"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgements."

—Ship's Dedication Quote

The Phoenix (NX-08) was the eighth NX-class to be launched by the United Earth Starfleet, on July 21st, 2156 from the orbital facilities above Earth. She was named after the first warp-capable ship in human history, built and piloted by Zephram Cochrane, to whom her dedication quotation is attributed.

The Phoenix was lost with all hands at the Battle of Charon in 2160.

History

Construction

Construction of additional NX-class ships began after the Battle of Sol at the end of 2155, when the United Earth Commonwealth shifted to a war-footing with its industry and ship-building. With the Endeavour NX-06 launched early in the year and the Buran not long after, the Phoenix was one of the last NX-class ships to be planned and built along largely the same original design. While many of the modifications and streamlining developed with the classes years of service were incorporated in Phoenix, most of these lessons were being directed at Starfleet R&D to more extensive modifications and refits that would result in the Columbia Class. Starfleet was, however, keen to get another NX in the field as soon as possible, both to bolster current numbers and to keep the front-line strong while ships like Columbia, Challenger, and eventually Endeavour were set to be refitted in late-2156 to early 2157.

Construction of the Phoenix proceeded smoothly, but her commissioning was delayed with the loss of the Pioneer, whose experienced Captain Whittal was expected to assume command and bring most of his crew with him. Admiral Gardner soon after made the controversial decision to offer command to Captain Natalia Lopez, who had been grounded since the loss of her last command at the Battle of Sol. Lopez nevertheless assembled new candidates to crew Phoenix, many of whom were considered less-than-ideal candidates with limited front-line experience, disciplinary issues, or political baggage. The extenuating circumstances and eagerness in Starfleet Command to launch the Phoenix overrode these concerns, and the Phoenix was launched in late-July 2156, only two weeks later than originally planned.

2156

The Phoenix was dispatched first to the Vega System on a long patrol in a corner of Commonwealth territory considered of low strategic importance. Command's confidence in both crew and captain remained low, and the patrol was considered a chance to evaluate their performance in the field. The Phoenix quickly showed her mettle at the outbreak of the Vega Campaign, escaping a Romulan ambush in an asteroid field that would have at the very least delayed her arrival at Vega in time to protect the colony from an attack. The initial Romulan attack on Vega was repelled, and it became apparent the Empire had noticed, and tried to exploit, the region's strategic weaknesses. Without further reinforcements from Starfleet, the Phoenix's crew spent the next weeks helping to train a militia force and build orbital defences to protect Vega, and patrolling the vicinity.

One such patrol led to the rescue of the freighter Cormorant, which had been attacked by a vessel soon identified as belonging to the Enolian Hierarchy. The ship was pursued and disabled, and under interrogation its commanding officer revealed his people had been subjugated as a vassal state of the Romulan Star Empire and forced to support the war against Earth. Their targeting of human trade had been intended to lure the Phoenix away from the burgeoning defences of Vega to be destroyed by Romulan forces. Now warned, Phoenix's crew commandeered the Enolian ship to lay a trap for the intercepting Romulan task group, and destroyed it.