The U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-2893 was a Constellation-class starship in service with Starfleet in the mid 24th century. In 2333, Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard took command of the ship after the captain was killed in a hostile attack, an action for which Picard was eventually promoted to captain and made the ship’s permanent commanding officer. In 2355, the Stargazer was severely damaged in an unprovoked attack in what became known as the Battle of Maxia. Picard’s quick thinking led to the development of the “Picard Maneuver” to surprise the unknown hostile vessel and destroy it, however the damage to the Stargazer was too severe and the ship was abandoned by its crew. Years later in 2364 the attackers were revealed to have been Ferengi, and the Stargazer was returned to Starfleet as part of an unsuccessful plot to avenge the captain of the destroyed Ferengi ship by his father.

Ship Model (Physical)

As portrayed in Star Trek: The Next Generation - “The Battle” (TV, 1987)

The U.S.S. Stargazer was originally intended by the writers to be a refit Constitution-class vessel, like the original U.S.S. Enterprise. After the episode started filming, it was decided to create a new model instead, so the name Constellation was chosen for the class as it would be easy for the actors to redub their already filmed lines. The new design was based on the golden starship model used as set dressing for Picard’s ready room onboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, of which Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach had designed using elements from commercially available AMT refit Enterprise kits, planning for it to represent the Stargazer.