HISTORY OF ASTREA

Below, you will find a brief history of every ship ever to bear the name, ASTREA

***Researcher's Note: Due to records lost, both to time and war, what is listed below is by no way all the information that may exist. Our research team works very hard to find and distribute Any information that is recovered.***

•1720: The Dutch East Indiaman armed merchant ship Astrea, was built in 1720, in Delfshaven, Holland. She was 145 feet long, 800 tons further, and was armed with 40 guns. She completed one voyage to the Indies, before being wrecked in the Plymouth Sound, in 1725, on an outbound voyage to Batavia in Indonesia. While the exact location of the wreck is unknown, it has Been agreed upon that she sank near the entrance of the Cattewater.

•1781: In 1778, the British Admiralty were planning on building eight new fifth-rate frigates. It was decided that one of them was to be named Astrea. When she was built in 1781, she was a 32-gun frigate with 689.27 burden tons. She was built at the shipyard in East Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was later Commissioned in Portsmouth.

She first saw combat along the Eastern seaboard of the North American Colonies, during the American War for Independence. Although, her first real battle triumph would come later, during the French invasion of the Netherlands. On the 11th of April, 1795, she engaged and defeated the larger 42-gun French frigate, LA GLORIE. A few months later, she took part in a major Naval battle, against the French, with the British fleet coming out victorious.

She would then sail for the West Indies, where she participated in the capture of St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada, from the French.

In 1801, ASTREA sailed for Egypt, as part of a troop transport fleet, bringing 16,000 British soldiers to the country in the continued conflict with the French.

In 1806, While sailing north, into Scandinavian waters, ASTREA was caught in a sudden wake and ran aground on a reef, about three miles from the Island of Anholt. Though no aide was received from any passing vessel, the ASTEA crew worked endlessly to save their vessel. Finally, though damaged, she floated free! While the crew took turns with the pumps, keeping the icy water at bay, the sails were set and they sailed for Copenhagen, where the ship was partially repaired and refitted. She was finally Able to set sail back to England in 1807, where she received new orders.

She was to make sail for the West Indies immediately, to aid the British ships there under attack by local forces. Unfortunately, she would never return home to England again. On Monday, the 23rd of May, while sailing around what was thought to be Puerto Rico, the ASTREA again ran aground upon a reef. The crew again fought valiantly to save her, but, due to the wind and strong waves, she continued to be battered, her keel finally breaking. The order to abandon ship was given and, of her crew of 220 officers and men, only four ended up losing their lives during the harrowing trip to land. Following a court martial, using all logs, maps, testimonies of crew and officers, and the testimonies of the British ship that arrived to rescue the men, the court's decision was that there was no fault to be placed upon any of the officers or men of the ASTREA for her loss.

(Researcher's Note: model of Privateer Rattlesnake used for image, as image of Astrea has been lost to time)

•1782: During the same time that the British Frigate ASTREA was sailing the sea, another vessel, from the other side of the Atlantic, was Commissioned ASTREA.

On the 19th of December, 1782, the Massachusetts Privateer Ship ASTREA was commissioned, under the command of John Derby of Salem, Massachusetts. She was listed as being armed with 20 guns and having a crew of fifty men.

Soon after she was put to sea, she set sail for France. On New Year's Day, 1878, she came upon and recaptured the 80 ton Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine, SPEEDWELL, while sailing off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The SPEEDWELL was sent back to Salem and sold, the profits going to the ASTREA officers and crew.

On the 12th of March, 1783, ASTREA returned to Salem, from France, carrying a printed copy of the cessation of hostilities by the American commissioners in France.

After the war, she took part in the China trade, making several trips to the Far East, until she was sold at Calcutta, around 1793.

•1812: The next vessel to bear the name ASTREA, was a transport vessel, built at Stockton, for the British Government. She served the British until 1819, after which she sailed as a civilian transport vessel, trading In the Baltic, Caribbean, and finally Quebec.

On the 8th of May, 1834, while carrying 13 crew and 211 passengers, 104 of which were adult males, mostly farmers, plus their families, out of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary, on their way to Quebec City, the ASTREA wreaked about five nautical miles east of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. There were only three survivors: her surgeon and two other members of the crew.

•1839: Sometime, in the year 1839, a 78.4 foot long, Brigantine wooden sailing vessel, was built by David & Thomas Gray, out of Kincardine. She was built to be a general cargo vessel, able to carry up to 208 tons. She later wrecked, the 6th of January, 1842, on the northeast shore of Boa Vista, in Cape de Verde, all crew rescued.

•1987: Records show that the next sailing vessel to hold the name ASTREA, was a DP-2 Multipurpose Support Vessel, built for world-wide operations and specifically designed for cable-laying, protection and repairs, as well as ROV work and surveys.

Originally built in Norway In 1987, she was later refitted/renovated in Greece In 2008. She remained in service until she was lost at sea, following a nuclear detonation by Colonel Greene's forces, during WWIII.

•2103: Following the devastation caused by both WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, Earth finally had recovered enough to start reaching for the stars again. Their first goal: reach Mars. To this end, three colony vessels were built and launched, one of them named. ASTREA.

The trip out to the red planet was not without dangers. Three weeks into the trip, one of the vessels had an engine failure and all hands, a crew of ten and a passenger load of 500, were lost. Then, upon reaching orbit of Mars, the second vessel lost attitude control during entry and crashed, all lives lost. ASTREA Was the only vessel to successfully make landfall. She was then broken down and the first Human colony was established.

•2156: Earth-Romulan War: Following the Romulan surprise attack of the Human colony on Berengeria VII, and the destruction of the Starbase in orbit, Salem One, Starfleet ramps up production of starships. For the first time, since Humans sailed their oceans with military fleets, a new design of starship was put forth, solely to wage war. The Yorktown Class battleship was designed to act as the core of a battle fleet. It was the heaviest and most armed vessel that the starship designers in the San Francisco Orbital Yards had yet come up with.

She was armed with a total of 16 phaser Cannons, and 8 Torpedo Launchers. Also, along with the Ablative Armor that was already In use, she was the first class of vessel to be built with a deflector array, allowing her to also possess a new deflector shield.

The ASTREA (NX-154), was the third Yorktown Class to be built. She saw combat in the Ceti Alpha system, The Battle of Hell's Gate, and the Battle of Cheron. Regrettably, during the Battle of Cheron, the ASTREA (NX-152) was destroyed, with all hands lost, when a pair of Birds of Prey ambushed and ultimately crippled her. However, in the last moments of the firefight, ASTREA crippled both Romulan vessels as well. She was ultimately lost, when both enemy vessels activated their self-destruct mechanisms, obliterating all three vessels in the blasts.

•2245: In July of 2245, the Saladin Destroyer Class Project began. The theory of the project was to produce a “perfect” light combat vessel. The idea was to take the successful components of the Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers, and strip them down to a lighter, yet still potent, Destroyer. And, in many ways, the project was a success.

Early into the Class's production, however, a potentially serious problem came to light. Unlike the previous generation engines, the PB-32, used on the Saladin Class, would generate instability which, when pushed to maximum speeds, tended to cause an unstable wormhole, even with an experienced engineer keeping an eye on the readings.

After several modifications, while the instability was never fully extinguished, the Saladin Class was successfully used to man the Neutral Zone Borders.

The USS ASTREA (NCC-508), launched in 2251, served with distinction during her 15 year service life. She stopped nearly a dozen border incursions by the both the Klingons, then the Romulans, before she was destroyed, in 2266, after a sole Romulan Bird of Prey, under cloak, illegally crossed the Neutral Zone and began attacking and destroying Starfleet outposts. The USS ASTREA responded immediately but, regrettably, was destroyed by the Romulan's plasma torpedo while they were investigating the wreckage of a destroyed outpost.

•2330: The next starship to bear the name was USS ASTREA (NCC-10601). She was the fourth Ambassador Class Heavy Cruiser to leave Utopia Orbital Shipyards. Her primary mission was to explore the far reaches of the Beta Quadrant, establishing good relations with the species she encountered.

< In 2332, she became the first Federation vessel allowed entry into Tholian-controlled space. This was due to the fact that she had come to the aid of the Tholian Ambassador's vessel, when it had been damaged in an ion storm. The ASTREA’s captain and crew observed all requested and required protocols while giving aid.

In recognition of their respect given, the Tholian Ambassador invited the ASTREA and crew back to the Tholian homeworld, as her personal guests. During the visit, a formal proclamation of cooperation, between Earth and the Tholian Assembly, was signed. The Tholians would only recognize Earth as the new ally, as the ASTREA's commanding officer was a Human, Captain Samantha Richardson.

While Captain Richardson had requested that the alliance be made with the entire UFP, as there were members of her crew from numerous member worlds, her request was denied, as the Tholians did not recognize some of those worlds as allies. In the end, Richardson accepted the alliance, in the hopes that it would help create a wider alliance in time.

For the next 35 years, USS ASTREA (NCC-10601) would serve proudly and faithfully, even becoming a mobile Academy towards the end of her service life. Finally, she was retired and dismantled, her constituent parts recycled as Starfleet worked to rebuild the fleet, following the Battle of Wolf 359.

•2373-2375: Dominion War: Following the outbreak of war with the Dominion, Starfleet scrambled to get starships built and to the front lines. The Sabre Class light Cruiser, USS ASTREA (NCC-73104), was built and launched from Spacedock One, in Earth orbit, and saw heavy combat on the front lines of the war. Though she was lightly armed and armored, her captain and crew utilized her with perfection, when they would take part in countering the Dominion forces.

Unfortunately, in 2373, when she was back at Spacedock One, receiving repairs and resupply and was getting ready to return to the front, the Second Borg Incursion began. She, along with the rest of the fleet that was in the Sol System at the time, formed up and engaged their most dangerous of foes. Sadly, during the first few moments of combat, the ASTREA was lost, though half of her crew were able to reach the escape Pods and be saved after hostilities had ended.

•2389: Following the devastating attacks on Mars, the next vessel to be christened with the name, is a Galaxy II Class Heavy Cruiser, pulled out of the Reserve Fleet and given a heavy Refit. Her mission is to patrol the remains of the Romulan Neutral Zone, While Starfleet works to rebuild the decimated fleet.