U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D

U.S.S. Enterprise

A Galaxy class extended-duration starship and the flagship of Starfleet, the Enterprise was commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The Enterprise was commissioned on Stardate 40759.5, more than a decade after the first two spaceframe components, the Deck 10 computer core elliptical compression member and the starboard main longitudinal compression bulkhead, were gamma-welded during a brief ceremony on June 3, 2350, at the Utopia Planitia assembly site, in synchronous orbit 16,625km above the surface of Mars.

U.S.S. Enterprise bridge

In 2358, an ejectable bridge module was docked to the Enterprise. A minimum flight test program crew completed preliminary training aboard ship, and the Enterprise was launched from its dock on maneuvering thrusters. The flight test crew continues developmental shakedown trials in Mars space through 2359, when the Enterprise was at last declared deep-spaceworthy and warp-capable. By 2360, the Enterprise had achieved warp flight in the outer Sol system. An operational bridge module was docked, and in 2363, the Enterprise was officially commissioned in a ceremony at Utopia Planitia. The U.S.S. Galaxy NCC-70637 and the U.S.S. Yamato NCC-71807, the first two Galaxy class starships completed, sent congratulatory messages via Subspace radio.

With a total of 42 decks, the Enterprise was twice the length and had eight times the interior space of the Constitution class ships of the previous century, and carried a combined crew and passenger load of more than one thousand. When the Enterprise left the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, approximately 35% of the ship's internal volume had not yet been filled with room modules, and remained as an empty spaceframe for future expansion and mission-specific applications.

Defensive systems included 11 Type X phaser arrays, 250 photon torpedoes, and a high capacity shield grid; there were some 4,000 power systems in all aboard the ship. Full acceleration time from reverse, sub-light impulse through nominal top warp speed, warp 9, was 0.03 milliseconds. The ship achieved a maximum speed of warp 9.5 when pursued by Q; at warp 9.3 its engines had passed the red line.

An average day aboard ship, according to Lieutenant Commander Data, included four birthdays, two personnel transfers, two chess tournaments, a secondary school play, four promotions, the celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights—and a birth and wedding.

During the Borg incursion of 2366, Decks 23-25 were sliced open by the enemy during the final battle over Earth, requiring a refit at Earth Station McKinley which lasted about 6 weeks. It was far less damage than the kamikaze warp-driven collision acting-Captain William Riker had readied as a last recourse, however. During that refit, the starship received a phaser upgrade as well as damage repair and a new dilithium chamber articulation frame.

U.S.S. Enterprise saucer crashed

The ship off-loaded the original three Danube class Runabouts and several officers at Deep Space 9 following the Cardassian withdrawl from Bajor. The Enterprise was destroyed in 2371, after an attack by renegade Klingons breached the warp core; although the saucer section separated before the breach, the force of the explosion caused it to crash on Veridian III. Fortunately, losses were minimal, though the ship itself was beyond repair.