Star Trek: Every Starfleet Starship Class Ranked Worst To Best
25. California
The California class ships were introduced in and around 2380, with the USS Cerritos, Solvang, Mercad and Rubdioux all belonging to the family. They were sent on generally simple missions, though they had a high mortality rate. The Mercad, Rubidoux and Solvang were all destroyed over the course of that year, with the Cerritos almost destroyed by the Pakleds.
The ship design was not one meant for war. In fact, the ships were usually assigned to follow up missions, checking in on planets after other, more important/powerful vessels had already made first contact. It was an inglorious, yet essential duty - something that left some of the officers on board these vessels wanting in terms of their careers.
That said, the USS Cerritos is flying the flag for the California class, racking up plenty of excitement in a single year alone.