USS Stargazer (NCC-2893)
The
USS Stargazer,
NCC-2893, is a
Federation starship in the
fictional world of
Star Trek: The Next Generation.It is the first ship on which
Jean-Luc Picard served as Captain. It was a
Constellation class starship.
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
Stargazer, was written.
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.
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
Star Trek: Enterprise. 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.
A
Mirror Universe counterpart of the
Stargazer appears in the novel
Stargazer: Three 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
Stargazer's first officer in the normal universe, is the ship's Captain here.
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Stargazer (novels)
