SS Xhosa
The SS Xhosa was an  cruiser, which according to its dedication plaque, was constructed at the Luna Shipyards during the 23rd century. By 2371, the Xhosa was commanded by the civilian  Kasidy Yates. 

The ship's equipment was mostly obsolete, provided by the Petarians. As such it only had a Mark V transporter, requiring ship's personnel to use anti-grav sleds when loading the ship with unstable biomatter. ()

Missions 
In 2371, the Xhosa operated under the authority of the Petarians. () On Stardate 48960.9, the Xhosa hauled a load of duridium ore to Solais V. The ship was due to return to Deep Space 9 the following month. ()

When a Klingon task force arrived in the Bajoran system in early 2372, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, the , stopped the Xhosa and attempted to board it to search for Changelings while attempting to leave the system. Trapped in the M'Chars tractor beam, its Commander Kaybok, insisted that the freighter must be searched, under orders from Chancellor Gowron and the Klingon High Council. They were approached by the , which eventually forced the M'Char to withdraw and the Xhosa left the Bajoran system for approximately two weeks. The Xhosa later returned to Deep Space 9 for a one-day layover before departing again for its next haul. ()

Later that year, Yates secured a contract with the Bajoran Ministry of Commerce for cargo runs to outlying Bajoran colonies. ()

Yates' ship returned to Deep Space 9, whereupon she and Benjamin Sisko departed the station for three days in the Bajoran outback. ()

The Xhosa later delivered emergency supplies to a Maquis raider located in the Badlands. Before returning to Deep Space 9 one last time, Yates offloaded her crew and return to the station aboard the Xhosa alone, to face the consequences of her actions. ()

Xhosa personnel

Appendices

Appearances 
 
  ()

Background information 
The name "Xhosa" came from a tribe indigenous to  known as the . In real life, the word begins with a lateral click not present in English. According to the scripts for "The Way of the Warrior"  and "For the Cause",  the word was pronounced "ZOE-sa". The Star Trek Encyclopedia suggests "Zosha" as the pronunciation. In older , it was sometimes written as "Kôsa". In South Africa, it was, accordingly, often pronounced as "CAW-zah", the voiceless, velar plosive "k" approximating the lateral click. Nelson Mandela was of Xhosa descent.

According to the script notes from "Family Business", Kasidy's ship was an "independent interstellar freighter."

Apocrypha 
During the Typhon Pact  Plagues of Night, the Xhosa was destroyed with all hands when a Tzenkethi ship collided with it, causing it to explode. Captain Yates-Sisko and Vedek Kira Nerys had left moments before, boarding Deep Space 9 to help an ongoing evacuation. However, the station itself was destroyed by a reactor breach seconds later, as Captain Benjamin Sisko watched from the bridge of his new starship, the  . 

The novelization of  featured scenes set aboard the Xhosa.

External links 
 
 

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Xhosa