There have been a plethora of amazing Federation vessels featured on Star Trek, but these are our top 10 favorites.
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Lists like this are always contentious, but these are our favorite ten Federation ships. Let’s ease into the list with an honorable mention…
Honorable Mention, Enterprise NX
Class: NX-class
Registry: NX-01
Size: 225m
Top Speed: Warp 5.2
Armament: Spatial Torpedoes, Photonic Torpedoes, Phase Cannons, Plasma Artillery
Crew Complement: 83
Launch Date: 2151
Earth’s first warp 5 capable ship only gets an honorable mention on this list because they weren’t part of The Federation of Planets. The Federation was formed in the final episode of Enterprise, as the ship’s mission was coming to a close. This Enterprise is a fine Starfleet vessel, but it’s not a Federation ship.
Next: USS HATHAWAY
10 Hathaway
Class: Constellation
Registry: NCC-2593
Size: 231m
Top Speed: Warp 9
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 520
Active in 2368
We first see the USS Hathaway when she’s 80 years old and ready to be put out to pasture. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season two episode “Peak Performance” Commander William Riker of the Enterprise is tasked with commanding the Hathaway against the Enterprise D in a battle simulation to test the crew’s skill.
The Hathaway is completely outgunned and facing the mighty Federation flag ship commanded by Jean-Luc Picard, yet she holds her own. In fact the Hathaway not only manages to outfox the Enterprise D for a bit, she also manages to get the better of a Ferengi Marauder.
Worf knows why the Hathaway was so mighty…
Next: USS Reliant
9 Reliant
Class: Miranda
Registry: NCC-1864
Size: 246m
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 25-35
Active in 2285
The Reliant was taking part in the Genesis project when Captain Terrell and first officer Checkov beamed down to a planet’s surface to confirm that the planet would make a good test site for Genesis. Then this happened…
Soon the Reliant was under the command of Khan Noonien Singh and it was on.
Next: USS Stargazer
8 Stargazer
Class: Constellation
Registry: NCC-2893
Size: 231m
Top Speed: Warp 9
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 520
Active in 24th Century
The USS Stargazer was the first command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Picard was originally a bridge officer on the Stargazer, but after the captain was killed and the first officer injured he took command. Picard’s crew included Jack Crusher the first husband of Beverly Crusher and the father of Wesley Crusher.
In the Battle of Maxia Picard was able to defeat his opponent, but was also forced to abandon the Stargazer. Later the Ferengi DaiMon Bok discovered the wreck of the Stargazer and used it and a mind control device to try to get revenge on Picard. Bok blamed Picard for the death of his son who was commanding the vessel the Stargazer fought in the Battle of Maxia.
Riker was always there to talk a brainwashed Picard out of things.
7 Excelsior
Class: Excelsior
Registry: NCC-2000
Size: 467m
Top Speed: Warp 9
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 450
Active in 2280’s
The Excelsior was originally designed to be the first Federation ship with transwarp drive. Transwarp, or maximum velocity, was Warp 10. The Excelsior was never able to make warp 10 and failed as a transwarp vessel. That may be for the best however, since warp 10 in Star Trek: Voyager gave us the episode “Threshold”, which is the worst episode in the history of Star Trek.
The Excelsior really started to shine when she got her new captain Hikaru Sulu.
Next: USS Prometheus
6 Prometheus
Class: Prometheus
Registry: NX-59650
Size: 415m
Top Speed: Warp 9.95
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 175
Active in 2370’s
The Prometheus was an experimental ship that included a unique multi-vector assault mode. For a Federation ship it had a very battle first design, much like the USS Defiant.
Ironically the Prometheus’ multi-vector assault mode was first tried out by a group of Romulans that hijacked the vessel.
The Prometheus was a cool idea that like many things on Star Trek: Voyager wasn’t really carried out well. The multi-vector assault is an interesting concept, but it’s actual look and execution on the show were not very impressive. The Prometheus gets to #6 on it’s potential for greatness.
Next: USS Enterprise E
5 Enterprise E
Class: Sovereign
Registry: NCC-1701-E
Size: 685m
Top Speed: Warp 9.7
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes, Quantum Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 855
Active in 2370’s
As we move into the second half of our countdown of great Federation ships we are going from good vessels to truly great vessels.
A year after the destruction of the Enterprise D Jean-Luc Picard took over as captain of the new Sovereign Class Enterprise E. Most of the crew of the Enterprise D including Will Riker, Deanna Troi, Data, Geordi La Forge, and Dr. Beverley Crusher were assigned to the new ship.
The Enterprise E served as the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew’s home for Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis.
The new Enterprise E had many improvements over the older Galaxy Class Enterprise D including more firepower, a warp capable captain’s yacht, an EMS, and a manual steering column. The Enterprise E just never found the same special place in the hearts of Trek fans that the Enterprise D did.
Next: USS Voyager
4 Voyager
Class: Intrepid
Registry: NCC-74656
Size: 344m
Top Speed: Warp 9.975
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes, Quantum Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 140
Active in 2370’s
Voyager as a ship was a breath of fresh air for Star Trek; the design was unique, but still harkened back to the classic Star Trek Federation vessel look.
Another one of our favorite things about Voyager was its size. Voyager was less than half the size of the Galaxy Class vessels. Star Trek had recently seen a trend of bigger and bigger ships, so it was nice to see a smaller ship of exploration. The Defiant was a smaller vessel as well of course, but it had a very different mission…
Next: USS Defiant
3 Defiant
Class: Defiant
Registry: NX-74205
Size: 170m
Top Speed: Warp 9.5
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes, Quantum Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 50
Launched in 2370
The Defiant was created for the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was believed that DS9 needed a ship because the runabout sets were small and cramped. Producers also thought a starship would help DS9 overcome the objections of fans who said it wasn’t a true Star Trek show without a ship.
The Defiant was created to counteract the Borg and unlike other Federation vessels was a true fighting ship. The Defiant wasn’t made for exploration, it was made for battle.
The Defiant was such a fun ship because it was so different. The Defiant was the first Federation ship that could cloak, and we even got to see it laying mines; it was a ship of battle. Star Trek isn’t about battle though, it’s about exploration, so as much as we love the Defiant it couldn’t break into one of the top spots on our list.
Next: USS Enterprise
2 Enterprise
Class: Constitution
Registry: NCC-1701
Size: 305m
Top Speed: Warp 9 at extreme risk
Armament: Phasers, Torpedoes
Crew Complement: 432
Five Year Mission From 2265 to 2270
The ship that started it all, the original USS Enterprise. The original Enterprise set the standard for what all other Federation ships in Star Trek would be. We still love the classic two nacelles and saucer look that this ship passed down.
This is the ship that helped Kirk teach the Klingons a word for surrender.
We obviously couldn’t have a list of Federation vessels and not have the original Enterprise on that list. The real question is, why is the original Enterprise at number two on the list?
We put the original Enterprise at number two not because of what she isn’t, but because of what number one is…
Next: USS Enterprise D
1 Enterprise D
Class: Galaxy
Registry: NCC-1701-D
Size: 642m
Top Speed: Warp 9.8
Armament: Phasers, Photon Torpedoes
Crew Complement: between 1,000 and 6,000
Active in 2350’s
In our opinion the Enterprise D was the perfect Federation starship. The Enterprise D wasn’t built for battle, it was built for exploration and diplomacy and it carried those missions out flawlessly.
The Enterprise D, like much of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a perfected and finely crafted final version of Gene Roddenberry’s vision for the future that he laid out in the original Star Trek series. It was a close call on whether the D or original Enterprise would make the top spot, but in the end the Enterprise D won the day.
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What do you think? What’s your favorite Star Trek Federation vessel? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook.