USS Phoenix
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| USS Phoenix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class: | Nebula-class |
| Registry: | NCC-65420 |
| Affiliation: | Federation/Starfleet |
| Status: | Active (2367) |
- See Phoenix (disambiguation) for similarly referenced terms.
The USS Phoenix (NCC-65420) was a Nebula-class Federation starship, constructed by the Yoyodyne Division at 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards and commissioned on stardate 40250.5 in 2363. In 2367, the Phoenix was under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell.
In 2367, Captain Maxwell turned vigilante with Phoenix, destroying a Cardassian outpost and several ships in Sector 21505 seemingly without provocation. He claimed his actions were justified because the Cardassians were preparing to renew hostilities only a year after peace had been settled with the United Federation of Planets.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard was assigned to intercept and stop Maxwell. En route to intercept the Phoenix, the Enterprise's sensors revealed that Captain Maxwell was attempting to destroy another supply ship.
In an attempt to prevent the further destruction of Cardassian lives and property, Captain Picard gave a nearby Cardassian warship the Phoenix's prefix code to give the Cardassians an advantage. Despite taking a direct hit with its shields down, the Phoenix still managed to destroy the attacking ship with a salvo of torpedoes.
When the Enterprise finally caught up with the Phoenix, Picard ordered Maxwell back to Starbase 211, however, during their return, Maxwell veered from course and headed towards another supply ship. When the Enterprise arrived at their position, Maxwell demanded Picard search the vessel as proof that Maxwell's actions were justified. Picard refused and a stand-off ensued.
Ultimately the stand-off ended successfully with no further loss of lives when Chief Miles O'Brien was able to beam over during a 1/50th of a second "window" in the Phoenix's shields caused by its high energy sweeps. Once on board he managed to convince Maxwell to stand down his ship. However, Picard warned Gul Macet that Maxwell's suspicions may have had a basis in truth. (TNG: "The Wounded")
| Nebula-class starships |
|---|
| USS Bellerophon • USS Bonchune • USS Farragut • USS Honshu • USS Leeds • USS Lexington • USS Merrimac • USS Monitor • USS Phoenix • USS Prometheus • USS Sutherland • USS T'Kumbra • Unnamed |
[edit] Background
In-universe it is most likely named for Zefram Cochrane's ship, the Phoenix. However, it is likely that it was the original intent that it was named after the capital of the US state of Arizona, or for the mythological creature of the same name, as the name of Cochrane's ship had not yet been established when "The Wounded" was filmed.
Construction data is taken from the ship's dedication plaque found in Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission; the ship's motto was "No matter where you go, there you are", the same motto found on the plaque of the USS Excelsior. (The line is taken from the film Buckeroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, as is the name Yoyodyne.)
The Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph featured a listing of an earlier Hermes-class Phoenix with the registry NCC-625 (It was of the Cygnus sub-class). The ship was a MK-VIIB courier authorized for appropriation on stardate 5099. While this manual was once considered canon by the producers, it is now mostly apocryphal, save for a few canonically mentioned bits.
