Star Trek Online outlines the basics of the Admirality system

Veterans of Star Trek Online have inevitably made use of many, many different ships over the course of the game’s lifespan. You get ships as you level, often more than you necessarily need. You get access to ships as rewards. You even occasionally find ships just lying around because the game got another year older. So what will you use all of those ships for? Why, you’ll make use of them in the game’s upcoming Admirality system, a way of keeping your ships active in the universe even when you’re not actively helming them.

The Admirality system ranks your various ships by capability and allows you to send the ships you’ve unlocked on various missions. Higher-tier ships have better stat totals, but every ship also has an associated maintenance time needed after a given confrontation, meaning that higher-tier ships also have to sit in dock longer. There are also lengthy tours of duties available for the ships that allow players to pursue ongoing storylines. Check out the full dispatch for a clearer picture of what players can do when the Admirality system goes live.