- For other uses, see Ranger.
The USS Ranger was a Nebula-class Federation starship in Starfleet service in the 2360s. (ST reference: Ships of the Line)
In 2361, while Ranger was under the command of Captain Yuri Danilov, Ranger security officer Zak Kebron prevented the assassination of Iban Prime Minister Niad while undercover as a park statue. (NF short story: "Waiting For G'Doh")
After completing a scientific mission the Ranger offloaded her scientific equipment before heading home. En route Lieutenant Alec persuaded the Captain to let him convert the ship's then empty mission module into a zero-gee soccer field. A team of scientists from Glasgow University dominated the week long series of games that followed. During the games, Doctor Wilkie fractured his ankle in a 3-0 win over Engineering. (ST reference: Ships of the Line)
In 2369, the Ranger met with the USS Saskatoon and took on a passenger named Ansue Hashley, who was suspected by the Romulans for complicity in a biological warfare plot targeting their royal family. Later, Ranger was traveling in the company of USS Griffith and was set upon by Romulan vessels near the Crystal Ball Nebula. The Romulans boarded the Ranger and Hashley was kidnapped. (TNG - Double Helix novel: Red Sector)
By 2381, the Ranger was under the command of Peter Pachal with first officer Jennifer Nero. During the Borg invasion of that same year, the vessel was defending the planet Khitomer, along with the USS Constant and USS Arimathea. Although the USS Enterprise-E signaled of an incoming Borg cube, the fleet of three vessels had little chance of defending the Klingon planet. However, the Ranger had been equipped with a molecular phase inverter which Pachal had prepared as a weapon to phase out of normal spacetime and pass through the Borg's shields before phasing back and self-detonating their entire loadout of quantum torpedoes. Although the Andorian helmsman th'Fairoh opposed the direct order of first officer Nero, tactical chief Ankiel stunned the thaan. Chief Engineer Braden armed the MPI, operations chief Christine Schultheiss readied the trigger, and Nero engaged the weapon that destroyed the vessel and the Borg with it. (ST - Destiny novel: Gods of Night)
- A Ships of the Line calendar featured a Nebula-class ship identified as the Ranger in the Ships of the Line book. However the image of the ship features contradictory markings, for both the registration NCC-70915 (which is the USS Bonchune from "Message in a Bottle") and the name and registration "USS Honshu NCC-60205" from "Waltz". The starships Ranger are most likely named after the eight US Navy ships named USS Ranger, the most recent of which stood in the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) during filming of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.