The USS Bonchune (NCC-70915) was a Template:ShipClass Federation starship in service in Starfleet in the 2370s. The Bonchune was assigned to pursue the prototype vessel USS Prometheus when it was hijacked by Romulan agents in 2374. The ship was quickly overpowered by the Prometheus's superior firepower resulting from its multi-vector assault mode. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")
In 2378, the Bonchune was in the Sol system and was part of the fleet gathered to respond to an anticipated Borg incursion. It later escorted the USS Voyager back to Earth upon its return from the Delta Quadrant through a Borg transwarp conduit. (VOY: "Endgame")
Template:NebulaClassStarships
Background
Named for Foundation Imaging visual effects supervisor Rob Bonchune, with the registry being his birthday (9/15/1970). The ship was not identified in dialog and only existed as a computer image (rather than a physical model). Its presence in "Message in a Bottle" was confirmed by Rob Bonchune and one of the Nebula-class ships seen in "Endgame" carried its registry. As Bonchune tells it, its appearance in "Message in a Bottle" was "kind of" a mistake. The ship was definitely used, but was used in the episode interchangeably with the USS Honshu. It may have thus been the original intent that the Honshu be the only ship seen, but as the Bonchune can be identified on-screen and does not conflict with any other element of the episode it is considered to be a canon ship for Memory Alpha purposes. Close-ups of a later rendering of the Bonchune were published in several works such as the 2001 Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar.