Star Trek 101: How many Starship Enterprises have there been?

The fictional USS Enterprise had several incarnations on television and on screen. To keep it simple this article discusses Federation starships named Enterprise whose captain we know the name of, leaving Star-Trek-universe-historical, alternate universe, and mirror universe Enterprises aside, except for a certain "other-timeline" Enterprise.

Enterprise NX-01, 22nd century, Captain Jonathan Archer, setting of Star Trek: Enterprise

USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Constitution class, 23rd century, Captain James T. Kirk, setting of the Star Trek original series , with a refitted version appearing in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (in which it was destroyed)

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A, Constitution class, 23rd century, Captain James T. Kirk, appears inStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (in which it is decommissioned)

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B, Excelsior class, late 23rd century, Captain John Harriman, appears inStar Trek Generations

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C, Ambassador class, 24th century, Captain Rachel Garrett, appears inStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", destroyed

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, Galaxy class, 24th century, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, setting of Star Trek: The Next Generation

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E, Sovereign class, 24th century, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, appears inStar Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis

What does USS stand for? In the original series, Captain Kirk refers to the "United Space Ship Enterprise," and the initials appear as such in Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for the show. NCC has been identified in a few Star Trek novels as an acronym for "Naval Construction Contract".

Nine British and eight United States naval ships have been christened Enterprise, most recently the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier.

For more info: starshipdatalink.net is a great site that recently celebrated its tenth year online.

http://www.examiner.com/x-11230-Star-Trek-Examiner~y2009m8d2-Star-Trek-101-How-many-Starship-Enterprises-have-there-been