By Joshua Tyler
| Published
There have been many ships named Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek, always looking for a new spectacle, has destroyed many of them. Here’s how it happened…
Destruction Of The USS Enterprise NCC-1701
The Enterprise refit, the original Enterprise, was destroyed using a built-in self-destruct mechanism in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. Captain Kirk saw it as the only way to turn death into a fighting chance to live. He lured Klingons into boarding the ship, while he and his crew beamed off. The Klingons were unable to escape before the ship exploded.
The Saucer Was Destroyed First
The ship’s self-destruct destroyed the Enterprise saucer section and sent it careening into the atmosphere below.
The Enterprise Burns Up In The Atmosphere
Burning and broken the Enterprise plummeted towards the atmosphere of the Genesis planet. The heat of re-entry completely destroyed what remained of the ship, dissolving in a ball of fire as it descended.
Destruction Of The NCC-1701-C Enterprise
The Enterprise-C’s final fate is not shown on camera, but we do see her right before she goes to her doom in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise. We also find out through historical records where and how it happened.
Enterprise-C In The Future Before Its Destruction
The Enterprise-C traveled through a rift in time where it encountered the Enterprise-D. In order to save the timeline, the C returns through the time rift which it came out of, and in doing so makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Enterprise-C Destroyed For Peace
Waiting for the Enterprise-C on the other side of that time rift is a whole host of Romulan ships attacking a Klingon outpost. When it emerges from the rift, the Enterprise-C is destroyed by the Romulan armada in a vain attempt to save the Klingons. While the C is destroyed, her sacrifice prompts a treaty between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, bringing about galactic peace.
The Destruction Of The NCC-1701-D Enterprise
The Enterprise-D sadly met its end in the ship’s very first big screen outing, at the end of the film Star Trek: Generations. She’s attacked by a Klingon ship with the ability to shoot through her shields. Though the Enterprise manages to destroy the Klingons, she’s too badly damaged…
Destruction Of The Enterprise-D Engineering Hull And Saucer Separation
Due to the Klingon attack, Enterprise-D’s warp core is unstable and about to explode. Commander Riker, in charge at the time, opts to separate the ship’s saucer section from her drive section (where the warp core is housed) in an attempt to get away from the explosion.
Enterprise-D’s Saucer Section Falls To Its Doom
Unfortunately, the Enterprise-D saucer sep was too late and the ship’s primary hull is too close to the gravity of a nearby planet when it separated. The ship is pulled down into the planet’s atmosphere, where it begins to burn up.
Enterprise-D Saucer Crash Lands
Unlike her predecessor, the Enterprise refit, the Enterprise-D’s saucer manages to avoid burning up in the atmosphere and crash-lands on the ground. The crew inside the saucer section survives, and the saucer section is recovered. Years later, Geordi LaForge refurbishes the saucer section and attaches it to a new drive section, for display in the Starfleet Museum.
The Destruction Of The Kelvinverse Enterprise NCC-1701
In 2009, director J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek with a series of feature films. Those take place in an alternate universe that fans call the Kelvinverse. The Enterprise of that universe also ends up getting destroyed. It happens in the last movie of the Kelvinverse series, Star Trek: Beyond, when the Enterprise is attacked by a massive swarm of small, automated ships.
The Kelvinverse Enterprise Is Cut To Pieces
As Spock correctly notes at the beginning of the attack, the Enterprise is not configured for this type of engagement. She’s powerless as the small ships begin cutting her to pieces until nothing but the saucer section is left.
The Kelvinverse Enterprise’s Saucer Crashes
The remaining part of the ship, the saucer, holds together long enough for the crew to get to their escape pods. Taking a cue from the Enterprise-D, it then crashes on the planet below and there’s very little left.
The Destruction Of The NCC-1701-F Enterprise
During the course of the Picard finale, the Enterprise F ends up on the wrong side. The ship is taken over by the Borg and leads the Federation fleet in attacking Spacedock. What’s not clear is whether or not it survived the battle.
Spacedock Shoots Back
Spacedock is shooting back and we know the Enterprise F is in that fleet of ships it is shooting at. It’s also the leader of that fleet, and one of the most powerful ships in it. So, if you’re going to focus your weapons on something first, it might make sense for Spacedock to make the Enterprise F a priority target.
Evidence That The Enterprise-F Was Destroyed
So did the Enterprise F survive its battle with Spacedock? We think the answer is clearly no. This image is a brightened screenshot from Star Trek: Picard finale episode, featuring the Enterprise D and the future Enterprise G after the battle. They’re flying through the wreckage of the fleet that engaged Spacedock. There are several ships in the shot, but the one featured most prominently, the one directly between D and G looks exactly like the Enterprise F, and it has been destroyed.
The Fate Of Star Trek’s Other Enterprises
There are, of course, numerous ships named Enterprise. We don’t know the fate of most of them. The Enterprise-B is seen in Star Trek: Generations, but we don’t know what happens to it afterward. Some Enterprises do survive into retirement, like the NCC-1701-A. The A ends up parked in this museum, a tourist attraction for those wishing to explore the history of Starfleet.