USS Phoenix The USS " Phoenix " ( NCC - 65420 ) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . This ship was constructed by the Yoyodyne Division at 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards and commissioned on stardate 40250 . 5 in 2363 . In 2367 , the " Phoenix " was under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell . History . In 2367 , Captain Maxwell turned vigilante with the " Phoenix " , destroying a Cardassian outpost and several ships in Sector 21505 seemingly without provocation . He claimed his actions were justified because the Cardassians were preparing to renew hostilities only a year after peace had been settled with the United Federation of Planets . As a result , Starfleet dispatched the , to intercept the " Phoenix " . Captain Jean - Luc Picard was assigned to intercept and stop Maxwell . En route to intercept the " Phoenix " , the " Enterprise " s sensor s revealed that Captain Maxwell was attempting to destroy another supply ship . In an attempt to prevent the further destruction of Cardassian lives and property , Captain Picard gave a nearby Cardassian warship the " Phoenix " s prefix code to give the Cardassians an advantage . Despite taking a direct hit with its shields down , the " Phoenix " still managed to destroy the attacking ship with a salvo of torpedo es . When the " Enterprise " finally caught up with the " Phoenix " , Picard ordered Maxwell back to Starbase 211 , however , during their return , Maxwell veered from course and headed towards another supply ship . When the " Enterprise " arrived at their position , Maxwell demanded Picard search the vessel as proof that Maxwell ' s actions were justified . Picard refused and a stand - off ensued . Ultimately the stand - off ended successfully with no further loss of lives when Chief Miles O ' Brien was able to beam over during a 1 / 50th of a second " window " in the " Phoenix " s shield s caused by its high energy sweeps . Once on board he managed to convince Maxwell to stand down his ship . In spite of the situation , Picard warned Gul Macet that Maxwell ' s suspicions may have had a basis in truth . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Construction data was taken from the ship ' s dedication plaque found in " " ; the ship ' s motto was " No matter where you go , there you are " , the same motto found on the plaque of the ; the line was taken from the film " Buckaroo Banzai : Across the Eighth Dimension " , as is the name Yoyodyne . The plaque was located in the ready room of the " Phoenix " , the only known ship to have a plaque in that location . ( With few exceptions , plaques are almost always located on the bridge ) . This particular configuration of the " Nebula " - class ship was never seen again in any future productions , instead replaced with the more familiar tripod mount . On his blog , Doug Drexler explained that the original " Nebula " - class pod did not suit the ship and it was a collective decision between himself , Rick Sternbach , and Michael Okuda to replace the pod . The reference book " Star Fleet Technical Manual " by Franz Joseph featured a listing of an earlier " Phoenix " with the registry NCC - 625 ( it was of the " Cygnus " sub - class ) . The ship was a MK - VIIB courier authorized for appropriation on stardate 5099 . Although was written and produced several years before , the retroactively speculated that the " Phoenix " was named for Zefram Cochrane ' s warp ship of the same name . A replica model of the " Phoenix " was produced for issue # 112 of the " " .