USS Defiant ( 2375 ) The USS " Defiant " ( NX - 74205 ) , originally the USS " Sao Paulo " ( NCC - 75633 ) , was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . The " Defiant " was assigned to Deep Space 9 in the final weeks of the Dominion War . This starship was the third known Federation ship to bear the name " Defiant " , and the second ship of the " Defiant " - class to bear the name " Defiant " . History . The USS " Sao Paulo " was launched from the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in late - 2375 , on stardate 52889 . 3 . As one of the first new starship s launched from Federation shipyard s after the disastrous Second Battle of Chin ' toka , the " Sao Paulo " was immediately assigned to the front lines at Deep Space 9 as a replacement for the . The " Sao Paulo " was equipped with redesigned deflector shield generators to counteract the Breen energy dampening weapon , which had decimated the allied fleet at Chin ' toka . Upon taking command of the " Sao Paulo " on stardate 52891 . 3 , Captain Benjamin Sisko received a special dispensation from the Chief of Starfleet Operations to change the vessel ' s name to USS " Defiant " , after the original , which had been destroyed by Breen forces in the Second Battle of Chin ' toka . The new " Defiant " was slightly modified from the prototype . On the bridge , the consoles alongside the captain ' s chair had been redesigned , and the aft operations table was replaced with a free - standing console . In addition , the ship ' s shield generator s had been completely reconfigured , as had its internal furnishing – a fact bemoaned by Doctor Julian Bashir upon boarding the vessel . ( ) The " Defiant " participated in the Battle of Cardassia , the last battle of the Dominion War . The ship suffered at least three casualties , with eight wounded in Phase One ; it is unknown if any were suffered in Phase Two . Familiar with the individual characteristics of the old " Defiant " , the crew found it difficult to equate the one with the other , prompting Ensign Nog to report that the new " Defiant " was " a little sluggish . " The vessel lacked the worn - in combat capability and effectiveness of the prototype , but acquitted herself well during the battle . At the end of 2375 , this ship was docked at Deep Space 9 . ( ) Command crew . As with the previous " Defiant " , this vessel ' s assignment to Deep Space 9 as a support vessel meant that it was manned by station personnel and had no dedicated crew complement of its own . Crew assignments varied by mission . " As of 2375 " : Appendices . Background information . Although this ship ' s predecessor was destroyed in , the writing staff of " didn ' t want to keep it dead forever , " as expressed by René Echevarria . Thus , a substitute vessel was conceived . Ronald D . Moore explained , " " There was no way to do the big final battles [ of the Dominion War ] without it [ . . . ] So we brought it back and ' made it a virtue . " " ( " " , p . 693 ) Ron Moore intended for the ship to be designated the " " Defiant " - A " . " " I fought quite a bit on this rather minute point , " " he related , " " because I ' m a " Star Trek " aficionado and I feel strongly about these kinds of things . I drove Ira [ Steven Behr ] up the wall on this ' A ' business , trying to get ' A ' onto the model . " " The show ' s tight budget constraints meant that there was insufficient funds to redo all the stock visual effects shots of the " Defiant " - class , which would have had to be done if the ship had been named the " " Defiant " - A " . It also would have been prohibitive to repaint and reshoot the model . " " So we had to bite the bullet , " " commented Behr . " " We didn ' t have to end the series without the ship [ . . . ] but we weren ' t going to build a new ship at the end of the show , and we weren ' t going to change the decals [ on every frame of stock footage ] . " " Nevertheless , Moore personally still considered the vessel ' s designation to be " " Defiant " - A " . ( " " , p . 701 ) This " Defiant " was originally to have been introduced in the teaser of . However , when it was decided that that episode was too long , the craft ' s introduction was moved to later DS9 Season 7 installment . The ship ' s introduction was written for " Tacking Into the Wind " by Ron Moore , prior to the scene being moved . ( " " , p . 693 ) The decision to make the vessel ' s introduction part of " The Dogs of War " was made prior to the sixth revision of the first draft script of " Tacking Into the Wind " , in which the craft wasn ' t mentioned at all . The script of " The Dogs of War " ( both the first draft and the final draft ) remarked , " " We should try to convey a sense of a brand - spanking new ship ( budget permitting ) , with shining consoles , new carpeting , slick new VPB wallpaper , etc . " " In the episode ' s first draft script , the vessel was also referred to as being " only two weeks out of the yard " prior to its arrival at DS9 and as having broken its predecessor ' s speed record on the new craft ' s initial journey to the space station , having traveled up to warp 9 . 8 on the way there . In Admiral Ross ' opinion , the vessel was " a fine ship " that " outclasses the [ earlier ] " Defiant " in a lot of ways . " Gary Hutzel was pleased with how this ship was depicted in series finalé , using CGI . " " The " Defiant " looks really good , the CG model looks very good , " " he remarked . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 32 , Nos . 4 / 5 , p . 87 ) The " Sao Paulo " s motto was " " Give me Liberty or give me Death . . . " " , a quote by Patrick Henry . The ship was " " named for the people of Brazil . " " This motto was in the same spirit as the famous words " " Independência ou Morte " " ( " " Independence or Death " " ) said by Dom Pedro I , when he declared Brazil ' s independence from Portugal . Although Sao Paulo ( " Saint Paul " ) was in Brazil , the ship wasn ' t actually named after the city . Instead , the name " USS " Sao Paulo " " was actually an in - joke reference to the film , which features the USS " San Pablo " . ( ) The name was selected by Ron Moore . ( " " , p . 693 ) The dedication plaque included the names of forty - six " Star Trek " executives , including Rick Berman , Michael Piller , Ira Steven Behr , David Livingston , Ronald D . Moore , Peter Lauritson , René Echevarria , Steve Oster , and " Chief of Staff " Gene Roddenberry . ↑ This " Defiant " has conflicting registry numbers . The dedication plaque on the bridge gave the registry as NCC - 75633 , but the plaque also contained the original name " Sao Paulo " ( the first draft script of " The Dogs of War " also associated that registry number with the craft ' s original name ) . External CGI images seen in and repeated the old registry of NX - 74205 as a result of the extensive use of stock footage from earlier episodes , including , , and . The new footage in " What You Leave Behind " continued to use NX - 74205 for consistency . Memory Alpha uses the commissioning year to differentiate this ship from its predecessor . Fron the , " " The " Defiant " s registry number , NX - 74205 , is in honor of Gene Roddenberry ' s son , our friend Rod Roddenberry who worked with us as a member of the " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " art department . Rod ' s birthday is February 5 , 1974 . " " In the Federation starship list of the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 2 , p . 328 ) , the authors note that the new " Defiant " retained the same registry number as its destroyed predecessor . Apocrypha . In the comic miniseries " " and the relaunch novels set after " What You Leave Behind " , the " Defiant " was depicted with the NX - 74205 registry . In Books One and Two of the duology " " , the first books in a series set after " What You Leave Behind " , the " Defiant " was described as having been fitted with a new Romulan cloaking device , the Romulan Senate having recognized the strategic importance of the " Defiant " as the first line of defense against any future Dominion attack through the wormhole . " Avatar " also depicts the " Defiant " in battle , defending DS9 from a group of rogue Jem ' Hadar who attack the station , which at the time was undergoing a refit and was barely able to defend itself . The " Defiant " s commander , and DS9 ' s recently acquired second in command , Tiris Jast , was killed in the attack , spurring Ezri Dax to take command . In a desperate attempt to stop the Jem ' Hadar , Dax and Nog used the " Defiant " s warhead module – a last ditch weapon which fired the " Defiant " s nose section , containing the deflector and a complement of photon torpedoes . In the next books , " Abyss " and " Demons of Air and Darkness " , the " Defiant " was commanded by DS9 ' s new first officer , Elias Vaughn . Following on from those , in the four - book miniseries " Mission Gamma " , Vaughn commands the " Defiant " on a three - month voyage of exploration through the Gamma Quadrant . The " Sao Paulo " was also a playable starship in the video game " " , for a level set in the year 2380 , possibly indicating that after the war had ended , the ship reverted to its original name . It is equally possible that , due to the original " Sao Paulo " being immediately renamed " Defiant " , another " Defiant " - class vessel was named the " Sao Paulo " . The " Defiant " was depicted in " Star Trek Online " as still in service in 2409 , while also still attached to DS9 . The ship appears in the missions " Assimilation of the Innocent " , " The Tribble with Klingons " ( removed in Season 11 ) , " Spoils of War " , " Jabberwocky " , " Second Wave " , " Boldly they Rode " , and " Midnight " . The " Defiant " s original christening USS " Sao Paulo " gives its name to an upgraded version of the vessel , the " Sao Paulo " - class , available in the game ' s store .