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For other references see HMS Enterprise.

USS Enterprise is commonly used to refer both to American ships and the Star Trek ships named after them. In both cases a few ships do not officially carry the USS prefix, but common usage puts them in this list.

Contents 1 United States Navy 2 Other American ships 3 NASA 4 Star Trek

Eight ships in the United States Navy have carried the name Enterprise. The prefix USS (for United States Ship) was not used until the late 1790s[1], and until 1907 was only one of a number of prefixes used. Since 1907 the prefix has been used for all commissioned (and only for commissioned) ships of the U.S. Navy. In common usage, ship name prefixes are often applied retroactively to ships of the line that would have had said prefix under current practice.

The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships defines Enterprise as “Boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs.” (DANFS Vol II (1963), p. 355)

Continental Navy of the United States

• USS Enterprise (18 May 1775 – 7 July 1777), the first American ship to bear the name, she served on Lake Champlain.

• Enterprise (20 December 1776 – February 1777), the second ship to bear this name, she served on Chesapeake Bay.

Due to the concurrent service of the first Enterprise, this second ship would not have been commissioned under current practice, and would not carry the USS prefix.

United States Navy

• USS Enterprise (17 December 1799 – 9 July 1823), the third ship to bear this name, was a schooner, and fired the first shots in the First Barbary War against the Tripolitain ship Tripoli.

• USS Enterprise (15 December 1831 – 24 June 1844), the fourth ship to bear this name, was also a schooner.

• USS Enterprise (16 March 1877 – 1 October 1909), the fifth ship to bear this name, was a screw sloop.

This might be the first Enterprise to carry the USS prefix while in actual service.

• Enterprise (SP-790) (1917 – 1919), the sixth ship to bear this name, was a non-commissioned motor yacht serving in the Second Naval District during World War I.

• USS Enterprise (CV-6) (12 May 1938 – 17 February 1947), the seventh ship to bear this name, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier and the most-decorated U.S. Navy vessel of World War II.

• USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (25 November 1961 – Present), the eighth ship to bear this name, is the world’s first nuclear aircraft carrier.

Americain training ships are not generally commisioned, and do not serve as part of the regular Navy. As such they do not use the USS prefix.

• USTS Enterprise, current training ship at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, named after the fifth Enterprise which was the academy’s first ship.

• Enterprise (OV-101), the first Space Shuttle Orbiter, was only used for flight and landing tests.

NASA, while American, does not use the USS prefix (which is for ships of the United States Navy only) for the shuttles.

In the fictional television series Star Trek there have been nine starships named Enterprise.

United States Ship

• USS Enterprise (XCV 330) from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (pictured in a display of ships named Enterprise).

United Earth

• Enterprise (NX-01) from Star Trek: Enterprise (only called USS Enterprise in a graphic from the episode “Divergence,” which was probably an error), NX Class.

United (Federation of Planets) Star Ship

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from the Star Trek pilot and original series, The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, and The Search for Spock.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) from the movies Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, V: The Final Frontier, and VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) from the movie Star Trek: Generations.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) from the “Yesterday’s Enterprise” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Generations.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) from the movies First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis.
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-J) from the “Azati Prime” episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.