USS Vengeance The USS " Vengeance " was a 23rd century Federation starship operated in secret by Section 31 . Unlike other ships operated by the Federation or Starfleet , the vessel was created specifically for combat and was completely unmarked with no registry number or nomenclature visible on the hull . The ship was launched in 2259 from the Io Facility , a spacedock in orbit of the Jovian moon Io . The ship ' s commanding officer was Admiral . Service history . The USS " Vengeance " was designed by and Section 31 for the purpose of preparing the Federation for what was deemed an inevitable war against the Klingon Empire and its other rivals . The vessel was built at a secret spacedock near Jupiter . Despite the secrecy of the starship ' s construction , a small model of the " Vengeance " was openly displayed by Admiral in his office at Starfleet Headquarters alongside other notable vessels from Starfleet history , including the and the . Believing that Marcus had murdered his entire crew whom Marcus was holding as hostages to compel Khan ' s servitude , Khan betrayed Marcus and Section 31 by providing the coordinates of the " Vengeance " after surrendering to Captain on Qo ' noS during which he saved the lives of Kirk , , and . Kirk then sent to investigate , who piloted a shuttlecraft into the spacedock facility where the " Vengeance " was moored . Following the arrival of Kirk and Khan aboard the , the " Vengeance " appeared in Klingon space and intercepted the starship . Admiral Marcus , in command of the " Vengeance " , demanded that Kirk hand Khan over to him . Instead , Kirk ordered the " Enterprise " to warp to Earth so that Khan could stand trial as a war criminal and expose his secret alliance with the admiral . Utilizing its advanced propulsion capabilities , the " Vengeance " caught up to the " Enterprise " while at warp and fired upon it , crippling it near Luna . Just as Marcus prepared to destroy the " Enterprise " , Scott , who had stowed away aboard the ship , was able to temporarily sabotage the " Vengeance " s weaponry . Kirk and Khan then donned thruster suit s and space jump ed through a debris field in an attempt to commandeer the " Vengeance " , during which Khan saved Kirk ' s life for the second time . Following their arrival on the bridge , Scott attempted to stun Khan on Kirk ' s orders . Khan retaliated and killed Admiral Marcus and seized command of the ship for himself , taking Kirk and his crew hostage . Acting Captain allowed Khan to transport seventy - two advanced long - range torpedo es apparently containing Khan ' s fellow Augment s to the " Vengeance " , in a negotiated exchange for the " Enterprise " s safety and the return of Kirk , Scott , and Carol Marcus . Khan returned the three hostages to the " Enterprise " but resumed firing on the ship as soon as they were transported aboard . Having anticipated Khan ' s betrayal , Spock ordered Doctor to remove the cryotubes from the torpedoes and triggered the torpedoes within the " Vengeance " s cargo bay . The " Vengeance " was crippled and Khan was further enraged , believing his crew had been killed in the detonation . As the heavily damaged " Enterprise " was pulled into Earth ' s gravity , a vengeful Khan piloted his ship into the atmosphere , setting course for San Francisco and Starfleet Headquarters . Narrowly missing the " Enterprise " , the " Vengeance " crashed on the surface , obliterating landmarks such as the Alcatraz Penitentiary . Continuing on into San Francisco Bay , the " Vengeance " briefly regained altitude , then smashed into Fisherman ' s Wharf and Telegraph Hill . The impact of the ship into the city broke the primary hull from the secondary hull and momentum carried the wrecked primary hull to a point short of the Transamerica Pyramid . Through a hull breach in the main bridge , Khan leaped from the " Vengeance " and led a pursuit through the streets of San Francisco , where he was ultimately apprehended by Spock and Uhura . Nearly a year later , Starfleet held a memorial service for the lives lost due to Khan ' s violent acts , including those killed when the " Vengeance " crashed . At this memorial , Kirk spoke out against what the ship represented and reminded the assembled audience that Starfleet had risked becoming as warlike as its enemies . ( ) Crew . See also : Unnamed USS " Vengeance " personnel Technical data . The " Vengeance " was specifically designed to be a combat vessel and was larger , faster , and more heavily armed ( with more advanced weaponry than other Federation ships of the same time period ) . According to Khan , " Vengeance " had " twice the size . . . three times the speed " , and its warp drive was much more advanced in comparison to other Starfleet ships due to the " Dreadnought " - class having been built as a battle cruiser . This was proven by the " Vengeance " easily catching up to the " Enterprise " within mere minutes of the " Enterprise " leaving Qo ' nos . The " Vengeance " had been built to allow for a minimal crew and was largely automated . It was designed to be controlled by a single person if necessary . Its advanced phaser s could be fired while the ship was at warp . The ship was also equipped with additional technologically - advanced features , including better shielding , more advanced transporters , and enhanced warp capabilities . ( ) Weaponry . The weapons systems of the " Vengeance " included an array of advanced phasers and two massive swivel - mounted torpedo launcher s that could be deployed from beneath the saucer section . " Vengeance " could also launch drones which were , in turn , capable of launching several photon torpedo es before reaching and deliberately ramming their respective target ( s ) . ( ) The " Vengeance ' s " phaser armament was extremely powerful – a focused barrage could penetrate the defensive shields of a standard starship ( even at warp velocities ) , breach the hull and damage critical systems , and thereby force the other ship from warp back into normal space . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The " Vengeance " is referred to by name only once on - screen ( by an unidentified crewmember over radio transmission as its crew shuttles prepared to enter the Io drydock facility ) . Even the displays aboard the " Enterprise " referred to the " Vengeance " only as " unidentified vessel " and did not specify it as a Starfleet or Federation ship of any type . Analysis of a current San Francisco map suggests the final resting place of the " Vengeance " s hull to be Jackson Square . For people unfamiliar with San Francisco geography , this implies the " Vengeance " came to rest several blocks short of Starfleet Headquarters – Khan ' s intended target . After the design of USS " Vengeance " was conceptualized , the writers of " Into Darkness " conceived of various ways the ship could be used by themselves imagining Admiral Marcus ' devious plan ( i . e . , strategizing as Admiral Marcus would ) . ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 75 ) Developing effective illumination for " Vengeance " was tasked to Industrial Light & Magic . " " The tricky thing about the black ship was , of course , lighting it against the background of space . " " noted ILM Senior Visual Effects Supervisor , Roger Guyett . ILM ' s development team performed turntable studies of the " Vengeance " , experimenting with lighting effects which enabled the mostly black object to be sufficiently viewable against interstellar darkness . " Vengeance " was illuminated by subtle backlit effects generated from nearby luminous gas clouds , as well as , application of rim lighting ( to clearly define edges ) and specular values ( to highlight minute surface details on the ship ' s dark hull ) . ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , pp . 75 & 84 ) QMx FX Cinema Arts ( the prop and model shop of Quantum Mechanix ) was asked to illustrate " Star Trek " s " history " of space flight by creating a series of physical representations . QMx constructed fourteen disparate props , some of which were featured as " hobby " models in Admiral Marcus ' office . Roberto Orci opined that having a desktop model of the " Vengeance " in the film was a mistake ( i . e . , " spoiler " ) and would not have been permitted if he had been present on set that day . Orci suggested " " . . . one could argue that a pre - existing design was recommissioned and altered to be a weapon of war " " , at least partially justifying how the " Vengeance " could have been built right under Starfleet ' s collective " nose " without serious outcry . Replicas and toys . Quantum Mechanix has announced plans to retail twelve and thirty - six inch long replicas of the ship in " Collector ' s Scale " and " Artisan " editions . Mattel released scaled Hot Wheels six - inch replicas of the USS " Vengeance " to retail in May . They were also included as premiums with retailer exclusive sets of the " Into Darkness " Blu - ray and Blu - ray 3D in September 2013 . A smaller three - inch version was also released in 2014 . Hasbro released a Kre - O toy version of the ship and Hallmark released a USS " Vengeance " Christmas ornament in 2014 . " " also released a replica as a " special issue " in 2014 . Apocrypha . According to apocryphal sources , two 23rd century starships in the prime universe have also been named USS " Vengeance " . The first was a , mentioned in the FASA sourcebook " Federation Ship Recognition Manual " ( p . 13 ) . The second was a refit , one of several Federation starships defending the Sol system in the video game " " . The virtual collectible card battle game " " has the USS " Vengeance " as card # 109 . The " Vengeance " was added to the video game " Star Trek Online " as part of the " Agents of Yesterday " expansion . In the game , it goes by the title of " Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser " with the in - story explanation that scientists had discovered the Kelvin Timeline and opted to make these ships based off of those from this universe as their technology was similar to those of the Kelvin Timeline , despite a 150 year gap . According to the non - canon " Top Secret Security Review - 31 Command " , the " Vengeance " was a key outcome of the " Praxxis Project " . Agent John Harrison ( Khan ) was retasked to the Io Facility to conclude testing on the ship . Once at the facility , Harrison compromised the project by not providing the final status report to Admiral Marcus and thus abandoning Khan ' s original assignment . If Marcus had received the report , the admiral would have likely dispatched the " Vengeance " to defend the Federation colony on Ganalda IV , which was threatened by a Klingon fleet .