USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)

For other starships with this name, see Starship Enterprise.

USS Enterprise

The USS Enterprise-A
First appearance	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Affiliation	United Federation of Planets Starfleet
Launched	2286
Decommissioned	2293
General characteristics
Class	Constitution
Registry	NCC-1701-A
Auxiliary craft	Shuttlecraft
Armaments	Photon torpedoes Phasers
Defenses	Deflector shields
Propulsion	Impulse engines Warp drive

The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A (or Enterprise-A) is a starship in the fourth, fifth, and sixth Star Trek films.

Origin and design

See also: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)#Origin and design

The Enterprise-A used the same shooting model as the preceding NCC-1701. When first unveiled in the concluding sequences of Star Trek IV, the main hull numbers are changed to NCC-1701-A, but the smaller hull numbers on the side of the lower part of the model still read NCC-1701, an oversight by the effects crew.

The existing Enterprise sets from the first through fourth films were redressed for use on Star Trek: The Next Generation; some of these Next Generation sets were reused for subsequent Enterprise film appearances, while others were built new.

On October 5, 6 and 7th of 2006 Christie's auctioned off many of the props used in the Star Trek films and TV shows. In that auction the model of the USS 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. While the ship's history prior to its recommissioning as Enterprise has never been officially stated, several non-canon sources (Such as the AMT/Ertl Model kit documentation ^[1]) have claimed it to formerly be the USS Yorktown (NCC-1717); others cite it as the former USS Ti-Ho (NCC-1798).^[2] 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 USS 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 Scott and Commander Uhura are shown making numerous repairs and reconfigurations to the new ship before deployment.

Replica of the Enterprise-A in Vulcan, Alberta

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, the Enterprise escorts Klingon chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to a peace summit on Earth. The renegade Klingon general Chang (Christopher Plummer), assisted by traitors aboard the Enterprise, makes it appear that the Enterprise had fired on the chancellor's vessel. The Klingons take Kirk and Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) prisoner; Spock and the Enterprise crew disregard Starfleet orders and instead rescue Kirk and McCoy. The Enterprise encounters and, with aid from the USS Excelsior, destroys Chang's ship, and the crew protects the Federation President from an assassination attempt. The film concludes with Starfleet ordering the ship to 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, Uhura had stated they received a communication from Starfleet Command that ordered the Enterprise to report to space dock to be decommissioned; and Captain Kirk states that 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 novel The Ashes of Eden, written by William Shatner, Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Androvar Drake orders the Enterprise-A decommissioned and destroyed during war games and weapons testing, but the Chal government intervenes. Ultimately, the Enterprise is destroyed to prevent Drake's completion of a disastrous personal agenda.

References

1. ^ AMT/ERTL USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A and Suttle Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Model Kit, 1991, AMT 8617 
2. ^ Johnson, Shane (1987). Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671704982. 

External links

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Spacecraft named Enterprise
NASA Space Shuttle (1976–1985) • Virgin Space Ship (2009—) • Star Trek starships (Fictional)