The U.S.S Enterprise Refit NCC-1701-A
We built Mahannah's Sci-Fi Universe around Star Trek. We want this site to be a fun site where our customers and fans can come and get completely immersed in the Star Trek Universe. Thinking about that, along with so many other fascinating topics,I came up with the idea of writing informational articles on the various ships in the Star Trek Universe. Here is our debut starship article!!
The Constitution Class Enterprise-A was commissioned in 2286, and is the second Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise. While the ship's history before its recommissioning as Enterprise has never been officially stated, several non-canon sources have claimed it to formerly be USS Yorktown (NCC-1717); others cite it as the newly built (but not yet commissioned) former USS Ti-Ho (NCC-1798),or the also newly built USS Atlantis. The ship was placed under the command of newly demoted Captain James T. Kirk as "punishment" for his and his crew's actions in the rescue of Captain Spock after his death in a vicious battle with Khan. It replaces the original Enterprise (NCC-1701), destroyed in a battle with rogue Klingons over the newly created planet Genesis, while rescuing Spock. Though outwardly identical to its refitted and updated predecessor, in its debut, the new ship is beset with teething problems with Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott and Commander Uhura making numerous repairs and reconfigurations to the new ship before deployment.
As I said above,the new NCC-1701-A looks exactly like The 1701 before it on the outside, but on the inside,there are quite a few differences...
Both ships are classified as "Constitution" class. The original NCC 1701 was an older-style Constitution class ship that was upgraded with more advanced components, whereas the NCC 1701-A was a brand-new, state-of-the-art vessel as of its launch. The two vessels appeared identical externally, and the dimensions and layout of both vessels matched up as well. Internally, however, was a different matter altogether.
The NCC-1701-A had numerous improvements over its refit predecessor such as:
- An Enlarged bridge
- More Automated systems
- Separate shuttle bays
- A Vertical warp core(as opposed to the original Enterprise's horizontal warp core)
- Enhanced security features
- A More advanced brig (Designed and tested by Spock of course.)
- Early replicator technology
- Full-height jeffries tubes
- An Officer's dining hall
Officers had crew quarters similar to those on the previous Enterprise. Enlisted crew members were required to bunk together. As many as eight crew members were assigned to a room, each assigned a storage locker. Chimes sounded at the top of every hour. Meals were prepared in a galley but there were primitive replicators on board the ship. The officers had a private dining hall in the saucer section, which was often used to entertain guests
Many of the improvements were from an aesthetics or usability perspective. However, the majority of systems became automated on the NCC-1701-A, which could conceivably offer an advantage (such as decreased reaction time) during combat.
The Enterprise A was decommissioned in 2293. and it's successor, the USS Enterprise B (an Excelsior class ship) was put into service later that same year.