USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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 * For the mirror universe counterpart, see ISS.
 * ''For the Star Trek 2009 movie Enterprise, see

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a Federation (eventually refit to ) heavy cruiser starship in service to Starfleet in the 23rd century. Launched in 2245, the Enterprise would be commanded by some of the very best captains in Starfleet. These included Robert April, Christopher Pike, and James Kirk. She underwent a major overhaul in 2270, engaged V'ger in 2273, and self-destructed over the Genesis Planet in 2285. 

In her forty years of service, through numerous upgrades and refits, she took part in numerous first contacts, military engagements, and time-travel. In her years of service she was commanded by seven captains, but she achieved her lasting fame as Starfleet's flagship under the command of James T. Kirk.

Lineage

 * See also: Enterprise history.



"Enterprise" has a long and illustrious Earth lineage, from the age of sail through to the Warp 5 engine. In 1705, the British Royal Navy captured the French naval vessel l'Enterprise and renamed her HMS, a name which was used in British and American navies through the 21st century.

In 1976, NASA launched a prototype space shuttle named Enterprise (OV-101). Several other space vessels were named Enterprise, and then in 2151, the Earth Starfleet launched their first warp 5 capable starship, christened Enterprise (NX-01). Under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer, Enterprise became a force for exploration and was fundamental in the process that led to the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161.

Early history

 * For a complete chronology of the Enterprise's activities in this period see: The Early Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).



Construction and shakedown
The Enterprise was the first Constitution class vessel to be authorized and construction began at Starfleet Division, San Francisco Fleet Yards, Earth on July 16th 2242. Originally proposed to be named the USS Constitution NCC 1700, due to numerous alterations in design and power it was redesignated NCC 1701. Overseeing the construction was Captain Robert April, after being appointed by Commodore van Anling, who worked closely with naval architect Lawrence Marvick, chief construction engineer Franz Joseph IV, and their team, which included Bernice Hart and Montgomery Scott. When construction began, the Enterprise had not yet been named, with the intention that the ship would be named upon completion. 


 * In the, April states that he took command of the ship shortly after the completion of construction at the Utopia Plantia Yards.

Construction on the vessel proceeded well, and 2243 saw the introduction of the prototype duotronic computer system developed by Dr. Richard Daystrom. The introduction proved vital to the ship later the following year, when the half-complete ship was ordered on a top secret mission into to rescue the stricken Federation colony ship SS Rosenberg without attracting the Romulans' attention. Captain April, with the help of acting first officer, Lieutenant George Samuel Kirk Sr., managed to rescue the colonists, and make it back to Federation space with the help of t'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle, Field Primus of the Second Imperial Swarm, and commander of the Imperial Swarmbird ChR. During this time, April chose the name Enterprise for the new ship, after being convinced to do so by George Kirk Sr.

Construction of the Enterprise was completed by early 2245, and the Enterprise was officially launched on July 4th 2245 by Federation President Samuel Solomon Qasr, and attended by former President Jonathan Archer, who had been the commander of the United Earth ship Enterprise (NX-01) nearly a century earlier. Following the launch ceremony, the Enterprise began shakedown cruises under the command of Captain April. The shakedown cruises went well and the Enterprise was finally commissioned on January 3rd 2246 and began its first five-year mission of exploration. 

The first five-year mission
In October 2246, the Enterprise was the first Federation ship to reach Tarsus IV with food and supplies for the famine-stricken colony; however, interference from the Klingon warship meant that the Enterprise was too late to stop the execution of 4,000 colonists at the hands of Kodos the Executioner. (SS TOS (Though Hell Should Bar the Way))

In 2249, the Enterprise welcomed back George Samuel Kirk Sr. and his 16-year-old son James T. Kirk, as the starship transported them to a newly discovered archaeological site on the planet Faramond. 

Under Captain Pike
The Enterprise returned from its first successful five-year mission in June 2251 (reference stardate 1/9506), and Captain April was promoted to commodore. April recommended that Christopher Pike, who at that time commanded the USS Yorktown (Constitution class), would be a logical replacement. Pike assumed command and the Enterprise embarked on another five-year mission. 

Two years into Pike's command, just prior to beginning a long term survey of the Pathiad Nebulatae the Enterprise's science officer was struck down with a bout of virillian toxic fever. At the recommendation of Robert April, Pike enlisted the then Cadet Spock to fill the role giving him the rank of acting ensign. 

Spock's first few weeks on the Enterprise saw a rise in tensions among the crew as they reacted badly to his cold, logical, assessments of events, such as the recent hostage situation the Enterprise had been involved with at Reebi Station. The crew started to become more accepting to Spock following a mission Magefferus-3 when he laid the foundation for bringing peace to the world by inspiring the inhabitants with his emotional control. In 2254 the Enterprise was diverted from its scheduled mission to the Marrat system to investigate some unusual activity. It soon found the culprit when it was attacked by a Ngultor ship which disabled many of the Enterprise's systems and knocked out the crew while it took it into tow to deliver to it's mothership. Fortunately the crew were able to restore the Enterprise’s systems in time to break free and destroy the mothership before it consumed them. 

Following the Ngultor incident the Enterprise proceeded to the Marrat Nebula where it drove off an attack by a local brigand on Starbase 13. It then proceeded to investigate the Pharos siteworld, above which it battled the in defence of the Federation project on the planet. Pike ended the battle by destroying the siteworld. 

The Enterprise next visited Rigel VII to witness the planet's admission into the Federation. Unfortunately rogue elements began a coup and Enterprise personal were killed and injured. The Enterprise proceeded to Vega colony to make use of it's advanced medical facilities. En route it answered a distress call from Talos IV and made first contact with the Talosians. Due to their ability to project illusions, Starfleet ships were forbidden to ever again visit the planet. Under General Order 7, such a visit was grounds for the only death penalty left in Starfleet. The Enterprise was next sent to investigate the disappearance of the USS Cortez at Darien 224. It soon found that the other starship had been commandeered by a faction from an isolated colony of Vulcans on the planetoid which attacked the Enterprise. Following the battle the damaged Enterprise suffered further stresses by flying into Darien's atmosphere to rescue Enterprise personnel before the planetoid was destroyed. 

The Enterprise spent a week at Deep Space Station K-12 undergoing repairs. While there Pike took a shuttle to Earth after being informed his father was unwell. The message was a fake sent by the Commander Kaaj of the IKS Varchas, seeking revenge for his shaming in the Marrat nebula. Fortunately the Enterprise crew were able to uncover the scheme and drive off the Varchas before the Klingons were able to kill Pike. 

The Enterprise next visited Neyda Prime and Liria before battling a Chakuun Ghostship which had attacked Jubal. The Enterprise limped home to Earth for repairs and then headed a task force to defend Federation colonies along the Tholian border from further Chakuun attacks. 

The task force soon saw action in defence of Theta Kalyb where four of the other ships in the force were destroyed before the Chakuun retreated. The Enterprise and the only other surviving vessel, the USS Nelson (2250s), went to Starbase 45 to undergo repairs. 

While the Enterprise was still in spacedock Robert April temporarily retook command while Pike was sent on a top secret mission to Temazi. The Enterprise was also sent to Temazi shortly after where it battled a pair of Klingon D7 class vessels in orbit. 

Kirk's five-year mission

 * For a complete chronology of the Enterprise's activities in this period see: The Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270).

In 2264, command of the Enterprise was passed on to James T. Kirk, the youngest captain at that time, when Pike was promoted to fleet captain and assigned overall control of Constitution-class starship operations. The Enterprise's first mission under Kirk wasn't a deep-space exploratory mission or a mission of importance, but to transport the Warp-Speed Classic Vaudeville Company around the Federation Phalanx to Starbase 13. Although Kirk was very reluctant to this first assignment, Admiral Kimitake Noguchi, thought he needed the time to work out his command, and ordered him to do it or lose the Enterprise. The voyage was far from uneventful, however, after encountering the rebel Klingon Bird-of-Prey Quundar, and encountering a generational vessel. 

Following several other adventures, the Enterprise was finally dispatched on a five-year mission, in which the ship's primary mission was to seek out and contact alien lifeforms. Beyond this primary mission, the Enterprise was also charged with defending Federation territory from aggression, aid member worlds in crisis, and provide support for scientific expeditions and colonies that were working in the Enterprise's patrol area. 

Discoveries
Over the course of the five-year mission, the Enterprise visited many different planets and encountered representatives from dozens of different species. On many occassions the Enterprise made first contact with beings that hadn't been encountered by the Federation before, including stellar neighbors, voyages from outside the Milky Way, and powerful non-corporeal entities.

List of first contacts

 * 2266
 * The First Federation
 * The Thasians
 * 2267
 * The Onlies
 * Trelane
 * The Gorn
 * The Metrons
 * The Horta
 * 2268
 * The Kelvans
 * The Melkotians
 * The Vians
 * The Fabrini
 * 2269
 * The Zetarians
 * The Excalbians
 * The Vendorians

The galactic barrier
A short time into the five-year mission in 2265 (stardate 1312.4), the Enterprise was ordered to probe beyond the edge of the galaxy by Admiral Saylor. Upon arriving at the edge the Enterprise collided with the previously-undocumented galactic barrier, which critically damaged various ship's systems and killed nine crewmembers. Two further crewmembers, Elizabeth Dehner and Gary Mitchell, died as a result of the strange unusual energy which enhanced their ESP senses. Lieutenant Lee Kelso was also killed by Mitchell while on the surface of Delta Vega. 

The Enterprise was forced to return to the barrier in 2268 when she had been taken over by the Kelvans and upgraded with Kelvan technology so that she was able to safely cross the barrier and head for the Andromeda Galaxy. Some months later, the Enterprise once again breached the barrier and became trapped in the void just beyond it. 

Time travel
The reality of externally influenced time travel had been well known and documented since the voyages of the Enterprise (NX-01) in the 2150s, yet this Enterprise became the first Federation starship to experience deliberately-controlled time travel.

The development of time travel came by accident in 2266 when the Enterprise was observing the break-up of planet Psi 2000. The crew had been struck down by a polywater intoxication and one crewmember had shut down the ship's engines and the Enterprise was quickly losing orbit. With no other choice, Lieutenant Commanders' Spock and Montgomery Scott performed a "cold start" of the warp engines via a controlled matter-antimatter implosion which saved the ship but also sent the Enterprise into a time-warp as it escaped the planet's gravity well and sent her back three days into the past. 

The following year, the Enterprise was hurled through space and time to Earth in 1969 while attempting to escape the gravitational pull of a black star. The Enterprise crew were able to engineer their return to the 23rd century by warping around Sol's gravity well in a slingshot maneuver. 

The following year, Starfleet Command ordered the Enterprise to use the proven slingshot method and returned to Earth in 1968 to perform an historical observation mission. 

Spaceborne entities
Some discoveries made by the Enterprise during the five-year mission included confrontations with entities and mechanisms which threatened great areas of Federation space.

In 2267, the Enterprise encountered an ancient "doomsday machine", which destroyed objects using an antiproton beam and then consumed them. Because the object was heading through the most densely inhabited areas of the Federation including the Rigel star system, the Enterprise was forced to shut down the machine with the help of the stricken USS Constellation (NCC-1017), a former victim of the machine. 

The following year, a giant space amoeba emitted a negative energy which was toxic for humanoid life and had claimed the lives of the Vulcan crew of the USS Intrepid (NCC-1631). The Enterprise responded to the Intrepid's distress call and was able to penetrate the cell interior and set off an antimatter explosion which destroyed the amoeba before it was able to divide. 

From late 2269 to mid-2271, the Enterprise was given several "make-overs". Over these years, she was added an extra bridge turbolift. A domed, navigational dish mounted to the bridge ceiling. A holodeck. An inflatible decoy releasing system. And more decks. During this same year, Enterprise was dispatched to investigate a huge cosmic cloud which was approaching the planet Mantilles in the Pallas 14 system. Upon arrival in the system, the Enterprise crew observed the cloud consuming the planet Alondra and then continue on to Mantilles. With no choice but to try and stop the cloud, Captain Kirk took the Enterprise into the cloud to find a means of slowing it down. Thankfully, Spock was able to mind-meld with the cloud and divert it from Mantilles at the last possible moment. 

Battles
On stardate 1512.2, Kirk managed to prevent Commander Balok of the First Federation vessel Fesarius from destroying the Enterprise after he bluffed Balok into believing that the Enterprise was equipped with a corbomite device. This tactic again proved useful in 2267 when facing the Romulans. 

Klingon engagements
Throughout the five-year mission, the warships of the Klingon Imperial Fleet became a constant opponent of the Enterprise. While high-ranking officers such as Commander Kor relished the prospect of battle against Kirk and the Enterprise, lower ranks chose to mock the starship and her commanding officer. 

Following the outbreak of the First Federation-Klingon War in 2267, the Enterprise was immediately attacked by the, which the Enterprise was easily able to dispatch. 

After the battle with the Vortha, the Enterprise was ordered to proceed to Organia in an attempt to secure the region. Unfortunately, a large Klingon invasion fleet led by Kor entered the system and forced the Enterprise to leave, with Kirk and Spock trapped on the surface. The Enterprise later returned with a Starfleet force and prepared to engage Kor's fleet but the fighting was stopped by the Organians and the Organian Peace Treaty was imposed. 

A few months later, a D7-class warship attempted to keep the Enterprise clear of Capella IV while Klingon agents were on the planet trying to subvert the natives and gain access to the planet's topaline. While the plan was unsuccessful, the warship's crew later engaged Enterprise security personnel and Capellan warrior's in a pitched battle on the surface of Capella IV. The battle was only concluded when Klingon General Kellen negotiated the Enterprise's assitance in engaging the Furies. 

The following year, the Enterprise was sabotaged by a Klingon agent who had infiltrated the Dohlman of Elas' entourage during a diplomatic mission in the Tellun system. The Enterprise was then attacked by a D7-class battle cruiser, but was able to escape with the Dohlman's assistance. 

A few months later, the Enterprise was forced to destroy the abandoned, under the command of Commander Kang, as the radiation emitted from the ship posed a hazard. The surviving Klingons were beamed aboard the Enterprise, and later launched an attempt to gain control of the Enterprise under the influence of the Beta XII-A entity. 

Romulan engagements
In late 2266 the Romulan Star Empire re-emerged from a century of isolation and dispatched the ChR to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone and attack several Earth outposts. The Enterprise was the first vessel to respond to the outposts' distress call and engaged the Gal Gath'thong. During the engagement, the Romulans powerful plasma torpedoes caused significant damage to the Enterprise, and their cloaking device made it difficult for the starship to detect them. Fortunately, the Enterprise was able to overcome the Gal Gath'thong before it returned to Romulan space. (CCG)

The following year, a fleet of ten birds-of-prey engaged the Enterprise when it crossed into the Neutral Zone in order to take a direct route to Starbase 10. The unfortunate action was taken by Commodore George Stocker who was in temporary command while Captain Kirk was incapacitated. Thankfully, Kirk was able to recover and once again used his corbomite bluff to fool the Romulans and escape back to Federation space. 

In early 2268 the Enterprise was ordered to cross into the Romulan Neutral Zone as part of Operation Purloin, an operation to capture a cloaking device that had been devised by Starfleet Intelligence. Shortly after crossing, the Enterprise was surrounded by three battle cruisers, commanded by Commander Charvanek, and Captain Kirk and Commander Spock were taken prisoner. Kirk and Spock were eventually able to steal the cloak from Charvenak's flagship, the ChR, and made it back to the Enterprise with Charvanek as a prisoner. Eventually, Montgomery Scott was able to connect the cloak to the Enterprise's systems and she escaped back to Federation space. 

Casualties
Service aboard the Enterprise proved to be hazardous, especially for those crewmembers serving in the security division. The first crewmember to be killed during Captain Kirk's first tenure in command of the Enterprise was communications officer Hounslaw Tanaka. By the end of the five-year mission, ninety-four crewmembers had met violent deaths. 

Refit and further service

 * For a complete chronology of the Enterprise's activities in this period see: The Continuing Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

In 2270, following the completion of Kirk's historic five-year mission, the Enterprise returned to Earth. Originally the ship was going to be decommissioned and dismantled after returning to Earth, but the high profile of the nature of the ship and her crew led Starfleet to reverse that decision.

However, the Enterprise was still 25 years old by 2270. Despite undergoing several refits over the years, it became apparent that the technology on the ship was becoming outdated, and that a major refitting of the Enterprise would be required. During the final days of Kirk's historic five year mission, new warp technology was being perfected, and Starfleet's Corps of Engineers decided that the Enterprise would be an ideal test-bed for the new technology. When the ship arrived at Earth, she was put into dry dock for this major refit, which would take eighteen months to complete. 

The original warp nacelles were replaced with newer and larger units. When it was found that the original pylons would not support the weight of the new nacelles, nor would they be large enough to house the plasma matter torpedoconduits, they were also replaced. A new matter /anti-matter reactor was placed in the secondary hull. The impulse engine deck at the rear of the primary hull was switched out during the refit. With an adjoining observation port above, for docking. Such as for the Vulcan courier Surak, during the V'Ger interception.

The exterior navigational deflector was replaced with an internal unit, and a new photon torpedo launching system was added to the connector between the primary and secondary hulls. This updated photorp deployment method channeled propulsion directly from the matter/antimatter intermix. The bridge module was replaced with a new unit, and the original bridge module was taken and placed on board the USS Yorktown (Constitution class). (, novelization : "Relics") Docking ports were added at various points to allow secondary craft - such as shuttlecraft and travel pods - to dock with the Enterprise without needing to enter the shuttle bay.

When it was found that the main computer would not be powerful enough to handle the new technology - especially the new warp systems, it was replaced. During the course of the refit, Romulan spies managed to infect the new computer systems with a Trojan Horse virus, which was discovered and removed from the computer systems just before the ship launched. It was operated by Mark VII multitronic software. (SS TOS (Night Whispers))

As the refit of Enterprise neared completion, Starfleet decided not to paint the hull with the customary thermocoat that had been applied to vessels previously. Engineers offered to paint the hull of the Enterprise following the final outfitting, but Admiral Kirk declined, preferring the appearance of the Enterprise without the thermocoat. In fact, on the whole this new look was so favorably received that Starfleet eliminated thermocoats from all ships displacing 90,000 metric tons and above.

Command of the ship during the refit was given to Captain Willard Decker, who remained with the Enterprise throughout the entire refit process. ("Enterprise Logs"; )

Another five-year mission
Captain Decker was slated to retain the command of the Enterprise upon the ship's relaunch; however, then-Admiral Kirk assumed command in response to the crisis involving the machine entity "V'Ger." Because Decker had become intimately familiar with the redesigned Enterprise, Decker remained on board as Kirk's executive officer. Decker was reported missing in action during that mission, and Kirk resumed permanent command of the Enterprise. 

Immediately after the crisis with V'Ger the Enterprise stopped at a starbase for final outfitting, which included components that had been left out due to the emergency nature of the launch of the refitted Enterprise. One of the minor items fixed during this layover was the inclusion of an image of the Enterprise NX-01 in the recreation room display of past vessels named Enterprise. The starbase crew offered to paint the Enterprise, but Kirk declined, preferring the hull unpainted. 

Captain Kirk decided to recommend that the science station be relocated from behind its new position behind the Captain's chair back to a location near the position near where the science station had been located previously. At some point prior to 2283 this was done. 

One of the first missions of the refitted Enterprise was to travel Lorina when strife broke out amongst the descendants of the Fabrini. 

In 2273, the Enterprise went to the planet, Cragon V. The Enterprise was disabled with the IKS Ghargh by the planet’s ruler, Weyland. Three Enterprise crewmembers were sent back into time by Weyland. Captain Kirk was able to show that the Federation were good, and the Enterprise crewmembers were returned. The Enterprise was able to help Commander Kral regain his vessel and the Enterprise was returned to normal by Weyland. The Enterprise went to Starbase 42, afterwards. (TOS novel: Home is the Hunter)

In 2278, the Enterprise stopped at Starbase 18 to pick up supplies to bring to Vesta V. After re-supplying the colony, the Enterprise went to the Akkallan System to retrieve a science team. The crew of the Enterprise helped discover the true origins of the Akallan people and stopped the Chorymi from harvesting the Akkallan oceans. The Enterprise went to Earth afterwards. (TOS novel: Deep Domain)

Training ship
Later, Enterprise was retired from active service, and assigned to Starfleet Academy as a training ship. She was reactivated by Admiral Kirk in response to a crisis involving Project Genesis. The Enterprise soon encountered the USS Reliant, which refused to answer hails as she approached. Even though regulations called for Kirk to assume a defensive posture when the Reliant didn't answer their hails, Kirk ignored the regulation. When the Reliant pulled up alongside the Enterprise, the Reliant opened fire, severely damaging the engineering section.

It was then that Khan revealed himself. Kirk was able to use the Enterprise computer to lower Khan's shields, damaging the Reliant enough to drive her off. The Enterprise and Reliant faced off against each other in the Mutara Nebula, with Kirk finally being able to disable the Reliant. Determined to destroy Kirk, a fatally wounded Khan activated the Genesis Device, which would not only destroy the Reliant, but the Enterprise as well when it exploded - which did not have a functional warp drive at the time.

Just before the Genesis Device exploded, Spock entered the irradiated control chamber, and brought the warp drive back on line. The Enterprise was able to warp away as the Genesis Device exploded. Within a few hours, a new star system had been created, complete with an apparently habitable planet. But in the process, Spock died due to radiation poisoning. (TOS film: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Final days
Shortly after Spock sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise and her crew, the ship returned to spacedock. There Kirk and the rest of the crew learned that the Enterprise was to be decommissioned - the ship had been in service for nearly 40 years by then. Harry Morrow pointed out to Kirk 20 of those years were manned by the fellow admiral, and his crew.

Dr. McCoy began exhibiting strange behaviors, such as breaking into Spock's quarters and collapsing in Kirk's arms when the Admiral went to confront him. Sarek soon arrived to ask Kirk about Spock's katra, or immortal soul, and it was then the two men learned that Spock had transferred his katra into McCoy. Starfleet refused to allow Kirk to return to the Genesis Planet to retrieve Spock's body, so Kirk and his senior staff decided to go without Starfleet's approval. Kirk and his staff stole the Enterprise, and left for the Genesis Planet. What they didn't know was that a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by Kruge was waiting for them at the planet. When the Klingons managed to disable the Enterprise, Kirk activated the ship's auto-destruct device, and the ship was destroyed while in orbit of the Genesis Planet.

Kirk and his crew were able to commandeer the Klingon ship, and used it to travel to Vulcan, where Spock's body and katra were reunited. (TOS film: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

So significant were the accomplishments of NCC-1701, that Starfleet re-used this registry (with the addition of a letter suffix) for each of the five subsequent starships (to date) to have been christened Enterprise. (TOS movie: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Crew

 * List of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel

Commanding officers

 * Captain Robert April (2244-2251)
 * Captain Christopher Pike (2251-2264)
 * Captain James T. Kirk (2264-2270, 2273-2278, 2280s sporadically)
 * Captain Zarlo (2266)
 * Captain Willard Decker (2270-2273)
 * Captain Spock (2278-2285, sporadically as Academy instructor)

Auxiliary craft
The Enterprise's complement also included at least two maintenance vehicles called repair wagons, and a small pod-like vehicle called the capsule which detached from the underside of the saucer section in a similar manner to later captain's yacht designs. 

Alternate Enterprises
Several alternate timeline and illusory versions of the Enterprise have been encountered.

ISS Enterprise

 * See also: ISS.

Vardaine copy

 * See also: USS Enterprise (Vardaine copy).

VSS ShiKahr

 * See also: VSS.

UESS Enterprise

 * See also: UESS.

USS Enterprise

 * See also: USS Enterprise.