Attack on the USS Kelvin On stardate 2233 . 04 in the alternate reality , the Federation starship was attacked by the Romulan mining vessel " Narada " , 75 , 000 kilometer s from the Federation - Klingon border . This was one of the first incidents in the alternate reality , a parallel universe created by the " Narada " s arrival from the future having caused a split from the space - time continuum of the prime universe . Prelude . Upon investigating an anomaly resembling a lightning storm effect in space , the " Kelvin " s crew initially considered whether this phenomenon was of Klingon origin , although that theory was later dismissed . The time of the encounter also marked entering premature labor with her and . The battle . When the " Narada " emerged from the anomaly and discovered the " Kelvin " , it quickly charged its weapons . In response , the " Kelvin " went to red alert and began fighting off torpedo es launched from the Romulan vessel . The first hit took out the warp drive and reduced main power to thirty - eight percent . The second torpedo disabled the " Kelvin " s atmospheric stabilization and collapsed its shields . The " Kelvin " was easily overcome , with several crew members killed , but the attack was halted by Nero ' s first officer , Ayel , who requested that Captain Robau come aboard Nero ' s vessel to discuss terms of a cease fire . Robau obliged the request and transferred to the " Narada " via shuttlecraft , leaving George Kirk in command . Robau ' s final orders to Kirk were to evacuate the ship using all available shuttlecraft , and to use the autopilot to set the " Kelvin " on a collision course with the " Narada " . During the meeting on the " Narada " , Robau was killed by Nero . Tracking Robau ' s life sign s , the " Kelvin " crew became aware of Robau ' s execution instantly . George Kirk immediately ordered evasive action and the firing of all weapons , and the " Kelvin " continued taking fire from the " Narada " . Knowing that the " Kelvin " would be no match for the onslaught of missiles from the Romulan ship , Kirk ordered General Order 13 : the evacuation of the ship . Once all shuttlecraft had been launched , Kirk used the " Kelvin " to cover their escape . With no other options left , he plotted a collision course , intending to use the ship ' s autopilot to ram the " Narada " . Kirk was , however , forced to remain on the " Kelvin " , rather than join his wife aboard medical shuttle 37 , when it was discovered that the " Narada " had destroyed the " Kelvin " s autopilot function , leaving him to pilot the ship manually . As he did so , Kirk used what weapons still functioned to shoot down the " Narada ' s " missiles before they could strike the fleeing shuttles . Kirk then piloted the ship until it rammed into the " Narada " , severely damaging it and destroying the " Kelvin " . Aftermath . George Kirk ' s sacrifice ensured the survival of the escaping shuttles . Furthermore , while Kirk only served as captain of the " Kelvin " for a mere twelve minutes , his sacrifice saved the lives of some eight hundred people , including those of his wife and newborn son . After the " Kelvin " s destruction , wrote a dissertation on the " Kelvin " and the actions of George Kirk , its commanding officer at the time of its destruction . Pike later made reference to this dissertation and his knowledge of George Kirk to Kirk ' s son , daring him to do better than his father and enlist in Starfleet . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to Roberto Orci , the telemetry data which the " Kelvin " recorded of the technologically advanced " Narada " during the battle was probably brought back to Starfleet via the surviving shuttles . Orci additionally implied that Starfleet ' s exposure to this data may explain why its ships and technology appear different in the alternate universe . J . J . Abrams also said , in an interview with MTV , that readings from the " Narada " " inspired ideas and technology that wouldn ' t have advanced otherwise . " As the movie ' s director , Abrams discovered that filming certain portions of the attack on the " Kelvin " required more thorough planning than the majority of the film . ( audio commentary , / Three - disc Blu - ray ) The exterior damage sustained by the " Kelvin " during the battle was intricately planned in a diagram of the starship . ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , p . 25 ) Lighting on the sets used for the " Kelvin " added to the battle sequence . " " It deteriorates very quickly in front of your eyes ! " " noted Director of Photography Dan Mindel , concerning the " Kelvin " during the battle . " " It does feel like it is in distress . " " ( ) Location filming that was involved in depicting the destruction of the " Kelvin " s lower decks took " about a week , " according to Stunt Coordinator Joey Box . He originally scouted the location with J . J . Abrams , Dan Mindel , 1st Assistant Director Tommy Gormley , and several other department heads . " " We prepped for about five days in the environment , and then at the end of the movie , we came back there and picked up some bits and pieces they hadn ' t got , " " said Joey Box . " " I had at least 15 guys there : that was all expediting the evacuation of the ship and showing the destruction of the " Kelvin " from the inside out . " " ( ) Achieving this spectacle of disaster took lots of special effects , such as fire as well as ( in the words of Winona Kirk actress Jennifer Morrison ) " explosions , falling sparks , water pouring out [ and ] things shaking . " These effects normally took two hours to set up . ( ) When creating the effect of a wall rupturing moments before a female officer is pulled through it , the film ' s physical effects supervisor , Burt Dalton , and the special effects department were responsible for representing that ill - fated part of the ship . " " We blew out the side of the set practically , " " said Dalton . Other elements of the same shot were done in CGI , however . ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , p . 54 ) According to J . J . Abrams , the entire " Kelvin " sequence , including the CG footage , was shot " months , if not over a year , apart . " Cutting the sequence together involved much concentration on it ; Roberto Orci has stated that " it felt like , every time I walked into the editing room , " the sequence was being worked on . ( audio commentary , / Three - disc Blu - ray ) In fact , the " Kelvin " sequence was revised considerably during post - production . Wherever J . J . Abrams and his editors did not yet have previsualization footage , they inserted black cards with shot descriptions . Paul Kavanagh and ILM visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett then discussed the battle with Abrams and his editors , giving consideration to the types of shots Abrams might want to include in the conflict . ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , pp . 48 & 51 ) The idea of the " Kelvin " ramming the " Narada " was not visualized until after ILM set to work on the previz . " " In the revised scene , J . J . decided it would be more dramatic if Kirk defended the escaping shuttles by taking the " Kelvin " on a suicide run into the " Narada , " Paul Kavanagh remembered . " " That was not part of the original cut . " " The ship ' s destruction eventually involved computer - generated fireball effects . A physical effects rig was also used on the set for the vessel ' s bridge , making George Kirk appear to be slammed toward the front of the ship from out of the command chair . ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , pp . 48 , 51 & 54 ) Alex Kurtzman once observed that – with the attack on the USS " Kelvin " placed at the start of the film " Star Trek " – the scene retains a sense of initial confusion for the audience , which the writers much desired for the movie ' s beginning . ( ) Apocrypha . While dialogue in the film explicitly states that the " Kelvin " s warp drive was taken out early in the attack , according to the first issue of the " " comic series , George Kirk was somehow able to restore it and activate the drive at the precise moment of impact , consequently disabling the " Narada " .