Star Trek's 11 Most Forgotten Starships, From the USS Centaur to a Wolf 359 Survivor

Star Trek has given us some of the most iconic starships in science fiction, ships like the Enterprise, Voyager and the Defiant that we know better than members of our own family. But there are eleven other ships that showed up, looked great, did something important, and then got shoved into the back of Starfleet's garage. Here they are, ranked from most overlooked up to the one I think is the greatest background ship Starfleet ever built.

USS Centaur: the scrappy patchwork warship that opened fire on Sisko's stolen Jem'Hadar ship

The Centaur looks like Starfleet built it out of whatever parts were left on the table, and somehow it works. It has an Excelsior style saucer, Miranda class components, oversized nacelles, and a design that should look ridiculous. Instead it became one of the coolest background ships of the Dominion War.

Under Captain Charlie Reynolds, the Centaur intercepted Captain Sisko's stolen Jem'Hadar attack ship and immediately opened fire, which is fair enough because it looked like an enemy vessel. It was smaller, older and completely outgunned, but it still charged straight into the fight. Then it disappeared from the franchise almost as quickly as it arrived, one scrappy episode and gone.

USS Venture: a galaxy class ship that saw more combat than the Enterprise D and still got ignored

The Venture is basically another Enterprise D, except instead of hosting poetry recitals and ferrying diplomats it got sent into major combat operations. It appeared during the Klingon conflict with the Cardassians, took part in the battle to retake Deep Space 9, and was part of the massive Allied assault on Chin'toka.

It even had additional phaser arrays installed on its warp nacelles, which suggests Starfleet had modified it for heavier combat. That should have made it one of the most interesting galaxy class ships in the fleet. Instead it spent the whole Dominion War quietly doing Enterprise level work while getting background extra levels of attention.

USS Bellerophon: the Intrepid class Voyager lookalike that carried Section 31 into Romulan space

The Bellerophon is an Intrepid class ship that looks almost identical to Voyager, and Starfleet used it for some of its most sensitive diplomatic missions of the Dominion War. It transported Admiral Ross, Dr. Bashir and Section 31 operative Sloan into Romulan territory for a conference about the war, meaning this one ship carried a senior admiral, a genetically enhanced doctor and one of the Federation's most secretive intelligence agents all at once.

We even got to see its interior, and while the production understandably reused Voyager's assets, it proved the Intrepid class was operating throughout the Alpha Quadrant the whole time Voyager was lost. After that mission, it vanished. We spent seven seasons wondering if Voyager would ever get home while its nearly identical twin was casually flying around with Section 31.

USS Farragut: the Nebula class ship that rescued the Enterprise D survivors and got no credit for it

The Farragut deserves to be remembered for one reason alone: it helped rescue the survivors of the Enterprise D after the saucer section crashed on Veridian III. One of the most famous ships in Starfleet history had just been destroyed, Captain Picard's crew was stranded on a planet, and the Farragut was one of the ships that came to bring them home. In another franchise, that alone might have earned it a recurring role.

Instead it returned during the Dominion War as part of Starfleet's massive fleet movements and stayed almost completely anonymous. It is a Nebula class workhorse helping hold the Federation together, but most fans probably remember the ship that crashed more than the ship that saved everybody afterward. That is unfortunately how it works.

USS Akira and the entire Akira class: Star Trek's coolest design that never got a hero ship

Let's be honest, the people behind Star Trek knew exactly what they were doing when they designed the Akira class. This ship looked like it was "built to punch the Borg directly in the pie hole." The class debuted during the Battle of Sector 001 in First Contact, fighting at point blank range against a Borg cube, and its aggressive profile, heavy weapons and catamaran style hull instantly made it one of Starfleet's coolest designs.

The Akira class went on to appear throughout the Dominion War and kept showing up in later eras. But despite becoming one of the most recognizable background designs in Star Trek, the class never got the spotlight it deserves. No Akira class hero ship, no captain we follow, no episode explaining what this thing could really do. Star Trek created a fan favorite warship and left it flying behind everybody else the whole time.

USS Sutherland: the ship where Data commanded, exposed a Romulan convoy, and never came back

If you remember the Sutherland, it is because Data took command of it during the Klingon Civil War and immediately had to deal with officers who did not believe an android should be sitting in the captain's chair. Data ignored the attitude of his first officer, Christopher Hobson, uncovered the Romulans supplying the Duras family, and used the Sutherland to expose their cloaked convoy. To me that is one of Data's strongest command stories and proof he could captain a ship without Picard watching over him.

The Sutherland later appeared during the Dominion War, meaning this Nebula class ship kept serving through one of the Federation's darkest periods. But Star Trek never returned to its crew, never let us see Data command again. It feels to me like a massive missed opportunity. We were basically handed the beginning of Captain Data and then moved on like nothing happened.

USS Hood: the ship that showed up everywhere and never got destroyed, promoted, or its own story

The Hood might be "the ultimate Starfleet company car." It was never glamorous, never the center of attention, and somehow it was always working. Commanded by Captain Robert DeSoto, it transported Riker to the Enterprise D before its first mission, and it later took part in major fleet developments including the Romulan blockade during the Klingon Civil War and operations surrounding the Borg threat.

It was everywhere. The Hood kept showing up across years of Star Trek without ever getting destroyed, promoted or given its own story. It was just background noise quietly doing the job while every hero ship around it got blown up, lost in another quadrant, or thrown through time. Honestly, that might make the Hood the most realistic ship in Starfleet. It went to work, stayed out of trouble and apparently had a fantastic insurance record.

USS Excalibur: an ambassador class ship Star Trek teased for years and never properly explored on screen

The Excalibur is an ambassador class starship that Star Trek repeatedly teased and never properly explored. During the Klingon Civil War it joined Picard's fleet in an attempt to expose Romulan support for the Duras family, and Geordi La Forge temporarily commanded it as part of the tachyon detection grid, giving us another glimpse of senior Enterprise officers leading ships of their own.

But the Excalibur's most interesting connection, to me, happened far away from television screens, when Mackenzie Calhoun became its captain in the Star Trek New Frontier novels. Those books turned the Excalibur into a genuine hero ship with its own crew, personality and adventures. On screen, it just remained another impressive ambassador class vessel sitting in the background, a ship with a great design connection to Picard's crew that never got to pull the sword from the stone.

USS Prometheus: the prototype that could split into three ships and still barely got used again

The Prometheus may not be the most overpowered ship in Star Trek history, but it was something. This prototype could separate into three independent combat vessels using multi vector assault mode, and it had advanced tactical systems, regenerative shielding and enough automation that the Doctor and a prototype EMH were able to operate it against Romulan captors.

During its first appearance the Prometheus separated, attacked multiple Romulan warbirds and helped destroy one of them. "This thing basically turned one starship into an entire attack squadron." It was fast, heavily armed and years ahead of most Federation ships operating at the time. Then Star Trek barely used it again, because once you introduce a ship that can split into three pieces and attack from every direction, every future space battle comes with the same question: why did Starfleet not build a hundred and fifty of these?

USS Ahwahnee: the Wolf 359 wreck whose name mysteriously reappeared years later

The Ahwahnee may be one of the strangest ships connected to the Battle of Wolf 359. It was a Cheyenne class vessel with four warp nacelles, and its wreckage was seen floating among the remains of Starfleet's destroyed fleet, torn apart by the Borg. It looked finished. But the name Ahwahnee later showed up again in Starfleet's deployment records during the Klingon Civil War.

That has led to years of debate over whether the original ship was somehow recovered and repaired, whether Starfleet commissioned a replacement with the same name and registry, or whether it was simply a production inconsistency. Either way, this is a ship tied to the most devastating Borg battle in Federation history, and Star Trek never explained what happened to it. If it was salvaged and returned to service, that is one of the greatest comeback stories in the fleet. If it was replaced, that story is still worth telling too. Instead the Ahwahnee became a mystery hidden inside a computer display.

USS Endeavour: my pick for the most forgotten Wolf 359 survivor in Starfleet history

Number one has to go to the USS Endeavour, which might be the most forgotten survivor in Starfleet history. This Nebula class ship fought at Wolf 359, and we know its captain survived because years later Seven of Nine recalled the Borg's memory of his resistance during the battle, which places the Endeavour, or at least its captain, inside the massacre that destroyed so many Starfleet ships.

The Endeavour later joined Picard's fleet during the Klingon Civil War, helping form the tachyon detection grid that exposed the Romulan supply ships supporting the Duras family. This is a ship that lived in the shadows of both the Enterprise and the Borg, took part in two of the most important crises of its era, and was commanded by a captain whose encounter with the collective stayed inside Seven of Nine's mind years later. But we never met him properly, never saw the Endeavour get the recognition it deserved, and never learned exactly how it escaped Wolf 359 or what happened to its crew afterward.

I think that is exactly why the Endeavour takes the number one spot. It was not the fastest ship, not the biggest ship, not the most powerful ship, but it was something more interesting: a starship with an incredible story that Star Trek somehow forgot to tell.

Which forgotten Star Trek ship do you think deserves its own story?