The Merchantman (also known as the SS Eileen) was an independent Monarch-class freighter operating in the late 23rd century.
Service history[]
In the year 2281, Harry Price won the vessel in a poker game on Rolan III, but also incurred ten years of remaining financing payments. (FASA RPG module: The Serpent Factor)
In 2285, the Klingon operative Valkris managed to obtain a copy of Admiral James T. Kirk's report on his most recent voyage, which included a summary of the Genesis Project. She traveled on board the Merchantman to rendezvous with Commander Kruge's Bird-of-Prey in Organian space. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Search for Spock)
The freighter transported Valkris and an entourage of five "Starfleet officers" from Earth Spacedock to the rendezvous. By this time, Price was five months behind in payments, but Valkris promised to pay him one million credits more than he needed to pay off the ship's financing. The exorbitant fee raised first officer Hans Markheim's suspicions, and he set about finding their contraband. When he couldn't locate it, he sabotaged the freighter's warp drive control systems and life support, forcing Price to divert the ship to a spaceport on Tanar IX. The ship lifted off after chief engineer S'lith spent 10 hours replacing the damaged systems.
15 hours from the rendezvous, the freighter was approached and hailed by the Grayson-class USS Anderson. (FASA RPG module: The Serpent Factor)
At the rendezvous, Valkris transmitted Kirk's report to Kruge, and stated that he would find the report useful. Upon realizing that she had seen the data, Kruge had his ship to attack and destroy the Merchantman. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: The Search for Spock)
Although Kruge and his crew believed that the entire crew was killed in the attack, two members of the crew managed to make it to a small scout shuttle before the ship was destroyed. They were later rescued by Starfleet, and reported that they had been attacked by a Klingon vessel. (TOS novelization: The Search for Spock)
Crew manifest[]
- Commanding officer
- First officer
- Chief engineer
- Navigator
- Navigator assistant
- See also: Merchantman personnel
Appendices[]
Connections[]
| Monarch-class freighter/class 3 tanker starships | ||
|---|---|---|
| Independently owned/operated | Albatross • Merchantman • SS Silver Isle | 
|
| Federation, Merchant Marine | SS Algocape • SS Amy Riley • SS Daishowa • SS G-Williker • SS Imperial Aeadia • SS Imperial Dartmouth • SS Mangal Desai • SS Manitoulin • SS Mississagi • SS Rochelle Kaye • SS Nordic Blossom • SS Omisaij • SS Reliance • SS Silver Isle • SS Soren Toubro • SS Stella Lykes • SS Theodore Too • SS Topa Topa • fictional vessel: SS Kobayashi Maru |  
|
| Federation | Albatross • SS Stella Lykes • Pelian escort vessel |
|
| Cardassian Union, Central Command | Bok'Nor-class: CDS Bok'Nor | 
|
| Klingon Empire, civilian | Klingon civilian transport ship | 
|
| Vidiian Sodality | Scout-class: Dereth's scout • Pel's scout | 
|
| Coalition of Madena, Atlec | Atlec security vessel: Debin's security vessel | 
|
| Sheliak Corporate | Sheliak colony ship |
|
External link[]
- Merchantman article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.