Talk:Starfleet/@comment-24787182-20150105160119/@comment-13740085-20150105202549

You guys should look at the timeframe of Star Trek: Online, which takes place in the late 24th Century, decades after the events of the movie Star Trek Nemesis. That's at time where classes like the Galaxys, Sovereigns, and Nebulas are in their prime. Compared to them, the Constitutions would be closer to a light cruiser, especially given the class' age.

However, during the timeframe of TOS, the Comstitutions were the premier ship of the Federation. At that time they would be closer to battlecruisers. They also maintained this role until the Excelsior and Miranda classes took precedence, and proved more adaptable to new technology (hence their presence through TNG and DS9).

There were some attempts to modify the Connies' firepower in the Federation class dreadnought, built purely for combat. But that class proved a dead end