The Niagara class ship known as the USS Nowak (NCC-51482) was commissioned and christened in 2349. She was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards at Earth, and spent the first 17 years of her life within Sector 001, serving as a roving embassy for the Federation, and ferrying Federation diplomats to and from their homeworlds to other worlds for conferences, conventions, summits, and meetings of every other sort. The next eight years were spent in the Beloti Sector, before she was recalled for her 25 year refit. After the refit she was reassigned to the Kalandra Sector during the Dominion War. She was present at the evacuation of Betazed during the Breen invasion, and suffered minor damage. After the war, the Nowak remained in and around Deep Space 9 and the Cardassian Union to help facilitate post-war diplomacy.
Four years ago Captain Benoit took command of the Nowak, and the vessel was reassigned to the area around Starbase 118. Late in 2382, the USS Atlantis chased an intragalactic terrorist through the Jenatris Cloud into a previously unexplored area of space. This new frontier, known by its billions of inhabitants as the Par'tha Expanse is of great interest to the Federation. As such, the Nowak was assigned to this new sector under the supervision of Admiral Krieger at Deep Space 26.
