Chronology
This page contains my Star Trek chronology - an attempt to place an Earth year to all the shows and movies. I've also added some relavent starship facts to the dates.
Home
Enterprise - 2151-?
The date given in the pilot episode of the series, "Broken Bow", is April 16 2151. From this it is reasonable to assume that every episode takes place close to 150 years from when they are originally aired.
The Original Series - 2265-2269
It is generally assumed that each episode of TOS takes place close to 300 years after they were originally aired. The exception being the pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", which was produced in 1965 (the year before the series started). Dialogue in VOY "Q2" states that the 5 year mission was completed in 2270, so the mission takes place from 2265 to 2270.
First appearance of the Constitution-class as well as the Klingon Battlecruiser and Romulan Bird of Prey.
The Motion Picture - 2272
The first movie most likely took place in late 2272. This is based on the fact that Kirk had already been an Admiral for 2.5 years (after completing his 5 year mission in 2270).
The Enterprise had been in drydock for 18 months for her extensive refit. She was presumably the first ship of her kind to undergo this refit.
The Wrath of Khan - 2283
There are two indications to the year of this movie. The first is the year of the Romulan Ale which is mentioned as 2283. The second is Kirk's comment that he hasn't seen Khan in 15 years. Khan's prior appearance was in "Space Seed" which likely occured in 2267. 15 years from then would be 2282. We must assume that the bottle label is correct and that Kirk was simply approximating/rounding.
First appearance of the Miranda-class starship with the USS Reliant.
The Search for Spock - 2283
The events lead directly on from TWOK. It is almost certain this movie took place the same year. Admiral Morrow mentions that the Enterprise is 20 years old at the time. This is clearly a mistake in the writing but it could be rather interpreted as being in Kirk's command for 20 years. This would also be consistent with the report in Generations (2293) that the Enterprise-B was the first ship with the name in 30 years without Kirk in command.
First appearance of the Excelsior and Oberth-class (USS Grissom) as well as the Klingon Bird of Prey.
The original Federation Starfleet Enterprise is destroyed by self destruct.
The Voyage Home - 2283
Kirk mentions that they had been staying on Vulcan for 3 months. That doesn't definitely indicate what year the movie takes place but it's probable still 2283.
The Enterprise-A is launched with Kirk in command.
The Final Frontier - 2283
Dialogue places this movie three weeks after the end of TVH. There's also the smallest increase in stardate between movies 2 through 5.
The first mission of the Enterprise-A.
The Undiscovered Country - 2293
This date is based on McCoy's statement that he'd been ship's surgeon for 27 years. We know that he wasn't CMO in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (2265) so we can assume he came aboard in 2266.
The final mission of the Enterprise-A. It seems premature to decommission a ship after only 10 years, but it's not that unbelievable given the age of the class and the extensive battle damage. The early decommissioning might also relate to the Enterprise-B being presumably already under construction, and/or the fact that most of the senior staff was retiring.
Generations, 23rd Century - 2293
As these events take place 78 years before the 24th Century events we can extrapolate the year from the given 24th C stardate.
The Enterprise-B is launched.
The Next Generation - 2363-2370
The first season finale "The Neutral Zone" establishes that the current year is 2364. I take this to mean that every episode takes place close to 376 years after their original air date. This is also constant throughout Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
The Enterprise-D is launched in 2263 under the command of Captain Picard. The events in "Encounter at Farpoint" show her first mission.
"Yesterday's Enterprise" reveals the fate of the Enterprise-C - destroyed in 2344 defending a Klingon outpost on Narendra III from attack by Romulans.
We seen many new ship designs during TNG. Some of these are: the ships of Wolf 359, the Klingon Vor'cha and Negh'var cruisers, and the Cardassian Galor-class cruiser.
Deep Space Nine - 2369-2375
This is pretty straight forward. DS9 simply continues on the dating structure established in TNG. The series started during the 6th season of TNG.
The most significant starship of DS9 is the USS Defiant. The Defiant prototype was launched in 2370. The ship was assigned to DS9 later that same year ("The Search, part I"). The ship was destroyed by the Breen in 2375 ("The Changing Face of Evil").
The original Defiant was replaced by the USS Sao Paulo, launched and assigned to DS9 in 2375 ("The Dogs of War"). Sisko was given permission to rename the ship to Defiant and did.
Another Defiant-class ship, the USS Valiant NCC-74210, was launched in 2372 and destroyed by a Jem'hadar battleship in 2374 ("Valiant").
We saw many new ships during the run of the series. The major ones include the Jem'hadar ships and the Cardassian Keldon and Hideki classes.
Voyager - 2371-2377
Once again, the same situation as TNG and DS9. The series started during the 3rd season of DS9.
USS Voyager was launched in 2370. Her first mission was in 2371 when she's lost in the Delta Quadrant ("Caretaker"). The ship returns home in 2377 ("Endgame").
Two other major starship designs are presented during the series. The Prometheus prototype (launched in 2373, appeared in 2374 "Message in a Bottle") and the Nova-class USS Equinox (appeared in 2375 "Equinox").
Generations, 24th Century - 2371
The year for this movie is based on the stardate given and cross checking with the current year in DS9 and VOY. It works out well given the 24th C events are established to be 78 years after the 23rd C ones (being in 2293).
Here we witness the destruction of the Enterprise-D, only 8 years after her launch.
First Contact - 2373
The year is extrapolated from the stardate given near the start of the movie.
The Enterprise-E was launched in 2372 as per the dedication plaque and Geordie's line that they had been in space for nearly a year.
This movie also witnessed the introduction of the 4 CGI only ship classes Akira, Steamrunner, Saber, and Norway.
Insurrection - 2375
I don't think there is a stardate given in this movie but the estimated year seems reasonable given the pattern of the year vs release dates for the two prior movies.
For the first time we get to see the Sona ships plus the Federation scout and holoships. We also get the first appearance of the Enterprise-E shuttles and Captain's yacht.
Home