Highlights
- Star Trek explores a wide area of space and a long period of time, showcasing various alien civilizations and iconic vessels.
- Mirror Universe episodes provide a glimpse of a totalitarian regime, like the Terran Empire, with the ISS Enterprise as its powerful ship.
- The Borg Cube is an imposing starship with a geometric shape, capable of destroying a flotilla of Federation starships and posing a significant threat.
Although Star Trek's United Federation of Planets spans the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, many alien civilizations exist beyond it. Some, like the devious Romulan Star Empire, are antagonistic towards the Federation, while the motivations of others are more ambiguous.
Star Trek's stories cover not only a wide area of space but also a long period of time. Star Trek: First Contact gave viewers a glimpse of pre-warp Earth, while the more recent Star Trek: Discovery has taken the franchise further into the future than ever before. This multi-century canvas is, naturally, home to as many iconic vessels from outside the Federation as there are within it.
8 ISS Enterprise
Star Trek's Mirror Universe Episodes provide a view of what the Federation would look like as a totalitarian regime: the Terran Empire. The idea has proved surprisingly popular, with many entries in the franchise making sojourns into this alternate dimension. Just as the utopian Federation has a mighty fleet of ships, so too does the Terran Empire, including the ISS Enterprise.
Although the ISS Enterprise has much in common with its Federation counterpart, there are some key distinctions. Perhaps the most significant is the installation of agony booths throughout the ship. These torture devices are used to keep the crew in line, although officers still make frequent attempts to assassinate their superiors.
7 Tholian Ship
Although the enigmatic Tholians have made only a handful of appearances throughout the Star Trek franchise, the species remains a memorable threat. This is partly due to their strange, crystalline physique and also to their arrowhead-like ships, which imperil the Starship Enterprise during The Original Series episode "The Tholian Web."
As well as possessing conventional weapons, the Tholian ships have the ability to spin a literal web of energy in space, thereby trapping a starship. This tactic makes them an especially interesting foe, and one which the franchise should further explore, perhaps in The Original Series-inspired Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
6 USS Dauntless
One of the many lessons of Star Trek is not to judge by appearances. This is demonstrated in episodes of The Original Series (like "The Devil in the Dark," in which the apparently monstrous Horta turns out to be a mother protecting its young) and Star Trek: Voyager. In Voyager's "Hope and Fear," the crew of the stranded starship discover the USS Dauntless, an apparently Federation vessel that might hold the key to their journey home.
However, while the Dauntless resembles a Federation ship, it is in fact a trap devised by a vengeful alien, Arturis. The alien blames the crew of Voyager for his people's suffering at the hands of the Borg. Despite his intricate deception, Arturis's plan is foiled, allowing the real Federation ship to continue its homeward journey.
5 HMS Bounty
Although Captain Kirk is often remembered for his struggles against the Klingons, one of the Starfleet legend's greatest achievements involved a stolen Klingon vessel, which the crew of the Enterprise renamed the HMS Bounty. The name was chosen in reference to a historical ship of the same name, the crew of which had also mutinied.
In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the Bounty plays a key role in resolving the Whale Probe crisis of 2286. Following its time-bending journey to the 1980s, the ship was moved to the Athan Prime Fleet Museum, as seen in Star Trek: Picard.
4 SS Botany Bay
When the Eugenics Wars between the genetically enhanced followers of Khan Noonien Singh and the rest of humanity resulted in the former's defeat, Khan and his followers fled the planet aboard the Botany Bay, a DY-100-class vessel. The augments remained aboard the ship for hundreds of years until it was discovered by the USS Enterprise in 2267.
Following the initial confrontation between Khan and Captain Kirk, the Botany Bay was sent to Ceti Alpha V, where it was rediscovered by Pavel Chekov and the crew of the USS Reliant in 2285. By then, the ship appeared to be a wreck, and Khan and his followers seized control of the Reliant in order to seek their revenge on Kirk.
3 Enterprise NX-01
Although the name 'Enterprise' is commonly associated with the United Federation of Planets, the first starship to bear the designation actually predates the founding of this alliance. However, although Jonathan Archer's Enterprise NX-01 did not serve the Federation, it did play a key role in its creation.
Archer's voyages, depicted in the prequel series Star: Trek Enterprise, see a fledgling humanity take its first steps out into the galaxy. Along the way, he and his crew encounter Andorians, Vulcans, and many other Alpha Quadrant civilizations. Although it is not technically a Federation starship, Archer's Enterprise demonstrates many of the alliance's values, securing its place in the history book.
2 Borg Cube
First seen during The Next Generation's second season, the imposing Borg cube soon became an iconic part of the franchise. While this legendary status may be partly attributed to the Borg themselves, the impact of the starship's design should not be discounted. Like the uncanny Monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Borg cube inspires a sense of deep unease through its uncannily geometric shape.
Nor are the technical capabilities of this starship to be discounted. A single Borg cube destroys a flotilla of Federation starships at the Battle of Wolf 359, and although the species is increasingly neutered throughout Star Trek: Voyager, their presence in the Delta Quadrant nonetheless poses a significant threat to Captain Janeway and her crew.
1 The Phoenix
While a version of legendary scientist Zefram Cochrane first appeared in 1967's "Metamorphosis," fans would have to wait nearly thirty years to see the craft that made Cochrane famous: the Phoenix. This vessel, which appeared in Star Trek: First Contact, was the first Earth ship to break the warp barrier, attracting the attention of the Vulcans and prompting the first official meeting between aliens and humans.
Constructed in the aftermath of Earth's World War Three, the Phoenix was built around a nuclear missile. The Phoenix's role in creating the broadly peaceful Federation demonstrated that even the most destructive technology can be reconfigured for benevolent purposes, paving the way for the mighty ships of Starfleet.