WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2!
Summary
Some ofStar Trek’s most famous starships were built on Earth instead of in space. Iconic starships likethe USS Enterprise-D, the USS Defiant, and the USS Voyager were all built at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars, but this is only one wing of Starfleet’s extensive shipbuilding facilities. From as far back as the 22nd century, starships have also been built on Earth, where they were launched from the San Francisco Shipyards. Threeversions of the starship Enterprisewere launched from San Francisco, alongside other legendary ships from the history of Starfleet.
Star Trek: Prodigyhas revealed that the San Francisco Fleet Yards are still active, and are located further along the Bay, near Starfleet Academy. Following the devastatingAttack on Marsthat destroyed the Utopia Planitia Shipyards,San Francisco is now a vitally important location for rebuilding Starfleet’s armada in the late 24th century.Prodigy’s season 2 finale revealed the first ship to be launched from Earth post-First Contact Day, and it joins a long list of legendary starships to be built in San Francisco.
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11USS Franklin from Star Trek Beyond
Launched sometime before 2151.
The USS Franklin was a contemporary of the Enterprise NX-01 fromStar Trek: Enterprise, being launced from the San Francisco Fleet Yards at some point prior to 2151. Commanded by Captain Balthazar Edison (Idris Elba),the USS Franklin served during the Xindi Crisis and the Earth-Romulan War before going missing in 2164. The Franklin played a vital role inStar Trek Beyond, as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the USS Enterprise had to resurrect the 22nd century starship to save the Yorktown from Krall (Idris Elba), launching it from the surface of the planet Altamid.
10USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series
Launched from San Francisco in 2245.
The most famous starship to have been built at the San Francisco Shipyards is the USS Enterprise, commanded by Captains Robert April (Adrian Holmes), Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and James T. Kirk (William Shatner). The Enterprise’s dedication plaque, glimpsed inStar Trek: The Original Series,dates the ship’s launch year to 2245. The Enterprise was in active service between 2245 and 2285, becoming the most-storied Starfleet ship in its history. TheEnterprise was destroyedinStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, when Kirk initiated the self-destruct sequence to kill a hostile Klingon landing party.
9USS Shenzhou from Star Trek: Discovery
Launched from the San Francisco Shipyards before 2249.
The Walker-class USS Shenzhou was built at the San Francisco Shipyards, and commanded by Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). It’s unclear when exactly the Shenzhou was launched from Earth, but in 2249, Georgiou told Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) that the ship was “old, but she gets us where we need to go.“The Shenzhou went down in history as the starship that started the Federation-Klingon War, when it engaged T’Kuvma’s Sarcophagus. The Shenzhou was disabled in the offensive, and the crew abandoned ship in 2256, leaving it to drift in space.
The USS Shenzhou is likely named after the 20th century Chinese space shuttle, and roughly translates as “divine vessel”.
8USS Discovery from Star Trek: Discovery
Launched from San Francisco in 2256.
TheUSS Discovery was built on Earthand launched around November 2256, commanded by Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).Star Trek: Discovery’s hero ship was unique because it had a revolutionary spore drive which provided a faster alternative to warp speed.The USS Discovery’s spore drive would have been fitted during construction in San Francisco, as the Crossfield-class science vessel was tasked with field-testing the new technology. Following the Control crisis, the USS Discovery was considered lost with all hands, and all information about the ship, its crew, and the spore drive became classified.
7The USS Enterprise from the Kelvin Timeline
Launched from San Francisco Shipyards in 2258.
The Kelvin Timeline’s USS Enterprise was largely constructed at the Riverside Shipyard in Iowain J.J. Abrams' 2009Star Trekreboot. However, the starship’s dedication plaque states that the alternate starship Enterprise was launched from San Francisco Shipyards in 2258. The Enterprise inStar Trek’s"Narada Incursion” timelinelaunched 13 years later than its prime universe counterpart, due to the ramifications of the destruction of the USS Kelvin. Commanded by Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) and then Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), the Enterprise defeated Nero, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and Section 31 before being destroyed over Altamid in 2263.
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6The USS Excelsior from Star Trek III - VI
Launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2285
Commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei),the USS Exclesior was launched from the San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2285, judging by the dedication plaque glimpsed inStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It’s unclear if this plaque commemorates the failed attempt to stop Kirk, Sulu and the rest of theStar Trek: The Original Seriescrewfrom stealing the USS Enterprise, or a later, more successful flight later in 2285. While the great transwarp experiment was a dud, the USS Excelsior became a design classic, and Starfleet continued to build Exclesior-class starships into the 24th century.
The USS Enterprise-B, commanded by Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck) inStar Trek Generations, was an Excelsior-class starship.
5The USS Enterprise-A from Star Trek IV - VI
Launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2286.
Clearly, the Enterprise-A was transferred from the San Francisco Fleet Yards to Spacedock One prematurely.Star Trek V: The Final Frontierrevealed that Captain Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) had to oversee several weeks of repairs after a disastrous shakedown cruise. It was hard not to think that the Enterprise-A’s flaws were a punishment for Kirk and the crew for destroying its predecessor. The Enterprise-A facedSpock’s evil brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill)and the Khitomer Conspiracy before being decommissioned in 2293. The Enterprise-A is now stored in the Athan Prime Fleet Museum, overseen by Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
4The USS Stargazer in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2326.
The USS Stargazer was the first starship to be commanded byStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). When Picard was reunited with the Stargazer inTNGseason 1, episode 9, “The Battle”, the dedication plaque confirmed that the ship was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards. Picard served aboard the Stargazer from 2333 until 2355, when the ship was lost in a battle with the Ferengi. The Battle of Maxia earned Picard a place in the Starfleet history books for originating his ownstarship captain maneuver, and a severe court-martial, though he was eventually absolved of all charges.
3USS Sutherland from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2367.
InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 5, episode 1, “Redemption, Part II”, Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is placed in command of the USS Sutherland. The Sutherland was also constructed at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, and was launched in 2367.Data was placed in temporary command of the USS Sutherland during the Klingon Civil War. While commanding the Sutherland, Data faced prejudice from his first officer, Lieutenant Christopher Hobson (Timothy Carhart), who was uncomfortable taking orders from an android. Despite this, the Sutherland played a vital role in exposing the Romulans' role in orchestrating the civil unrest on theKlingon home world.
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2USS Enterprise-E from Star Trek: First Contact - Star Trek: Nemesis
Launched from San Francisco Fleet Yards in 2372.
After the USS Enterprise-D was destroyed on Veridian III at the climax ofStar Trek Generations, the Federation required a replacement flagship. As per the dedication plaque inStar Trek: First Contact,the USS Enterprise-E was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards and launched in 2372. This rapid turnaround was explained byFirst Contact’s co-writer, Ronald D. Moore in a1998 AOL chat, read Moore’s quote below:
“…the E-E had her keel laid sometime during TNG’s last season and was probably going to be given another name. When the E-D was destroyed, thatSovereign-class ship was nearing completion and was then christenedEnterprise.”
Once more under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the top-of-the-line, Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E prevented the Borg Collective from altering the primeStar Trektimeline, before defending Ba’ku from a Federation conspiracy. Some time after defeating Praetor Shinzon (Tom Hardy) inStar Trek: Nemesis, Picard handed command of the Enterprise-E to Captain Worf (Michael Dorn). Unfortunately, the Enterprise-E was rendered unusable following a highly-classified incident that definitely wasn’t Worf’s fault.
The USS Enterprise-E appeared to be severely damaged in the incident involving the Vau Na’kat’s Living Construct weapon inStar Trek: Prodigyseason 1.
