USS Dasher, NCC 4280, Jupp class destroyer:

Captain's Log U.S.S. Dasher, stardate 11402.5, Commander Ian Knight commanding. The Dasher crew struck another blow against the Orion Syndicates today after we boarded and crippled their cruiser 'Gold Fever'. It took careful planning and execution to take on the larger vessel, but with the tactical training that I have been given by Starfleet over the years, coupled with the exceptional crew and Special Forces team onboard, we managed to lure the pirates into a trap. Having manoevered around them in the Red Calypso asteroid belt, my tactical officer, Lieutenant Jadara, managed to cripple their impulse engines, causing them to collide with a rather large asteroid.

Having caused them extensive damage, my Alpha team boarded the cruiser with photon grenades and anesthezine gas grenades to cripple their engineering section. Beta team boarded their bridge and the commanding officer was taken to our brig. The warp drive section was destroyed by Dasher's phasers and the remaining pirates were left helpless for the starship Argyll to pick them up later.

U.S.S. Dasher was called away from her mission conducting a follow-up study of the unique ecology of Xythis IV, continuing on from the work of U.S.S. Columbia. U.S.S. Dasher is from a line of famous starships to bear the name. Dasher herself was launched in 2295 and has distinguised herself on more than one occasion. On her current mission, Dasher has had specialist aquatic sensors placed onboard, as well as having crew members of dolphin species, along with other aqatic races in order to study the unique situtation on Xythis IV.

Dasher has operated most of her career from the Beta Quadrant, having been launched from the Utopia Planitia fleet yards. Like the other Jupp class starships, Dasher is a most capable vessel, often being placed in situations that most other races would use a larger vessel for. As demonstrated in this classified Orion Pirate suppression mission, a Jupp class destroyed is more than capable of taking out a larger vessel. The technological and crew-training advantages of the starfleet vessel proving to be more than a match for the pirates.

U.S.S. Dasher operates in concert with other Jupp class vessels, such as Diamond, Coventry and Perseus - all co-ordinated by a larger vessel, in this case the Constellation class vessel U.S.S. Argyll. Conversely, the Dasher co-ordinates the activities of some smaller vessels such as members of the Oberth and Okinawa classes. U.S.S. Chaser and U.S.S. Charybdis come into this category.

The Xythis IV mission is expected to last another 2 months, allowing the close study of some of the underwater cities on Xythis IV. It is expected that a further follow-up mission will be required due to the large scale of the Xythis IV studies.

Author's Notes:

U.S.S. Dasher is named for the WWII Escort Carrier lost with 379 lives in the Clyde. We will remember them.