USS Enterprise ( CVN - 65 ) The USS " Enterprise " ( CVN - 65 ) was an American aircraft carrier that was in service with the United States Navy . History . The " Enterprise " was the successor to the previous carrier named " Enterprise " . This new " Enterprise " was one of the most powerful ships of its time and was the first aircraft carrier to be powered by nuclear fission reactor s . In 1986 , " Enterprise " was docked at the Alameda Naval Base in Alameda , California when it was breached by an apparent Soviet spy . The " spy " was Starfleet Commander Pavel Chekov , who had been collecting high energy photon s from one of the ship ' s nuclear fission reactor s to recrystallize dilithium for a captured Klingon Bird - of - Prey that had traveled back in time . ( ) In 2364 , a model of this carrier appeared in Admiral Gregory Quinn ' s guest quarters on the . ( ) Legacy . Over a century later , the ready room of featured a drawing of the carrier as well as other early vessels named " Enterprise " . ( ) The portrait of her World War II predecessor was on the famous ' s recreation deck . ( ) A sculpture of the carrier adorned the wall of the observation lounge on the during the first few years of that vessel ' s service . The sculpture , like the older pencil sketch , depicted the ship in her pre - 1975 configuration . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In " Star Trek IV " , the " part " of USS " Enterprise " was actually filled by the conventionally - powered USS " Ranger " ( CV - 61 , " Forrestal " - class ) , because " Enterprise " was on deployment at the time of the movie ' s filming . ( ) At the time of the filming , the reactor arrangement of all American nuclear aircraft carriers was tightly classified . " Ranger " also stood in for " Enterprise " in the 1986 aviation thriller " Top Gun " . " Ranger " differed from " Enterprise " in the shape of the ship ' s command " island " superstructure ( which was longer , rectangular and possessed smokestacks for the ship ' s oil - fired boilers ) and the placement of the side elevators , with two abaft of the island instead of two before it . Both differences were visible in " Star Trek IV " . In the real world , " Enterprise " was nicknamed " the " Starship , " " after her fictional namesake . She was in commission from 1961 to 2012 . In April 1983 , the " Enterprise " , half a mile from shore after a 14 - month , 46 , 000 - mile cruise , ran aground in San Francisco Bay ; George Takei was aboard the ship during this incident . In 1993 and 1994 , the Star Trek Association of Towson , a fan club in Towson , Maryland , sponsored " The Big E Con , " a convention held while the ship was at its home port of Norfolk , Virginia . The events featured tours of the ship and appearances by " Star Trek " notables . The fan club also donated " Star Trek " memorabilia for display in the ship ' s recreation room . Daniel Davis played her captain in . Her radio call sign in the film was " Starbase " . During the run of , Paramount Pictures sent copies of the episodes to the sailors of the " Enterprise " when it was on patrol in the Mediterranean . ( " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 1 , p . 245 ) ) The " Enerprise " was retired in 2012 after 50 years of service . US announted at the time of the retiring that the aircraft carrier , scheduled for operation by 2025 , would be the next American ship named " Enterprise " . ( " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 1 , p . 245 ) ) The emblem of the " Enterprise " is displayed , along with other symbols , in the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 2 , p . 350 ) . Sailors of the Year . Two times the " Sailors of the Year " of the " Enterprise " were given walk - on roles in episodes of . In three sailors of the year portrayed " Enterprise " NX - 01 engineers in the first season episode for which they filmed their scenes on . Later they presented a dedication plaque to Rick Berman and Brannon Braga and thanked them for their support . Apocrypha . In the novel " Debtors ' Planet " , this " Enterprise " was a casualty of the Eugenics Wars , lost with all hands in the Sea of Japan in 1995 during the pivotal battle of the wars ( the book was published in 1994 , seven years before Greg Cox ' retconned them as a collection of shadow conflicts rather than open warfare ) , from which Khan and his forces never recovered . Ralph Offenhouse ' s son Peter was one of the sailors killed in the sinking - ironically , in Cox ' works , his father was an early financial backer of the Chrysalis Project , from which the Augments were created .