Development and construction of the Sovereign-class began in the mid-2360s with an initial mission role of exploration. The Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367 changed this role into the Sovereign-class becoming part of Starfleet's defense against the Borg. Like the Galaxy-class, the Sovereign-class is state of the art for it's time. In the original configuration, ships of this class measured 686 meters long and had 24 decks. They were equipped with the latest Bio-neural computer system, similar to that of the Intrepid-class; a warp-capable captain's yacht and armed with twelve Type 12 phaser arrays and five torpedo launchers; three forward and two aft. Of the three forward launchers, the forwardmost of these, housed directly above the captain's yacht, was dedicated to firing quantum torpedoes. The first production model of this class was launched and commissioned as the sixth vessel to bear the name Enterprise with the registry number NCC-1701-E, in 2372.
Sovereign-class starships, including the Enterprise would undergo a number of modifications between 2375 and 2379 that increased the number of decks aboard to 29 yet retaining the overall length of 686 meters. These modifications also increased the armaments of Sovereign-class starships to 16 phaser arrays and ten torpedo launchers, five forward and five aft.
Despite the lack of action on the frontlines during the Dominion War, Sovereign-class ships would perform various diplomatic missions and “put out brush fires” throughout Federation space. In less than ten years of service, Enterprise participated in several significant galactic events including; the Borg invasion of the Sol System in 2373, the Ba'ku incident of 2375, and the Reman-Romulan incident of 2379.
Ships of the Class
| ENTERPRISE | NCC-1701-E |
| SOVEREIGN | NX/NCC-73811 |
NOTES
USS Sovereign — This ship's registry number was initially established in the non-canon PC game Star Trek: Bridge Commander, released in 2002. Twenty years later, the number was canonically established in the computer-animated series Star Trek: Prodigy episode “Supernova, Part 1”.