The first vessel and namesake of the Excelsior-class, the U.S.S. Excelsior initially entered service in 2285, under the command of Captain Lawrence H. Styles. With registry number NX-2000, it was a prototype vessel, dubbed “The Great Experiment” by some, but likened to his grandmother with wheels constituting a wagon, by famed Enterprise engineer, Montgomery Scott. Built around its pioneering transwarp drive, the ship was designed as a benchmark for a new fleet that could replace the aging Constitution II-class vessels, including the U.S.S. Enterprise-A. Indeed, it was in pursuit of the Enterprise, stolen by Captain Kirk and his crew in an effort to reunite Spock’s katra with his body, that the Excelsior underwent its first real test - a test it failed spectacularly, due to the sabotage of none other than Montgomery Scott. By the end of the decade, and following an extensive rework, the Excelsior had entered active service under its new registry, NCC-2000. Now under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu, the once helmsman of the Enterprise, its key bridge crew included Commander Janice Rand as communications officer, Lieutenant Commander Dimitri Valtane as science officer, Lieutenant Commander Lojur as helmsman, and Ensign Tuvok as junior science officer. It was in this new guise that the Excelsior earned its renown, though initially this wasn’t assured, as it spent a three-year mission cataloguing gaseous planetary anomalies in the Beta Quadrant. However, on its way home, it was drawn into the political war between the Federation and Klingon Empire, as it was in the vicinity of the Klingon moon Praxis when it exploded due to a mining accident. This led directly to the Klingons brokering peace with the Federation - something General Chang would have prevented, were it not for the direct intervention of Sulu and the Excelsior, as they rushed to the aid of Kirk and the Enterprise during the climactic battle. Despite its reconfiguration, the Excelsior remains a marvel of contemporary Starfleet engineering. It boasts such design refinements as a luxurious captain’s ready room, and the ability to separate its primary hull, or saucer section, from its secondary stardrive hull in an emergency. The ship has proven so successful that when the Enterprise-A was recently decommissioned, the Excelsior-class became the foundation for its successor, the Enterprise-B. Even Montgomery Scott must now concede that this is indeed a vessel to be reckoned with.