USS Stargazer (NCC-2893)

The USS Stargazer (NCC-2893) was a Federation Constellation-class star cruiser that was in service with Starfleet from the early- to the mid-24th century. (TNG: "The Battle", "Relics")

History

In service

In 2333, Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard served as a bridge officer on this vessel. He later described the Stargazer as an "overworked, underpowered vessel, always on the verge of flying apart at the seams." (TNG: "Relics") When the ship's captain was killed and the first officer injured on the bridge, Picard took command of the situation, and the vessel. (TNG: "Tapestry")

Starfleet Command looked so favorably on Picard's actions they appointed him as the vessel's new commanding officer, a post he held for twenty-two years. Picard's crew included Jack Crusher and a weapons officer named Vigo. (TNG: "The Battle")

In 2354, Crusher was killed while serving on this vessel, forcing Picard to present Crusher's remains to his widow, Beverly. (TNG: "Tapestry", "Violations", "Encounter at Farpoint")

The same year, the Stargazer visited the planet Chalna. (TNG: "Allegiance")

The Stargazer saw action in the Cardassian Wars. She was involved in a truce offering by the Federation in sector 21503. After making contact with a Cardassian warship, Captain Picard lowered the ship's shields as a gesture of good will, but the Cardassian commander ignored the gesture and disabled the Stargazer's weapons and impulse engines. The Stargazer managed to regroup and flee. (TNG: "The Wounded")

Picard stargazer command chair — Picard on the bridge of the *Stargazer*

Attacked and severely damaged by an unknown vessel near the Maxia Zeta system in 2355, the ship had to be abandoned when it was overcome by fire and severe damage, but not before Picard was able to destroy the unknown vessel using what would later be named the Picard Maneuver. This event was called the "Battle of Maxia" by the Ferengi. Because the loss of a starship was a court martial offense, Picard was court-martialed for the loss of the Stargazer, zealously prosecuted by Phillipa Louvois. In the end, he was absolved of all charges. (TNG: "The Battle", "The Measure Of A Man")

In 2365, when speaking with Guinan about her origins, Wesley Crusher said that he had heard from some of the crew that she was very old and had met Picard when he was the commanding officer of the Stargazer. Guinan replied that she didn't know the captain until she came aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG: "The Child")

In 2369, Picard would look back fondly on his time commanding the Stargazer and once confided to Montgomery Scott that, even after several years of commanding the far superior USS Enterprise-D, there were still times he would give almost anything to command the Stargazer again. (TNG: "Relics")

A visit from the past

Assumed destroyed in the battle, the Stargazer was found adrift in space by the Ferengi and was eventually salvaged in 2364 by the USS Enterprise-D, Picard's subsequent command. The Ferengi DaiMon Bok, who had lost his son at the Battle of Maxia, desired revenge against Picard. Through use of an illegal "thought maker", Bok deceived the captain into reliving his past and had programmed the ship's systems to respond to Picard's commands. The Enterprise was able to lock the Stargazer in a tractor beam, and William T. Riker was able to convince the Captain to destroy the thought maker. The Stargazer was then towed to Xendi Starbase 9. (TNG: "The Battle")

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Appendices

Appearances

TNG: "The Battle"

Background information

A yellow painted model of the Constellation-class NCC-7100 appeared in Captain Picard's ready room aboard the USS Enterprise-D. This model was often mistakenly assumed to be of Stargazer. As noted in other locations, the model existed before the idea of the Stargazer, and was eventually used to create the filming model.

The Stargazer was intended to be a Constitution-class vessel, the same as Captain Kirk's USS Enterprise. This was mentioned in the script by Geordi La Forge. In fact, the yellow NCC-7100 model was replaced with a silver Constitution-class model in Picard's ready room for this episode. When the Stargazer filming model was eventually designed, it was decided that a new model (derisively referred to as the "pie dish") should be used. Since LeVar Burton had already recorded his line, the name of the new ship's class had to be similar to "Constitution" to make it easy to overdub; the production crew settled on "Constellation".

The Stargazer dedication plaque was illegible on screen. According to recollections by Michael Okuda in 2009, the plaque indicated that the ship was a Constitution-class starship built by the Federation Space Systems and “To bring light into the darkness” was the ships motto. According to Doug Drexler, the plaque art has been lost. [1]^(X)

In 1994, Galoob produced a toy model of the Stargazer as part of their Micromachines line. Interestingly enough, the coloring on the model was completely wrong and was actually based on the coloring of the NCC-7100 model seen in Picard's office.

In a Starfleet Technical Database article (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 2), written by Rick Sternbach, it was stated that after the Stargazer was towed back to Xendi Starbase 9, it was repaired, and returned to limited active duty for eight years (from 2366 to 2374), after which it was mothballed as a museum ship at the Copernicus Yard Museum, Luna, alongside the USS Valkyrie (NCC-2590). Kept in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere for tours and academic study, she was kept in a semi-operational state to be re-activated for duty when circumstances dictated such an action.

The bridge of the Stargazer was previously seen as the battle bridge of the Enterprise-D in "Encounter at Farpoint". Before The Next Generation the set was used as the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (Creating the Next Generation: The Conception and Creation of a Phenomenon)

Apocrypha

The crew of the Stargazer has been featured in many novels by Michael Jan Friedman. First appearing in Pocket TNG: Reunion, a novel published by Pocket Books, it has spun off the Star Trek: Stargazer series, during which the ship has a brief encounter with the mirror universe, as well as detailing Picard's first meeting with Guinan during a confrontation with Enabran Tain.

The Stargazer is also included as a playable ship in the video game Star Trek: Legacy. During the story, it is revealed that the ship's captain, Ruhalter, is killed on the bridge and the ship severely damaged from a shock wave resulting from renegade Vulcan T'Uerell destroying a planet in the Neutral Zone. Picard takes command of the ship and attempts to stop stellar debris from destroying other planets in a Federation system. The player can control the Stargazer with Picard in command during this mission in the game.

The Stargazer prevented an interplanetary war in the Double Helix novel #6, The First Virtue.

Star Trek Online features the second starship named Stargazer, the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893-A), and the Stargazer-class named after it, as a playable ship in the "Heavy Cruiser" tier.

External link

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