Columbia (NX-02)

Good Columbia (NX-02) was the second NX-class starship to enter service in the Earth Starfleet in the mid-22nd century.

Construction history
Following the successful launch of the Enterprise (NX-01) in 2151, Starfleet quickly ordered an additional three NX-class starships that were to enter service in the near future. As a result the Columbia was the second ship of the class to begin construction, however at that point the vessel was only designated NX-02. As the construction progressed it was expected that A.G. Robinson would be named as Captain, however he died in an accident while climbing Earth's Mount McKinley. By mid-2153, the Columbia was still in the early stages of construction and was unable to fight against the Xindi attack on Earth. However, by mid-2154, construction had been completed on the Columbia and she was ready to be launched. The commanding officer that Starfleet ultimately chose was Captain Erika Hernandez, a much respected Starfleet officer. 

While the launch of the Columbia was scheduled for June 2154, it later had to be pushed back to November when the starship developed trouble with their engines. Because of these set-backs, the Columbia was unable to assist the Enterprise during her encounter with a Romulan drone-ship. 

Service history
Despite several problems with the Columbia's systems, the addition of Commander Charles Tucker III as chief engineer, made sure that the Columbia was able to launch in November 2154. Her first assignment after being launched was to rescue Enterprise after she had fallen victim to Klingon sabotage. In order to help the Enterprise, Columbia had to merge warp fields with Enterprise so that Commander Tucker could be transferred aboard to fix the problem.

After solving the problems with Enterprise, the Columbia then assisted her sister-ship is recovering Dr. Phlox from the Qu'Vat colony, and engaged several Klingon warships in combat. 

In 2159 the Columbia surveyed the Algenib star system, finding several lifeless planets, among them Algenib II. (SS TOS (Make-Believe))

In 2296 a shuttlepod was stolen from the Columbia by a group of criminals, they eventually crashed it on Rajatha Prime where it remained undiscovered until 2368. 
 * The 23rd century date was given by William T. Riker at the end of the comic. Earlier in the comic Jean-Luc Picard hypothesized the shuttlepod would have crashed two centuries earlier, a more likely time for a shuttlepod to be stolen from the Columbia.

The Columbia, still under command of Captain Hermandez, disappeared some time later in the vicinity of the Tau Ceti system. It's fate was considered one for the most enduring mysteries in Starfleet history for two centuries.

In 2373, shortly prior to the outbreak of war with the Dominion, the mystery of the Columbia came closer to being solved when the wreck of the starship was discovered by a Starfleet recon party led by Jadzia Dax on a Class M planet in the Gamma Quadrant. The discovery led some to speculate the Dominion had visited the Alpha Quadrant far earlier than previously believed. 

In 2381 following the outbreak of hostilities with the Borg Collective, Starfleet assigned the USS Aventine to investigate the wreck of the Columbia in an effort to understand how it reached the Gamma Quadrant so quickly. Starfleet ended the mission prematurely when the Aventine was reassigned to defend Trill (planet).

'Columbia'' personnel==
 * Commanding officer: Captain Erika Hernandez (2154-?)
 * Chief engineer: Commander Charles Tucker III (2154)

Appendices

 * It has been announced that the Columbia will feature in the 2008 Enterprise novel; .