A Starfleet workhorse for nearly 50 years, the Apollo class of light cruisers has had one of the most distinguished service careers in the fleet. First launched in 2325, Apollo Light Cruisers are some of the lightest of the Federation's light cruisers (and could be more correctly termed a frigate). The odd hull configuration reveals the fact that Vulcan designers are responsible for the Apollo. To some, however, the Apollo's design looks disturbingly Romulan rather than Vulcan.

The Apollo is small, quick, and capable of extended mission profiles, thus making them ideal for sector patrol and interdiction duties. The Apollo is also one of the most common Federation troop transports and can be found ferrying troops into combat zones. It is in these situations that the Apollo's strong shields and speed is of great use in ensuring that Federation ground troops make it to their target intact.

The Apollo class remains one of the most reliable spaceframe designs ever to come out of Starfleet's Advanced Technologies division, and many of its concepts can be seen reflected in the newer Galaxy-class vessels. As a result of the current threat climate in the United Federation of Planets -- and because of their exemplary maintenance record as a class -- many Apollo-class vessels are currently being refit into fast cruisers. The Apollo class itself ceased production in 2358, when the last vessel was delivered to Starbase 674 from the Utopia Planitia fleet yards.