USS Excelsior The USS " Excelsior " ( NX - 2000 , later NCC - 2000 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . " Excelsior " was the prototype of her class . History . Trial runs . Dubbed " The Great Experiment , " the " Excelsior " was conceived during the early 2280s as the first Starfleet vessel equipped with transwarp drive . An awe - inspiring concept to some , traditional engineer s were more skeptical , as in the case of Montgomery Scott , who expressed his doubt in transwarp technology with the analogy , " " and if my grandmother had wheels , she ' d be a wagon . " " ( ) Designed under radically new principles of propulsion , the " Excelsior " had the potential for becoming the fastest starship in the entire Federation , as at that time , the Starfleet record for faster - than - light travel was warp factor 14 . 1 , set by the in 2269 . ( ) By 2285 , the " Excelsior " was under the command of Captain Styles , and had taken a berth in Earth Spacedock as she was prepared for trial runs . The " Excelsior " was days away from her first full field test of the transwarp drive , when she was unexpectedly called for duty . The crew of the USS " Enterprise " , attempting to rejoin Captain Spock ' s " katra " with his regenerated body , hijacked the " Enterprise " for an illegal journey to the . Captain Styles , confident in his new " incredible machine , " was ordered to pursue as the " Enterprise " entered warp , fleeing the system . However , Captain Montgomery Scott , assigned as captain of engineering aboard the " Excelsior " , had sabotage d the ship ' s transwarp computer , leaving the " Excelsior " dead in space . Proud of his accomplishment , Scott explained that " " the more they over - think the plumbing , the easier it is to stop up the drain . " " ( ) Following this embarrassing failure , the " Excelsior " essentially spent the next two years in spacedock . In 2286 she was briefly ordered to be launched during an apparent attack by an alien probe , but the " Excelsior " , as well as the spacedock , lost all internal power and was left stranded in her bay . ( ) After the " Enterprise " was destroyed at the Genesis Planet , Hikaru Sulu believed he and his " Enterprise " shipmates would be assigned to the " Excelsior " before learning their next assignment was the . At the time , Montgomery Scott believed the " Excelsior " to be nothing more than a " bucket of bolts . " ( ) The " Excelsior " remained in spacedock until at least 2287 , before subsequently being recommissioned for active service by the end of the decade . ( ; ) Prior to her recommissioning , the " Excelsior " was refit ted with a new bridge module , which also included a significant modification to the aft portion of the saucer section , surrounding the impulse drive , and a modification to the cargo bay on the aft ventral portion of the ship . ( ) Three - year mission . By 2290 , the " Excelsior " was under the command of now - Captain Hikaru Sulu . His first assignment was a three - year mission , cataloging gas eous planet ary anomalies in the Beta Quadrant . ( ) In 2293 , as the " Excelsior " was returning to Federation space following the successful conclusion of her mission , she was struck by a powerful subspace shock wave caused by the destruction of the Klingon moon , Praxis . Upon discovering the cause of the disaster , Sulu immediately contacted the Klingon High Command to offer his ship ' s assistance . The Klingon s , however , turned the offer down , requesting that Sulu obey treaty stipulations and remain outside the Neutral Zone . Thereafter , Sulu reported the incident to Starfleet Command . ( ) Following the arrest of James T . Kirk and Leonard McCoy on charges of assassinating Klingon chancellor Gorkon , Captain Sulu ordered an aborted raid into Klingon territory from Sector 21185 on an ill - advised rescue attempt . ( ; ) Sulu , who attempted to sneak the " Excelsior " into Klingon territory by traversing the Azure Nebula at maximum warp , was discovered by a Klingon battle cruiser commanded by Kang . While Sulu explained that the " Excelsior " was on a survey mission , studying the nebula , and had gotten lost due to a malfunction in the navigation system , Kang offered to escort the " Excelsior " back to Federation space . As the " Excelsior " emerged , she fired a modulated positron beam that triggered a thermochemical reaction , and successfully disabled Kang ' s ship . The " Excelsior " then made a break for Qo ' noS , but was almost immediately intercepted by three Klingon battle cruisers . The " Excelsior " and Klingon ships continued to exchange fire until the " Excelsior " was forced to retreat back to Federation space . ( ) The " Excelsior " was viewed as a potential participant in Operation Retrieve and would have worked alongside the and the . According to the plans , the " Excelsior " would have provided protection along the " Potemkin " s starboard flank as the latter ship retrieved the two Starfleet officers . ( ) Shortly thereafter , the " Excelsior " joined the " Enterprise " - A at Khitomer where the two ships battled Chang ' s Bird - of - Prey . Due to the ship ' s cloaking technology , the two Federation starships were at a disadvantage until a modified torpedo from the " Enterprise " - A took out the bridge . The " Excelsior " and the " Enterprise " - A were then able to destroy the Bird - of - Prey with a combined attack . The " Excelsior ' s " crew aided the " Enterprise " - A crew in preventing the assassination of the Federation President at the Khitomer Conference . ( ; ) Command crew . See also : USS " Excelsior " personnel Appendices . Background information . The USS " Excelsior " was first mentioned in the script of , in which Kirk stated that Sulu was going to have command of the " Excelsior " by the end of the month . Apparently , Sulu ' s presence aboard the " Enterprise " at that time was solely as a courtesy to Kirk . The " Excelsior " was featured in story outline " Star Trek III : Return to Genesis " ( which served as the conceptual starting point for " Star Trek III : The Search for Spock " and was dated ) . However , in the first draft script of " The Search for Spock " ( dated ) , the ship was instead named USS " Valiant " . The USS " Excelsior " was designed for the production of " Star Trek III " , after the review of several prototype studio model ideas . Built by ILM , this highly detailed studio model was reused for many guest appearances until 1994 when it was refurbished to become the and later the . After that , a half - scale recreation was built for " Flashback " , with minor differences – even though it was supposedly the same ship as seen earlier . For example , " Flashback " features the only appearances of the ship ' s warp nacelle s glowing , although the episode also incorporated footage from " Star Trek VI " in which the nacelle sides did not glow . The model is now part of ScienceFictionArchives . com collections . The ship ' s computer voice was supplied by " Star Trek " star Leonard Nimoy , who was credited as " Frank Force " . The " Excelsior " s motto , as seen on the ship ' s dedication plaque , was " " No matter where you go , there you are , " " a quotation taken from " Buckaroo Banzai " . In the German dubbing of " Star Trek III " Uhura ' s line " " Would you look at that ! " " was changed to ( re - translated ) " " Look at that : Thorndyke ' s idea ! " " This could provide insight into who was material to the creation of the ship . Done for lip - syncing purposes , common practice when dubbing episodes and movies , the name " Thorndyke " was introduced solely for this purpose and does not refer to any canonical figure in the " Star Trek " universe . The " Excelsior " was originally to have been included in the film , being saved ( along with some El - Aurian refugees ) by the crew of the " Enterprise " ( including Uhura ) . However , in that case , the " Excelsior " was ultimately replaced with the " Enterprise " - B . ( " " , p . 315 ) According to the , the " Excelsior " was either launched in 2284 or in 2285 . According to " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , a USS " Excelsior " ( NCC - 1729 ) was to be among the ships sent to the destruction of Vulcan . It was to be a darker - colored version of the . According to the " Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual " , there was also a USS " Excelsior " in service in the mid - 23rd century , with the registry NCC - 1718 . Apocrypha . In the Pocket TOS novelizations of " " and " " by Vonda N . McIntyre , it was stated that Sulu helped design the ship , and was originally slated to be her captain at the time of the " minor training cruise " in . It was further explained in the novelization for " Star Trek III " ' that the arrogant Captain Styles was placed in temporary command by Fleet Admiral Morrow as part of an effort to sequester those with direct knowledge of Genesis and Starfleet ' s unwillingness to delay trial runs until the controversy subsided , due to the considerable investment in the ship ' s development . In the novel " Forged in Fire " , Sulu became captain of the " Excelsior " in 2289 , after Captain Styles was murdered by the Albino . The " " novel " The Sundered " was set aboard " Excelsior " in 2298 with Chekov as first officer , Christine Chapel as chief medical officer , Leonard James Akaar as security chief , Janice Rand as communications officer , and Tuvok as science officer . In the later " Lost Era " novel " One Constant Star " , the " Excelsior " was destroyed in 2308 after passing through a temporal rift ; Captain Sulu and his surviving crew are rescued eleven years later by the , commanded by Sulu ' s daughter Demora . When DC Comics created the first set of comics for " Star Trek " , because they were being released in between and , the crew of the " Enterprise " ends up taking control of the " Excelsior " after the events of " The Mirror Universe Saga " until " Choices ! " , when the crew switches over to the .