| STARSHIP | |
| USS Franklin | |
 The USS Franklin in 2263 | |
| Class: | Freedom-class |
| Registry: | NX-326 |
| Affiliation: | United Earth, United Earth Starfleet, Federation, Starfleet |
| Commander: | Balthazar Edison, James T. Kirk |
| Status: | Missing (2164), succeeded in name by the Daedalus-class USS Benjamin Franklin, recovered in 2263 in the Kelvin timeline |
 The aft view of the Franklin
| |
- "This is the USS Franklin, sir, can you believe it? First Earth ship capable of warp 4."
- — Montgomery Scott, 2263
The USS Franklin (NX-326) was a 22nd century Federation Freedom-class vessel. It was the first Earth ship capable of reaching warp factor 4. Its armaments, typical of the era, included pulsed phase cannons and spatial torpedoes. Its defenses included polarized hull plating. Auxiliary craft included compliment of shuttlepods.
History[]
The dedication plaque of the USS Franklin
The Franklin was launched from the San Francisco Fleet Yards sometime prior to 2151.
The Franklin was the first Earth vessel capable of achieving warp 4. The Franklin originated as a United Earth starship in United Earth Starfleet service in the 22nd century, notably as the first warp 4 prototype.
This vessel was one of a number of vessels named Franklin, for various persons and places that share that name, including Benjamin Franklin, a statesman of Earth history. Another ship in service in the year 2159 also shared this name, the Strider-class USS Franklin.
The USS Franklin partially camouflaged on Altamid
After service to Earth as the prototype warp 4 vessel, this vessel was eventually adopted into Federation Starfleet service, commanded by Balthazar M. Edison, following the founding of the United Federation of Planets.
On 01 July 2164, Uraei accessed Starfleet Command and generated an order to have Mosel Thomas assigned to the Franklin. Thomas had been part of Admiral Ko Ji-hoon and Professor Aaron Ikerson's conspiracy attempt against Uraei.
The Franklin disappeared in 2164 during a mission in the Gagarin Radiation Belt. Popular speculation ranged from the ship being captured by Romulans to being captured by a giant green hand. In truth, the Franklin was displaced by a wormhole, and crash-landed on the planet Altamid. Only Edison and two others survived. As no sign of rescue came, Edison came to believe the Federation deliberately abandoned them. Edison discovered relics left by Altamid's native species, including numerous ships, a drone workforce, and life-sustaining technology capable of stealing the "life force" from its victims. Edison and his crew abandoned the wreck of the Franklin and turned against the Federation.
Kelvin timeline[]
The USS Franklin departs Altamid
In an alternate reality created by Nero's time travel, the Franklin was rediscovered in 2263 by Captain James T. Kirk and the survivors of the USS Enterprise crashed on the planet Altamid. By then it was the home of Jaylah, who had placed it under a holographic cloak to hide the ship from Edison, who by then was known as Krall.
The USS Franklin on Altamid
Marooned on Altamid, Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, and Ensign Pavel Chekov further repaired the Franklin, restoring its transporter capabilities, and enhancing it to transport complex lifeforms rather than simply cargo they rescued the Enterprise crew imprisoned by Krall. Learning of Krall's plan to use his Swarm ships and the super weapon known as the Abronath to attack the Federation Starbase Yorktown, Kirk and company successfully piloted the Franklin out of Altamid's atmosphere by dropping the ship off a cliff in order to reach terminal velocity. After repairing the Franklin, Kirk and the crew of the late Enterprise left Altamid.
The Franklin crashes in Yorktown Central Plaza
And rests at its final crash site
Encountering Krall's forces at Yorktown, Kirk and company flew the Franklin into the swarm. Using the ship's antiquated technology, Kirk's crew disrupted the individual vessels' communications with radio signals and created a chain reaction that destroyed most of the swarm. Pursuing Krall and two remaining ships, the Enterprise crew piloted the Franklin into Yorktown's internal docking structure, using the ship itself to destroy the attacking vessels before crashing into Yorktown Central Plaza near Yorktown Headquarters. After the incident, the ship crashed in Yorktown Station with the surviving crewmembers disembarking there. In the aftermath, Kirk and Commodore Paris officially closed the missing-in-action report on the Franklin and its crew.
Specifications[]
The Franklin was the first starship of Earth's Starfleet to reach warp four. Among its armaments were pulsed phase cannons and spatial torpedoes, with polarized hull plating for defense. Among its vehicles were some shuttlepods and a PX-70 motorcycle. Some uniforms, jackets and medical equipment were left aboard.
Command crew[]
The crew of the Franklin
2160s[]
- Commanding officer
- Randall Cormier
- Mae Crosby
- Anderson Le
- Meghan Noble
- Britni Peters
- Craig Smith
- Jessica Wolff
- Laura Yanovich
2263[]
- Commanding officer
- Captain James T. Kirk (2263) (assumed command of the derelict vessel)
- First officer
- Spock (2263)
- Chief engineer
- Montgomery Scott (2263)
- Chief medical officer
- Leonard McCoy (2263)
- Helmsman
- Hikaru Sulu (2263)
- Navigator
- Pavel Chekov (2263)
- Communications officer
- Nyota Uhura (2263)
- Science officer
- Spock (2263)
- Jaylah (2263)
Background[]
This Franklin's time as the prototype warp 4 ship, in the primary universe timeline, would have been in Earth service prior to subsequent warp 5 ships that had been built during Star Trek: Enterprise. The Star Trek Beyond ship, in the course of the film, was revealed to have been adopted into Federation Starfleet service in the 2160s decade, after Legacy showed a Strider-class USS Franklin, in the Earth-Romulan War era of the year 2159. It is possible the warp 4 ship Franklin had been taken out of service and then recommissioned after the Strider-class Franklin's retirement, or the two vessels had been in service concurrently (possibly with one or both having a different namesake). A third possibility is that the changed premise between the sources means there are alternating realities at play. Since no source explains the mechanism for any possible timeline discontinuity, this wiki does not present any such speculation.