The USS Enterprise (or Enterprise-C) is a fictional starship

Starship

A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....

 that appears in the Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise

Yesterday's Enterprise

"Yesterday's Enterprise" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television show Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode first aired in syndication the week of February 19, 1990...

". This Ambassador-class starship, under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neil

Tricia O'Neil

Tricia O'Neil is an American actress.Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, O'Neil began her career as a model and cover girl before turning to acting. She first appeared in television commercials, then was cast many popular television series. She played Dr...

), is the fourth Federation starship to carry the name Enterprise. A model Enterprise-C appears in the Enterprise-D

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...

's conference room, although the shooting model built for "Yesterday's Enterprise" is slightly different from the conference room model. Garrett herself is the first, and only female captain of a starship Enterprise shown in Star Trek canon.

Design

The Ambassador-class NCC-1701-C was designed to show a gradual progression from the Excelsior to Galaxy classes. As a result, a few particular aspects of its design resemble both classes, and its size is intermediate between the two.

History

According to the TNG Technical Manual, the ship was built at Earth Station McKinley. According to the Lost Era novels

Star Trek: The Lost Era

Star Trek: The Lost Era is a series of novels that take place during the time period between the 23rd century events of the film Star Trek Generations and the first season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, set in 2364....

, the Enterprise-C was launched in 2332 under Captain Garrett's command.

In 2344, Romulan

Romulan

The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...

s attacked the Klingon

Klingon

Klingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...

 outpost at Narendra III; the Enterprise answered the distress call. The Enterprise engaged the Romulans, facing four warbirds. An exchange of fire between the Starfleet ship and the Romulans catalyzed the formation of a Kerr Loop, disrupting the space-time continuum. The Enterprise travels through the loop into the mid-2360s, creating an alternate timeline in which history records that the Enterprise-C went missing and the Romulans destroyed the outpost. This series of events leads to a Federation-Klingon war, which in the 2360s the Federation is losing.

Displaced in time, the Enterprise-C encounters the Enterprise-D. The latter manages to repair most of the earlier ship's damage and treat its injured crew, 125 of whom have survived. Influenced by the time-sensitive Guinan, Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...

 persuades Garrett to return through the disruption, hoping that the sacrifice of one ship in defense of the Klingon outpost will prevent the war. Garrett is killed during a Klingon attack before the ship can restore the timeline. The surviving crew, under the command of helmsman Lieutenant Junior Grade Richard Castillo, along with the future timeline's Lieutenant Tasha Yar

Tasha Yar

Lieutenant Natasha "Tasha" Yar, played by Denise Crosby, is a character in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the fictional series, the character served as chief of security aboard the USS Enterprise-D for the first season....

, take the ship back into the disruption. This act returns the Enterprise-C to Narendra III in 2344 at the moment she had previously disappeared. The timeline is restored; the Federation and Klingons are not at war, and the Enterprise-C is destroyed.

The Romulans captured several Enterprise-C survivors, about which Starfleet heard unconfirmed rumors. Tasha Yar was one such survivor, and she went on to bear a Romulan general's child, Sela

Sela (Star Trek)

Commander Sela is a fictional character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the daughter of an alternate timeline version of Tasha Yar and a Romulan official. She was played by Denise Crosby, who also played Tasha Yar.-Overview:...

. Yar is executed after she is caught attempting to escape with four-year-old Sela.

Novels

Garrett and her crew appear in the Star Trek novels The Art of the Impossible and Well of Souls. A short story featuring Garrett and her crew also appears in Star Trek: Enterprise Logs. Also, a variant of the television episode occurs in the novel Q-Squared

Q-Squared

Q-Squared is a non-canon Star Trek novel by acclaimed author Peter David. It spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1994....

.