USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) (or Enterprise-B) is a fictional starship in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It is an Excelsior-class upgrade^[1] Starfleet vessel that appears under the command of Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck) in the film Star Trek Generations. The ship also appears in several Star Trek novels.

Maiden voyage

The first mission of the Enterprise-B is to take a number of reporters, Captains James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) on a ride around the solar system. The ship receives and responds to a distress call from ships caught in a mysterious "energy rift". After rescuing some of the ship's passengers, the Enterprise-B becomes trapped in the rift. Scott believes the ship's navigational deflector can be adapted to emit a blast that can free the ship. The reconfiguration requires manual adjustments, which Kirk performs. As the Enterprise-B moves free of the rift, an energy discharge strikes the ship near the deflector dish, shearing through several sections of the hull near where Kirk was working. Kirk goes missing and is presumed dead.

Later missions

According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, the Enterprise-B "was a key figure in the exploration of space beyond the Gourami Sector. This ship and her crew were responsible for mapping over 142 star systems, including first contact with seventeen civilizations." In the "Ship's Legacy" section of the licensed Enterprise-D cut-away poster by Christopher Cushman, Captain Thomas Johnson, Jr. is listed as a commanding officer. According to the Haynes USS Enterprise Owners' Workshop Manual, the Enterprise-B was lost, and presumed destroyed, in deep space in 2329; its last transmission indicated that the crew may have been killed by a dangerous plague.

The Enterprise-B is involved in the following off-screen works:

• The novel The Captain's Daughter by Peter David
• The PC-based simulation Star Trek: Starship Creator
• The novel Star Trek: The Lost Era: Serpents Among the Ruins by David R. George III
• The short story "Iron and Sacrifice", from the Tales from the Captain's Table anthology, also by David George

Notable officers

• John Harriman – First Captain of the Enterprise-B
• Demora Sulu - Helmsman of the Enterprise-B and Hikaru Sulu's daughter. In the licensed novels, she later replaces Harriman as captain.

References