In the fictional
Star Trek universe, the
USS Enterprise was a
Constitution Class Starship presumed to have been launched in the year
2245 (although this date has never been officially established in a show or film thus far). The
Enterprise then embarked on a series of 5-year missions to explore the galaxy, first under Captain
Robert April from
2245-
2250, then three 5-year missions under Captain
Christopher Pike from
2250-
2265, and finally the celebrated mission under Captain
James T. Kirk from
2265-
2270 during which the ship was involved in numerous dramatic adventures and became the most famous and recognizable vessel in
Starfleet.
In 2270, Kirk was promoted to Admiral and the Enterprise entered dry-dock for a major refit, including a complete overhaul of the ship's hull and an upgrade of nearly every shipboard system. The refit, which was overseen by Captain Willard Decker, was prematurely interrupted when the Enterprise was called into emergency service in order to respond to the threat of the mysterious "V'Ger" space probe.
Following the completion of the refit in 2273, the Enterprise embarked on a second 5-year exploration mission under Captain Kirk, who convinced Starfleet to let him return to his first, best destiny as a starship captain. Following the completion of this mission (which has not been documented as yet in film or on television), the aging ship was designated as a training vessel and placed under the command of Captain Spock, while Kirk once again became an Admiral.
In 2285, after being severely damaged in a battle with the USS Reliant (which had been commandeered by insane genetic superman Khan Noonian Singh), the Enterprise was scheduled to be decommissioned, but was stolen by Kirk and his old crew in order to recover the body of Spock from the Genesis Planet. Upon encountering a Klingon bird-of-prey at the Genesis Planet, Kirk was forced to destroy the undermanned and less-than-fully-functional Enterprise to prevent its capture by the Klingons.
In 2286, in honor of the distinguished service of Kirk and his crew, and especially in recognition of their prevention of the destruction of Earth by the Whale Probe, Starfleet renamed the USS Yorktown as the USS Enterprise, and gave it the registry number NCC-1701-A. Thenceforward, all other ships named Enterprise retained the registry number of the original and most famous USS Enterprise to honor the accomplishments of its remarkable crew, with each new ship appending the next alphabetical letter. To distinguish them from the original Enterprise, these later ships are commonly referred to in conjunction with this alphabetic suffix, hence USS Enterprise-A, USS Enterprise-B, USS Enterprise-C, etc. No other ships are known to have been honored in this way to date.
Specifications (original)
Classification: Heavy Cruiser
Length: 289m
Beam: 132m
Draft: 73
Maximum speed: Warp 8 (Cochrane scale; approximately warp 6.5, new scale)
Complement: 430 (43 officers, 387 enlisted)
Phasers: 3 banks
Photon torpedoes: 2 tubes
Specifications (refit)
Classification: Heavy Cruiser
Length: 305m
Beam: 141m
Draft: 71
Maximum speed: Warp 12 (Cochrane scale; approximately warp 9.3, new scale)
Complement: 500 (72 officers, 428 enlisted)
Phasers: 7 dual phaser emitters, 4 single phaser emitters
Photon torpedoes: 2 tubes
The Starship Enterprise seen in the original 1960s television series was designed by Matt Jefferies and constructed by model builder Don Loos. The refit version first seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture was principally designed by Andrew Probert, based upon concept art produced by Mike Minor for the abortive television series "Star Trek: Phase II". Other artists who worked on the refit design included Joe Jennings, Douglas Trumbull, and Harold Michelson.
Sources:
An assimilated writeup by Gordian
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/ships/article/70377.html
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_NCC-1701
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Constitution_class
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Christopher_Pike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCC-1701
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_class_starship