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In Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 2 Episode 10, we see a Federation ship named USS Archimedes. I couldn't quite decide what class it was supposed to be. It's rather reminiscent of the Excelsior-class, but - the nacelles are quite different, e.g. with red-lit tapering at their front and blue at the bottom; the deflector dish looks somewhat like a Sovereign class' dish; and the accordion-like section connecting the "engineering section"/lower-hull to the saucer section is longer than on Excelsior-class ships.

So what ship class is this? Or - is it a new one?

Screen captures of the Archimedes (no spoilers):

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A refit Excelsior, for reference:

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Obena Class

From https://trekmovie.com/2021/10/14/review-star-trek-lower-decks-comes-together-in-first-first-contact/

"The initial Paramount+ episode synopsis misidentified the Archimedes as an Excelsior-class ship, but executive producer Mike McMahan clarified it was Obena Class (named for Art Director Nollan Obena), which is “inspired by” the Excelsior, but “larger with some other changes.” The official synopsis on Paramount+ now simply says “another class starship.”"

Edit: The saucer section appears to be an oval of the same proportions and orientation as a Sovereign class too. Excelsior has a circle saucer section. This is not quite as kit bashed as a Excelsior with nacelle upgrades. enter image description here

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  • I didn't realize they were using out-of-Universe names for ship classes now...
    – einpoklum
    Oct 16, 2021 at 17:14
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    Out of universe isn't unprecedented Jefferies tubes for example and I'm sure various shuttlecraft names. The number of classes has exploded in the post TNG era so there may be examples. When I was a kid just getting 2 new classes in STIII was a big deal.
    – lucasbachmann
    Oct 16, 2021 at 17:26
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    Also Eisenberg class from ST:DIS is out-of-universe
    – Edmund Dantes
    Oct 16, 2021 at 21:32
  • Note the saucer section is an oval similar to the Sovereign saucer per the screen capture I added.
    – lucasbachmann
    Oct 16, 2021 at 22:35
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    Memory Alpha says the episode's audio description called the ship an Excelsior-class but since it clearly isn't a true Excelsior (or one of the known refits), I expect the audio description is incorrect.
    – SpaceWolf1701
    Oct 16, 2021 at 22:44

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