The USS Tolstoy was a Federation starship that was in service with Starfleet in the mid-24th century.

The Tolstoy fought the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367. It was destroyed, along with 38 other starships. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Background

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed., p. 513), the vessel was a Rigel-class (β) starship, with the registry NCC-62095. The Encyclopedia notes that the ship was named after famed Earth author, Leo Tolstoy.

Originally the Tolstoy was designated the Springfield-class USS Chekov and the filming model was labeled as such. A last minute post-production change resulted in a name change as to avoid reference to the original series character Pavel Chekov, deemed too "cute" for the moment in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". The Tolstoys designation as Rigel-class was a later attempt by Michael Okuda to remedy the discrepancy. At the time of filming of the episode the class designation was not in use as he remembered,"Rigel: I don't think we ever came up with a ship design specifically tied to that name."[1] It is unclear if the renaming at the time meant that the filming model was intended to be the Tolstoy or that a reference was made to a ship not seen in the episode, though Okuda apparently proceeded eventually from the former assumption. He himself reinforced that notion when he gave a screen-used piece of wreckage he owned, in consignment to the Propworx's Star Trek auction of 4 June 2011, described as, "Irregular piece of the saucer section of the U.S.S. Chekov from the "starship graveyard" scene in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds, Part. II."" (Propworx Star Trek auction catalog, page 44) The piece, Lot 42, estimated at $100-$200 sold for $400.

Apocrypha

According to the Star Trek: New Frontier short story, "Performance Appraisal" in No Limits, Captain Christine Parsons (β) took command of the Tolstoy in 2366.

The Price of Freedom, sourcebook, describes the Tolstoy as a heavy scout with a crew of 90. It had 6 decks and was 215 meters in length. The ship had a maximum speed of warp factor 9.2. The ship was armed with type VII phaser emitters, and two torpedo launchers with a normal loadout of 75 photon torpedoes.

External links

• USS Tolstoy (NCC-62095) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• USS Tolstoy at Wikipedia