USS Reliant The USS " Reliant " ( NCC - 1864 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . In 2285 , the " Reliant " was commanded by Captain Clark Terrell . While under his command , the ship ' s prefix code was 16309 . Service history . In 2267 , the " Reliant " underwent a layover at Starbase 11 . The ship ' s number was seen on a chart indicating the repair status of several vessels . ( ) Project Genesis . In 2285 , the " Reliant " was assigned to assist Carol Marcus and Project Genesis . While Marcus and her team worked from the Regula I space station , " Reliant " searched for a lifeless planet to satisfy the stringent requirements necessary for stage three of the experiment . Ceti Alpha VI and Khan ' s revenge . On Stardate 8130 , the " Reliant " approached the planet Ceti Alpha VI . During the scan of the planet , one of the " Reliant " s dynoscanner s detected a " minor energy flux " on the surface on what seemed to otherwise be a prime location for the experiment . Hurried by the growing impatience their unsuccessful mission bore upon them , Captain Terrell and his first officer Pavel Chekov transported to the surface to investigate the energy flux , hoping that it was something they could " transplant " in advance of testing . The landing party , however , instead discovered a group of exile s , led by Khan Noonien Singh . Khan and his followers quickly captured the two Starfleet officers and informed them that the planet " Reliant " was orbit ing was not Ceti Alpha VI but actually Ceti Alpha V . Khan then took control of Terrell and Chekov through the use of Ceti eel s and successfully commandeered the " Reliant " , marooning her crew on the planet ' s surface . Having learned of the Genesis Device , Khan pursued acquiring the secrets of the device that the " Reliant " was contracted to work for and took the " Reliant " to the Regula I space station . Unable to get what he desired from the station crew , Khan used the " Reliant " to intercept Admiral Kirk and the . In an ambush , the " Reliant " caused severe damage to the engineering section of the " Enterprise " , but Khan was unable to revel in his victory because the " Reliant " itself fell victim to a counter - ambush from the " Enterprise " after its crew managed to partially disable its defenses by accessing them through the " Reliant " s prefix code . The attack caused moderate damage to the " Reliant " , including the loss of photon torpedo controls and the warp drive . Despite the damage the " Reliant " escaped , and returned to Regula where it hid behind the planetoid from " Enterprise " . Khan took up the pursuit shortly afterwards when hailed and taunted by Kirk into the Mutara Nebula . The final engagement . After completing repairs , Khan discovered that the " Enterprise " was not as crippled as he was led to believe and gave chase when he discovered the " Enterprise " making a run for the nearby Mutara Nebula . Despite having the tactical advantage over the " Enterprise " , Khan ultimately lost the battle due to his lack of strategic experience operating a starship . The " Enterprise " was able to take advantage of this weakness by outmaneuvering the " Reliant " and critically disabling it by destroying much of its upper weapons pylon and finally its port nacelle . The " Reliant " was ultimately destroyed inside the nebula by Khan ' s detonation of the Genesis Device . The crew was rescued from Ceti Alpha V shortly afterward by the " Enterprise " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The " Reliant " was originally intended to be a starship ; the script describes her as " an older , somewhat battered starship of the " Enterprise " class , with a slightly different configuration . " The cumbersomeness of the " Enterprise " studio model from ( vehemently expressed by Special Visual Effects Supervisor Kenneth Ralston at the time ) was part of the reasons why the class of the " Reliant " was redesigned from a " Constitution " - class to the , the other reason being that the producers were afraid that audiences would not be able to tell the two ships apart during the battle sequences . " " In the dogfight you had to instantly recognize which ship you were looking at , so they had to look different . At the same time , you had to make them look like they came from the same culture and had the same technology " " , Joe Jennings elaborated . ( ) Her name meaning " dependent " , the " Reliant " was designed by Joe Jennings and Mike Minor and was the first distinct Federation starship design other than the NCC - 1701 to appear in a filmed , live - action " Star Trek " production . The " Reliant " bridge was simply a redress of the bridge of the " Enterprise " . An early draft of the script for referenced a different starship also named " Reliant " that Jean - Luc Picard served aboard while he was an ensign . It was one of his first assignments following graduation from Starfleet Academy , where he served with Lieutenant Nakamura . In the cut dialogue , the two reminisced about their former assignment . One of the " Miranda " - class starships seen in the episode bore the registry number NCC - 1864 . The ship in question was one of the two ships described by David Stipes as being either the ( NCC - 31910 ) or ( NCC - 21382 ) . In , Hallmark issued a USS " Reliant " Christmas ornament . In the 2012 " " calendar , for the month of July , the " Reliant " appeared in an alternate timeline approaching a space station named Tango Sierra . Apocrypha . According to the " " novel " The Sundered " , the " Reliant " visited the Halkan homeworld in 2281 to respond to an attack by Orion pirate s . While leading an away team on the surface , Pavel Chekov met a young Halkan named Lojur , who had been exiled by his village elders for using deadly force against the attackers , which violated the Halkans ' strict pacifism . Chekov took the young exile with him back to the " Reliant " ; Lojur later joined Starfleet and served on board the . Both the novelization of " Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan " and the novel " " indicate that in addition to Captain Terrell and Commander Chekov , Khan also used Ceti eels to take control of the ship ' s engineering crew . " To Reign in Hell " also states that Khan killed or maimed several members of " Reliant " s crew in a fit of pent - up rage ( described as " a vicious prelude to the massacre at Regula I " ) , with ten dead before they were rescued .