U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

U.S.S. Enterprise

U.S.S. Enterprise (TOS 61)

Registry	NCC-1701
Class	Constitution
Commissioned	Reference Stardate 1/8802 (February 2245)
Status	Destroyed (2285)
Ad	Amazon

Perhaps the most famous spacecraft in the history of space exploration, the Federation Starship Enterprise, a Constitution class cruiser,^[1] was launched on Reference Stardate 1/8802 (February 2245)^[2]^[3] from the San Francisco Fleet Yards^[4] orbiting Earth. Construction on the Enterprise was authorized by the Starfleet Appropriation of Stardate 0965.^[5] The Enterprise was first commanded by Captain Robert April,^[6]^[7] who was later succeeded by his first officer, Christopher Pike,^[8]^[7] on Reference Stardate 1/9501 (January 2252).^[9] During Pike's command, the Enterprise had a crew complement of 203, though it was unclear if this figure included Pike himself.^[4] According to Ensign Tyler, the ship's power was "enough to blast half a continent."^[4] Superbly equipped for research in deep space, the Enterprise had 14 science labs.^[10] The ship achieved legendary status during the first five-year mission under its third captain, James T. Kirk, from Stardate 1278.4^[11] in 2265 through 2270.^[12]

U.S.S. Enterprise (TOS 10)

The Enterprise was refit several times during its lifetime, most notably from 2270 to 2273, when the ship was virtually rebuilt from the inside out.^[13] On Stardate 7523.2 (April 7, 2270) the Enterprise returned to Earth orbit following her last, historic five-year mission. Although the decision had been made three months earlier to decommission and scrap the Enterprise, the ship had come to be seen as a symbol of Starfleet and the Federation. This public opinion drove a motion in the Federation Council that led to the reversal of Starfleet's plans. The Enterprise, however, was still twenty-five years old; her systems were becoming outdated, and it soon became obvious that only a major refit could keep the ship at the forefront of the fleet, and what began as a simple refit evolved into a redesign of the entire vessel.^[14]

U.S.S. Enterprise (ST02)

Though commanded by Captain Will Decker during the refit, Kirk—who had been promoted to admiral in 2270—took temporary command of the vessel during the V'ger incident of 2273; Decker was lost during the mission,^[13] and Kirk took command of the Enterprise for another five-year mission.^[15]^[16] Eventually, Kirk retired^[17] and the ship became a training vessel at Starfleet Academy under Captain Spock^[18] in 2284.^[19] In 2285, Kirk had returned to duty as commandant of the academy, and took temporary command of the Enterprise while overseeing a cadet cruise when the ship encountered Khan Noonien Singh in the Mutara sector. Spock was killed saving the ship,^[18] but the Enterprise was later destroyed by Admiral Kirk just prior to its anticipated decommissioning, in order to prevent it from falling into Klingon hands during a mission to recover Captain Spock's body.^[20]