Class Constitution Defenses Deflector shields | Registry NCC-1701-A Length 305 m | |
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Affiliation United Federation of Planets
Starfleet Armaments Photon torpedoes
Phasers Propulsion Impulse engines
Warp drive First appearance Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | ||
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) (or Enterprise-A, to distinguish it from prior and later starships with the same name) is a starship in the fourth, fifth, sixth films of the Roddenberry era and later in the alternative timeline film Star Trek Beyond.
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Origin and design
Enterprise-A used the same shooting model as the preceding NCC-1701. When first unveiled in the concluding sequences of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the main hull numbers are changed to NCC-1701-A.
The existing Enterprise sets from the first through fourth films were re-dressed for use on Star Trek: The Next Generation; some of these Next Generation sets were reused for subsequent Enterprise film appearances, while others (such as the bridge) were newly built.
On October 5–7, 2006, Christie's auctioned off many of the props used in the Star Trek films and TV shows. In that auction the model of Enterprise-A used for the films was sold for $240,000.
Depiction
The Constitution-class starship Enterprise-A was commissioned in 2286, at the end of the events depicted in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It is the second Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise (although the ship in the prequel television series Star Trek: Enterprise had the same name and preceded both the NCC-1701 and 1701-A, that series took place before the formation of the United Federation of Planets). While the ship's history before its recommissioning as Enterprise has never been officially stated, several non-canon sources (such as the AMT/Ertl Model kit documentation) have claimed it to formerly be USS Yorktown (NCC-1717); others cite it as the newly built (but not yet commissioned) former USS Ti-Ho (NCC-1798), or the also newly built USS Atlantis. The ship is placed under the command of newly demoted Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) as "punishment" for his and his crew's actions in the rescue of Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. It replaces the original Enterprise (NCC-1701), destroyed in Star Trek III. Though outwardly identical to its refitted and updated predecessor, in its debut, the new ship is beset with teething problems and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott and Commander Uhura are shown making numerous repairs and reconfigurations to the new ship before deployment.
In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the ship is dispatched to rescue hostages on Nimbus III. The Vulcan renegade Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) and his followers hijack the ship and take it to a planet at the center of the galaxy, where Kirk and his crew eventually regain control of the ship. Several novels and comics explore the six-year period between the fifth and sixth films. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Enterprise escorts Klingon chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to a peace summit on Earth. The renegade Klingon general Chang (Christopher Plummer), assisted by traitors aboard Enterprise, makes it appear that Enterprise had fired on the chancellor's vessel. The Klingons take Kirk and Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) prisoner; Spock and Enterprise crew disregard Starfleet orders and instead rescue Kirk and McCoy. Enterprise encounters and, with aid from USS Excelsior, destroys Chang's ship, and the crew protects the Federation President from an assassination attempt. The film concludes with Starfleet ordering a return to Spacedock to be decommissioned, an order which Kirk and the crew gleefully disregard.
There is no canon information about the ship's fate beyond Star Trek VI. In the epilogue of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Uhura had stated they received a communication from Starfleet Command that ordered Enterprise to report to space dock to be decommissioned. However, she may have been speaking only of the ship's original crew members as Captain James T. Kirk previously stated his crew was due to stand down in three months, while Spock noted this would be his last voyage on Enterprise as a member of her crew; and Captain Kirk states in his closing log entry the ship "will become the care of another crew," but no further information is given. Documentation provided with the Bandai model states that the ship was displayed in the Starfleet Museum at Memory Alpha. According to the non-canon novel The Ashes of Eden, written by William Shatner, Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Androvar Drake orders Enterprise-A decommissioned and destroyed during war games and weapons testing, but the Chal government intervenes. Ultimately, Enterprise is destroyed to prevent Drake's completion of a disastrous personal agenda.
Kelvin timeline
Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) was already under construction at the time of its predecessor's arrival at Star base Yorktown. Following the destruction of its predecessor, its crew was reassigned to the NCC-1701-A after its completion.
A new design for Enterprise NCC-1701-A appears in Star Trek Beyond, designed by Sean Hargreaves. Hargreaves, who also designed the swarm ships and USS Franklin for the film, stated that he was given the brief to "beef up the neck and arms" on the Ryan Church design, but went further to give the ship echoes of Matt Jeffries' original design.