Battle of Wolf 359
The Borg Cube fires on a Federation vessel.
Date: 2367 Location: Wolf 359 Result: Decisive Borg victory
Belligerents
United Federation of Planets	Borg Collective
Notable commanders
Admiral J.P. Hanson†	Locutus of Borg
Strength
40 starships	One Borg cube
Casualties and losses
39 starships destroyed 11,000 killed or assimilated	Minimal, if any

Prelude to Wolf 359 Edit

In 2366, on stardate 43989.1, the USS Enterprise-D arrived at Jouret IV after contact with the New Providence colony was lost twelve hours earlier. The colony was found to have been completely destroyed, literally scooped from the planet's surface.

Admiral J.P. Hanson and Lieutenant Commander Shelby of Starfleet Tactical arrived to investigate the disappearance. An away team determined that the colony was wiped away by weapons similar to those found on the Borg cube encountered by the Enterprise in System J-25. (TNG: "Q Who") Starfleet immediately began preparations for a possible Borg invasion.

Admiral Hanson returned to Starbase 324 to discuss strategy with Starfleet Command. Starfleet imposed a fleet-wide standing yellow alert, and warned all Federation and allied outposts. That evening at 1900 hours, the USS Lalo departed Zeta Alpha II on a freight run to Sentinel Minor IV. At 2212 hours, Starbase 157 received a signal from the Lalo reporting contact with a cubical object. The signal was cut off mid-transmission, and no response was received to further hails.

Upon receiving this information from Admiral Hanson, the USS Enterprise set a course for the Lalo's last known location. With Starfleet reinforcements at least six days away, the Enterprise was on her own. En route to the coordinates, contact was made with the unknown vessel: a Borg cube. News was relayed to Admiral Hanson, who had begun to assemble a fleet to combat the invasion. The Borg demanded that the Enterprise captain, Jean-Luc Picard, beam himself aboard their vessel for an unspecified purpose. After a brief exchange of fire, the Enterprise retreated into the Paulson Nebula, with the Borg vessel close behind.

Hiding in the dust cloud, the Enterprise and her crew prepared for the inevitable conflict. Attempting to force the starship out, the Borg launched magnetometric-guided charges into the nebula, causing minor damage to the Enterprise. Picard ordered the ship out of hiding, and in the ensuing attack, Picard was captured by the Borg, who then left at high warp, en route to Sector 001 and the core of the Federation.

The cube maintained its course, with the Enterprise in hot pursuit. William T. Riker, as acting Captain, planned to force the cube out of warp in order to attack it using the Enterprise's deflector dish. An away team led by Lt. Cmdr. Shelby was sent over to the vessel, and succeeded in taking the Borg cube out of warp. In the process, it was discovered that Captain Picard had been assimilated by the Collective – he had been transformed into a Borg drone with the designation Locutus of Borg. Having temporarily disabled the cube, the Enterprise launched its deflector weapon. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

The cube easily shrugged off the Enterprise's assault with the unwilling aid of Picard's knowledge, and resumed its course to the Sol system. The Enterprise was forced to stay behind, having suffered extensive damage to its deflector array and warp core. In the meantime, Admiral Hanson and Starfleet Command had hastily assembled a fleet of forty starships, with more on the way. The Klingon Empire was in the process of dispatching warships of its own to assist in the defense, and the possibility of requesting Romulan support was even considered. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

The Battle Edit

In 2367, around stardate 44002.3, the cube entered the Wolf 359 system. Locutus hailed the assembled fleet, ordering them to disarm and escort the cube to the Sol system. Immediately thereafter, the fleet engaged the Borg.

• Listen to Locutus's announcement of the Borg's intention to assimilate the Federation^file info

The Excelsior-class USS Melbourne was among the first ships destroyed, with its saucer section partially vaporized while approaching. The Miranda-class USS Saratoga was quickly neutralized thereafter. When the Ambassador-class USS Yamaguchi and the Nebula-class USS Bellerophon rushed to rescue their trapped sister ships, they, too, were destroyed, along with numerous other starships entering the combat zone. (DS9: "Emissary")

After bare minutes of combat, the fleet was faced with utter defeat. Admiral Hanson attempted to rally the remaining ships to launch a last-ditch assault, but his ship was destroyed shortly thereafter. His final words were to Captain Riker of the Enterprise, whom he contacted briefly during the course of the battle. Communications were cut off in the midst of this transmission, and no further transmissions were received. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Ultimately, 39 starships were lost with a total loss of nearly 11,000 lives. Many people were assimilated. Only one starship managed to escape the disaster. (TNG: "The Drumhead")

At least one civilian transport craft was caught in the battle. The ship was heavily damaged and had to evacuate its crew and passengers via their escape pods. The mother of one Starfleet officer was onboard. The rest of the craft's passengers were most likely assimilated, though it is unknown if Locutus's ship had done this, or if they were assimilated at a later date. (VOY: "Infinite Regress")

Aftermath Edit

Following the battle, the cube resumed course towards Earth, completely undamaged. The Enterprise, having finally completed repairs, raced to catch up to the Borg. Using the recaptured Locutus and his link to the collective mind of the Borg, the Enterprise crew managed to plant subversive commands to deactivate and destroy the Borg ship in Earth orbit. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Although the outcome of the invasion could have been much worse, the result of the battle was nothing short of disaster. The loss of such a large number of starships left the Federation unprepared for any new sustained conflict. (TNG: "The Wounded") Commander Shelby took command of a special task force to rebuild Starfleet, but it would take up to a year before the fleet returned to previous deployment levels. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Legacy Edit

In 2367, Admiral Norah Satie used the battle as a means to question Captain Jean-Luc Picard's integrity during an inquiry board on Romulan subversion. She implied that Picard's relations with the Borg led to the battle, and hence he was untrustworthy. (TNG: "The Drumhead")

In 2370, Benjamin Sisko missed the painful fourth year anniversary by one day. It was the cause of his inability to sleep. (DS9: "Second Sight")

In 2371, Vice Admiral Toddman commented to Sisko that the Battle of the Omarion Nebula between the Dominion and a Tal Shiar/Obsidian Order fleet sounded "like Wolf 359 all over again". Sisko admitted that he had had the same thought. Like the Starfleet ships at Wolf 359, very few Cardassian or Romulan ships survived. (DS9: "The Die is Cast")

In 2373, Commander Chakotay encountered survivors of the massacre who had been assimilated but later liberated thanks to a malfunction. (VOY: "Unity")

In 2374, the Alpha Hirogen, Karr, in control of the USS Voyager, wanted to create a simulation of the Battle of Wolf 359, as it was one of the "notorious battles" of the Federation. (VOY: "The Killing Game")

Related link Edit

• List of starships at Wolf 359

Appendices Edit

Background Edit

Star Trek Encyclopedia speculates that the USS Endeavour was the ship that escaped the battle intact. The ship was mentioned in VOY: "Scorpion".

The Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Unity" and "Infinite Regress" refer to people being assimilated during the battle and subsequently being returned to the Delta Quadrant, perhaps suggesting the presence of an undetected second Borg vessel which returned to Borg territory. In fact, "Infinite Regress" suggests that Seven of Nine personally assimilated at least one of those people.

While the Klingon starships mentioned in dialogue ("We've mobilized a fleet of forty starships at Wolf 359 and that's just for starters... the Klingons are sending warships..."[1]) were never seen on screen during the battle, in "Unity", when Chakotay entered a neural link with the Borg Cooperative, he witnessed a battle between a Klingon squadron and a Borg cube of the same type that Starfleet engaged at Wolf 359.

In "Dark Frontier", the Borg Queen stated that she was present at the battle, a fact confirmed by Picard's memories of her seen in Star Trek: First Contact. When Picard asked the Borg Queen how she survived the battle, she replied that it is sad that he only thinks in "three-dimensional terms", which would indicate a fourth-dimensional (temporal) method for her escape. This is supported by the fact that she was seen to survive the destruction of her own personal ship in "Dark Frontier".

Apocrypha Edit

• The 1997 Marvel Comics Star Trek: Voyager comic book contained in issue #10 a story entitled "Ghosts" which deals with survivors of Wolf 359 trapped in a temporal rift. Along with several Federation ships, at least one Klingon Bird-of-Prey, at least three K't'inga-class and one Vor'cha-class starships were seen fighting the Borg cube at Wolf 359.
• In William Shatner's Star Trek novels, the Battle of Wolf 359 also occurred in the mirror universe. However, this battle was between the Terran Empire and the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. The Terrans were routed, and the Alliance bombarded Earth, vaporizing the Great Lakes and other landlocked bodies of water.
• The 2008 novel Greater than the Sum confirmed that many people were assimilated during the battle but since the ship only had a certain number of drone slots they were sent back to the Delta Quadrant on that ship's Borg Sphere.
• The video game Star Trek: Borg is centered around the idea of Q sending the player back to prevent the destruction of the USS Righteous during this battle, culminating in the player and the ship being sent into the present by Q after the player has averted the ship's destruction, thus allowing the timeline to be preserved and give the Righteous the chance to gain a unique amount of information about the Borg.
• Star Trek Online features a mission wherein the player, aboard the USS Saratoga, is sent back in time by Q to prevent the death of Benjamin Sisko. The player can also go to Wolf 359 and view a memorial to the battle and its victims.