USS Hood ( Excelsior class ) The USS " Hood " ( NCC - 42296 ) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . History . The " Hood " , under the command of Captain Robert DeSoto , was William T . Riker ' s assignment after he left the some time after 2361 . While Riker served as first officer , Geordi La Forge was also transferred to the ship in 2362 after completing a tour on the . In the course of his duties on the " Hood " , Will Riker refused to allow Captain DeSoto to transport to the surface of Altair III for an away mission . Riker felt the mission was too dangerous to expose the ship ' s CO to such a risk . ( ) Service from 2364 - 2369 . In 2364 , the " Hood " rendezvoused with the in orbit of Deneb IV , to transfer crew and equipment , including the ship ' s new first officer , William Riker , CMO Beverly Crusher , and Geordi La Forge , as well as Admiral Leonard McCoy , who inspected the medical facilities of the " Enterprise - D " . ( ) Two years later , the " Hood " was dispatched to the Romulan Neutral Zone in order to counter a possible Romulan sneak attack emanating from a cloaked Romulan base on Nelvana III with the goal to retake the Neutral Zone . ( ) A few months later , the " Hood " was due to assist the " Enterprise - D " on a terraforming project on Browder IV . ( ) The " Hood " rendezvoused with the " Enterprise - D " again a couple of weeks later to drop off Tam Elbrun for the " Tin Man " mission . ( ) In 2367 , the " Hood " was at Starbase 174 for a major system upgrade . The ship was named on the chart " Starfleet Operations - Sectors 21166 - 23079 " in the " Enterprise - D " bridge . ( " okudagram " ) In 2368 , the " Hood " joined Captain Picard ' s fleet that blockade d the Klingon - Romulan border during the Klingon Civil War . The ship was one of twenty - three assembled for the fleet and was one of the seventeen chosen for the tachyon network . Identified by its name and registry number , the ship ' s position in the network was monitored from the " Enterprise - D " . When the network was disrupted by a high - energy burst released by the Romulan s , the net was no longer effective in a of ten million kilometer s around the . Subsequently , Picard ordered the fleet to proceed to Gamma Eridon at maximum warp , where the fleet would attempt to reestablish the net before the Romulans got there . ( , " okudagram " ) In 2369 , the " Hood " was at Starbase 134 for a major systems upgrade . The ship was named on the chart " Starfleet Operations - Sectors 21538 - 23079 " in the " Enterprise " - D observation lounge . ( , " okudagram " ) Later that year , the " Hood " was named on the chart " Sector Ipai Relay Log - Relay Message Flow 1293 " in Relay Station 47 Ops . This ship , in Sector 9012 , sent a message to Relay Station 182 - A " via " encoded epsilon . The ship ' s next mission was a warp drive testing of the ship ' s Mark VI warp drive version engines . ( " production art " ) Dominion War service . The " Hood " fought in several engagements during the Dominion War . In early 2374 , it was part of the task force that participated in Operation Return , the attempt to retake Deep Space 9 . ( ) In late 2374 , the " Hood " participated in the First Battle of Chin ' toka , traveling in close formation with the . ( ) Postwar service . In 2379 , the " Hood " was part of Star Fleet Battle Group Omega , a group of starship s assigned to Sector 1045 near the Romulan Neutral Zone to intercept the " Scimitar " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . There had been some controversy regarding the registry number of the USS " Hood " . The ship was already first seen on - screen in the pilot episode in effect shots created by ILM , using the original " Excelsior " - class studio model built by them for . No registry number was visible in these shots , but on pictures available on - line , the model was clearly labeled " USS " Hood " , NCC - 2541 " . Had this registry number remained canon , it would have made the " Hood " a close contemporary sister ship of the USS " Repulse " NCC - 2544 , further establishing a Starfleet practice that when a ship was named for a historical counterpart they are sometimes paired in the same class with other contemporary historical counterparts . The historical and were contemporary British battle cruiser s who shared a similar fate in World War II . Other examples where this was practiced were the and the as well as the USS " Monitor " ( NCC - 61826 ) and the . Apparently the original labeling was forgotten about or ignored by the production staff , as another , much higher registry number , NCC - 42296 , was devised later and used consistently in various LCARS graphics , for example the starship mission status and the screen showing Star Fleet Battle Group Omega . Nevertheless , a profile view , shot for , but not yet used in the first season of the new " The Next Generation " series , turned up in the second season opening episode as the USS " Repulse " NCC - 2544 . However , it took until 2012 for the remastered version of the episode for the registry number " NCC - 2541 " to become discernible , though only just barely ( and therefore overlooked by the digital artists at CBS Digital ) , on the aft of the warp nacelles , thereby providing the on - screen confirmation that the model originally was indeed relabeled " NCC - 2541 " in 1987 . The " Hood " s appearance in " Tears of the Prophets " was confirmed by John Gross and Karen Sickles of Digital Muse in a post by DS9 Visual Effects Supervisor David Stipes on the newsgroup alt . tv . star - trek . ds9 . He noted that during the labeling of the CGI model of the USS " Hood " , a typographical error was made , mistakenly giving it the registry of the " NCC - 42768 . " According to the , USS " Hood " , like the , was " " named for British Admiral Sir , who fought in the during World War I " " , though that reference was dropped in the later editions of the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " , as it was uncommon to name a ship for a still serving member in any navy ( the historical " Hood " was already nearing completion when Horace Hood died in action ) . The " Star Trek Fact Files " ( part 86 , 1998 ) stated that " Hood " was named for Horace ' s direct ancestor , 18th century British Admiral Viscount after whom the British battle cruiser HMS " Hood " ( launched and christened by Horace ' s widow ) was also named . Apocrypha . The USS " Hood " was mentioned in numerous " Star Trek " novels , e . g . , " " , " Demons of Air and Darkness " , " A Time to Heal " , " Articles of the Federation " , and " A Singular Destiny " . The latter describes the " Hood " as still being in service as of 2381 . According to the Malibu Comics " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " issue # 6 , the " Hood " participated in the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367 . Therefore , she would have been the sole vessel surviving the battle as referenced in . ( Canon sources , however , indicate the surviving vessel was the USS _ Ahwahnee _ ( NCC - 71620 ) ( , " okudagram " ) ) In the TNG PC game " A Final Unity " , if the " Enterprise " was destroyed , a message plays where a Starfleet admiral says that the USS " Hood " had been dispatched to investigate . The USS " Hood " was one of the playable " Excelsior " - class starships in skirmish mode in " " .