Highlights
- Starfleet's 23rd century is a crucial period in Star Trek's history, with notable figures like Kirk and Spock making choices that shape the future for centuries.
- The starships of the 23rd century faced diverse challenges, resulting in a range of innovative vessel designs that continue to impact the Star Trek universe.
- From the USS Archer's role in preventing the destruction of a species to the USS Discovery's controversial spore drive, each starship contributes significantly to the lore and legacy of Star Trek.
Star Trek's 23rd century is a key period in the franchise's internal history. Some of Starfleet's most notable figures, such as Kirk, Spock, Burnham, and Pike, operated during this time, and the choices they made had repercussions for centuries to come. This is undoubtedly why modern iterations of Star Trek continue to return to a century first realized in The Original Series.
Yet the Starfleet of any era is nothing without its incredible vessels. The challenges of the 23rd century required a range of different starship designs, from quasi-warships to experimental testbeds. Some of these proved enduring enough to continue in service for decades to come.
8 USS Archer
Presumably named after pioneering space explorer Jonathan Archer, the USS Archer is a single-nacelle starship that plays a prominent role in the first episode of Strange New Worlds. Under the command of Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), the starship visits Kiley 297 in the hope of making first contact with the planet's inhabitants.
Although the mission does not go according to plan, the Archer's voyage to Kiley 297 does lead to the planet choosing to join the Federation. Had it not been for the starship's involvement, the hostilities between various factions on the planet's surface might have resulted in the complete destruction of the Kiley species.
7 USS Cabot
The most iconic aspect of the furry Tribbles (their excessive breeding) is introduced aboard a humble Magee-class starship, the USS Cabot, in the Short Treks episode "The Trouble With Edward."
The newly promoted Captain Lucero takes the Cabot to assist a famine-stricken planet near the Klingon frontier. Despite the good intentions of a scientist working aboard the vessel, plans to engineer the Tribbles into a foodstuff run amok thanks to ill-advised genetic tweaking. The disc-shaped Cabot may be a Federation footnote, but its impact is felt across the galaxy for centuries to come.
6 USS Defiant
"The Tholian Web" is an episode of The Original Series notable for introducing two things to Star Trek's lore: the titular Tholians and the surprisingly prolific USS Defiant. Not to be confused with Deep Space Nine's hero ship, the original Constitution-class USS Defiant encountered by Kirk's Enterprise. Kirk and his crew are powerless to intervene as the Defiant slips through an interphasic rift and is presumably lost.
Despite its apparent destruction, the adventures of the Defiant continue. The rift takes the starship into the Mirror Universe and back in time, where it is discovered by the Mirror versions of Star Trek: Enterprise's heroes. A power struggle over the advanced starship ensues, the impact of which is still being felt by the time of the USS Discovery's visit to the Mirror Universe in 2257.
5 USS Shenzhou
The loss of the short-lived USS Shenzhou in Star Trek: Discovery's pilot episode is perhaps unsurprising: after all, the show is Star Trek: Discovery, not Star Trek: Shenzhou. However, despite its limited screen time, the Shenzhou (named in honor of the real-world Chinese space program) plays a significant role in the Star Trek universe.
The Shenzhou is the first Starfleet vessel to enter the Klingon trap that escalates into the Battle of the Binary Stars. The actions of several of its crew members (particularly first officer Michael Burnham) are instrumental in causing the Federation–Klingon War. Although the conflict is relatively short, diplomatic relations between the two powers would take decades to normalize.
4 USS Reliant
Throughout The Original Series, vessels in the Federation Starfleet were consistently depicted as Constitution-class vessels, matching the design of Kirk's Enterprise. Star Trek's shift to the big screen allowed for the development of new designs, the first of which (the Miranda-class) is used for The Wrath of Khan's USS Reliant.
The Reliant is hijacked by the superhuman Khan and his followers while on a survey mission. Khan is able to use the ship to lure Kirk and the Enterprise into a trap, where he hopes to have his revenge on the captain. Reliant gains the upper hand in the ships' initial engagement, earning a place in the history books as a ship that nearly bested Kirk.
3 USS Excelsior
The Excelsior-class starship is, at first, something of a joke in the Star Trek universe. Introduced in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, it is meant to represent a new generation of starship design, far beyond the aging Enterprise. However, when Kirk and friends steal the Enterprise, an attempt by the Excelsior to capture the ship ends in failure, as its experimental transwarp drive has malfunctioned.
Despite this upset, the Excelsior is able to redeem itself in subsequent stories. Under the command of Captain Sulu, it comes to the aid of the stricken Enterprise-A in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, saving the vessel from certain destruction. It even appears on the smaller screen in Voyager and Picard.
2 USS Discovery
The USS Discovery is among Star Trek's most divisive starships, due in part to its canon-busting method of propulsion. In addition to its conventional warp drive, the ship utilizes a top-secret spore drive, capable of teleporting the ship instantly around the galaxy. Many fans have asked why the USS Voyager never tried this tech while stranded in the Delta Quadrant, while some consider it anachronistic for the 23rd century.
Controversy aside, the Crossfield-class starship has a storied history. It plays a key role in the Federation Klingon War, voyages to the Mirror Universe, and then travels hundreds of years into the future, where it continues to serve the Federation's interests. The USS Discovery may be an unorthodox design, but its contributions to Star Trek's lore are clear to see.
1 USS Enterprise
Of all the vessels in Starfleet service, the Enterprise stands out. This is not only true in the real world, where even casual viewers are likely to recognize the ship, but also in terms of the Star Trek saga. The Constitution-class USS Enterprise is the first Federation vessel to bear the name (the Enterprise NX-01 predates the state) and boldly goes where no starship has gone before.
As legendary as the starship itself are the men and women who served aboard her: Kirk, Spock, Pike, and Uhura, to name but a few. The Enterprise is the Federation's key asset throughout The Original Series and the early Star Trek movies, and its appearances in recent shows are more than simply pandering—they are the continuation of an epic legacy.