Narada The Narada was a Romulan mining vessel that was in service in the late 24th century . In 2387 , the " Narada " was commanded by Nero ; his second - in - command was Ayel . It was transported back in time to 2233 through a black hole after the destruction of Romulus , where it created the alternate reality by destroying the . History . Following the destruction of Romulus by a supernova in 2387 , Nero took the " Narada " to intercept Ambassador Spock , who was attempting to create an artificial black hole which would consume the star before it destroyed more worlds . Both the " Narada " and Spock ' s ship , the " " , went missing after they were pulled into the black hole . The " Narada " emerged from the black hole , 75 , 000 kilometer s from the edge of Klingon space , in the year 2233 , creating the alternate reality . There , the " Narada " encountered and attacked the , easily overpowering the much smaller Federation starship . During the attack the " Kelvin " ' s commanding officer , Captain Richard Robau , was killed . Lieutenant Commander took command . With his ship heavily damaged and facing imminent annihilation by the " Narada " , Kirk gave the order to abandon ship . To save the lives of those evacuating in shuttle s , Kirk rammed the " Kelvin " into the " Narada " . Although the " Narada " sustained enough damage to ensure the safety of the " Kelvin " evacuees , the " Narada " was still operational . Twenty five years later , the " Narada " was involved in an attack on a Klingon prison planet and the destruction of 47 Klingon Warbird s . Shortly thereafter , the " Jellyfish " , with Spock aboard , emerged from the black hole and was immediately captured by the " Narada " . The " Narada " then left for and drilled a hole into the planet , all the way to its core . When the Federation sent a small fleet to Vulcan to investigate the seismic disturbance , the " Narada " destroyed them shortly before the arrived . The crew of the " Enterprise " successfully stopped the drill , but were unable to stop Nero from injecting red matter , taken from the " Jellyfish " , into the core of the planet , creating a black hole which quickly consumed Vulcan . Following Vulcan ' s destruction , Nero interrogated the captured Pike using Centaurian slug s , forcing the helpless captain to reveal Earth ' s planetary defense codes . Nero took the " Narada " to Earth and began drilling into that planet . However , the drilling rig was destroyed by that era ' s using the " Jellyfish " , which he confiscated from the " Narada " . After drawing the " Narada " away from Earth , Spock rammed the " Jellyfish " into the " Narada " . The remaining red matter that was aboard the " Jellyfish " was ignited , creating a massive black hole which slowly began to crush the ship . Kirk offered to assist the crew of the " Narada " , but Nero refused . Kirk then had the " Enterprise " fire upon the " Narada " to ensure its destruction until the ship was pulled apart and ultimately devoured by the black hole . ( ) Technical data . Weapons . Despite being only a mining vessel in its own time , the " Narada " possessed weaponry far more advanced than that of any ships it encountered in the 23rd century . The primary weapons seemed to be highly destructive missile s , each of which could break into several component projectiles . These projectiles were powerful enough to penetrate the standard shield ing which starships of the time utilized . The " Narada " housed at least enough of these weapons to easily destroy entire fleets of ships ; more than fifty vessels were destroyed over twenty - five years . As a mining vessel , the " Narada " also had an immense drilling apparatus , which was a platform at the end of a lengthy metal line seemingly hundreds of kilometers long . The drill emitted a powerful beam that could penetrate a planet ' s surface and continue all the way to its core . The high energy output from the beam itself also acted as a disruptor of sorts , causing localized interference in communications and transporter signals . With the " Jellyfish " in its possession , the " Narada " could also deploy bombs loaded with incredibly destructive red matter . Appendices . Background information . The " Narada " was designed by James Clyne . Production designer Scott Chambliss wanted the ship to be assymetrical , in contrast to the " perfect symmetry " of the " Enterprise " . Chambliss contemplated " the scariest thing in space " and looked to a kitchen knife , imagining " 500 " gigantic " knife - edge points " . " That ' s how the Romulan ship developed , with a kitchen knife and the twisted imagination of James Clyne , " he said . During development , the ship was referred to as " Hanson ' s Ranch " to keep its name secret . ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film ) " J . J . Abrams wanted the ship ' s interiors to feel mysterious by having them be " amorphous , to have a sense of no corners , ceilings or floors " . To minimize the size of the set , Chambliss called on his experience in theater to build a set where parts could be moved around to create another section of the ship each day . Cinematographer Dan Mindel used " abrasive " yellow - green lighting to suggest the angry and fragmented mindset of the Romulan crew . Visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett complemented the feel by underlighting the digital shots " in classic horror movie style " , based on a lighting test " that went wrong , but I actually liked the look " of . ILM model supervisor Bruce Holcomb stated the " Narada " was six miles ( ten kilometers ) long , while " Post " Magazine mentions it is five miles ( eight kilometers ) long . The film ' s Blu - ray gives a final estimate of the ship ' s length at 30 , 737 . 3 feet ( 9 , 368 . 7 meters ) . Regardless , the ship was one of the largest digital models ever built by the company : according to Roger Guyett , the detail required near 1 : 1 scale . Apocrypha . In the " Star Trek " prequel comic book miniseries " " , the " Narada " s advanced weaponry and appearance are explained as being the result of the ship being retrofitted with salvaged and reverse - engineered Borg technology . The Tal Shiar in the 24th century had been experimenting with Borg technology , and Nero ' s ship was the experimental vessel used . The " Narada " was retrofitted at , a cloaked military installation in deep space , subsequent to the destruction of Romulus . The Borg nanoprobe s allowed the ship to grow and repair itself , and also take on a much larger and more menacing appearance . The ship ' s speed was increased from Warp 9 . 8 to " . . . immeasurable transwarp speeds . " This information also appeared on the Blu - ray release of the film in the supplement section " Starships . " The Borg connection paid off in the sequel to " Countdown " , " " . After Nero escapes from Rura Penthe – the " Klingon prison planet " – the " Narada " takes him to " V ' Ger " , which Nero uses to calculate where Spock will arrive . In " " s " Mirrored , Part 1 " , set in the alternate reality ' s mirror universe , Kirk - Spock ' s first officer - commandeers the " Narada " from Nero following the Terran Empire ' s conquest of the Klingon Empire . He attacks and destroys the " Enterprise " , and sets course for Vulcan . However , after recovering Spock Prime , he is outmaneouvred by Spock Prime , Uhura , and Spock - Uhura having saved Spock ' s life before the destruction of the " Enterprise " - and is killed before he can destroy Vulcan , with the two Spocks remaining on Vulcan to rebuild while Uhura takes command of the " Narada " . The " Narada " s connection to the Borg is confirmed in the " " series - set before the completion of the " Enterprise " - A - when the Federation is attacked by a Borg sphere seeking answers about the temporary presence of a fragment of the Collective in this galaxy , but their primitive technology at this time allows the Federation and the Romulans to destroy the sphere and save those who have been assimilated . In " Star Trek Online " , while the " Narada " itself doesn ' t appear , it ' s revealed that after her dissapearance , the Tal Shiar continued their experiments with Borg technology . This results in " Mogai " - class and ships being retrofitted in similar ways and looking almost identical to the " Narada " . The virtual collectible card battle game " " has the " Narada " as card # 107 .