A second-contact vessel assigned to unglamorous missions at the fringes of known space.
The USS Cerritos was a California-class starship of the twenty-fourth century, a support vessel that handled the less glamorous tasks of Starfleet, mostly second-contact missions that follow up after the first contact is made by other ships. Despite its modest role, it was filled with enthusiastic and often chaotic crew members.
Captain Carol Freeman commanded the ship, with Commander Jack Ransom as first officer. The lower-deck crew included Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, D'Vana Tendi and Sam Rutherford, who became the focus of the series. They dealt with strange alien life, diplomacy, repair work and the stress of serving under a captain who was determined to make the ship stand out.
The Cerritos crew crossed paths with the larger Starfleet universe, meeting crews such as that of the Titan and handling the aftermath of events in the Federation. Its story mixed comedy with a love of the franchise's history, and the crew often found themselves at the centre of major events despite their ship's low profile. It became a symbol of the people behind the heroes.