First Commissioned: 2310
The Defiant-class was specifically designed to be a fast-attack craft, the first pure warship that Starfleet had ever created. Even in its earliest incarnations, Defiant's primary mission objectives were to achieve high-warp penetration of enemy defenses. Starfleet engineers modified the vessel in the design phase to become a mobile defensive platform, with the ability to engage hostile forces and conduct covert operations.
The U.S.S. Defiant NX-74205 was the prototype vessel for Starfleet's Defiant-class starships. It was Starfleet's first true warship and had no provision for families or diplomatic missions, no science labs, no holodecks, or any of the other comforts of home. It was a heavily armored, stripped-down vessel that was created as a first strike' vehicle for use in war, and incorporated the latest in Starfleet weaponry and defensive technology. New classes of Starships are named after the first prototype that is built. For Example, the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701 was a Constitution-class ship because the first ship in that class was the USS Constitution NCC-1700 ( TOS-"Space Seed" ). Another example of this is the USS Enterprise-B, an Excelsior-class Starship named after the first starship in that class, the USS Excelsior NX/NCC-2000.
The only ship in the fleet to have a letter attached to the end of a registry has been the USS Enterprise. The registry was kept out of respect for, and in honor of, the ship and her crew, who had more than once saved the galaxy as we know it. This was the reasoning behind future Enterprises being commissioned with the same registry number (Starfleet wanted the Enterprise's history to be unique, and this was one way to do it.) |
