Star Trek: 10 Starships That Went Missing

9. USS Pegasus

The USS Pegasus was seemingly lost with almost all hands in 2358 after most of the crew mutinied against then-Captain Erik Pressman. What was traumatic for Ensign Riker was a career boost for Pressman, who would meet him once again, now firmly entrenched in the worst admiral camp.

The sad fate of the USS Pegasus wasn't discovered for another twelve years, though the ship was assumed destroyed. Pressman and the escaping crew reported seeing a massive explosion in space - yet the Judge Advocate General found during the court martial that they couldn't believe those officers' testimonies. 

Did Starfleet ever give up on the search for the Pegasus? The events of the episode of the same name suggested that no, they never truly did. Was the ship only officially labelled as destroyed? The discovery of wreckage in the Devolin system was enough to get Pressman to the Enterprise-D. One assumes that doesn't happen for a mere hopeful discovery of a ship thought destroyed. 

If the ship was unofficially labelled as missing, the sudden interest in 2370 makes far more sense. The fear of its survival seems to outweigh the hope for its crew. The experiments in breach of the Treaty of Algeron could not fall into Romulan hands, at least in the opinion of Pressman and his friends. 

Everything about the Pegasus is shady, from the actions on board to the loss of its crew to its official status in Starfleet's eyes.