The ship that was to be the USS Penthesilea was ordered during the 3^rd Klingon War. At the time unnamed and designated NCC-93265, she was laid down to be built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on 86992, at the end of 2409. Originally ordered as an Akira Class starship, development of the improved Alita Class variant had progressed sufficiently for authorisation to be given for the NCC-93265 to be built as an Alita.

The Undine and Iconian wars prompted the decision to speed up her construction, and with the saucer section already half completed, it was decided that as much of her remaining build would be made to Akira standards. As a result, when she was launched on 88943, she had the saucer of the Alita but the nacelles, pylons, pod and catamaran hull of an Akira. As she had been ordered as an Akira and as this had not been changed on the statute, she was ultimately classified as an Akira class starship.

Officially given the name Penthesilea, she went through initial propulsion and safety trials before being handed over to Captain Jazlea Vorne on 89999 to undergo final fitting out and crewing. She ammunitioned and stored at Greenock Station, taking on her complement of shuttles and fighters, and then commenced her shakedown cruise and working up exercises on 90108. After corrections were made to her structural integrity field generator system and the installation of an additional auxiliary computer core, she was commissioned into the fleet on 90224, a little over three years after her order.

The Alita hull gives the Penthesilea significant advantages over a standard Akira, most importantly with a larger warp core and increased power generation capacity, extra weapons systems, and a larger multilevel hangar. A better operational layout, with more laboratories, analysis suites and relief facilities, allows for multi-mission tasking, and a dedicated Fleet Operations Control Room for multi ship coordination can accommodate a Flag Officer and their staff in command of a task force group.

Even with the larger warp core, the Penthesilea is only marginally faster than a standard Akira at sustained warp speed due to having increased bulk but the same nacelles as a normal Akira, and with the exact same engines, she is no faster at impulse.

More deck space is allocated to weaponry, with two more phaser arrays than a standard Akira, bringing the total to eight, as well as the addition of six phaser cannons that a normal Akira does not have. The additional ventral arrays allow for greater suppression during drop operations and during fighter deployments, and the forward facing cannons allows the Penthesilea to operate as a stronger attack vessel. The Alita hull forgoes the port and starboard torpedo launcher suites, reducing the Penthesilea’s torpedo bays to the ventral dual forward and dual aft launchers, and the three in the mission pod, one forward facing quad and two multi-angled rear facing quad launchers.

The multilevel hangar spans seven decks, with three levels on decks 12, 15 and 17. Deck 12 is used for shuttle storage and maintenance. The main hangar deck spans decks 13, 14 and 15, and is large enough to accommodate Runabout sized craft. With a large stern hangar door Deck 15 is used for most general launch and all landing operations. Deck 17 is the dedicated fighter launch deck, with two forward hangar doors and a graviton catapult system able to launch up to two peregrines or six tactical fighters simultaneously every 2.5 seconds. The hangar has four 25m² shuttle elevators to all hangar levels, with the port and starboard aft elevators also servicing the main cargo bay on deck 10.

The Penthesilea carries an integral complement of shuttlecraft for general mission and support operations, a mix of Type 8, 9 and 11 shuttlecraft, as well as Delta Flyers and Work Bees. While on deployment, and mission dependent, she will normally have an embarked wing of fighters or assault craft. Currently assigned is the 236^th Eris Wing, consisting of four squadrons of six peregrines and four peregrine reserves, along with 133 pilots, deck crew and maintenance personnel.

The Penthesilea is affectionately known by a few nicknames, the most popular being ‘Penny’, ‘Queenie’, and ‘Sweet Pea’. The ship’s motto is “Cum Verba Aut Sine” which is Latin for “With Words or Without”, but is often translated more poetically as “With or Without Words.” The motto is a reminder that that she is a ship of diplomacy but also a ship of war. The Penthesilea is affiliated with many places and organisations such as the town of Terme in Anatolia; Queen’s College, Oxford; The Lukari Space Cadets; The Risian Interstellar Volleyball Club; and the Laikan Philharmonic Orchestra.