USS Enterprise-A

Vessel Name:	USS Enterprise
Registry:	NCC-1701-A
Starship Class:	Constitution Refit (Enterprise II Sub-class)
Starship Type:	Heavy Cruiser
Status:	In-Active
Purpose:	Exploration
Constructed:	San Francisco Fleet Yards
Commissioned:	2286
Dedication:	”To Boldly Go, Where No One Has Gone Before"
Dimensions:	Length: 950 ft Height: 231.7 ft
Mass:	820,000 metric tons
Decks:	23
Standard Crew Complement	428
Maximum Cruising Speed	Warp Factor 8.1 Warp Factor 9.5 for 12hrs
Standard Cruising Speed	Warp Factor 6.0
Armaments:	Main Phasers – 18 Type VII Phasers Torpedo Launchers – 2 Standard Tubes
Defenses:	Deflector Shield Duranium Hull composite
Auxiliary Craft
Design:	Alex Jaeger
3D Model:	Thomas Marrone, Cryptic Studios, CBS Paramount'

Overview

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) was a Constitution-class vessel operated by Starfleet in the 23rd century. It was the second Federation starship to bear the name Enterprise. After the Enterprise-A was decommissioned and mothballed, it was succeeded by the USS Enterprise-B.

Shakedown

In 2286, the Enterprise-A was commissioned at the San Francisco Fleet Yards on Stardate 8442.5. It was launched from Spacedock on the order of the Federation Council in appreciation of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew's efforts to prevent the Whale Probe from devastating Earth. The crew initially thought they were going to be assigned to a "freighter" at best, according to Leonard McCoy or the USS Excelsior, but the new Enterprise was soon revealed, docked next to the Excelsior. The crew took their stations and the Enterprise left Spacedock on a shakedown cruise.

The shakedown did not proceed as planned, and the Enterprise limped back to Spacedock for several weeks of repair under the supervision of Captain Montgomery Scott. Although its warp drive was working perfectly, half the doors on the ship were malfunctioning and several control interfaces did not work. The transporter was also nonfunctional, requiring shuttles to be used for off-ship missions.

Sybok and Sha Ka Ree

Before the repairs were complete, the Enterprise was called into duty in order to intervene in a kidnapping situation on Nimbus III. The ship was subsequently commandeered by the rogue Vulcan Sybok, who ordered it to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in order to pursue the mythical Sha Ka Ree. During the return of Sybok to the ship aboard the Galileo, Commander Hikaru Sulu was forced to crash the shuttle into the Enterprise landing bay as the ship was pursued by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, commanded by Klaa, and there was no time to use the tractor beam for a safe entrance. The Bird-of-Prey then followed the Enterprise to the center of the galaxy.

The crew was too involved with Sybok's visit to the planetoid found there and did not notice the Klingon vessel enter sensor range. The Bird-of-Prey caught the Enterprise off-guard and disabled it before it had a chance to retaliate. However, Klingon ambassador Korrd, rescued from Nimbus III, relieved Captain Klaa and ordered the Bird-of-Prey to stand down. The Klingon crew was later invited to a reception following the return of the Enterprise to Kirk's control and the discovery that Sha Ka Ree was a myth. The brig was also damaged during the mission, as Captain Scott blew a hole in the back wall to free Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy.

Spock also kept a picture of himself and his friends taken on the bridge of the Enterprise-A from this time for the next century until his death in 2263 of the alternate reality.

Sometime after the mission to Sha Ka Ree, Commander Sulu transferred off the Enterprise-A, as he was promoted to Captain and be given command of the USS Excelsior.

Final Voyage

In 2293, the Enterprise-A was due to be retired along with most of its command crew. However, it was pressed back into service for one last mission as an escort for Klingon chancellor Gorkon during the initial stages of the Khitomer Accords. The ship rendezvoused with the Klingon flagship, Kronos One, and was to follow it to Earth. Unfortunately, a joint Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan conspiracy had an operative, Lieutenant Valeris, aboard the ship. Valeris participated in a plan to implicate the Enterprise and Captain Kirk as rogue assailants in Gorkon's murder, with the goal of derailing the peace process. The Enterprise appeared to fire two photon torpedoes at Kronos One, temporarily disabling its propulsion and gravity systems. Amid the chaos two space-suited Starfleet crew members, Burke and Samno, beamed aboard, assassinating Gorkon. Valeris altered the ship's records to make it seem as if two torpedoes had been fired. The torpedoes actually came from a cloaked prototype Bird-of-Prey directly below the Enterprise, which had been modified to fire while cloaked.

Kirk and Dr. McCoy were arrested and tried for the murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment on the penal colony Rura Penthe. Valeris also provided Kirk's log entries from the Enterprise to the Klingon co-conspirators to further implicate Kirk. The Enterprise was ordered back to Earth, but Spock ignored orders and initiated an investigation aboard the ship. He discovered evidence which linked Valeris to the conspiracy, despite her best efforts to sabotage the investigation. The Enterprise then entered Klingon space, masquerading as the freighter Ursva and rescued Kirk and McCoy. Spock mind melded with Valeris and learned more about the conspiracy, including details of the Bird-of-Prey and names of those involved. Captain Sulu aboard the USS Excelsior provided Kirk with the new location of the peace conference, and the two ships warped to Khitomer in order to prevent a second assassination of the Federation President and the new Klingon chancellor, Azetbur.

The Hull Breached

General Chang was waiting in orbit with his Bird-of-Prey, however, and the Enterprise was attacked upon arrival. The starship was seriously damaged and suffered a hull breach through its saucer section. The Excelsior, too, was helpless against the cloaked ship. Fortunately, Spock, McCoy, and Uhura devised a plan to use a photon torpedo equipped with sensors capable of tracking ionization from the Bird-of-Prey's impulse engines. It successfully hit Chang's vessel, knocking it out of the cloak and leaving it vulnerable to further torpedo volleys from the Enterprise and the Excelsior. Following the destruction of the Bird-of-Prey, Enterprise and Excelsior crew beamed down to the Khitomer Conference and apprehended the conspirators, preventing the assassination.

"Second star to the right… and straight on 'til morning"

Following the Khitomer mission, the Enterprise was ordered by Starfleet Command to return to spacedock to be decommissioned. Captain Kirk ordered the ship on course to the "second star to the right... and straight on 'til morning." Kirk later recorded in his log that this was the final cruise of the starship Enterprise under his command, commenting, "This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man – where no one – has gone before."

The next USS Enterprise, the refit Excelsior-class USS Enterprise-B, was launched later that year. The Enterprise-A remained mothballed as of 2294.

Disclaimer Notice

Information from Memory Alpha to flesh out the Starship.