Star Trek’s 6 Defiant Starships Explained

A half dozen notableStar Trekstarships have carried the name Defiant. The USS Enterprise is the most recognizable starship in Star Trek, and someStar Trek TV series have been named after their eponymous ships like Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Discovery. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was named for its titular space station but, in season 3, DS9 also gained its own starship, the USS Defiant.

Starships named Defiant originated in Star Trek: The Original Series. However, it is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that turned the name "Defiant" into a legacy comparable to the various starships named USS Enterprise. Most of Starfleet's Defiant starships come from the Defiant Class established on DS9, but one Defiant made an impact fighting for the Terrans in the Mirror Universe. Finally, Star Trek's newest Defiant Class starship has a mission to explore and protect Star Trek's expansive multiverse, itself.

6 USS Defiant NCC-1764

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Enterprise

The first starship named Defiant was introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series, and it has an unusual history that impacted two different eras in two Star Trek timelines. Starfleet's original USS Defiant (NCC-1764) was a Constitution Class starship similar to the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). In Star Trek: The Original Series season 3's "The Tholian Web," the USS Defiant's crew went insane and killed each other after an encounter with the Tholains. Trapped in a spatial interphase, the Defiant later vanished.

Star Trek: Enterprise season 4's "In a Mirror, Darkly" two-parter revealed that the USS Defiant both entered the Mirror Universe and time-traveled from the 23rd century to the 22nd century. The Tholians captured the Defiant but Commander Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) stole it. Archer planned to use the advanced starship to make himself Emperor of the Terran Empire. The USS Defiant remained in possession of the Terrans, and the information in its computer is how the denizens of the Mirror Universe learned of the United Federation of Planets and Star Trek's Prime Universe.

5 USS Defiant NX-74205

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine originally had no starship to differentiate the space station-set series from Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, after creating the threat of the Dominion, DS9's producers were allowed to have their own starship in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3. Designed in part by Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), the USS Defiant (NX-74205) was the prototype for Starfleet's new Defiant Class starships.

The USS Defiant had only one known encounter with the Borg, when it was commanded by Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) and was left "adrift but salvageable" after battling a Borg Cube in Star Trek: First Contact.

Much smaller and more heavily armed than most ships in Starfleet's armada, the USS Defiant was a warship initially designed to battle the Borg. An agreement with the Romulans also supplied the Defiant with a cloaking device. Captain Sisko's "tough little ship" became Deep Space Nine's chief weapon against the Dominion. However, the USS Defiant was destroyed by the Breen at the second Battle of Chin'toka in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7, episode 20, "The Changing Face of Evil."

4 USS Defiant (Formerly USS Sao Paulo)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Captain Benjamin Sisko didn't have to go long without his beloved USS Defiant. 4 episodes after the original USS Defiant was destroyed by the Breen, Starfleet assigned DS9 a new Defiant Class starship, the USS Sao Paulo, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7, episode 24, "The Dogs of War." The Defiant Class Sao Paulo was even given a special dispensation to be renamed USS Defiant by the Chief of Starfleet Operations.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's second USS Defiant led the efforts by Starfleet to win the Dominion War in the Battle of Cardassia. After Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended, the Defiant was one of many Starfleet ships that had its systems taken over by the Living Construct in Star Trek: Prodigy's season 1 finale. Finally, Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed that by 2401, the USS Defiant was retired from active service and docked at the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime.

3 USS Valiant

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 22, "Valiant," introduced another Defiant Class starship, the USS Valiant. A starship attached to Starfleet Academy, the Valiant was launched under Captain Ramirez and crewed by the elite Starfleet Academy cadets called Red Squad. Originally on a mission to circumnavigate the galaxy, the Valiant was caught behind enemy lines at the outbreak of the Dominion War.

USS Valiant was the name writer Ronald D. Moore originally wanted for the USS Defiant, but it was deemed too similar to the titlular starship of Star Trek: Voyager.

Cadet Nog (Aron Eisenberg) and Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) temporarily boarded the USS Valiant, which was now under the command of Captain Tim Watters (Paul Popowich) after Captain Ramirez was killled by an encounter with the Jem'Hadar. Tragically, the Valiant was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar with all hands lost except for three, with the survivors including Nog and Jake. "Valiant" allowed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to do an episode aboard a different Defiant Class starship while using the Defiant's sets.

2 ISS Defiant

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is set over 200 years after Star Trek: Enterprise, and DS9 revealed the Mirror Universe had a second starship named Defiant after the Constitution Class USS Defiant. The ISS Defiant was built by the Terran resistance from the schematics of the USS Defiant stolen from the Prime Universe. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine established that in the 24th century Mirror Universe, the Terrans became rebels after their empire was conquered by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.

Captain Sisko, who was brought to the Mirror Universe, completely overhauled the ISS Defiant's inertial dampeners. The ISS Defiant was able to inflict heavy damage to Regent Worf's (Michael Dorn) Alliance flagship. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7's final Mirror Universe episode, the ISS Defiant forced the surrender of the Regent, giving the Terran rebels ultimate victory.

1 Anaximander

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Lower Decks introduced a new Defiant Class starship controlled by Section 31, which Lt. William Boimler (Jack Quaid) defected to after faking his death aboard the USS Titan. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest," revealed that now-Captain William Boimler was placed in command of Section 31's Defiant Class starship Anaximander. Boimler led a crew of alternate universe Star Trek legacy characters on a mission to find the culprit opening up rifts into alternate universes.

Defiant Class starships continue to make an important impact throughout Star Trek's multiverse.

At the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Captain Boimler and the Anaximander were assigned to Starbase 80, which now guards a stable portal into alternate realities. The Anaximander's mission is to explore the parallel universes of Star Trek's multiverse - a scenario similar to Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant's mission to guard the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. By any other name, Defiant Class starships continue to make an important impact throughout Star Trek's multiverse.

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