USS Excalibur (NCC-26517)

The USS Excalibur (NCC-26517) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet.
==History==
In 2368, the Excalibur was put in for repairs at Starbase 234, and much of the ship's crew was reassigned. Later that year, the ship was selected for a mission into Klingon territory. The mission commander, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, selected Commander William T. Riker as the ship's commander. His first officer was Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge.
In the mission, the Excalibur joined Picard's fleet which blockaded 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 . 
A plan was hatched by Picard, which he hoped would lure the Romulans through the detection grid. When Gowron launched a full attack against the forces of the House of Duras, the Romulan ships would rush to their aid. During this, the Excalibur would fall back with feigned engine troubles, taking the and the . In doing so, this would open up a small gap in the detection net for the Romulans to attempt to pass through. As their ships passed through the gap, the Enterprise-D and the would swing around, close the gap, and catch the Romulans in the act.
The plan was foiled when the network was disrupted by a high-energy burst released by the Romulans, the net was no longer effective in a of ten million kilometers around the . Subsequently, Picard ordered the fleet to proceed to Gamma Eridon at maximum warp, where the fleet attempted to reestablish the net before the Romulans got there. ()
Sometime in the 2360s, the Excalibur survived an attack by the Borg during a night shift. Several members of the crew, including Marika Wilkarah, were assimilated in the encounter. ()
==Excalibur personnel==
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
The Excalibur was long thought to be a reuse of the studio model with the modifications introduced on the . It is now known that there were multiple studio models in use at the time. New footage of the Excalibur was briefly seen as the fleet departed for the Klingon border; however, some stock footage from was also reused. 
The registration number on the warp nacelles of the studio model for the USS Excalibur is NCC-26510, which is that of the . 
The short scene on the Excalibur bridge was filmed on Tuesday on Paramount Stage 8.
According to the , the Excalibur was attacked by the Borg in 2368.
=== Apocrypha ===
====Books====
The Excalibur became the star ship of Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier series and was later destroyed and replaced with a new starship . Captain , a former crewmate of Captain Picard's from his days on the , was mentioned as having commanded the Excalibur for many years in Michael Jan Friedman's novel . It was then commanded by Captain just before the start of the New Frontier series. Korsmo was an old Academy classmate of Picard, but he was killed fighting the Borg during the Battle of Sector 001. Following the vessel's refit, command of the Excalibur was given to Captain .
====Games====
The USS Excalibur was available in a Booster Pack for the Customizable Disk Game Star Trek: Red Alert! by Last Unicorn Games.
=== External link ===
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Excalibur, USS, 26517