Battle of Wolf 359 in Trek Lit

[SicOne]

Pardon me if this topic has indeed been done to death in the past several years, but...

(1) Other than a few pages in the novelization of DS9's "Emissary" episode, in what books has the Battle of Wolf 359 been described?

(2) Has there been anything resembling a full accounting of the 40 or so ships assembled? A list of ships of the task force or such?

(3) If 40 ships were assembled and 39 were destroyed, (a) is the Enterprise-D considered the sole survivor, even though it missed the battle? And, (b) were Klingon ships considered part of the 40 ships gathered?

Kind of stands to reason that there may have been a surviving ship, Federation or Klingon, that gathered the escape pods and allowed Enterprise to coast through the battle area and commence to Earth without being delayed to assist survivors, gather escape pods, etc, and arrive at Earth in time to stop the Borg...

Thoughts, folks?

Or, toss up a link to previous discussion if it's already been thoroughly covered.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Pardon me if this topic has indeed been done to death in the past several years, but...

(1) Other than a few pages in the novelization of DS9's "Emissary" episode, in what books has the Battle of Wolf 359 been described?

(2) Has there been anything resembling a full accounting of the 40 or so ships assembled? A list of ships of the task force or such?

AFAIK, no on both counts.

(3) If 40 ships were assembled and 39 were destroyed, (a) is the Enterprise-D considered the sole survivor, even though it missed the battle?

No. Admiral Hanson said that they assembled a fleet of 40 ships, but the Enterprise wasn't part of it. AFAIK, Hanson knew the Enterprise wouldn't get there in time. Something about "sorry you'll miss the party".

As for the ship that survived: I always thought it was the Endeavour. This is because in one VOY episode, Janeway quotes the ship's captain, Amasov, who related personal experiences with the Borg. So he must have been at Wolf 359. And since he lived to tell about it...well, you do the math.

And, (b) were Klingon ships considered part of the 40 ships gathered?

No. Hanson said that the Klingons were also sending ships, but this wasn't part of the Starfleet armada.

 

[Christopher]

As for the ship that survived: I always thought it was the Endeavour. This is because in one VOY episode, Janeway quotes the ship's captain, Amasov, who related personal experiences with the Borg. So he must have been at Wolf 359. And since he lived to tell about it...well, you do the math.

Another possibility is the Excalibur, the ship from which Marika (VGR: "Survival Instinct") was assimilated. In "Redemption," we learned that it was in drydock following repairs. Although I didn't go with that theory in "Brief Candle," which followed up on "Survival Instinct," because there was a novel (Reunion, I think) which featured the Excalibur just a couple of months after Wolf 359.

Personally, I always figured that maybe "forty starships" was an approximation and it was only 39 all along. I'm always suspicious of round numbers because people often round things off.

 

[James Cole]

According to Memory Beta, one of the TNG Manga stories shows the Nebula-class USS Endeavor under Amasov surviving Wolf 359.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Another possibility is the Excalibur, the ship from which Marika (VGR: "Survival Instinct") was assimilated. In "Redemption," we learned that it was in drydock following repairs. Although I didn't go with that theory in "Brief Candle," which followed up on "Survival Instinct," because there was a novel (Reunion, I think) which featured the Excalibur just a couple of months after Wolf 359.

Could have been a different Excalibur, couldn't it? I mean, if the Borg got close enough during the battle to get drones aboard, how could it have survived?

 

[Christopher]

Could have been a different Excalibur, couldn't it? I mean, if the Borg got close enough during the battle to get drones aboard, how could it have survived?

The Borg got drones aboard the Enterprise more than once and it survived. Besides, as I said, "Redemption II" established that it was undergoing a major refit and repairs. If one Excalibur was destroyed at Wolf 359, I doubt that Starfleet would have another one in service less than a year later; and even if they had rushed a new one into service, why would a ship less than a year old need a major refit?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Could have been a different Excalibur, couldn't it? I mean, if the Borg got close enough during the battle to get drones aboard, how could it have survived?

The Borg got drones aboard the Enterprise more than once and it survived.

But not during a major battle like Wolf 359. The Enterprise had time to defend itself because it was not being relentlessly pummeled by a Borg onslaught.

If one Excalibur was destroyed at Wolf 359, I doubt that Starfleet would have another one in service less than a year later; and even if they had rushed a new one into service, why would a ship less than a year old need a major refit?

Look at the Enterprise-A in the fifth film. It was full of problems. New ships can have a lot of bugs.

 

[timothy]

after the battle and the borg ship headed torwards earth and it passed jupiter three small ship went to face the borg. what were they?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Automated. Unmanned vessels from the Mars defense perimeter.

 

[timothy]

^ very cool thanks.

 

[captcalhoun]

the Excalibur's encounter and Marika's capture is in No Limits. it was at another time point, another encounter, and the Borg carved part of the ship off, which she was in.

besides, the dates given in VGR don't add up to Wolf 359 any how.

 

[Lonemagpie]

after the battle and the borg ship headed torwards earth and it passed jupiter three small ship went to face the borg. what were they?

Modified former Soviet Alpha-Class submarines...

(No, really, they're modifications of the "Tupolev" model from Hunt for Red October)

 

[Paris]

Look at the Enterprise-A in the fifth film. It was full of problems. New ships can have a lot of bugs.

Wasn't that just the Yorktown, but renamed to be the enterprise? It was already an older ship...not a new one with bugs, AFAIK.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Look at the Enterprise-A in the fifth film. It was full of problems. New ships can have a lot of bugs.

Wasn't that just the Yorktown, but renamed to be the enterprise? It was already an older ship...not a new one with bugs, AFAIK.

There's no evidence of that. It's just a fan guess.

 

[Paris]

Look at the Enterprise-A in the fifth film. It was full of problems. New ships can have a lot of bugs.

Wasn't that just the Yorktown, but renamed to be the enterprise? It was already an older ship...not a new one with bugs, AFAIK.

There's no evidence of that. It's just a fan guess.

Then why was the Enterprise-A decommisioned in 2293? Kind of early for a new ship, wouldn't you say? Less than 7 years old and all...

 

[ProwlAlpha]

The Ahwahnee, the Endeavour, the Victory from Starship Creator, the Hood from a TNG comic, and the Righteous from Borg were all survivors.

The USS Chekov from the novel Vendetta, was an Excelsior-class starship that was portrayed as a new vessel within a year of the battle. That novel also mentioned a Galaxy class vessel at the battle.

Other ships that were shown in other media were the USS Hoagland, a Miranda class vessel from Shatnerverse novel, The Return. The USS Kadosca, a Ambassador class and the USS McQuarrie, one of the Planet of Titan Enterprise models from the video game Echoes of Time.

 

[BrotherBenny]

The Ahwahnee, the Endeavour, the Victory from Starship Creator, the Hood from a TNG comic, and the Righteous from Borg were all survivors.

The USS Chekov from the novel Vendetta, was an Excelsior-class starship that was portrayed as a new vessel within a year of the battle. That novel also mentioned a Galaxy class vessel at the battle.

Other ships that were shown in other media were the USS Hoagland, a Miranda class vessel from Shatnerverse novel, The Return. The USS Kadosca, a Ambassador class and the USS McQuarrie, one of the Planet of Titan Enterprise models from the video game Echoes of Time.

40 starships were pulled together to stop the Borg at Wolf 359 and only one survived. There is no evidence to say that others didn't try to stop the Borg between Wolf 359 and when the Enterprise intercepted it.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

They were specifically named as having fought at the battle. Actually, if my list is right (one compiled from onscreen, novels, comics, other non-fiction, and video games), there is roughly 35 vessels shown or mentioned, but I haven't gone threw everything, so there might be other sources that have named or shown vessels at the battle.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

Double Post

 

[Christopher]

Well, canonically, only one ship survived (if you take "forty ships" as an exact number rather than a rounding). What you've listed are unrelated tie-ins that offer alternative proposals about what that one surviving ship was.