USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) was an Excelsior-class starship operated by the Federation Starfleet in the late 22nd and early 23rd centuries.

The space frame that would become the Enterprise-B was first ordered in 2271 with the registry NCC-2019, one year after the start of the Excelsior Transwarp Project and along with three other space frames that would go on to become the USS Tempest (NCC-2020) and the USS Challenger (NCC-2021).

However, typical Starfleet procedure dictated that most of the time, vessels would not be assigned a name at the time the space frame was ordered and only receive one once actual construction was imminent (the usual exception being the lead prototype vessel of a prominent new design class, the Excelsior herself being a prime example). Had the order transitioned into actual construction in a timely manner, the space frame most likely would not have received the name Enterprise, since it would be several more years before both NCC-1701 and its successor, NCC-1701-A, would leave active service.

But despite being ordered in 2271 and barely a year into the Excelsior Transwarp Project, it would be nearly 20 years before actual construction began, with repeated delays stemming from the project constantly falling behind schedule and producing underwhelming results. Both 1701-B as well as what would become its sister ships would face outright cancellation multiple times as the transwarp project dragged on.

Ultimately however, once the project was cancelled in 2285 and the Excelsior herself was refitted with a more conventional warp drive, construction on subsequent ships was finally authorized, with the ships eventually entering service in 2290. At this point, the retirement of NCC-1701-A was imminent and with the Enterprise and her crew once again having just had a profound effect on the course of galactic history (in this case, the events surrounding the assassination of the Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon and the signing of the Khitomer Accords), Starfleet Command decided to pass the name and unique registry to one of the first batch of production run Excelsior-class starships, with it entering service shortly after the retirement of NCC-1701-A.