The Galaxy-class USS Bismarck, NCC-1797-D, was commissioned on March 8, 1992, with a crew of 12. Commander Kevin B. Klien was the first Captain. The commissioning ceremony was held at the Middletown Public Library, Middletown, Ohio. The Commissioning Officer was Fleet Admiral Don Dailey. During Commander Klein’s command, we went on many Away Missions, published a monthly newsletter and grew as a unit.
On July 18, 1992, during the yearly Starfleet Command outing to the National Museum of the United States Air Force (Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio), a transfer of command took place. Lieutenant Commander Matthew B. Hudson became the second Commanding Officer of the 48-member crew. Lieutenant Lisa Barr was elected First Officer. Under Commander Hudson the ship found a permanent meeting place to hold general meetings, began to develop uniforms, printed a bi-monthly newsletter, attended several conventions, and began a tradition of holding an annual Halloween Murder Mystery Party and an annual Holiday Party.
Commander Hudson stepped down on March 27, 1993, to take a position within Starbase Five. At that time, Lieutenant Commander Richard “Bear” Benge was assigned by Starfleet Command to the position of Acting Captain until one could be properly elected by the crew. The crew compliment was 15.
The election process was held on May 22, 1993, and Lieutenant Commander Lisa D. Barr was elected to the position of Commanding Officer. The installation ceremony was held at Forest Fair Mall, Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 25, 1993, where she was also raised in rank to Commander. Lieutenant Commander Anthony Day was elected First Officer. By June 1994 the crew compliment had grown to 40.
With Commander Barr at the helm and through her leadership, the ship substantially increased positive relations with other chapters of Starfleet Command, Star Fleet International, and other organizations of Star Trek: Bajorans, Klingons, Romulans just to name a few. The crew attended and worked many conventions, taken on the Community Pantry as a charity, participated in Middletown’s recycling program, offered a one-year survival course through our Science Department, put out a bi-monthly state-of-the-art newsletter, developed local cadet packets, written the ship’s By-Laws, designed and purchased ship business cards, designed summer uniforms, and adapted the ship’s motto, logo, seal, and flag.
On April 1, 1995, now-Captain Matt Hudson presented Lisa Barr with a rank increase to Captain. Through Captain Barr’s and Commander Day’s efforts the crew enjoyed an annual banquet at which awards, commendations, and rank increases are given to outstanding personnel. The crew was introduced to an objection promotion point system in which crew members could obtain increases in rank by deeds instead of by time and the Captain’s whim.
On August 26, 1995, Lisa Barr announced that she was stepping down as Captain of the USS Bismarck to take a position as head of the local Order of the Eastern Star chapter. At the holiday party on December 16, 1995, Anthony Day was sworn in as the new Captain with a rank increase from Commander to Captain. He, in turn, increased the rank of the newly-elected First Officer David MacDonald from Lieutenant Commander to Commander.
Under the leadership of Captain Day and Commander MacDonald, and on the recommendation of Captain Barr, the ship began a new annual fund raiser in August of 1995: working at Peasant’s Orchard, a beverage booth at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. The Bismarck worked with Captain Barr’s OES chapter to raise money for both organizations. In 1997, the ship took over the Peasant’s Orchard. RenFair has become the main fund raiser each year, which runs for nine weekends. In order to work at the Renaissance Festival, we all had to be in costume of the medieval times. Thanks to Linda Collins, Elaine Parton, and Lisa Barr, the costumes were made in time. Our RenFair booth became big business with our famous fruit drink. The fruit drink recipe is Top Secret, and while it contains no alcohol, its caffeine is addictive to the RenFair patrons and workers, as well as Melville, one of the Queen’s birds.
Due to Captain Barr’s diplomatic skills, Starfleet Command offered her the position of Starfleet Inspector General as of April 1999. She accepted and was promoted to Fleet Captain. Because of the respect the crew had for Captain Barr, Captain Day initiated two proposals for the crew to vote on. The first one granted Captain Barr the first lifetime membership onboard the USS Bismarck. The second granted Captain Barr the newly-created position of Captain Emeritus. Both were the crew’s way of saying “thank you” for her past, present, and future leadership and dedication to the USS Bismarck. Captain Day was promoted to Fleet Captain the following year at the Admiralty Board’s semi-annual meeting at Marcon.
The ship still continues to grow as a family. Three weddings occurred between crewmembers between 2000 and 2002. On February 2, 2002, Lisa Barr married Kevin Johnson, the Ship’s Counselor. Five children were born to Bismarck members between 2000 and 2004.
The weekend of April 6-7, 2002, commemorated the end of our first ten-year mission. The celebration was held at the Kings Island Resort & Conference Center. On Saturday, the crew divided into teams to participate in a seven check-point road rally. Upon returning to the hotel, the members got ready for a banquet dinner and awards ceremony. In front of his crew and several fleet dignitaries, Fleet Captain Anthony Day was awarded the Bismarck’s second lifetime membership.
The annual summer picnic fell a few months later on July 20th, 2002. In addition to Fleet Admiral Sundstrom joining us for the festivities, his deputy, Admiral Mark Bischoff, was also there. After everyone had eaten, the admirals asked everyone to join them outside. There they promoted Lisa (Barr) Johnson and Anthony Day to the rank of Commodore.
The ship’s bylaws were updated in 2004 and 2005. The Captain’s term of office was changed to 2 years (renewable). All other Senior Staff officers’ terms were changed to expire when the Captain’s term of office expires. If the Captain leaves office before two years, the First Officer will serve as Acting Captain only until a new Captain is elected.
Eight Bismarck members experienced the ultimate Away Team Mission in February 2006. These members took at 10-day vacation which included a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise from Florida to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico. Each traveller had been saving $10 a week for the past four years. Commander Kevin Johnson and Commodore Lisa Johnson served as Bismarck Cruise Directors. BisCruise was a rousing success, and a BisCruise II is planned for 2010.
On March 10, 2007, at the 15th anniversary of the Bismarck’s commissioning, Commodore Anthony Day stepped down as Commanding Officer. He had served 10 years in the center seat. Starfleet then offered him the position of Chief of Command Staff, an Admiralty Board slot. (Other Fleet-level assignments included Lisa Johnson as Deputy Chief of Command Staff and Rick Pinsky as Deputy Commandant of Starfleet Academy.) For serving as the Bismarck’s CO for a decade, now-Vice Admiral Day was awarded Captain Emeritus by his former crew. To honor 15 years of the Bismarck, the crew elected to retire the Galaxy-class NCC-1797-D and commission the new Sovereign-class NCC-1797-E. Commemorative planks were issued to the 8 original Bismarck-D members who were still serving aboard the ship at the time of her decommissioning. Fleet guests included FADM Don Dailey, Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet Command; ADM Mark Bishoff, Deputy Commander-in-Chief; ADM Roy Jackson, Deputy Fleet Commander, Quadrant 1; and other distingused visitors. Kevin Johnson was elected as Commanding Officer of the newest Starship Bismarck and was promoted to the rank of Captain. Captain Richard Hatfield was elected First Officer. 40 members were on the roster at the time of Bismarck-E’s commissioning.
The re-commissioning and re-vitalization of the USS Bismarck was a huge success. At the 2007 Starfleet Command Meeting on November 24, 2007, the USS Bismarck took home 5 awards, including 3 first place awards. For the first time in Bismarck history, a Bismarck member took home the Paul A. Sundstrom Lifetime Achievement Award. Captain David "Dooger" MacDonald received this award for all the work he had done on the Bismarck and with Fleet over the past 15 years. Dooger passed away from a long battle with cancer just a few months prior. In addition, Captain Kevin Johnson was also promoted to Fleet Captain. The USS Bismarck broke its own record a year later at the 2008 SFC Meeting by taking home First Place Large Ship of the Year for the second year in a row (plus several other awards).
After a successful two-year term, Fleet Captain Kevin Johnson stepped down as Starship Captain to serve as Starbase 05 Commanding Officer. Vice Admiral Richard Pinsky was elected to be the Bismarck-E's second captain. Lt. Commander Audra Blais was elected as First Officer with a promotion to full commander. The 2009 Anniversary Party and Change of Command ceremony was held relaxacon-style at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. The crew members and guest enjoyed a weekend at the indoor waterpark, MagiQuest, scavenger hunts, arcade, a prime rib buffet, etc. Fleet Admiral Andy Sams presided over the ceremony. Fleet Admiral Mark Bischoff (SFC Commander-in-Chief) and Admiral Sandy Sundstrom (retired) were presented with Honorary Memberships.
The Bismarck continues its tradition of community service. Annual community service events include working with local food pantries, Big Brothers / Big Sisters, the March of Dimes, horseback-riding for the disabled, and local public access TV stations, just to name a few.