Development of the Olympic class started in the late 2330’s with the objective of creating a flexible medium-size cruiser which would solve Starfleet’s pressing issue of its time: The vast majority of active starships were of old designs from the late 23rd century. New cruiser classes such as Renaissance and Ambassador were already meant to solve this problem, but a chain of bad decisions taken during their design phases, alongside rapid technological advancements, left them with inflexible spaceframes and temperamental systems which required long periods of maintenance.
Olympic was thus meant to be a modular starship platform, with a vast spherical primary hull which could be converted to serve a variety of functions: from shuttle carriers to medical ships, mobile industrial fabricators to cetacean transports. This was paired to a more conventional secondary hull which meant that the ship components could quickly be changed or modified if necessary. Tests on the prototype, which featured a more classic layout and functioned as a standard Starfleet exploratory cruiser, were successful, and the class quickly entered into production. While it never overshadowed the venerable Miranda or Excelsior classes, the Olympic class quickly became a common sight all across Federation space.
During the Cardassian border wars of the mid-24th century, Starfleet Medical saw a need to increase its complement of medical ships. Leloir was one of these new vessels, commissioned in 2354 and assigned to humanitarian missions alongside conflict areas. Following the establishment of the Demilitarized Zone, the ship was reassigned to Starbase 35 with a reduced crew complement, where it would mostly serve as a medical transport and training ship for the next few years.
With the outbreak of the Klingon War in 2372, Leloir returned to the role it was originally commissioned for. However the larger scale of the conflict meant that Starfleet could not always provide adequate support to medical ships; and unlike the Cardassians, Klingons would often target non-combatant vessels indiscriminately.
On stardate 49302.3, Leloir and Grierson were ambushed by decloaking ships while providing relief efforts on Ganalda IV. Starfleet vessels already in the system were able to secure the area in a matter of minutes; but not before Grierson was completely destroyed and Leloir was heavily damaged, with most of its primary hull completely blown apart.
After being towed back to Starbase 12, Leloir spent two months undergoing a major refit and modernization of all systems. The ship left drydock in early 2373 as a state-of-the-art medical ship with an entirely new crew complement; it suffered no further attacks during the conflict with the Klingons. Leloir would go on to serve with distinction during the Dominion War that would start less than a year later.
The ship’s motto, inscribed on its dedication plaque, was a quote by Helen Keller: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.”
