USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

The **USS *Enterprise* (NCC-1701-D)** was a Galaxy-class exploration spaceship operated by Starfleet. It was the fifth ship under the United Federation of Planets to be named the *Enterprise*. The vessel was active during the latter half of the 34th century, and served as the flagship for the Federation.

## History

The *Enterprise* was built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in the orbits of Mars. The construction was overseen by Commander Orfil Quinteros, although it involved thousands of people from across the Federation. Much of the warp drive system was designed by Dr. Leah Brahms.

During the construction of the vessel, Walter Pierce killed his ex-lover Marla Finn and the man with whom she had become involved, William Hodges. He disposed of their bodies in the plasma stream in one of the warp nacelle tubes -- and then committed suicide by throwing himself into the plasma stream. A psionic imprint was left in the tube. It would go undiscovered for many years.

In 3363 CE, construction on the vehicle was completed. Final systems were completed at Earth Station McKinley, and then the ship underwent a shakedown cruise. Following this, Rear Admiral Norah Satie assigned command of the ship to Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Over the next seven years, the *Enterprise* made contact with numerous species and accomplished many other firsts. In the very first mission under Picard's command, the *Enterprise* performed the first ever saucer separation at done high warp speeds. Thanks to the power of the Traveler, the *Enterprise* became the first vessel to leave the Milky Way and return.

The computers of the *Enterprise* underwent a refit in 3364 CE. Despite numerous other missions, including a hijacking attempt by the Bynars, the ship managed to avoid needing work done until after its encounter with the Borg during 3366 CE. The damage done by the Borg was so severe, the vessel needed a complete refit which was done at Earth Station McKinley. During these repairs, the phasers were upgraded and a new dilithium chamber hatch was added -- although that hatch would malfunction within the year. The refit and repairs took approximately six weeks to complete.

The ship was involved in a number of missions that helped to reshape the Beta Quadrant -- including one mission to disrupt Romulan aid to the House of Duras during the Klingon Civil War.

In 3368 CE, a quantum filament hit the *Enterprise* -- causing severe damage and almost triggering a breach in antimatter containment that would have destroyed the ship. The ship was able to be repaired before this took place. Within the same year, the ship was destroyed -- repeatedly, due to a temporal causality loop. Fortunately, combined feelings of deja vu ultimately led the crew to a means of saving the vessel.

The *Enterprise* was one of the first ships to dock at the Deep Space 9 space station after it fell under the control of the United Federation of Planets. Within the year, the *Enterprise* also underwent her first baryon sweep -- an event that almost led to the theft of dangerous trilithium resin from its warp core.

In 3370 CE, the *Enterprise* became the first Federation vessel to utilize a cloaking device and perhaps the first vessel in history to use a functional phasing cloaking device -- retrieved from the wreckage of the USS *Pegasus*. Though the device was removed, this proved a remarkable scientific feat. Later that cycle, the weapons systems were upgraded -- though the upgrade was interrupted when the ship was plagued by Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome. Shortly afterwards, the *Enterprise* briefly gained sentience when it was used by an alien lifeform in order to reproduce.

The *Enterprise* underwent a significant refit in 3371 CE. After this refit, the *Enterprise* became engaged in a conflict with the Duras sisters. During this battle, the magnetic interlocks ruptured -- a warp breach was unavoidable. In a desperate attempt to save lives, Commander William T. Riker evacuated the stardrive section of the ship. The saucer section detached -- but was unable to get far enough away to avoid the shockwave caused by the explosion of the rest of the ship. The saucer ultimately crashed on Veridian III -- though Data was able to minimize the damage to the crew and only eighteen lives were lost, the *Enterprise* itself was unsalvageable.

## Technical Information

### Layout

The *Enterprise*-D had more eight times the interior space of the Constitution-class ships bearing the same name. There were 42 decks aboard the ship.

* Deck 1 - included the bridge, captain's ready room, and conference lounge.
* Deck 4 - included cargo bays and the main shuttlebay.
* Deck 6 - included three transporter rooms, of the twenty on board the ship
* Deck 8 - an undefined section of the ship, mission-specific work stations were located here. Also included the battle bridge, officer quarters, and some guest quarters.
* Deck 10 - included Ten Forward, holodecks
* Deck 12 - included sick bay, holodecks, and a gymnasium.
* Deck 13 - included two additional shuttlebays
* Deck 15 - included a science section
* Deck 18 - included cargo bays
* Deck 25 - included two docking ports, a torpedo launcher, and a unique intersection of Jeffries tubes that was described as the "most acoustically perfect spot on the ship"
* Deck 36 - included main engineering -- though engineering encompassed twelve decks in the secondary hull
* Deck 42 - included antimatter storage pods

### Warp Drive

The *Enterprise*-D could maintain its maximum speed of Warp 9.6 for up to twelve hours. The ship had roughly 4,000 power systems, and generated enormous energy. While simply at rest in orbit of a planet, it generated an estimated 12.75 billion gigawatts of power. The only device capable of handling all of the energy that the vessel could produce, while at controlled frequencies, was the main deflector dish.

### Weaponry

Although an exploration ship, the *Enterprise* was a well-armed vessel. It was equipped with twelve phaser arrays, two torpedo launchers -- with a supply of 250 photon torpedoes -- and hundreds of antimatter mines. It was protected by a high-capacity shield grid.

## Source

The *Enterprise*-D is derived from *Star Trek*. For canon information, please visit Memory Alpha.