USS Mekong

The USS Mekong (NCC-72617) was a 24th century Federation runabout operated by Starfleet. This ship, a replacement for the , was assigned to Deep Space 9. 
In 2370, the Mekong pursued the which was being piloted by a replicant of created by the Paradan Government. ()
Lieutenant Jadzia Dax takes a Trill initiate Arjin on a trip through the wormhole and back in the Mekong. During the flight, the runabout ran through a subspace interphase pocket. The runabout's starboard nacelle snagged a piece of what was first referred to as "subspace seaweed" but was later discovered to be a protouniverse. ()
Later in the same year, the Mekong, the Rio Grande, and the fought two Maquis ships in an attack at the Bryma Colony. ()
In late-2370, the Mekong was fitted with additional photon torpedoes and accompanied the into the Gamma Quadrant in an attempt to rescue Commander Benjamin Sisko, then a prisoner of the Dominion. ()
In 2371, returning from consultations at Prophet's Landing, Major Kira Nerys and Odo detected a Maquis attack in progress. They pursued the attacking ship in the Mekong but due to prevailing conditions, the pursuit took them down to the surface of a moon with an atmosphere that was impenetrable to the runabout's sensors. ()
Later in the same year, Odo and Elim Garak took the Mekong to the Unefra system in search of Enabran Tain. () They located him, but were subsequently captured by the warbird commanded by and Tain, and sequestered in the warbird's shuttlebay on "E" Deck, Section 25. The runabout was then carried into the Gamma Quadrant. The Mekong was abandoned after Odo and Garak, attempting to escape the Battle of the Omarion Nebula, were beamed aboard the . At the time, the Mekongs warp drive and shields were offline, and main power was failing. () 
Not long after the loss of the Mekong, Deep Space 9 was assigned a new runabout, the . ()
== Appendices ==
=== Appearances ===
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=== Background information ===
The listed two registries for this runabout: NCC-72617 in the main entry and NCC-72917 in the starship chart. The registry was seen briefly, in an okudagram in . The Encyclopedia also noted that the ship was named after the eponymous in southeast Asia that flows south to the . (3rd ed., pp. 296, 473) In the latest Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 332), NCC-72917 was changed in the chart to NCC-72617.
Also according to the , the Mekong was destroyed in the aftermath of the battle in 2371.
The Mekong was originally referenced in the script of , but its name was replaced as the in the completed episode.
=== External link ===
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Mekong