Star Trek: 10 Secrets About The USS Enterprise-F You Need To Know
6. Competitive Edge
The Enterprise-F itself came about thanks to a Design the Next Enterprise competition for Star Trek Online just before its first anniversary in 2010. A previous competition by Pocket Books had resulted in the creation of the Luna Class USS Titan for their novel series focusing on the adventures of Captain Riker and his crew. The success of that made this an easier decision for CBS to back and so a new legend began to be created.
The judges were looking for something that would expand the lineage of the Enterprise name and remain recognisable, not just as a great starship but also as that iconic flagship.
Thousands of entries flooded in for the competition with 25 making the last cut before it was slimmed down further to a Final Four.
As noted in the bonus issue of the Starships Collection accompanying the Enterprise-F model, it was deemed that the ship had to have two nacelles, a primary and secondary hull, and a forward deflector dish. The final four ticked all these boxes leading to the winner being announced as Adam Ihle.
Interestingly some of the other designs from the competition would go on to feature in Star Trek Online including Jason "Vektor" Lee's four-engined concept that would see life as the USS Chimera commanded by Captain Nog.