USS Melbourne
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
The USS Melbourne (NCC-62043) was a Federation starship in service during the mid-24th century.
The Melbourne was one of three ships docked at Starbase 74 during the USS Enterprise-D's upgrade there in 2364. When the Enterprise was hijacked by a group of Bynars, the Melbourne was unable to pursue due to her repair status. The station's CO, Orfil Quinteros, initiated a rush repair schedule to get the vessel ready for pursuit, but the situation was resolved before the Melbourne was flight-ready. (TNG: "11001001")
In late 2366, William Riker was offered the command of the Melbourne. While Jean-Luc Picard described her as "a fine ship," Riker decided not to pursue the commission at that time, choosing instead to remain aboard the Enterprise-D. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")
Soon after, the Melbourne formed part of the forty-strong Federation task force that stood against an invading Borg cube at the Battle of Wolf 359, and was destroyed in the battle. Lieutenant Gregory Bergan was among the Melbourne's crew at that time. (DS9: "Emissary"; VOY: "Infinite Regress")
When the Enterprise-D arrived in the system a few hours later, the wreck of the Melbourne was one of the vessels recognized by Commander Shelby. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")
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[edit] Background
This starship may have been named after the city of Melbourne, Australia (which in turn was named after Lord Melbourne).
The Melbourne originally appeared onscreen amidst the Wolf 359 debris field in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" as a prototype Nebula-class model built by Ed Miarecki. Scenes featuring the wreckage were reused and adapted to serve as Surplus Depot Z15 in "Unification II". A second Nebula-class model built by Miarecki, with the name and registry of the Melbourne, was seen in "Future Imperfect" and "The Wounded". The same model was seen on display in Sisko's office aboard Deep Space 9 on several occasions, most prominently in "The Way of the Warrior" and "'Til Death Do Us Part".
When the battle scene was revisited in "Emissary", the Melbourne was slated to be destroyed on camera. There was also a further verbal reference of the Melbourne in the script of "Emissary" that was cut from the final airing of the episode. The producers chose the more detailed Excelsior-class model to portray the Melbourne for that scene, and labeled it with the registry number used previously on the Nebula model. Its appearance in that episode was the only instance of the registry and name being clearly visible on-screen. As a result, the Star Trek Encyclopedia assumes the Melbourne was only ever an Excelsior-class ship. Interestingly, the Nebula model also made an appearance in "Emissary", as part of the general battle debris.
This is not the first time that two vessels with the same name and registry have been seen on screen, and it is unclear whether both vessels were serving at the same time with some speculative explanation as to their registries and/or status prior to Wolf 359. The previous time something similar was seen was the two Antares-type grain ships seen in TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles", which both carried an identical registry number of NCC-G1465. This shows that the situation where two vessels with the same name and registry are active at the same time is highly unusual, but not without precedent.
The registry of NCC-62043 is the highest seen to date on an Excelsior-class starship. Footage of the destruction of the Excelsior-class Melbourne was reused in the "flashback" memory sequence in VOY: "Unity".
 The Nebula-class Melbourne dedication model in "Future Imperfect" |
 The first view of the Nebula-class Melbourne in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" |
 The second view of the Nebula-class Melbourne in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" |
 The Nebula-class Melbourne in "Emissary" |
 The Excelsior-class Melbourne in "Emissary" |
 Another view of Excelsior-class Melbourne in "Emissary" |
