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Without the spaceships in the series, the Star Trek heroes (and sometimes villains) would never have gotten far. The franchise has featured dozens of ships, but some of them are truly iconic, so much so that the Star Trek fans immediately recall them when somebody mentions their favorite fandom.
7 The Klingon Birds-Of-Prey
Not every impressive and memorable ship in the Star Trek franchise belongs to the Federation. The Klingons eventually joined the Federation and have served in Starfleet, but in the early days of the Federation, the two sides clashed since the Klingons value combat and honor above everything else. That’s why it was such a big deal when Worf joined the Starfleet as its first Klingon officer.
There have been many Birds-of-Prey in Star Trek, since the Klingons have been using these types of ships between the 22nd and the 24th century. So even though it’s difficult to pick just one representative, the Birds-of-Prey left a strong impression. These ships’ equipment reflects the warlike nature of the Klingons, since they are armed with photon torpedoes, disruptor cannons, and even have a cloaking device which offers a significant advantage in combat.
6 The Borg Cube
Of all the villains the Federation has ever faced, the Borg are among the most frightening. They’re technologically advanced, highly intelligent thanks to their hive minds, and have no mercy. A single Borg cube is enough to destroy dozens of the Federation’s ships.
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What makes this ship even more dangerous is that the cube can regenerate itself in case of damage, which doesn’t bode well for those who encounter it on their journey through space. Even Captain Picard acknowledged at one point that he and his crew were out of their depth when facing the Borg Cube.
5 U.S.S. Defiant
The Federation prides itself on its peaceful mission of exploration, but the rest of the universe isn’t always so friendly. That’s when the U.S.S. Defiant enters the picture. The Defiant was designed to function as a warship capable of engaging in combat. Benjamin Sisko, the commander of the space station Deep Space Nine, helped design it after the Federation was attacked by the Borg and suffered severe losses.
Unlike standard Starfleet starships, U.S.S. Defiant uses a Romulan cloaking device. The ship served well for quite a while, but was eventually destroyed during the Second Battle of Chin’toka in 2375. Still, it marks the transformation of the Federation, and as such, it’s one of the most notable ships of the entire series.
4 U.S.S. Cerritos
Not every ship in the Federation fulfills the same purpose. Some have the task of exploring the universe, while others are scientific. As for U.S.S. Cerritos, this ship focuses on performing the second contact and filing the necessary paperwork.
While it doesn’t sound particularly exciting, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks proves that the crew of the ship experiences a lot of adventures, just different ones from other Star Trek series. While the Cerritos doesn’t have the firepower to engage in serious battles, it’s still a beautiful ship, and one that proves that even a so-called outsider in the Fleet deserves to exist. Plus, no previous Star Trek series gave much space to the lower ranks of the crew, which makes both the ship and the series overall unique.
3 Deep Space 9
Considering the fact that Deep Space 9 serves as a space station and mostly remains in one spot, it’s easy to forget that it also functions as a ship if needed, and can move from place to place. Every Star Trek fan will know that the station was once held by the Cardassians, but Starfleet later took over it and made it into one of its bases, controlled by Commander (later Captain) Benjamin Sisko and his team.
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Deep Space 9 is the place where many alien cultures meet and do business, as well as clash sometimes. Even though the station doesn’t primarily have a defense function, it can be modified to defend itself, like the time it was equipped with thousands of torpedoes when the Klingons fought the Federation.
2 U.S.S. Voyager
When U.S.S. Voyager set off on its exploration of space, nobody suspected that the ship would get to explore more of space than its crew would have liked. When the ship ended up in Delta Quadrant, it took Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew years to get back home.
On the plus side, they explored a great part of the previously mysterious Delta Quadrant. Voyager has always been a highly effective ship, capable of reaching the Warp speed of 9.975. However, it became even more impressive when the crew integrated the ship’s system with the Borg technology, such as a transwarp coil.
1 U.S.S. Enterprise
Unsurprisingly, the most iconic and significant ship in the Star Trek franchise is the U.S.S. Enterprise. Each Star Trek fan will have their favorite version of the ship since there have been more of them. Star Trek: Enterprise featured Enterprise NX-01, which wasn’t as technologically advanced as the later ships, but helped make humans a more significant part of the universe as Captain Jonathan Archer and his crew went on their discovery mission.
However, the most famous Enterprise is the one occupied by Captain Kirk’s crew, the Enterprise NCC-1701. The original design of the bridge and the ship overall seems very retro these days, but it doesn’t change the fact that the crew managed to defeat or trick more than one enemy thanks to the ship (and the chief engineer Scott’s expertise). Finally, there’s of course Enterprise NCC-1701-D, with Captain Picard’s crew. This ship is able to reach the warp factor 9.6, and is approximately twice as big as Enterprise NCC-1701.
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