crashed remains of a Borg vessel on a moon, and some of its drones had survived. Disconnected from the hive mind, the drones asked for assistance in returning to their lives prior to assimilation. Among the debris of the Borg ship was a spatial trajector. One of the drones attempted to reassert the collective's will and tried to use a stolen shuttle from the Triton to use the trajector. In the end, the Bellerophon destroyed the device with tricobalt devices; however, it resulted in a quarter of the moon being ripped away, causing heavy damage to the Themis and Bellerophon. Though the first mission together resulted in the squadron being damaged, it was deemed a partial success in preventing a Borg drone from being able to become a threat to other worlds and the rescue of the other drones. Turei vessels proceeded to escort the squadron to the nearest underspace aperture to assist in their travels to the Swallow Nebula.
After bypassing the nebula, the squadron began exploring a region known as the Kotaba Expanse. While the Odyssey and Themis made diplomatic overtures to the Benthans, the Triton and Bellerophon worked with the Turei to map more of their underspace in the area. Their mission in the Delta Quadrant was cut short when Starfleet ordered the entire squadron home to the Alpha Quadrant to participate in Frontier Day.
Upon their return, the squadron received some upgrades at Starbase 38, including updates to its transporters. They were then sent to the Black Cluster to patrol near the Kzinti border. It wasn't long until the entire squadron was involved in the Dominion Lost Fleet invasion of the Deneb Sector. Initially, they were all sent to defend Starbase 514, but they received a general distress call from the Federation colony in the Divinum system. Upon arrival, they discovered that the entire population had been killed. Further investigation indicated that it was from a metagenic weapon, and with help from elements from the Cardassian Third Order, the squadron began hunting down the ships responsible for the attack. Eventually, they located one of the ships, which was a heavily modified Jem'Hadar Battlecruiser. Working in tandem, they discovered that the Dominion had kidnapped all of the colonists and placed them into transporter suspension. After successfully getting an away team on board the enemy ship, the squadron was able to save the colonists into their own transporter buffers and return them to their homes. Sadly, though, this attempt cost the life of Captain Rio Canção. Canção sacrificed herself to ensure that all of the colonists were saved. The Odyssey, with the Themis and Triton, eventually assisted in the defence of Farpoint Station in the last major battle. The ship returned to the Divinum colony to continue with relief efforts thereafter. Once these were completed, they would head to Earth for the upcoming Frontier Day celebrations. The ship received Captain Horatio McCallister as its interim commanding officer, as Starfleet wanted someone in command before the ship returned home.
While at Earth, the Triton succumbed to the joint Borg-Changeling attempt to undermine Starfleet. The ship's younger crew rose up against its older members. Though most of the crew were able to escape, the ship was heavily damaged when the USS Titan-A used its prefix codes to disable the ship's defences. The Triton would drift in Earth orbit for some time before it was salvaged by Starfleet and taken to the nearest yards for repair. The repairs for the Triton were estimated to take a long time. As a result, Starfleet ordered its entire crew to be reassigned to other duties.
Eventually, after numerous weeks of repairs and a major overhaul, the Triton was sent back to active duty. Command was given to Captain Corella Banfield and the ship was re-assigned back to the Odyssey Squadron.
Crew
Command Staff
- Commanding Officer:
- Captain Evelynn Vangelos (Human Female) (2380-2385)
- Captain James Preston McCallister (Human Male) (2385-2387)
- Captain Rio Canção (El-Aurian Female) (2399 - 2401)
- Captain Horatio McCallister (Human Male) (2401) Interim
- Captain Corella Banfield (Human-Klingon Female) (2401+)
- Executive Officer:
- Lieutenant Commander/Commander Thaustin (Xindi-Primate Male) (2399-2401)
- Commander Lukiz Jen (Trill Male - joined) (2401+)
- Second Executive Officer:
- Commander Belire Kazlaf (Elaysian Female) (2400-2401)
- Commander Carter Westerham (Human Male) (2401+)
- Third Executive Officer
- Lieutenant Commander Belire Kazlaf (Elaysian Female) (2395-2400)
- Lieutenant Commander Jayshon (Tamarian Male) (2400-2401)
- Lieutenant Commander Roberto Solis (Human Male) (2401+)
Senior Staff/Department Heads
- Chief Flight Control Officer:
- Ensign Andar (Phylosian Non-binary) (2400-2401)
- Lieutenant Junior Grade Curly Merp II (Merp Male) (2401+)
- Chief Science Officer:
- Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander/Commander Belire Kazlaf (Elaysian Female) (2387-2401)
- Lieutenant T'Liana (Vulcan Female) (2401+)
- Chief Medical Officer:
- Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Kamra Uknare (Haliian Female) (2387-2401)
- Lieutenant Nicus (Saurian Male) (2401+)
- Chief Counsellor:
- Lieutenant Naef-Oron (Brikar Male) (2399-2401)
- Lieutenant Commander Roberto Solis (Human Male) (2401+)
- Chief Engineer:
- Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Jayshon (Tamarian Male) (2393-2401)
- Commander Carter Westerham (Human Male) (2401+)
- Chief Operations Officer:
- Ensign / Lieutenant Junior Grade/Lieutenant Ethav Th'vohless (Andorian thaan/male) (2387-2401)
- Lieutenant Junior Grade Thamars (Betan Male) (2401+)
- Chief Security & Tactical Officer:
- Lieutenant Junior Grade Natima Lonar (Cardassian Female) (2399-2401)
- Lieutenant Jisaraa (Orion Female) (2401+)
Lineage
The name Triton comes from Ancient Greek mythology. Triton is named after the Greek sea god Triton, the son of Poseidon (the Greek god comparable to the Roman Neptune). Triton is the name of the moon that orbits Neptune in the Sol system.
There have been many Earth naval ships named after Triton in both the British Royal Navy and the United States Navy.
Triton NV-21
The first starship to be named Triton was an old Earth Starfleet Ganges-class. The Triton served for many years in the early days of Humanity's quest to explore the stars. She was assigned to protect the shipping lines between Earth and Andoria. Sadly, though, she was destroyed and lost with all hands during the closing days of the Earth-Romulan War. The Triton was responsible for destroying twelve Romulan ships and served alongside Andorian forces in defending the Andorian Empire.
USS Triton NCC-2147
The second starship to be named Triton, was an Excelsior-class launched in 2294. The ship would go on to serve Starfleet and the Federation for over fifty years until she was decommissioned in 2347. The ship had been involved in many assignments, from a number of deep space exploration assignments to being involved in several conflicts with hostile neighbours. These include the Tomed Incident and the opening days of the Federation-Cardassian War. The Triton went through four captains and numerous refits.
In 2373, in the build-up to the Dominion War, Starfleet re-activated the Triton, and she received a major refit to bring her in line with the latest technologies to help defend the Federation. She served throughout the entire war until she was sadly lost at the last battle, the Battle of Cardassia.