USS Constellation ( NCC - 1017 ) The USS " Constellation " ( NCC - 1017 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . In 2267 , the " Constellation " and her crew of 430 were under the command of Commodore Matt Decker . History . In that year , on stardate 4202 . 1 , while on routine deep space exploration , the " Constellation " encountered several destroyed star system s , including systems L - 370 through L - 374 . Although exceptionally heavy subspace interference prevented contact with Starfleet , the ship began to investigate . Upon entering the L - 374 system , the ship ' s science officer , Masada , discovered that L - 374 IV was breaking up . Upon closer inspection , an enormous robot was found hovering over it , slicing out chunks of the planet with an antiproton beam . While attempting to intervene , the " Constellation " was attacked by the planet killer . The ship ' s deflector shield s were easily pierced and the resulting damage crippled the ship , forcing it to hide in the inner system . Nearly without power , all but defenseless , and with the life support system failing , Decker ordered his crew to abandon ship and beam down to L - 374 III where they could take refuge . The commodore remained behind to operate the transporter s . Attempts to contact Starfleet failed and a distress call was sent out . The robot attacked the " Constellation " once more , knocking out the transporters and stranding Decker on the ship alone . The robot then proceeded to devour L - 374 III , killing the remainder of the ship ' s crew . The deaths of 430 of his crew had a severe psychological impact on the commodore . A short time later , on stardate 4202 . 9 , the picked up " Constellation " s distress call while passing through that sector . The signal was extremely weak and only the word " Constellation " could be made out . The " Enterprise " soon located the " Constellation " , adrift , and determined it to be wrecked by the same disaster that destroyed the systems within the sector . The damage analysis on the " Constellation " found a display of abnormal energy output : all power plants were dead , reserve energy banks were at a very low power level , and the life support systems were barely operative . The entire bridge was damaged and uninhabitable ; however , the rest of the ship was able to sustain life . Radiation levels were normal ; atmospheric pressure was at eleven pounds per square inch . The ship ' s computer system was still intact , but its filtration systems were out , and the " Constellation " s communication systems were shorted out as well . The warp drive was deemed " a hopeless pile of junk " , and the impulse engine s were not " too badly off " despite having their control circuits fused solid . The ship ' s phaser banks were nominally operational , but required recharging . Once the " Enterprise " s landing party beamed aboard the " Constellation " , they found the entire ship a mess . The landing party split up : Scotty ' s team went to the engineering section , while Kirk and McCoy tried to find Decker or his crew . However , there were no bodies or survivors present . It was assumed that the crew wasn ' t abducted , but had simply left . Kirk called Spock on the " Enterprise " and asked if the crew may have beamed to one of the two planets they found intact when they entered L - 374 . Spock commented that the two planets were uninhabitable to Human life ; one had a surface the temperature of molten lead , and the other had a poison ous atmosphere . From this , they concluded that the entire crew was on one of the now - destroyed Class M planets . Eventually , the landing party found Decker in auxiliary control , passed out . Kirk tried to get everything possible from Decker , but he needed treatment on board the " Enterprise " . The landing party finally acquired the captain ' s log and played the recording , discovering the true fate of the destroyed star systems . The " Enterprise " was prepared to take the " Constellation " in tow , so Decker and McCoy beamed aboard the " Enterprise " while Kirk and his party remained . The robot once again returned to L - 374 and attacked the " Enterprise " . After some hasty repairs , the " Constellation " was operable enough to have a single phaser bank recharged , shield power was temporarily restored , and ½ impulse power was available . However , nothing could be done after the machine had attacked . After the " Enterprise " had made a number of unsuccessful attempts to stop the robot , it was determined that the only way to destroy it was by exploding the " Constellation " inside the robot since now the " Constellation " had little else to offer with its commanding officer and entire crew dead . At first , Kirk thought of activating the ship ' s destruct system , but , there was not enough power for the destruct system to be put into action . Kirk ordered Scotty to overload the " Constellation " s impulse engines from auxiliary control in thirty seconds with no way to reverse it . While Scott beamed back aboard the " Enterprise " and no one else was left aboard the " Constellation " , Kirk activated the machine . After further rigging the hulk , the impulse engines were overloaded in the maw of the robot creating a 97 . 835 megaton fusion explosion that destroyed the " Constellation " and rendered the planet killer inert . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The " Constellation " studio model was constructed from a 1966 first edition AMT " Enterprise " model kit , no . S921 . The model was burnt and scorched for its appearance . ( ) That particular edition sported a decal sheet with only the " NCC - 1701 " decal , and , with very limited options , its numbers had to be rearranged to create the unusually low " NCC - 1017 " " Constellation " registry number , the first new registry actually seen on a ship – and , as it turned out , also the only time in the original airing of the " Original Series " – , though considered somewhat incongruous by many , due to the perceived discrepancy in the numbering system . The name of the ship had already been established by the producers at the start of second season of , when they composed a definitive fourteen ship list belonging to the , then still referred to as " " Starship " - class " by them , including the " Constellation " . The " Constellation " has been a consideration from the start . D . C . Fontana ' s " ( . . . ) famous fighting ships of the past ( . . . ) " annotation on her first memo proposal , indicated she had the 18th century American warship – the very first commissioned by the United States Navy – in mind , when suggesting the name , though her colleague Robert Justman had the contemporary aircraft carrier of the on his mind . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , pp . 164 - 165 ) A faked version of the remastered " Doomsday Machine " episode trailer had the USS " Constellation " relabeled as the USS " Consolation " as part of a prank engineered by the staff of CBS Digital ( producers of the FX for the Remastered TOS episodes ) on FX Supervisor Niel Wray . The prank also involved a faked version of the Trekmovie . com website , as well – complete with fake user comments detailing the mislabeling of the " Constellation " into the " Consolation " . The results of the stunt can be seen . Apocrypha . According to the CD - ROM game " " , the " Constellation " was severely damaged when engaging the Klingon flagship , IKS " K ' lirta " , in combat . This occurred just before the Organian Peace Treaty . The " Constellation " and her crew appear in the story " The First Artifact " in " The Brave and the Bold , Book One " , set a year prior to " The Doomsday Machine " , where the " Constellation " is paired with the " Enterprise " to stop a planet - wide plague caused by an ancient weapon . The mirror universe " Constellation " appears in " The Sorrows of Empire " , where rather than be destroyed by a planet killer , she is refitted to the same specifications as the ( based on the refit of " our " " Enterprise " in ) . The " Constellation " is the flagship of the mirror counterpart of Matt Decker , commander - in - chief of the , until he is killed by his own crew ( at the instigation of ) in 2277 .