USS Enterprise ( NCC - 1701 - E ) The USS " Enterprise " ( NCC - 1701 - E ) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . This ship was the sixth Federation starship to bear the name " Enterprise " . History . Construction and launch . On stardate 49827 . 5 , the " Enterprise " - E , seen as the pinnacle of Starfleet ship design , was launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards , with Captain Jean - Luc Picard in command once more . Much of the crew of the " Enterprise " - D had been reassigned there , including almost the entire senior staff . The sole exception was Lieutenant Commander Worf , who had already transferred to the space station Deep Space 9 . ( ; ) In service . After almost a year in space , the " Enterprise " was ordered to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone during the second Borg incursion . Starfleet was officially concerned about possible Romulan military action since many of the available ships had been diverted to fight the Borg , but in reality , Starfleet was concerned about Picard ' s presence at the battle . However , shortly after the Federation fleet engaged the Borg cube , Picard disobeyed orders and returned to Earth to assist the fleet . Once there , Picard became aware of a battle - induced weakness in the Borg ship due to his residual link to the Collective , and ordered all the ships in the fleet to concentrate their fire on that section of the ship . As a result , the Borg vessel was destroyed and the Battle of Sector 001 was a victory for Starfleet . Before the Borg cube was destroyed , it launched a second vessel towards Earth . This ship created a temporal vortex and traveled back to the year 2063 in order to stop Zefram Cochrane from launching his historic warp ship , the " Phoenix " . Their hope was to prevent first contact with the Vulcans , and assimilate Earth before the Federation could be formed to resist them . The " Enterprise " , protected from the alterations in the timeline by the vortex , chased the Borg into the past and destroyed their ship , then sent an away team to help Cochrane repair the " Phoenix " . However , the ship ' s sensor s and shields were damaged during the trip through the vortex , and unbeknownst to the crew , several Borg drone s transported aboard the " Enterprise " before their ship exploded . They began to assimilate the ship ' s engineering section below Deck 10 . They also attempted to build an interplexing beacon on the " Enterprise " deflector dish to contact the Borg Collective of that time period . A three - man team led by Captain Picard stopped the beacon from being completed by separating the deflector from the ship by disengaging the magnetic locks and then destroying it . However , the Borg ' s ability to adapt to the handheld weapons of the " Enterprise " crew made stopping them impossible , and Picard realized that the fight was a lost cause . After great consideration , he reluctantly ordered the evacuation of the ship , and activated the ship ' s auto - destruct sequence to prevent the Borg from interfering with the " Phoenix " flight . He eventually confronted a Borg Queen in main engineering , only to find , to his horror , that the Borg had apparently turned Lieutenant Commander Data to their side . He aborted the auto - destruct and fired three quantum torpedo es at the " Phoenix " , ostensibly intending to destroy it . However , the torpedoes completely missed their target , and Data revealed that he had in fact simply been deceiving the Borg . After mockingly repeating the Borg mantra , Data smashed open a plasma coolant tank , flooding engineering with plasma coolant and liquifying the Borg Queen and all the drones in engineering . This apparently disabled all the other drones on the ship , and allowed Data and Picard to recapture the vessel . The " Enterprise " crew was successful in helping Cochrane make his flight and instigate First Contact with Vulcan s . The ship then returned to 2373 where she was repaired and returned to service . ( ) With the Federation Diplomatic Corps attempting to negotiate an end to the Dominion War , the " Enterprise " was relegated to a diplomatic role , much to the dissatisfaction of Captain Picard . In 2375 , the " Enterprise " was conducting a diplomatic mission with the Evora , a new Federation protectorate species , and was scheduled to resolve a dispute in the Goren system when her crew became embroiled in a plot by the Son ' a , assisted by Starfleet Admiral Matthew Dougherty , to forcibly remove the Ba ' ku from their isolated homeworld in the Briar Patch . The Son ' a turned out to be vengeful former Ba ' ku who had been exiled from the planet after a failed " coup " a century prior . They planned to harvest metaphasic radiation from the planet ' s ring system , and needed Starfleet ' s cooperation to carry out the plan . Captain Picard felt the relocation of the Ba ' ku was a severe violation of the Prime Directive and resigned his commission , leading a team of " Enterprise " crewmembers to the Ba ' ku planet to prevent their capture and removal . Commander William T . Riker was instructed to take the " Enterprise " and contact the Federation Council to alert them of Admiral Dougherty ' s treachery . However , the " Enterprise " was required to navigate an area of space known as the Briar Patch in order to contact Starfleet Command . This area disrupted communications as well as the ship ' s impulse drive . Two Son ' a battle cruiser s were sent by Ahdar Ru ' afo to intercept the " Enterprise " before she left the Briar Patch , and severely damaged the ship in the process . The warp core was ejected in order to seal a dangerous tear in subspace created by the isolytic weaponry of the Son ' a . Riker was able to outwit the Son ' a by collecting metreon gas native to the Briar Patch then venting it behind the ship . When the Son ' a used their weapons , the gas exploded , destroying one ship and severely damaging the other . Geordi La Forge half - jokingly commented that the tactic could become known as the Riker Maneuver . ( ) The " Enterprise " visited Earth for several days in 2376 , around the time the Pathfinder Project made contact with the , and conducted a mission about seven light year s from Earth the following year . According to Deanna Troi , it was an important mission , but the objective was never discussed . ( ) Sometime between 2375 and 2379 the " Enterprise " underwent a major refit . Four additional aft - facing photon torpedo tubes were added , along with one more forward - facing tube : a twin launcher aft of the bridge , a single launcher above the aft hangar deck , and a single launcher at the forward base of the bridge terracing . The bridge was refitted with handrails and the consoles were improved across the port and starboard walls with more detailed displays . Additionally , new nacelle pylons were fitted at that time , slightly longer , broader and more sharply swept than the originals , and fitted with four additional phaser array s . In 2379 , the " Enterprise " returned to Earth for the wedding of William T . Riker and Deanna Troi . She departed for Betazed , where another ceremony , a traditional Betazoid wedding , was scheduled . While " en route " , the ship detected unusual positronic signals from the Kolarin system , discovering another Soong - type android , the prototype B - 4 . Shortly following , the " Enterprise " was ordered to Romulus for a meeting with the new Praetor , Shinzon , who apparently wanted to initiate peace talks . Both the discovery of B - 4 and the peace overtures turned out to be a ruse to capture Captain Picard and discover tactical positions of Starfleet vessels . Once it became clear Shinzon was going to use his starship , the " Scimitar " , to destroy all life on Earth and wage war on the Federation , the " Enterprise " was to join Star Fleet Battle Group Omega and make a stand against Shinzon . Shinzon caught up to the " Enterprise " in the Bassen Rift , and in the ensuing confrontation , the vessel was severely damaged , including a major hull breach on the bridge , destroying the viewscreen and controls and disabling the warp core . As a last resort , Picard ordered Counselor Deanna Troi to take control of the " Enterprise " and have it ram the " Scimitar " , causing the destruction of much of the saucer section ' s forward area . The collision disabled the " Scimitar " , but Shinzon , driven by vengeance , activated his deadly thalaron weapon and trained it on the " Enterprise " . The weapon was overloaded and the " Scimitar " was destroyed due to interference from Commander Data , who sacrificed himself to save the " Enterprise " , Picard , and , indirectly , Earth . Following the " Scimitar " incident , the " Enterprise " returned to Earth where it underwent an extensive repair in one of the orbiting spacedock s . ( ) Technical information . In her original configuration , the " Enterprise " - E was under 700 meters long and had 24 decks according to Jean - Luc Picard , although Deck 26 was reported as being controlled by the Borg . She was equipped with twelve phaser arrays and five torpedo tubes . By 2379 , the " Enterprise " - E had undergone at least one refit , including four additional phaser arrays and five additional torpedo tubes . The number of decks was also increased by five to a minimum of 29 . ( ) However , if the ship did have a Deck 26 during the Borg attack , despite the number mentioned by Picard , then it could have also had a Deck 29 , without any change in the interim . Sections included deflector control , stellar cartography , hydroponics ( on deck 11 ) , and one sickbay ward . Main engineering and sickbay were on Deck 16 . ( ) The ship could be controlled by a manual steering column located on the bridge . ( ) She was also the first " Enterprise " to be equipped with an Emergency Medical Hologram . ( ) The " Enterprise " carried a newer design of shuttlecraft as well as numerous other forms of transportation including a warp - capable captain ' s yacht , the " Cousteau " , ( ) and a special multipurpose shuttlecraft , the " " . ( ) The yacht was installed as a part of the saucer section , and detached upon deployment . Other auxiliary craft were launched from two shuttlebay s ; one at the aft end of the secondary hull , and another near the aft end of the primary hull . Crewmembers included those of the Human , Vulcan , Bajoran , Betazoid , Bolian , and Trill species , as well as a Klingon and an android . ( ) Personnel . " See : " USS " Enterprise " ( NCC - 1701 - E ) personnel Appendices . Background information . Following , the six - foot filming model for the " Galaxy " - class USS " Enterprise " - D had been modified to have the registry number read " NCC - 1701 - E " . Penny Juday , the archivist at Paramount Pictures , had no explanation for this change as of 19 October 2001 . ( TNG Season 2 , Disc 6 : " Inside Starfleet Archives " ) . It turned out that the change was done at ILM by John Goodson prior to crating up the model after completion of " Generations " , presumably on the assumption that the new " Enterprise " might be a " Galaxy " - class ship as well and having the number changed over already would save whoever did the special effects the trouble of having to change it over themselves . ( " " , p . 60 ) The " Enterprise " - E was , in fact , the only replacement for a previously - destroyed " hero " ship that was not of the same class as its predecessor , as opposed to ( and its alternate reality counterpart ) , the USS " Defiant " ( NCC - 75633 ) , and the " Delta Flyer II " . It was principally designed by John Eaves under the supervision of Herman Zimmerman . Using Eaves ' s sketches , Rick Sternbach drafted the blueprints for a ten - foot physical model . Eaves and Zimmerman also supervised the interior design of the bridge , engineering , and corridor s , although many sets from were also reused during and . Though the " Enterprise " - E was mentioned in several episodes of " Voyager " , and once on " Deep Space Nine " , the ship was never seen outside of the films . However , the interior of the ship is visible in a communication with Deanna Troi in . The ten - foot physical model , constructed under the supervision of John Goodson at Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) , was used for visual effects shots during " Star Trek : First Contact " , alongside a CGI version . In " Star Trek : Insurrection " and " Star Trek Nemesis " , CGI versions of the ship completely replaced the physical model . The " Nemesis " CGI model included several modifications designed by John Eaves . In addition to the new weapons mentioned above , the warp pylons were slightly modified and the connection between the primary and secondary hulls near the main shuttlebay was made more sleek . The model of the " Enterprise " - E from " Star Trek : First Contact " ( Lot # 107 ) was sold at the auction on October 5 , 2006 for US $ 132 , 000 including the buyer ' s premium ( the winning bid was US $ 110 , 000 ) . There has been some confusion about the number of decks on the " Enterprise " - E . The construction blueprints of the filming miniature created for " Star Trek : First Contact " explicitly label 23 decks . In the film , Picard told Lily Sloane that the ship had 24 decks , while the master systems display on the bridge allows either interpretation . Earlier on , however , Daniels had reported that the Borg are in control of Decks 26 through 11 . Michael and Denise Okuda say in their text commentary on the film , during the scene in which Picard tells Lilly about the 24 decks : " " Unfortunately , earlier in this film , we are told that the ship has at least 26 decks . We can ' t imagine that Picard doesn ' t know his own ship , so we theorize that the other two decks are top secret for some reason . Either that , or his memory was affected by his earlier Borg assimilation . It certainly " couldn ' t " be a goof , because the design of the ship changed slightly during filming . " " In " Star Trek Nemesis " , the Remans beam onto Deck 29 . This could mean that Picard did not tell Lily the truth and there are actually more than 24 decks , or that more decks were added to the ship prior to " Star Trek Nemesis " . It may also be the case that Picard was counting only finished decks , as there could have been decks left unfinished for future expansion . Also , there was the possibility that Picard may have intentionally withheld or lied about certain aspects of the " Enterprise " - E design in the event that Lily was assimilated by the Borg . Also in " Nemesis " , the Reman Viceroy fell several decks down a maintenance shaft . Because the Viceroy and the other Remans boarded the ship on Deck 29 , it had been assumed that the ensuing battle took place on Deck 29 and that the Viceroy fell from that deck , implying that there could be 35 or more decks , or that the normal deck scheme was altered in some way that the ship could have more named decks than it measured in height . This was not the case as signage on the corridors where the phaser fight between the Remans and the " Enterprise " officers took place indicate they were actually on Deck 9 . This suggested that the two parties encountered each other about halfway to their destinations ( " Enterprise " officers to Deck 29 , the Remans to the bridge on Deck 1 ) . Size . It is apparent from lineup charts that every new starship " Enterprise " is slightly longer than the previous one . In , Picard informs Lily Sloane that the " Enterprise " - E is " almost seven hundred meters long " , in accordance with its intended size of 2 , 248 feet ( 685 meters ) . John Eaves describes the rationale as follows : When the " E " had a final approved design , we drew up a chart of all the " Enterprises " in profile . Herman [ Zimmerman ] and I set down a whole bunch of cutouts of the " E " in various sizes to see where this new ship should scale with the others . We found one size that looked appropriate and we put a scale to its length and that would be 2 , 248 feet . Rick [ Sternbach ] was waiting to do the blueprints and add his creativity to the design , so we gave him a drawing with this one measurement . From there he sized the whole ship . . . By January 7 , 1997 , the following dimensions from Rick Sternbach had been added to " FAQ : A History of Ships Named " Enterprise : Length : 2 , 248 ' Beam : 820 ' Height : 290 ' L of saucer : 1 , 150 ' Nacelle span : 700 ' L of nacelles : 1 , 056 ' The same length , beam and height ( in meters ) appear on the SciPubTech poster from around the same time . In addition , the length of 2 , 248 feet is listed in at least three comparison charts prepared for . It can also be seen in the charts prepared for . The size chart puts it at 2 , 250 feet , consistent with a size revision during either the filmed or the unfilmed stage of redesign . Apocrypha . In the novel " Ship of the Line " , the " Enterprise " was given to Captain Morgan Bateson for its shakedown cruise , which included war games near the Klingon border . Along for the ride , as temporary chief engineer , was Montgomery Scott . Some missions of the " Enterprise " during the Dominion War are featured in " Behind Enemy Lines " , " Tunnel Through the Stars " , and " Tales of the Dominion War " . In the DS9 " " book series , the " Enterprise " was destroyed at the Battle of Rigel VII in an alternate future that the intrepid heroes of Deep Space 9 later prevented . " " , set during the year leading up to " Star Trek Nemesis " , featured the " Enterprise " being involved in a major political scandal that disgraces the ship and her crew for much of the coming year ; the final duology in that series features the " Enterprise " being ordered to lead an invasion and occupation of a sovereign planet , with resemblance to the current real life world political situation at the time the novels were written . A " TNG relaunch " of sorts followed the " Enterprise " s activities after " Nemesis " ; the first book in the series , " Death in Winter " , was released in September 2005 . The novel ' established that before he left the " Enterprise " for the " Titan " , Commander Riker christened this " Enterprise " s version of the crew lounge , or Ten Forward , as the " Happy Bottom Riding Club , " a name Worf absolutely hated and refused to use under any circumstances . The name for the lounge was derived from a similar that old Earth astronaut s used to frequent . It also establishes that every ship ' s computer that was built during the last decade has encrypted information about Romulan cloaking technology , which can be decrypted in case of emergency using an admiral ' s code and thus enable the crew to build a cloaking device . In ' the crew separated the saucer section from the engine section ( a feat this " Enterprise " had previously not done ) and then cloaked the engine section to engage a Borg cube . During " Resistance " , Worf is promoted to the official first officer after acting in the position in an unofficial capacity during the ship ' s reconstruction after its confrontation with the " Scimitar " . In " Q & A " , an encounter with Q reveals that his past contact with the crew has been to prepare them for an encounter with " Them " , a race far above even the Q , with Picard ' s response convincing Them that the universe deserves to exist . The novel " Before Dishonor " allies the crew of the " Enterprise " with Spock and Seven of Nine as they are forced to reactivate the original planet killer after Admiral Janeway is assimilated and becomes the new Queen of a Borg super - cube , the confrontation ending with the loss of Pluto , the destruction of the cube , and Janeway ' s apparent death . The " Destiny " miniseries culminates in the final destruction of the Borg after the " Titan " learns their true origin , but the Federation is left devastated by the subsequent invasion , with much of the later novels focusing on the role the " Enterprise " will play in the reconstruction amid the creation of the Typhon Pact , an " anti - Federation " consisting of some of the Federation ' s most notorious adversaries , including the Romulans , the Tholians , and the Breen . After the events of " The Fall " miniseries , the " Enterprise " is sent on a new mission of exploration . In the " " ( which was printed before ) , it was speculated that the " Enterprise " - E might be a ship . In " " , the " Enterprise " was still active as of 2387 with Data as captain , having been revived after successfully imprinting his neural network into B - 4 ' s existing CPU . The timeline for " Star Trek Online " follows the storyline in the " Countdown " comic series , with Data as captain into the 25th century . The timeline only mentions that the " Enterprise " - E left service around 2408 , but its ultimate fate was unclear ; however , by 2409 , a new " Odyssey " - class vessel is christened " Enterprise " ( NCC - 1701 - F ) , implying that her predecessor was decommissioned or destroyed . The short story " Unexpected Honor " , written for issue 40 of " Star Trek Magazine " in May 2012 , revealed that the " Enterprise " - E was destroyed in an ambush by the Undine at Starbase 236 in 2408 ; among the survivors was Captain Data , who retired from Starfleet to take up teaching on Earth . The " Enterprise " has also featured in many apocryphal productions , including the strategy games " " , " " , " " , " " , and " " , " " , and most recently " Star Trek Online " .