An Oberth class starship carries a standard compliment of sixteen officers and sixty-two enlisted crewmen. The personnel size may be increased to a maximum of one hundred if a mission requires it. The ship is one hundred forty-eight meters long with a forty-one thousand ton displacement.

The USS Grissom (NCC-638) was the first of these ships to be seen in the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The ship was commanded by Captain J.T. Esteban. It was destroyed by a Klingon bird-of-prey while in orbit of the Genesis Planet on a survey mission of that world.

The USS Copernicus (NCC-623) was one of the ships in main spacedock in Sector 001 when the alien probe that sought contact with the humpback whales of Earth in 2286 disrupted all power systems along its course. [Editor's note: Refer to the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home for more information.]

In 2364, the USS Tsiolkovsky (NCC-53911) was assigned to a survey mission to study the collapse of a red super giant star into a white dwarf. Extreme gravity fluctuations in the area from the process of collapse caused the crew to develop a variant of the Psi 2000 virus. The Psi 2000 virus had affected the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) when that ship had been on a survey mission to study the collapse of the frozen planet Psi 2000 in 2266. Extreme fluctuations in gravity were present on that mission as well. Although the Enterprise crew escaped after Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy found a cure for the original strain of the virus, the Tsiolkovsky's eighty member crew perished before a cure for the variant could be found. The Tsiolkovsky was destroyed by a fragment of nuclear debris from the collapsing star. [Editor's note: Refer to the Star Trek episode "The Naked Time" and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Naked Now" for more information.]

In 2366, the USS Grissom (NCC-59314), the second Federation starship to bear the name, was asked to stay ready for the possibility of its being needed to aid in cleaning up the reported underground tricyanate contamination of planet Beta Agni II. The crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) discovered that the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo had faked the emergency so that he would have the opportunity to kidnap the Enterprise Head of Operations, Lieutenant Commander Data, for his rare item collection. Fajo was arrested for the kidnapping as well as for the murder of his assistant, Varria. [Editor's note: Refer to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Most Toys" for more information.]

In 2368, the USS Cochrane (NCC-59318) transported Lieutenant Jadzia Dax and Dr. Julian Bashir to the then recently commissioned Starbase Deep Space Nine. [Editor's note: Refer to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pilot episode "Emissary" for more information.]

In 2368, the SS Vico (NAR-18834), a non-Starfleet Federation research vessel, was assigned to a survey mission of the Black Cluster. Gravitational wavefronts existed within the cluster, and unknown to the crew the Vico's shields amplified the wavefronts. When the shields were strengthened to try to protect the ship, the wavefronts became much more powerful, severely damaged the Vico, and killed the entire crew. Only the first officer's young son survived, and the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) rescued him and recovered all gathered data about the Black Cluster after receiving the ship's automated distress signal.

Oberth class starships have also appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "A Call to Arms" and in the film Star Trek: Generations.