A large Starfleet cruiser class of the mid-24th century that bridged the Excelsior and Galaxy eras and included the USS Enterprise-C.
The Ambassador-class is a Starfleet heavy cruiser class of the mid-24th century. It bridges the design of the Excelsior and Galaxy classes, with a large saucer, a sleek secondary hull and long warp nacelles. Ships of the class were built for long missions and served as the front line of Starfleet in their time.
The USS Enterprise-C, commanded by Captain Rachel Garrett, was the most famous Ambassador ship. In 2344 it answered a distress call from the Klingon outpost at Narendra III and was lost defending it from Romulan warbirds, an act of sacrifice that helped build peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Other ships of the class included the Excalibur, commanded by Riker during the Klingon Civil War, and the Zhukov.
The Ambassador-class marks the generation of Starfleet ships just before the Enterprise-D. Its story is closely tied to the Klingon alliance, and a time rift in Yesterday's Enterprise briefly brought the Enterprise-C to the 2360s, creating an alternate history.