The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E is a Sovereign class starship and flagship of the United Federation of Planets Starfleet. It was the 6th UFP starship to bear the name Enterprise (including the unlettered original Constitution Class vessel from the original series, but not including the pre-Starfleet NX-01 Enterprise from Star Trek: Enterprise), and the second Enterprise commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Plenty of letters left in the alphabet.
      — Jean-Luc Picard, First Contact

The Enterprise-E was brought into service between Star Trek: Generations (2371) and Star Trek: First Contact (2373), after the Galaxy Class Enterprise-D ended its famous 7-season (2364–2370) tour of duty by being destroyed by a Klingon bird of prey which could fire through its deflector shields. It was featured in the Next Generation-era movies First Contact (1996), Insurrection (1998), and Nemesis (2002).

Notable differences between the D and E

The Enterprise-E had an unfortunate tendency to get knocked around a bit. In First Contact, it was nearly overrun by a Borg infestation that was only stopped when the Borg Queen (in her first appearance) was killed. It lost its deflector dish in the process and just barely avoided being overtaken completely by the Borg modifications due to Lieutenant Commander Data's encryption lock-out of the main computer. Despite surviving all of that, the ship nearly self-destructed as a last resort to destroy the occupying Borg.

In Insurrection, the ship was outgunned by two Son'a ships, and although it didn't take any serious damage it was only due to the quick thinking and innovative tactics of first officer Commander Riker that the ship survived at all.

In Nemesis, the Federation's flagship suffered repeated heavy damage from the Reman warship Scimitar, being assaulted with repeated disruptor blasts, multiple volleys of photon torpedoes, and eventually flat-out ramming the larger, more powerful ship. Damage was so extensive that the main viewscreen of the bridge was destroyed, briefly exposing the bridge to vacuum before a force field could be erected to contain the hull breech.

Despite repeated heavy damage, the Enterprise-E keeps coming back after a stint in dry dock in orbit around Earth for repairs. Personally, I believe the Enterprise-E has seen its final adventure, however, since The Next Generation ended in 1994, and Nemesis was released in 2002. Between the box office disappointment of Nemesis and the aging cast, it's clearly time for Star Trek to find a fresh new direction.

Dates confirmed via http://memory-alpha.org.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.