USS Defiant ( NCC - 1764 ) The USS " Defiant " ( NCC - 1764 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . It was one of three known Federation starships to bear the name " Defiant " . Built at Tranquility Base , Luna , the " Defiant " was named in honor of the British warship . ( " set decoration " ) Early service . In 2256 , the " Defiant " was assigned to patrol Sector 006 during the . ( ) Final mission and disappearance . In 2268 , the " Defiant " responded to a distress call in the unexplored Tholian sector claimed by the Tholian Assembly . Shortly after entering the region , the " Defiant " ' s crew began experiencing sensory distortion , and insanity quickly spread throughout the ship . The ship ' s chief medical officer was unable to determine what was happening , and eventually the insanity induced by the phenomenon led the crew to kill each other . Three weeks later , Starfleet ordered the to mount a search and rescue mission to locate the " Defiant " . On stardate 5693 . 2 , the " Enterprise " located the " Defiant " , only to find it trapped between universes in a space warp . The " Enterprise " s instruments recorded that space itself was literally breaking up , the result of a previously unknown phenomenon known as a spatial interphase . An " Enterprise " boarding party beamed aboard the " Defiant " and discovered signs of mutiny and insanity – the captain ' s neck was broken and his crew was dead . At that time the " Defiant " was visible in the " prime universe " while in the interphase . Later , as a result of a phaser exchange between the " Enterprise " and the Tholian s , a hole was created through the spatial interphase . The " Defiant " was pushed through the hole to parts unknown and in the process trapping Captain James T . Kirk between universes . Captain Kirk was eventually saved when the " Enterprise " , encased in a Tholian web , entered the interphase and , upon utilizing full power , was thrown clear of the region while Kirk was locked in the transporter beam . ( ) Mirror universe . During the 22nd century , the Tholians of the Mirror universe created an interphasic rift by detonating a tri - cobalt warhead within the gravity well of a dead star , and sent the distress call which lured the " Defiant " from the other side to that universe . Soon after , the Tholians took the " Defiant " to a drydock built into an asteroid - moon in orbit around a gas giant in the Vintaak system and began a salvage operation . This operation was reported to Commander of the through his contacts shortly thereafter . Archer and the ISS " Enterprise " were eventually ordered by Admiral Black to investigate . ( ) Arriving in the system , " Enterprise " was destroyed by a Tholian web shortly after beaming an away team over consisting of Archer , Commander , Commander , Lieutenant , and Sergeant . They were able to escape by restoring the partially - deconstructed " Defiant " s shields and weapons , and destroyed the drydock . At first , the " Defiant " could only reach impulse speeds because a Tholian slavemaster , a Gorn named Slar , had stolen a plasma regulator , one of the key components of the warp engines . After Archer trapped and killed the Gorn , Tucker was able to restore warp drive . The USS " Defiant " then rendezvoused with the remnants of a Terran assault fleet still engaged with rebel forces . Two Andorian battle cruiser s , one Vulcan cruiser , and one Tellarite cruiser were disabling the . The " Defiant " easily destroyed all the rebel ships except one Andorian cruiser , which Archer intentionally allowed to escape . After seeing how Archer had treated the rebel Vulcans , and learning of the existence of the United Federation of Planets in the other universe , T ' Pol and Crewman tried to sabotage the " Defiant " with Doctor ' s help . When Phlox disabled main power , the " Defiant " was left defenseless , and " Avenger " , commandeered by Soval and other non - Terrans , began firing at her . The " Defiant " received heavy damage until Tucker was able to stop Phlox and restore main power . Archer then ordered the destruction of " Avenger " . The " Defiant " s phaser s and photon torpedo es caused heavy damage to " Avenger " , with the second barrage of photon torpedoes breaching " Avenger " s warp reactor , destroying the ship with all hands . The " Defiant " arrived at Earth , now under the command of the self - proclaimed Empress . She ordered Admiral to surrender and stand by for instructions , or she would open fire on Earth . ( ) Due to its potentially incendiary nature , the exact circumstances of the " Defiant " s arrival in the mirror universe ( and the universe it came from ) remained highly classified . ( ) However , information about the " Defiant " and its origin in another universe was stolen by rebels fighting the Terran Empire in the early 23rd century . The data was then stored in a computer core aboard a Klingon vessel which was later destroyed in battle and recovered by the crew of the after they crossed over . ( ) Because the " Defiant " was known to be patrolling sector 006 of Federation space in 2256 , the crew of the " Discovery " correctly theorized that a temporal anomaly may have resulted in the " Defiant " s presence in the mirror universe . Captain Gabriel Lorca learned that information pertaining to the " Defiant " was classified to starship captains and above in the and planned to infiltrate the with Michael Burnham posing as , who was captain of the " Shenzhou " . There they hoped to discover how the " Defiant " crossed over to the mirror universe and then to utilize that method to return to the prime universe without the use of the " Discovery " s spore drive . ( ) Burnham was able to retrieve some information on the " Defiant ' s " crossover from the " Shenzhou " , however the information she had access to was heavily redacted . She was able to get the information back to " Discovery " , where Saru was able to determine from the available data that the " Defiant " had crossed over due to some sort of interphase . Emperor Philippa Georgiou was the only person in the Empire who had access to all the data . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Origins . The USS " Defiant " was originally named the " USS " Scimitar " " in an early draft of the script for " The Tholian Web . " ( " Star Trek Compendium " , et al . ) This had been confirmed previously by Greg Jein , who owned all the script drafts written for " The " " Original Series " . The registry number NCC - 1764 was originally conceived by Jein in his influential " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article , published in the April 1973 issue 27 of the " T - Negative " fanzine . It was subsequently adopted by Bjo Trimble in her " Star Trek Concordance " , FASA ' s " Star Trek : The Role Playing Game " , and ultimately propagated by Michael Okuda ' s in his subsequent reference book writings , most notably the . Jein ' s until - then conjectural ship ' s registry was elevated to canon for the " In a Mirror , Darkly " episodes in 2005 , reaffirmed one year later when the remastered version of the " Original Series " started its release and where Okuda , then visual effects producer for the project , made use of the opportunity to retcon the registry onto the ship in the remastered version of " The Tholian Web . " Studio model . The footage of the " Defiant " in the original airing of " The Tholian Web " episode was stock footage of the original " Enterprise " studio model , adapted in post - production . The CGI model of the " Defiant " used in " Star Trek : Enterprise " was wholly built by Koji Kuramura . Nacelles , lighting and certain textures were " tweaked " by Rob Bonchune . The work was done at Eden FX , with reference help from Doug Drexler . In the final draft script for " In a Mirror , Darkly , " a note read , " " We ' ll suggest the " Defiant " is a slightly newer vessel than Kirk ’ s ship ; the exterior shows slightly more detail . . . intricate hull plating patterns can be visible in reflected light , etc . " " , and Eden ' s model reflected this as such . According to Bonchune , the location of the aft torpedo launcher on the CGI model of the " Defiant " was " " the little round port right between the impulses engines . We tried to make it logical with what existed so we didn ' t have to make a new hole on the ship . Everyone agreed , except that apparently if you frame by frame it , they actually come from the hangar bay phaser mounts . Someone in the chain ether decided against it or didn ' t know . Even one of the writers was surprised it hadn ' t been done as discussed . " " " Star Trek : Enterprise " teleplay writer Mike Sussman noted in his " In a Mirror , Darkly , Part II " audio commentary that the aft phasers and torpedoes that the " Defiant " possessed indicated a variation from its " Constitution " - class sister ship , the USS " Enterprise " , as that ship apparently lacks or at least does not make on - screen usage of those weapons . It should be noted , however , that in the original series episodes , , and , verbal reference to the " Enterprise " s aft phasers can be heard in a stock voice loop . Additionally , reference to starboard banks is made in , as well as the port weapons mentioned in . Ironically , it was not Eden ' s model for the " Defiant " that was used for the 2007 remastered version of the " Original Series " source episode " The Tholian Web , " but rather Petri Blomqvist ' s CBS Digital version . Props . The " Defiant " s mission patch was an insignia similar to the pennant on the sides of TOS starships , and seen as a set decoration on starbases of that era . A stylized version of this shape makes up the 2150s Earth Starfleet insignia . Three " Defiant " insignia badges ; one command , one science and one engineering were sold in the " " auction for US $ 550 ( US $ 660 with premium ) . A busy box shown on the " Defiant " in was sold in week 1 of the " It ' s A Wrap ! " sale and auction for US $ 394 . 99 . Apocrypha . During the events of the " Glass Empires " anthology , the " Defiant " acted as the flagship for the Terran Empire . It would also serve as the prototype for many other " Constitution " - class vessels , as well as newer , more advanced designs . In the " " novellas " Interphase , Book One " and " Interphase , Book Two , " the crew of the USS " da Vinci " rescue the damaged starship " Defiant " from interphase and the Tholians in the year 2376 ; the novellas were written before " In A Mirror , Darkly " was produced . In the DC Comics Special # 2 ( published late ) , the story " Raise the Defiant " tells of the " Enterprise " - A working to recover the " Defiant " from the Tholian rift during the 2280s to recover a classified phase - inverter capable of detecting cloaked vessels . On the DVD , the special features reveal that the USS " Defiant " of the alternate reality caused by Nero ' s arrival in the 23rd century , while maintaining the same registry , is a starship . The virtual collectible card battle game " " has the " Defiant " on card # 91 : " NCC - 1764 USS " Defiant . " " The video game " Star Trek Online " brings in the " Defiant " in the " Agents of Yesterday " mission " Painful Omens . " In it , the " Defiant " is caught up in a two - way battle between the Tholians and the Na ' kuhl before the player character enters the fray . When the Tholian Queen , mad with grief and rage , opts to ram her ship into the Na ' kuhl dreadnought , the " Defiant " is caught up in the two ships ' destruction , trapping them in the spatial interphase . It is later revealed in the mission " Ragnarok " that the Temporal Liberation Front left a message in the " Defiant " s computers to contact Admiral Leeta and make her join their cause against the Galactic Union .