USS Franklin The USS " Franklin " ( NX - 326 ) was a 22nd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . It was the first Earth ship capable of reaching warp factor 4 . Its armaments , typical of , included pulsed phase cannon s and spatial torpedo es . Its defenses included polarized hull plating . Auxiliary craft included a complement of s . ( ) History . The " Franklin " was launched from the San Francisco Fleet Yards sometime between 2145 and 2151 . ( ; , dedication plaque ) Following the Earth - Romulan War and the formation of the United Federation of Planets , the " Franklin " received a new dedication plaque and was placed under the command of Captain Balthazar Edison , a former MACO veteran of the Xindi and Romulan wars . After many further missions and adventures the ship vanished in 2164 while on a mission in the Gagarin Radiation Belt , an incident later taught to future Starfleet officer s at Starfleet Academy . Speculation abounded about the ship ' s disappearance , with theories ranging from it surrendering to the Romulan s to being captured by a " giant green hand " . However , the distance traveled suggested a wormhole displacement . The ship eventually crash - landed on the planet Altamid . As no sign of rescue came , Edison came to believe the Federation deliberately abandoned them . Edison discovered relics left by Altamid ' s native species , including numerous ships , a drone workforce , and life - sustaining technology capable of stealing the " life force " from its victims . Edison and his crew abandoned the wreck of the " Franklin " and turned against the Federation . Alternate reality . By 2263 of the alternate reality , the " Franklin " had been discovered , half - buried under the surface of Altamid , by Jaylah , who placed it under a holographic cloak to use as a residence . The " Franklin " had functioning power reserves , serviceable engine s , and intact data log s despite a century of neglect . Before her encounter with the crew of the late starship , Jaylah had begun repairs on the " Franklin " , learning English from its on - board computer and becoming familiar with the " classical " music of 20th century Earth stored in the ship ' s data banks . Marooned on Altamid , Captain , Commander , Lieutenant Commander , and Ensign further repaired the " Franklin " , restoring its transporter capability , and , enhancing it to transport complex lifeform s rather than simply cargo , they rescued the " Enterprise " crew imprisoned by Krall . Learning of Krall ' s plan to use his swarm ships and the super weapon known as the Abronath to attack the Federation Starbase Yorktown , Kirk and company successfully piloted the " Franklin " out of Altamid ' s atmosphere by dropping the ship off a cliff in order to reach terminal velocity ( as the ship had never been designed to land , they had to let it free fall in order to create enough forward momentum to achieve escape velocity ) . Encountering Krall ' s forces at Yorktown , Kirk and company piloted the " Franklin " into the swarm . Using the ship ' s antiquated technology , Kirk ' s crew disrupted the individual vessels ' communications with radio signals and created a chain reaction that destroyed most of the swarm . Pursuing Krall and two remaining ships , the " Enterprise " crew piloted the " Franklin " into Yorktown ' s internal docking structure , using the ship itself to destroy the attacking vessels before crashing into Yorktown Central Plaza near Yorktown Headquarters . In the aftermath , Kirk and Commodore officially closed the missing - in - action report on the " Franklin " and its crew . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Director and Producer Justin Lin felt that including a pre - Federation ship in the film satisfied a goal he had – for the movie to explore and embrace everything in the " Star Trek " canon . He also believed the craft seemed to service the film ' s plot and its themes . In hindsight , he noted about the concept , " " It felt pretty organic . " " In fact , the creative staff loved the idea that , whereas the survivors from the " Enterprise " were initially under the impression that they were the first Humans on Altamid , there was some antiquated Federation technology elsewhere on the planet , proving otherwise . ( " Beyond the Darkness " , / / ) After deciding to include such a vehicle in the movie , the filmmakers next had to determine some precise details about it . Screenwriter Doug Jung explained , " " We took a lot of care into making sure that we were specific about what kind of ship it was and what it could do , so that it fits in the timeline of all that stuff , which is really well established . " " ( " Beyond the Darkness " , / / ) At first , the vessel was considerably different from how it turned out . Supervising Art Director Don Macaulay observed , " " The " Franklin " had a small role in the movie when we started . " " ( " Exploring Strange New Worlds " , / / ) The ship was originally to have been named the " " Pioneer " " , which it was called in an early screenplay for " Star Trek Beyond " . In the same script , the vessel was a significantly smaller scout ship that Scotty found in a desert , buried under sand . The creative personnel imagined him entering it by climbing through a hatch at the top of the ship , then getting the craft working again . Once Kirk and the rest of his team had rescued the other members of the crew , the screenplay called for them to somehow get back on board the craft . The script also made it clear that the vessel was a relatively old Starfleet ship that could withstand an extreme beating but had been lost on the planet for a long time . As the script proceeded to develop through successive drafts , the vessel ' s role in the story became increasingly more important . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 7 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 & 14 ) The ship was designed by Sean Hargreaves , who described it as initially being " almost like a large shuttlecraft . " By the time he began producing concept images of the ship , it had been reconceived as a freighter . The designer produced a couple of images that showed the craft buried under the sand . In another of his earliest concept illustrations of the vessel , it bore the name " USS " Pioneer " " and was portrayed as launching into the planet ' s atmosphere , aided by external rocket packs which Scotty had attached to the vehicle ' s underside . Hargreaves was mindful of the fact that the ship had been fiercely pounded before crash landing on the planet ' s surface . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 10 , 11 & 14 ) The use of the NX prefix and USS would seem to have been added after the formation of the Federation , as United Earth starships depicted in the mostly pre - Federation series did not commonly use USS and the NX prefix was only used for ships in the NX - class or part of the NX Project and Warp Five program . Unsure how Kirk and his associates would load supplies onto the ship , Sean Hargreaves devised a way for them to manually access the vessel through a ring of large cargo bay doors he positioned on the top of the vehicle . However , this sequence ultimately didn ' t make it into the movie , as the film ' s other creative personnel decided that Kirk and his cohorts would simply beam aboard the vessel instead , so Hargreaves changed the doors into prominent ridges that were meant to represent some kind of an array . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 14 - 15 & 17 ) At first , Sean Hargreaves intended for the craft to be capable of ascending and descending vertically . Although he even did variations of the ship with landing struts to facilitate these maneuvers , the scripted depiction of the ship and its launch sequence continued to evolve . Essentially , the vessel was now conceived as being discovered by Scotty at the top of a mountain and sliding down the side of that mountain during takeoff , so the landing struts were never shown . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 15 - 16 ) By the time this change was made , the craft had been renamed the " " Franklin " " . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , p . 16 ) That name was chosen in recognition of Justin Lin ' s father , Frank Lin ; the vessel ' s dedication plaque has a slightly wider gap between the letters " k " and " l " to further emphasize this tribute . The " Franklin " s registry number , 326 , was in honor of Leonard Nimoy ' s birthday . Once Sean Hargreaves completed his version of the ship and the design had finally been approved , the craft was tweaked for its portrayal in the film by the visual effects staff at Double Negative . They were tasked with adjusting the " Franklin " on a shot by shot basis . After deciding which materials would be included in the vessel ' s construction , the VFX team added a load of debris which they imagined as having literally grown over the ship ' s hull during the ages it had spent grounded on Altamid . " " It had been sitting there for a couple of hundred years so it had dirt and rocks and trees growing on it , " " stated VFX and Associate Producer Ron Ames . " " It was kind of funky when it took off . " " ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 17 - 18 ) Double Negative made the vessel look appropriately battered , due to the intention of the " Franklin " being an old and rusty vessel . ( " Cinefex " , No . 138 , p . 91 ) The VFX group also carefully worked out the additional damage sustained by the ship while it , immediately after launching , falls over the cliff , endures a battle with the swarm ships , and finally crashes its way into Starbase Yorktown . All of that damage needed to be recorded so it could be tracked in each shot . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 17 - 18 ) During the craft ' s transit , Double Negative took the ship through five stages of destruction . ( " Cinefex " , No . 138 , p . 91 ) " " We added scrapes when it comes off the edge of the cliff , " " Ron Ames recollected , " " then you had to know where it had been hit by swarm ships , so you build a history of the damage and follow that through . " " ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , p . 18 ) CG Sequence Supervisor Rhys Salcombe explained , " " At the point where it smashes through " Yorktown " ' s door , we entered damage state three , which was pretty mangled . As it ' s flying through the docking tubes , it bangs off various things and gets additional dings and scratches . After the breach , we went into stage five . The ship is broken beyond repair at this point – it ' s a wreck , revealing a lot of its interior structure . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 138 , p . 91 ) The creative personnel also wanted to make the " Franklin " appear convincing in the space battle and during its very eventful journey into the starbase , about which Ron Ames commented , " " We really tried to make that as real as possible . " " The battle was modified to include the craft firing in retaliation at the swarm ships , even though the " Franklin " had heretofore been thought of as having either no weaponry whatsoever or minimal weaponry that was no longer functional . " " As the third act was rewritten when we were editing , " " said Ames , " " we had to add weaponry to tell the story , otherwise it would have been a sitting duck . " " Making the vessel apparently tougher in this way made it seem more believable that the " Franklin " managed to last as long as it did while enduring so much damage . ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , pp . 18 & 19 ) Ultimately , members of the film ' s shooting company highly approved of the " Franklin " . Don Macaulay remarked , " " It became a very important part of the movie [ . . . ] I think it turned out to be a great - looking set . " " ( " Exploring Strange New Worlds " , / / ) Ron Ames enthused , " " I thought the way the " Franklin " behaved in the final battle and as it came into the space station was beautifully designed [ . . . ] It was very successful and pretty cool . " " ( " " , USS " Franklin " Special Issue , p . 18 ) Kirk actor Chris Pine raved , " " Every nook and cranny on the " Franklin " , and the detail work is extraordinary , from the painting to the electronics . It ' s just mind - boggling . You know , stuff that maybe no one will see , but in the moment of acting in that space , it ' s incalculable , the effect that it has on me . It just adds to this world that we ' re creating , and it ' s super fun . " " Jaylah actress Sofia Boutella was also impressed by the set of the " Franklin " . ( " Exploring Strange New Worlds " , / / ) In 2016 , collectible miniatures of the ship were produced by Snapco and QMx as home video and theater concession stand premiums . Three more miniatures are slated for release by Hallmark , QMx , and Eaglemoss Collections ' " " partwork magazine in 2017 . Launch date . Regarding the vessel ' s origins , Dylan Highsmith said , " " If you want the official explanation on the " Franklin " and its warp factor : it was a MACO ship ( or a United Earth Starfleet ship that housed MACO personnel at times ) that predates the NX - 01 . When the UFP Starfleet is formed , MACO was disbanded and the ship was reclassified as a Starfleet ship [ with the ' USS ' identifier ] . The ship is then ' lost ' in the early 2160s . It was important to everyone that the ship , like Edison , predate the Federation ; that thematically , the ship mirrored an earlier time in history and served as a bridge in design between then and the NX - 01 . Doug and Simon may have worked up something [ on an official launch date ] , but if they did it never made it to script or screen . Either way it predates the NX - 01 , and was reclassified after the UFP is formed . " " The possible launch date of the " Franklin " as Earth ' s first warp 4 vessel can be narrowed down based on information from , which established that the warp 3 barrier was first broken by the NX - Delta in 2145 , and that the construction of " Enterprise " , Starfleet ' s first warp 5 ship , began in 2150 . Therefore , the launch of the " Franklin " likely occurred within that range .