Memory Alpha
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Memory Alpha
Memory Alpha
59,857
pages
in: Memory Alpha incomplete articles, Federation starships
English

USS Cerritos

Sign in to edit

"Well, there's a family you're born into, right, and then the family you choose. I got both here on the Cerritos. If you're measuring by heart, this is the strongest ship in the fleet, because we've got the best captain at the helm: my mom."
– Beckett Mariner, 2381 ("Trusted Sources")

The USS Cerritos (NCC-75567) was a Federation California-class starship operated by Starfleet in the 24th century, under the command of Captain Carol Freeman. (LD: "Second Contact")

Service history[]

Early encounters[]

Prior to stardate 57436.2 in 2380, the Cerritos suffered damage from several meteor impacts before barely escaping a black hole.

Later, the ship's port nacelle struck an ice formation, causing a temporary power failure.

It also happened upon a battle between twelve Romulan D'deridex-class warbirds and six Borg cubes. The Cerritos warped away from the conflict after being hit only once. The Cerritos later returned to this battle, now joined by several Pakled Clumpships and Klingon Birds-of-Prey and once again fled after taking a single hit. On a third visit to this battle, the Cerritos also encountered a Crystalline Entity. On the ship's forth visit, the Whale Probe was also present.

Later still, a large space grub attached itself to the ship's port nacelle. (Star Trek: Lower Decks opening credits)

2380[]

USS Cerritos, 2381

The Cerritos in 2380

The Cerritos was in service by stardate 57436.2 in 2380, where it was docked at Douglas Station prior to its second contact mission with the Galardonian High Council.

During this mission, as Commander Jack Ransom was wrapping up his visit with the Galardonian High Council, he was bitten by a flying insect before beaming back to the ship, where he dismissed it. Later, this insect bite caused Ransom to have a seizure at the bar, due to a viral infection. The crew panicked as he suddenly became feral, and attacked other crew members by biting them, spreading the infection.

The situation quickly got out of hand, and the call was made for any uninfected crew members to meet in Transporter Room 8. As the crew gathered, Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner beamed back to the ship and were surprised to see what was going on around them. Boimler was still covered in a pink slime that he picked up on the surface after a run in with a teething spider creature, which Doctor T'Ana determined could be used to synthesize a cure for this virus. After one was produced, it was able to be distributed through the ventilation system, restoring the crew to their normal selves. (LD: "Second Contact")

This article or section is incompleteThis page is marked as lacking essential detail, and needs attention. Information regarding expansion requirements may be found on the article's talk page. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion.

On stardate 57601.3, the Cerritos was called to Mixtus III to assist the USS Vancouver with the controlled implosion of an unstable moon that threatened the population. Besides providing assistance in terms of manpower, Captain Freeman was also instrumental in helping Mixtus inhabitants to reach mutually acceptable solutions that allowed the implosion to go forward. (LD: "Cupid's Errant Arrow")

The Cerritos was engaged in a standoff with the Drookmani over the salvage of a wrecked Antares-type cargo ship. The Drookmani started picking a fight with the Cerritos by throwing debris at the ship with their tractor beam. Captain Freeman refused to engage them in a fight due to diplomatic reasons. The Cerritos stood her ground as the Drookmani continued to throw debris, weakening their shields. Freeman's patience eventually ran out, but it was too late to fight back. Shields and weapons became disabled. Freeman almost gave the order to abandon ship, when they noticed that the Drookmani ship started breaking apart due to a corrupted isolinear core that was ejected from an airlock by Ensigns Mariner and Boimler. (LD: "Terminal Provocations")

Space vessel lifeform, 2380

Witnessing the birth of a space vessel lifeform

Captain Freeman, Commander Ransom, and Lieutenant Shaxs were selected by Admiral Syltrack for a mission to the Pisepian agricultural colony in disputed territory. In their absence, Captain Amina Ramsey of the USS Oakland was put in temporary command of the Cerritos, accompanied by Lieutenants Durga, Ottessa Warren, and Drew Prachett. Under Ramsey's command, the Cerritos journeyed to Khwopa to perform repairs on the inhabitants' water filtration system before rendezvousing with the USS Rubidoux, which was found adrift in space. It was later discovered that the Rubidoux had been invaded by space entity that was feeding on the ship's energy. Captain Ramsey and her away team were able to save Captain Dayton and her crew before the entity consumed the whole ship. The destruction of the Rubidoux resulted in the birth a space vessel lifeform. (LD: "Much Ado About Boimler")

Pakled ship attacking the Cerritos

Under attack by the Pakleds

When responding to USS Solvang's distress call originated from the Kalla system, the Cerritos' crew discovered that it was destroyed with the loss of all hands. Soon the Cerritos was attacked and captured by the same unknown vessel that had destroyed the Solvang, with the intent to dismantle the Cerritos for parts. The unknown vessel turned out to be a Pakled ship heavily modified with starship parts from over 30 species. Having its port warp nacelle torn away, the Cerritos was powerless to escape or fight back, but Ensign Brad Boimler discovered that the Pakled Clumpship's system can be easily hacked due to its need to accept systems from different species. With the help of his training hologram Badgey, Ensign Sam Rutherford was able to create three viruses that can disable the Pakled Clumpship. Rutherford uploaded one of the viruses into his implant and Lieutenant Shaxs flew them to the Pakled Clumpship using the shuttlecraft Sequoia. While Rutherford downloading the virus to the Pakled Clumpship's computer, Badgey triggered the auto-destruct of the ship, intending to kill Rutherford, as the latter had snapped Badgey's neck when the holo-program malfunctioned last time. Seeing no other options, Shaxs ripped out Rutherford's implant, placed him on the Sequoia, and pushed the shuttlecraft back into space, saving Rutherford but sacrificing himself as the ship exploded.

Workbees repair Cerritos, 2380-1

The Cerritos undergoing repairs

Freed from the Pakled Clumpship, the Cerritos restored its main power and attempted to fly away, but was soon captured by another three newly arrived Pakled Clumpships. Just as Ensign Beckett Mariner, taking command of the Cerritos, saw no option left but to abandon ship, the USS Titan arrived and immediately opened fire on the Pakled Clumpships, forcing their retreat and saving the Cerritos. Later, arriving back at a starbase, the Cerritos underwent extensive repairs as its crew mourned the loss of Shaxs. (LD: "No Small Parts")

2381[]

In 2381, the Cerritos was assigned to help the USS Archimedes in the other ship's first contact mission to Lapeeria, although the Cerritos hung back at first so as to not overwhelm the population with the arrival of two ships at once. During this time, Captain Carol Freeman was getting a transfer and a new ship, although she would not be allowed to take the Cerritos' senior staff with her, causing tension amongst the crew only worsened by the news that the next captain would be someone new rather than one of the ship's own officers being promoted to take Freeman's place. However, the crew rallied together to save the Archimedes after the other ship fell into trouble due to an unexpected solar flare. At Ensign Sam Rutherford's suggestion, the crew ejected the outer hull in order to safely pass through a debris field. Commander Jack Ransom piloted the ship using the manual steering column, a heads-up display in his faceplate and Beckett Mariner and Jennifer Sh'reyan calling out directions. The battered Cerritos made it through the debris field just in time to save the Archimedes using its tractor beam, pulling the other ship into a stable orbit.

Afterwards, the grateful Captain Sonya Gomez allowed the Cerritos to handle first contact with the Lapeerians rather than the Archimedes which was the first time that the Cerritos had ever made first contact on behalf of Starfleet. Freeman decided to turn down the transfer, only to be arrested for conspiring with Klingon extremists to destroy Pakled Planet. (LD: "First First Contact")

The Cerritos was held in drydock following Freeman's arrest. Convinced that her mother would be used as a scapegoat to appease people due to her role as a California-class captain, Mariner convinced Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi to sneak on-board to find proof of Freeman's innocence. When personal logs from Boimler proved shaky at best, Mariner decided the best thing to do was to hijack the Cerritos in search of the Klingons who were working with the Pakleds. Her attempt proved futile as her actions led to security discovering the ship leaving, her friends stopping Mariner, and Freeman herself returning, having been cleared of all charges by an investigation by Starfleet. (LD: "Grounded")

The Cerritos was assigned to help the USS Vancouver in conducting post-Dominion War trade negotiations with the Karemma on Deep Space 9. However, after the Vancouver was unexpectedly rerouted to the Hasparga system to aid in the evacuation of a colony threatened by a brown hole -- something that supposedly didn't exist -- the Cerritos was forced to handle the negotiations by itself. Negotiations nearly broke down when Quark was apparently kidnapped by the Karemma, but it later came to light that they were actually arresting him for stealing some of their technology which Quark had used to create the Quark 2000. Freeman was able to negotiate a deal with the Karemma who resumed trade relations with the Federation. (LD: "Hear All, Trust Nothing")

Freeman's proposed Project Swing By was eventually approved by Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo, sending the Cerritos to check up on the Ornaran and Brekkians whom the USS Enterprise-D had made first contact with seventeen years earlier. However, Brekka had been invaded by the Breen, resulting in three Breen interceptors attacking and nearly destroying the Cerritos. The Cerritos was saved by the intervention of the automated Texas-class USS Aledo. The disastrous Breen encounter and a subsequent PR disaster due to Freeman mishandling the presence of a reporter that was sent aboard the ship to do an exposé led to Starfleet Command deciding to decommission the entire California-class. Mariner resigned from Starfleet entirely because she had been unfairly transferred to Starbase 80 over an unauthorized but entirely positive interview with the reporter. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Buenamigo had set the Cerritos up, having been aware of the Breen invasion ahead of time, so as to have an excuse to unveil the Texas-class. (LD: "Trusted Sources", "The Stars At Night")

In an attempt to stop this, Freeman hastily proposed a second contact race, pitting the Cerritos against the Aledo. Although the Aledo technically won, it did so by violating the Prime Directive, giving Freeman a chance to disqualify it. However, Ensign Sam Rutherford realized that the artificial intelligence used in the Texas-class was dangerously emotionally unstable and prone to patricidal impulses. Buenamigo responded to this by granting the Aledo full autonomy with the intent of having the Cerritos destroyed under the guise of the Cerritos having attacked the Aledo first in response to losing the race. Once given full autonomy, the Aledo turned on and murdered Buenamigo, then proceeded to attack Douglas Station and activate its sister ships the USS Dallas and USS Corpus Christi. The Cerritos led the three away and destroyed the Dallas and Corpus Christi by using the warp core as a mine, but the Aledo survived, inflicting severe damage upon the Cerritos. However, Mariner returned with the Free Spirit and the entire fleet of California-class ships who came to the Cerritos' defense, destroying the Aledo. After the battle, the Cerritos returned to Douglas Station for repairs, the reputation of the California-class restored, and Mariner rescinded her resignation and resumed service on the Cerritos. (LD: "The Stars At Night")

The Cerritos visited Krulmuth-B to take readings of the time portal there. However, this resulted in Boimler and later Mariner accidentally getting sent back in time to 2259 where they became stranded. With the help of the crew of the USS Enterprise, Boimler and Mariner eventually returned to their own time and the Cerritos. (SNW: "Those Old Scientists")

The Cerritos was later tasked with bringing the USS Voyager, now decommissioned and transformed into a museum ship, from the Portelo system to Earth where it would temporarily be displayed at Starfleet Command in San Francisco before being permanently placed in orbit. However, an accident led to a number of Cerritos crewmembers getting "Tuvixed" before Ensigns D'Vana Tendi and T'Lyn found a solution. Afterwards, several of the ship's junior officers received promotions to Lieutenant junior grade. (LD: "Twovix")

The Cerritos was assigned to help Admiral Vassery in talks with Grand Nagus Rom to have the Ferengi Alliance join the United Federation of Planets. After Freeman conned Rom, thus proving that the Federation respected Ferengi culture, Rom signed the original version of the formal application for membership, officially taking the first step towards joining the Federation. (LD: "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place")

Later that year, during the Nova Fleet crisis, the Cerritos command crew left the ship to rescue Mariner in the captain's yacht, leaving Boimler as the acting captain. Under Boimler's command, the Cerritos was able to open a hole in Nova Fleet's Trynar shield for the captain's yacht to get through. (LD: "Old Friends, New Planets")

2382[]

In 2382, the Cerritos was assigned to close quantum fissures that kept mysteriously opening up. This resulted in the ship accidentally crossing into a different quantum reality which had only a .357 variance between each other. The two versions of the Cerritos worked together to send the prime universe ship home, although not before the alternate Mariner tried to trade places with the prime Mariner. (LD: "Dos Cerritos")

The Cerritos was later sent to investigate a nanite infestation of the Cosmic Duchess, finding the AWOL Admiral Milius on the resort. The cause of the infestation proved to be the USS Endeavour, an Intrepid-class starship from another reality which had gotten sucked through another fissure and trapped in the prime universe. (LD: "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel")

While Boimler and Mariner investigated a quantum fissure in Klingon space, the Cerritos brought Doctor Gabers Migleemo to Praxon IV to meet with two renowned food critics, Legnog and Gonald. The ship's replicators were eventually given a two-star review by Legnog and Gonald while Boimler and Mariner's mission discovered that the recent quantum fissures were all manmade rather than being natural occurrences. (LD: "A Farewell To Farms")

Following an away mission to the ocean planet Piskes IX, the Cerritos experienced navigation issues and was forced to visit Starbase 80, the worst starbase in the quadrant, for repairs. During this time, most of the crew fell victim to an anaphasic lifeform and were left in a zombie-like state. The lifeform, Clem, was eventually discovered to have possessed Cetacean Ops officer Lieutenant Matt during the Piskes IX mission and was also the source of the ship's navigation problems. Having never intended any harm with his actions, Clem was allowed to remain on Starbase 80 by Commander Kassia Nox. Having gained a new appreciation for the infamous starbase, the Cerritos crew helped the station's personnel to effect some much needed repairs. (LD: "Starbase 80?!")

List of contacts[]

First contacts[]

Second contacts[]

Legacy[]

Despite only being a California-class starship, the Cerritos gained a considerable reputation amongst other ships, particularly in the 2380s. Having been a staple presence in numerous encounters with the Pakleds, and her other adventurous endeavors under Captain Freeman, the Cerritos gained favorable recognition amongst other ships of Starfleet. Despite this, her command crew was not invited to the Command Conference of Starbase 25 since it was not a capital ship. (LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers")

In 2381, Ensign Kearns of the USS Carlsbad called the Cerritos the Enterprise of support ships. (LD: "Mining The Mind's Mines")

In 2384, The Doctor, while talking about Dal R'El and his friends, mused that he hadn't seen a crew that dysfunctional since the Cerritos. (PRO: "Observer's Paradox")

Technical data[]

Crew quarter assignments[]

Embarked craft[]

The Cerritos carried a complement of Type 6A shuttlecraft, all named after 21st-century national parks in California, in its shuttlebay. (LD: "Second Contact", "Envoys")

Shuttles of the USS Cerritos (NCC-75567)
Death Valley • Joshua Tree • Kings Canyon • Redwood • Sequoia • Yosemite • Yosemite II
Unnamed • Captain's yacht

Command crew[]

See also[]

Alternate realities and timelines[]

In a parallel universe visited by the prime Cerritos in 2382, the Cerritos was under the command of Captain Becky Freeman after Captain Carol Freeman was reassigned to Starbase 80. The Cerritos became a shell of its former self as Becky Freeman was a despot who constantly punished her subordinates. According to King Billups, this version of the Cerritos was "mostly brigs", enabling Becky to imprison a large amount of people. Another notable difference between this Cerritos and the prime Cerritos was that its LCARS displays were colored light and dark blue, rather than yellow and orange. (LD: "Dos Cerritos")

California-class starships
USS Alhambra • USS Anaheim • USS Burbank • USS Carlsbad • USS Cerritos • USS Culver City • USS Eureka • USS Fresno • USS Inglewood • USS Merced • USS Mount Shasta • USS Oakland • USS Pacific Palisades • USS Redding • USS Riverside • USS Rubidoux • USS Sacramento • USS San Clemente • USS San Diego • USS San Jose • USS Santa Monica • USS Sherman Oaks • USS Solvang • USS Vacaville • USS Vallejo • USS West Covina • Unnamed

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

The Cerritos is named after Cerritos, California. The word "cerrito" means "small hill", appropriate for a lesser ship.

According to Lower Decks series creator Mike McMahan, the yellow markings on the Cerritos indicate that its primary mission is second contact engineering support. [1]

McMahan also said that the Cerritos' registry number (NCC-75567) is based on his mother's telephone number. [2]

Early concept designs of the Cerritos featured it as being a Galaxy-class ship with the name USS San Diego (which became the name of another California-class ship) and two different registry numbers (NCC-1979 and NCC-2056). [3]

In February 2021, Eaglemoss/Hero Collector's Ben Robinson revealed that the company would manufacture the USS Cerritos as a starship miniature and estimated that its Lower Decks ships would begin to launch to retail at the end of 2021 or early 2022. [4]

Apocrypha[]

In Star Trek: Lower Decks - Crew Handbook, it is revealed that the Cerritos was launched in 2371. It was the eighth craft in history to bear the name, including a failed manned rocket ship created by Chronowerx Industries, a supposed Leif Ericson-class that was temporally wiped out by the Whale Probe incident and a Miranda-class that participated in the clean-up following the near-invasion of Earth by the Borg.

External links[]

Deutsch Polski
Community content is available under the CC-BY-NC license unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Memory Alpha