Summary
- Starfleet's flagship, the USS Enterprise, is a coveted prize for hijackers due to its status as a powerful and advanced starship.
- Various characters, from Spock to Khan, have hijacked the Enterprise for personal reasons, testing the crew's resilience and diplomatic skills.
- While hijackings may cause initial tension, the Enterprise crew often resolves conflicts through negotiation, reflecting the ethos of unity in Star Trek.
More than a handful of times, Star Trek's original USS Enterprise has been hijacked from under the command of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) or Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Throughout Star Trek: The Original Series, the subsequent Star Trek films with the TOS cast, and the prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, control of Starfleet's flagship isn't always in the capable hands of the Captain of the USS Enterprise. But what makes the Starship Enterprise such an easy target for hijackers with their own agenda?
Being Starfleet's flagship makes every version of the USS Enterprise a jewel in the metaphorical crown of would-be takers. The Enterprise is a status symbol, so taking the starship might be a point of pride, especially for hijackers who fancy themselves conquerers from across the stars, or from Earth's past. More to the point, the Enterprise is also a powerful starship with advanced technology that not everyone has access to. And in a few cases, it's only a hijacking in the most technical of senses, depending on how you look at it. Here are the culprits who (briefly) absconded with Captain Pike and Kirk's Starship Enterprise.
7 Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 7 - “The Serene Squall”
Captain Angel's plan to hijack the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7, “The Serene Squall”, is characterized by a series of reversals. Angel boards the USS Enterprise under seemingly genuine intentions, disguised as humanitarian counselor Dr. Aspen, and the colony ship that Pike, Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) agree to help turns out to be the pirate vessel Serene Squall. With Pike's landing party indisposed aboard the Squall, Angel is free to slink into the Captain's chair on the Enterprise.
With the Starship Enterprise's power, Angel believes they can rescue their Vulcan lover Xaverius from the Ankeshtan K'til rehabilitation center. Although Angel is foiled, there's one final reversal in "The Serene Squall": Xaverius is revealed to be Spock's half-brother Sybok. This plot point remains unresolved after Strange New Worlds season 2, but hopefully, Angel and Sybok will return in future episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
6 Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 1 - "The Broken Circle"
Under strict orders to keep the USS Enterprise in dry dock during routine inspections and upgrades, Lieutenant Spock logically breaks orders to rescue Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 1, "The Broken Circle". With Captain Christopher Pike on personal leave, and Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) in custody for being a genetically-enhanced Illyrian, Lieutenant Spock is not quite in command of the Enterprise so much as he is babysitting the starship.
Spock's decision to hijack the Enterprise is driven by an all-too-human "hunch".
Spock's decision to hijack the Enterprise is driven by an all-too-human "hunch" that La'an's distress call is legit, but Spock still frames the decision as one driven by logic. Aided by inspector-turned-chief-engineer Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) and pilot Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), Spock manages to pull off an enormous and decidedly un-Vulcan act of deception for the sake of La'an's safety. Trusting his intuition is just another step in Spock's exploration of humanity throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 1 & 2.
5 Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Epsodes 15 & 16 - "The Menagerie"
Mr. Spock hijacks the USS Enterprise once again, this time to save a severely disfigured Captain Christopher Pike (Sean Kenney), in Star Trek: The Original Series' only 2-parter, season 1, episodes 15 & 16, "The Menagerie". Splicing new footage with scenes from TOS' original pilot, "The Cage", when Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) first discovers Talos IV, "The Menagerie" takes us to the courtroom where Spock defends his actions to commandeer the Enterprise.
The Talosians, Spock explains, have the technology to improve Pike's quality of life, which is nonexistent following the accident that confined Pike's active mind within an unresponsive physical body. To Spock, Pike's well-being is worth every consequence that comes with not just hijacking the Enterprise, but also breaking Starfleet's General Order 7: to steer clear of Talos IV, under penalty of death. Fortunately, Spock's argument makes sense to Starfleet, and Christopher Pike can live out his days in the Talosian fantasy world that Pike originally rejected.
4 Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán)
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 24 - "Space Seed"
Khan Noonien Singh is revived from stasis when the USS Enterprise encounters the SS Botany Bay in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 24, "Space Seed". Despite the battle of wits between Khan and Captain Kirk, Khan believes he must act according to his despotic nature. A conqueror must conquer, and so Khan does what he did in Star Trek's Eugenics Wars, taking control of the USS Enterprise with his genetically engineered acolytes. Smartly, Khan takes Engineering first, since Augments like himself require less oxygen than the Enterprise's crew. With life support threatened, Khan has the upper hand over Kirk.
Kirk recognizes that Khan can't be overpowered or contained.
Not one to be outdone so easily, Captain Kirk recognizes that Khan can't be overpowered or contained. Rather than attempt to imprison Khan and the Augments again, Kirk drops Khan off at Ceti Alpha V. There, Khan's people can fend for themselves and build the grand society that Khan dreams of ruling. That should be totally fine and cause absolutely no problems for Kirk later on, right?
3 Rojan (Warren Stevens) & Kelinda (Barbara Bouchet) Of The Kelvan Empire
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2, Episode 21 - "By Any Other Name"
With a fake distress call, Rojan, Kelinda, and 3 other representatives of the Kelvan Empire lure the USS Enterprise into their control in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 21, “By Any Other Name”. The Kelvans are from the dying Andromeda Galaxy, and they've found the Milky Way is a suitable replacement for their civilization, but their own ships were destroyed. As conquerors, Rojan and Kelinda believe their only chance to return home with the good news is to hijack the Enterprise. Under the Kelvans, only Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty are spared from being "reduced" into geometric solids, and it's up to them to take back control.
Unable to describe an alcoholic beverage to Rojan, Scotty declares, "it's green." The same gag is repeated by Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) to Scotty himself in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 4, "Relics".
2 Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Some may argue that it's not really hijacking if it's taking back your own ship, but because the USS Enterprise is set for decommission instead of a refit, that's exactly what Admiral James T. Kirk does in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Starfleet Command does their best to keep Kirk in line by reassigning the Enterprise crew and setting up a quarantine around tself-destructing Genesis Planet, but that won't stop Admiral Kirk from rescuing Spock. With Dr. McCoy in possession of Spock's katra, Kirk successfully hijacks the Enterprise from space dock and returns to the Genesis Planet, where Spock's body was left after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
1 Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) believes beyond a doubt that the USS Enterprise can take Sybok and his Galactic Army of Light to Sha Ka Ree, a mythical world beyond the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy. After taking the shuttlecraft Galileo, it's on to the Enterprise, and off to the Great Barrier. The Enterprise might have been safe if Spock had followed Kirk's order to shoot Sybok, but Spock couldn't bring himself to fire, since Sybok is one of Spock's many secret family members.
While in command of the ill-gotten starship, Sybok has difficulty convincing the Enterprise crew members to share in Sybok's philosophy of being free from pain, as Sybok had done with his other followers. Sha Ka Ree seems within reach, as Sybok is vindicated by the presence of a theoretical god at the Great Barrier. When the malevolent entity (George Murdock) —who is not actually God, as Sybok believed — wants to take the Enterprise from Sybok, as Sybok took the Enterprise from Kirk, the turned tables awaken Sybok to his folly.
Besides the sheer determination that Kirk or Spock have when trying to use the Enterprise for their own personal means, these stories don't discount the fear that the Enterprise crew might feel when outsiders take their starship, but things have a way of working out for the USS Enterprise, of course. More often than not, the Enterprise's hijackers are stopped by negotiation or appealing to the hijackers' reason rather than by violence, proving that Star Trek's ethos of bridging differences is usually more effective in the 23rd century than resorting to humanity's baser instincts.
