USS Stargazer (Star Trek)

Infobox Fictional Spacecraft
name = USS "Stargazer"


caption =
first = The Battle
last =
status = Decommissioned
affiliation = Starfleet, At one point Ferengi
launched =
decommissioned =
class = Constellation Class
registry = NCC-2893
maxspeed = Warp 9.2
fighters = None
auxcraft = 8 Shuttlecraft (later 4 Shuttlecraft, 6 Shuttlepods)
armaments = Type 8 Phasers Type 4 Photon Torpedoes
defense = Type FSQ Deflector Shields
propulsion = Type 4 Impulse Drive Type 8 Warp drive
power = Type 8 Warp Core
length = 310 Meters
width = 140 Meters
height = 84 meters
primeref =The USS "Stargazer", NCC-2893, is a Federation starship in the fictional universe of "". It is a Constellation class starship.

The backstory of Jean-Luc Picard establishes that the Stargazer was the first ship he had captained.

Appearances

The ship first appeared in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Battle", in which DaiMon Bok tried to take revenge against Picard for killing his son. Later, a series of novels about Picard's command of the ship, collectively entitled , was written. A model of another Constellation class ship is on display in Picard's ready room aboard the "Enterprise"-D appears almost constantly throughout the "TNG" series, even prior to the aforementioned episode.

Maxia

When the "Stargazer" came to the Maxia star system, it was attacked by an unidentified vessel. It would be years until it was identified as a Ferengi vessel. The "Picard Maneuver"—a clever last-ditch effort—was invented to win a battle against the Ferengi. The Ferengi vessel was destroyed, but the "Stargazer" was so severely damaged in the battle that the crew was forced to abandon ship following Maxia.

Rediscovery

For the next nine years, the "Stargazer" drifted through the Maxia system. Eventually it was found by the Ferengi DaiMon Bok, who was the father of the commander of the Ferengi ship that attacked the "Stargazer". Bok saw a chance to have his revenge against Picard and the Federation. Bok placed a device on the ship that would allow him to manipulate Picard's thoughts. He then asked the Enterprise to meet his ship at Maxia.

During their first meeting the "Stargazer" came into range, and Picard learned for the first time that his old ship still existed. Bok invited the Federation to take control of the "Stargazer" at no cost.

Bok first attempted to discredit Picard by planting a faked log entry on board the "Stargazer", but the fraud was quickly discovered by the "Enterprise" crew. Bok then used his mind control device to manipulate Picard into boarding the "Stargazer" and re-living the Battle of Maxia; under Bok's control, Picard believed the Enterprise to be the attacking Ferengi vessel.

Picard attempted to use the Picard Maneuver against the "Enterprise", but Commander Data was able to devise a defense where the Enterprise would grab the "Stargazer" with her tractor beam, and prevent her from firing. Commander Riker was able to get through to Picard, and Picard destroyed the mind control device on the "Stargazer". Free of the mind control, he learned that Bok's plans for revenge had been discovered by his crew, and that Bok had been relieved of duty.

A tug soon met the "Enterprise" and towed the "Stargazer" back to a nearby Starbase. Some fans have speculated that Data called the starbase Xindi Starbase 9, who were the same beings featured in the third season of . According to the script, the starbase is Xendi Starbase 9; this may or may not be the same race. What happened to the "Stargazer" afterwards is not known.

Mirror Universe

A Mirror Universe counterpart of the "Stargazer" appears in the novel ' by Michael Jan Friedman. The ISS "Stargazer" is one of the last ships left in the Terran Empire, which is on the verge of being wiped out by the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance. The Mirror version of Montgomery Scott is also on the ship. Gilaad ben Zoma, the "Stargazers first officer in the normal universe, is the ship's captain here.

In the trade paperback anthology "Glass Empires", one of the stories - Greg Cox's "The Worst Of Both Worlds" - features a mirror counterpart to Picard, who in this universe is an archaeologist. He travels through space in a runabout which he has named "Stargazer".

Other sources

In the PC & Xbox 360 game Star Trek Legacy the Stargazer is under command of another captain until an incident with the Vulcan nemesis T'Urrel is forced to detonate a weapon of massive yield turning a whole planet into molten rock. As the shockwave destroys all of the Romulan attackers, it also strikes the Stargazer. The result is that the current captain is killed in duty while the Vulcan attacker slips away. This explains how Picard had gotten command of his first vessel, however Star Trek games are not usually considered canon.

See also

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