Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha

The USS Melbourne (NCC-62043) was an Template:ShipClass Federation starship that was in service during the mid-24th century.

The Melbourne was one of three ships docked at Starbase 74 during the USS Enterprise-D's upgrade there in 2364. When the Enterprise was hijacked by a group of Bynars, the Melbourne was unable to pursue due to her repair status. The station's CO, Orfil Quinteros, initiated a rush repair schedule to get the vessel ready for pursuit, but the situation was resolved before the Melbourne was flight-ready. (TNG: "11001001")

Borg cube destroys the Melbourne

Melbourne destroyed by the Borg cube.

In late 2366, William Riker was offered the command of the Melbourne. While Jean-Luc Picard described her as "a fine ship," Riker decided not to pursue the commission at that time, choosing instead to remain aboard the Enterprise-D. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

Soon after, the Melbourne formed part of the forty-strong Federation task force that stood against an invading Borg cube at the Battle of Wolf 359, and was destroyed in the battle. Lieutenant Gregory Bergan was among the Melbourne's crew at that time. (DS9: "Emissary"; VOY: "Unity", "Infinite Regress")

When the Enterprise-D arrived in the system a few hours later, the wreck of the Melbourne was one of the vessels recognized by Commander Shelby. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

Background

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the Melbourne was named after "the Australian city."

While on-screen evidence provides us with a full-on glimpse of the Excelsior-class Melbourne in action, the Star Trek Encyclopedia later revealed that "there were actually two Starships Melbourne [...] the first was a Template:ShipClass model, barely glimpsed as a wrecked hulk in the spaceship graveyard from "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (TNG). When the scene was redone three years later in "Emissary" (DS9), a decision was made to instead use the more detailed USS Excelsior model originally built for Star Trek III. Both models were given the same Starfleet registry number but since the Excelsior version was seen fairly clearly on screen, and the Nebula version was not seen well, we now assume that the Melbourne "really" was an Excelsior-class ship."

In a later interview, Michael Okuda revealed that "Ed [Miarecki] made us two nearly-identical Melbourne models. I destroyed one of them to create a battle-damaged ship for BOBW2. Rick Sternbach helped with the battle damage, too. And Greg Jein contributed quite a bit of wreckage as well. The other Nebula model ended up on one of the side tables in Sisko's office in DS9. I think it was labeled "Melbourne", too." [1]

Appearances of the initial model were featured as the wreckage that appeared at Wolf 359 in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", at the Surplus Depot Z15 in "Unification II", and again in Wolf 359 in "Emissary". The second Nebula-class model was seen as a desktop display in "Future Imperfect" and "The Wounded". It later appeared as a desktop display in several Deep Space 9 episodes, most prominently in "The Way of the Warrior" and "'Til Death Do Us Part".

External links

  • Template:Exastris
  • Template:Exastris
Advertisement