| abstract | - The Yorktown (with an assigned registry number of NCC-1704) was one of the initial batch of Constitution-class starships that were ordered for Starfleet appropriation on stardate 0965. She was built to Mk I specifications and entered service on reference stardate 1/9005, she was also assigned a different registry number, NCC-1717. (TOS references: Star Fleet Technical Manual, Federation Ship Recognition Manual, TOS comic: "Romulans: Schism") At this time (circa 2249), Captain Christopher Pike assumed command of the Yorktown, with Number One serving as his first officer. Pike commanded the Yorktown for just over two years before assuming command of the USS Enterprise in 2251. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory) The Yorktown was later under the command of Matthew Decker, with Anne Gauvreau as first officer. Captain Von Holtzbrinck took command after Decker went to command the USS Constellation. (TOS novel: Prime Directive) Captain Evan Foster commanded the Yorktown for fifteen years from 2254 to 2269. By the middle of the 2260s, the Yorktown — a veteran of several battles against the Klingons — had already undergone seven refits, and was showing signs of general wear-and-tear. Yet, she still maintained a strong reputation for reliability and performance in the Federation Starfleet. (Last Unicorn RPG module: Core Game Book) Around stardate 2/0308, the Yorktown was refit to Mk III (Achernar-subclass) specifications. (TOS reference: Federation Ship Recognition Manual) In 2263, Yeoman Lawford transferred to the Yorktown from the Constellation. (VAN novel: Harbinger) In the early 2260s, Cadet Pavel Chekov took the Kobayashi Maru Test in a simulation of the Yorktown. (TOS novels: The Kobayashi Maru, The Disinherited) In 2267, the Yorktown was on a patrol along the Federation-Klingon border in the area near the Kraith space station. Admiral Herbert Solow ordered the Yorktown to send an extraction team, led by Lieutenant Fenig, to the station to rescue Ambassador Robert Fox and his diplomatic team. (TOS - Errand of Fury novel: Demands of Honor) In 2268, the Yorktown was transporting vaccines for a plague on Theta VII. The Yorktown was to rendezvous with the USS Enterprise to transfer the supplies, but the Enterprise was combating the Dikironium cloud creature. (TOS episode: "Obsession") Shortly afterwards, the Yorktown was transporting the secret weapon Excalibur. Renegade Andorians damaged the ship in an attack. (TOS short story: "The Enchanted Pool") Around 2270, the Yorktown was under the command of Number One (i.e., Commodore Robbins, Christopher Pike's former first officer). The ship was sent on a top-secret mission by Starfleet Command to probe the Romulan Neutral Zone in order to assess a suspected military buildup stemming from the Klingon-Romulan alliance, and to test out the stolen Romulan cloaking device aboard ship. During the mission, the starship's bridge section was completely destroyed by a collision with a piece of Commander Kor's D7-class battlecruiser. However, the entire bridge crew was beamed aboard a nearby Romulan Bird-of-Prey (along with Kor's crew), and the timely intervention of both a Starfleet task force as well as the Organians saved the ship when the Klingon-Romulan alliance broke apart. (TOS comic: "Romulans: Schism") In 2270, the Yorktown was one of a small group of starships, including the USS Majestic, USS Exeter, and USS Hood, that assisted the USS Enterprise in preventing an experimental transwarp engine from falling into the hands of terrorists. (TOS - Fortunes of War novel: Battlestations!) In 2286, the Yorktown was along the route of the Whale Probe and was rendered powerless and with barely any life support emergency reserves. Power was (presumably) restored when the Whale Probe returned power to the Saratoga, and the rest of the vehicles disabled by it. (TOS movie: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) Sunak served aboard the Yorktown in 2293; in 2373, his son, Tuvok, remembered receiving a message on the USS Excelsior from his father aboard the Yorktown that year. (ST website: Startrek.com, VOY episode: "Flashback") On stardate 2/1102, the Yorktown was ordered to be scrapped and decommissioned by Starfleet. When the ship was finally decommissioned, she was restored to her original configuration, but because her bridge was badly damaged, the original bridge of the USS Enterprise was installed instead. Following the completion of restoration work, the Yorktown was declared a museum piece, and by 2370, she was attached to Starbase 178. (TOS reference: Federation Ship Recognition Manual;; TOS comic: "Romulans: Schism"; TNG novel: Crossover) In the TOS short story "Night Whispers" (published in the Enterprise Logs anthology), it is mentioned that a brand-new USS Yorktown was currently under construction as of the events surrounding the V'Ger crisis, in 2273. It is entirely possible that the Yorktown seen up through Romulans: Schism was decommissioned after the events of that storyline, repaired, and sent to the Starbase 178 museum, with a completely new Enterprise-class ship entering service just a few years later. This could provide an explanation for the movie-refit style bridge seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and the fact that the starship stolen by Scotty in 2371 was still in the TOS television-series configuration. In 2371, Captain Montgomery Scott managed to steal the Yorktown from Starbase 178 so that he could travel into Romulan space and rescue Ambassador Spock, who had been taken hostage by the Romulans. In order to get across the Romulan Neutral Zone, Scott installed the cloaking device that the Enterprise had stolen in 2268 (which was being used as a museum exhibit). Unfortunately, Scott and the Yorktown were captured by the Romulans and sent to Outpost 43. With the help of Commander William T. Riker and Lieutenant Commanders Data and La Forge of the USS Enterprise-D, Scott was able to escape and they were eventually able to rescue Spock. Although the Yorktown suffered significant damage in the resulting battle with the Romulans, the Enterprise-D was able to save the starship, and she was eventually repaired and returned to Starbase 178. (TNG novel: Crossover) The Star Trek app states that Christopher Pike served aboard the Yorktown; however, it does not give a year — hence it is unclear if the time was before, during, and/or after the alternate reality split, and thus if it is even the same ship.
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