Summary
- The Starfleet Museum in Star Trek: Picard season 3 showcases iconic starships like the Romulan Bird-of-Prey and Klingon Kronos One, highlighting the Federation’s conflicts with these species.
- Notable ships on display also include the HMS Bounty, which played a crucial role in saving Earth’s whales, and the USS Stargazer, where Captain Picard established himself as one of Starfleet’s best captains.
- The USS Defiant, designed to defeat the Borg, and the USS Voyager, famous for its seven-year journey through the Delta Quadrant, are also featured in the museum, emphasizing their significant contributions to Starfleet history.
The Starfleet Museum in Star Trek: Picard season 3 is home to many of the franchise’s most famous starships. Picard season 3 reunited the original crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, giving them all one last opportunity to save the galaxy. As Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew work to stop the Borg and Changeling attack, they pay a visit to former Enterprise Chief Engineer, Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), who now serves as head of the Starfleet Museum on Athan Prime.
As the USS Titan-A circles the Fleet Museum in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 6, “Bounty,” the crewmembers on board (and the viewers) get a great look at the many iconic ships on display. After “Bounty” aired, Picard Production Designer Dave Blass took to X/Twitter to share a full list of the ships on display at the Fleet Museum. See his thread below:
10 Romulan Bird-of-Prey
The one that could become invisible.
Starfleet first officially encountered a Romulan Bird-of-Prey in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode, “Balance of Terror.” After the Romulan ship crosses the neutral zone and destroys several outposts, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is forced to destroy the Bird-of-Prey. While Romulan Birds-of-Prey were outgunned by most Federation starships, they possessed cloaking technology that allowed them to take enemy ships by surprise. The exact designation of the Bird-of-Prey on display at the Fleet Museum remains unknown, but it serves as an important piece of history of the Federation’s conflicts with the Romulans.
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1 finale, “A Quality of Mercy,” revisits the events of “Balance of Terror,” but with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in command of the Enterprise rather than Kirk.
9 Kronos One
The one that almost prolonged a war.
In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Kronos One serves as the Klingon flagship and transports Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to a meeting with the USS Enterprise-A. Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise were meant to escort Kronos One to Earth for peace talks, but conspirators make it appear as though the Enterprise fires on the Klingon ship. Assassins then sneak onto Kronos One, killing many of the crew, including Gorkon. The conspirators are discovered before they can further sabotage the peace talks, and Kronos One eventually finds its way to the Starfleet Museum.
8 HMS Bounty
The one that saved the whales.
After Admiral Kirk was forced to destroy the USS Enterprise in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, he and his crew commandeer a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. After using this ship to transport the body of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) back to Vulcan to reunite with his katra, Kirk and his crew later travel to Earth’s past in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. When the crew realizes they need now-extinct humpback whales in order to communicate with a dangerous alien probe, they travel back to 1986 to find some whales and save Earth. Upon returning to the future, the Bounty’s systems begin to fail, and it sinks into the San Francisco Bay. The ship is later recovered with some difficulty, as its cloak had apparently reactivated.
Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForrest Kelley) gave the H.M.S. Bounty its title after the 18th-century ship of the same name, on which an infamous mutiny occurred.
7 NX-01 Enterprise
The one that started it all.
The Enterprise NX-01 became the first warp 5 capable ship launched by Earth in 2151, and it helped lead to the creation of the United Federation of Planets. Under the command of Captain Johnathan Archer (Scott Bakula) in Star Trek: Enterprise, the NX-01 and her adventures paved the way for every starship that came after. Because some of the Vulcans did not believe that humanity was ready for space exploration, they insisted that Vulcan Sub-Commander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) be stationed on the ship as its first officer. The NX-01 then participated in numerous missions and first contacts, and the ship was refitted several times before being officially retired in 2161.
6 USS Excelsior
The one that made Sulu a captain.
Introduced in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the USS Excelsior was a new kind of Federation starship. Known as “The Great Experiment,” the Excelsior had a transwarp drive that was meant to be significantly faster than traditional warp drive. Following the failure of this transwarp drive, the Excelsior sat in spacedock for several years, until it was recommissioned in 2287 under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). The Excelsior then participated in several important missions, including a failed rescue attempt of Kirk and Dr. McCoy and the Klingon/Federation peace talks at Khitomer.
5 USS Stargazer
The one that made Picard a captain.
Before Captain Picard took over command of the USS Enterprise-D, he served aboard the Stargazer and eventually became her captain. Picard commanded the Stargazer for 22 years, during which time he invented the Picard Maneuver and established himself as one of Starfleet’s best captains. Picard was forced to abandon the Stargazer in 2355 when the ship was crippled by an unknown enemy. The damaged Stargazer was recovered nearly ten years later when the Ferengi admitted to being behind the initial attack, which they dubbed the Battle of Maxia.
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, a new USS Stargazer is commissioned with the designation NCC-82893, and Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) briefly serves as her captain.
4 USS Defiant
The one that was made to defeat the Borg.
When the threat of the Dominion begins to grow on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) requests the previously-developed USS Defiant be transferred to space station DS9. The Defiant, often commanded by Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), then carries out several missions from Deep Space Nine and proves invaluable against the Dominion. The original Defiant is eventually destroyed by the Breen during the Dominion War and is replaced by the USS Sao Paulo. Sisko then renames the Sau Paulo the Defiant, and this is the ship that eventually comes to rest at the Starfleet Museum.
The Defiant was originally developed to combat the Borg threat, but the tough little ship did not face the Borg until Star Trek: First Contact when Worf commands the Defiant at the Battle of Sector 001.
3 USS Voyager
The one that went to the Delta Quadrant.
The USS Voyager became one of the most famous ships in Starfleet when she and her crew made an unscheduled seven-year journey through the unexplored Delta Quadrant. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) took over command of Voyager soon after the ship was completed in 2371. Captain Janeway then finds herself and her crew thrown across the galaxy before her first mission has even been completed. Over the next seven years, Janeway and Voyager initiate dozens of first contacts, face off against numerous enemies, deal the Borg a crippling blow, and still manage to make it home more or less in one piece.
In the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 premiere, the crew of the USS Cerritos help transport the USS Voyager to Earth where it will be transformed into a museum. The episode, entitled “Twovix,” contains tons of fun references to Star Trek: Voyager.
2 USS Enterprise-A
The one that met God.
After the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Admiral Kirk and his crew stand trial for disobeying orders and stealing the original Enterprise in The Search for Spock. While the charges against the rest of the crew are dropped, Kirk is demoted to Captain and takes over command of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise-A. Kirk then commands the ship on a mission to pursue Spock’s half-brother, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and to oversee the Khitomer Conference in The Undiscovered Country. The Enterprise-A is decommissioned after the Khitomer mission in 2293 and ends up at the Fleet Museum.
1 USS Enterprise-D
The one that ushered in a new generation.
In one of Star Trek: Picard season 3’s biggest and best surprises, Commodore Geordi La Forge reveals that he has been secretly rebuilding the USS Enterprise-D over the last several years. Admiral Picard and his crew then reunite on the ship’s bridge, returning to the ship where they all became a family. Because the Borg assimilated the newest starships in Starfleet’s armada at the Frontier Day celebration, the Enterprise-D remains one of the only ships unaffected. Picard and his TNG crew then get to save the galaxy one last time as Star Trek: Picard closes out a story thirty years in the making, and the iconic Enterprise-D takes its place of honor at the Starfleet Museum.
