The Newton class is named after iconic human scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, a legend of his field on Earth in the 1600s. The eponymous ship, the U.S.S. Newton, was destroyed instantly in the Battle of Vulcan by Nero’s mining behemoth, the Narada. The name lives on as the class continues to be built by Starfleet to field the front lines as the war escalates with the Romulans and Klingons.