USS Drake (2364)

{{sidebar starship
| image      = 
| name       = USS ''Drake''
| dt         = USS ''Drake'' (2364)
| class      = [[Light cruiser]]
| registry   = 
| owner      = {{Federation}}
| operator   = [[Starfleet]]
| status     = Unknown
| datestatus = 2364
}}
The '''USS ''Drake''''' was a [[24th century]] [[Federation]] [[starship]] operated by [[Starfleet]]. It was [[starship classification|classified]] as a [[light cruiser]].

In [[2364]], [[Commander]] [[William T. Riker]], then-[[XO]] of the {{USS|Hood|Excelsior class}}, had been offered command of the ''Drake'', but declined in favor of the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}. Instead, [[Paul Rice]] was given [[commanding officer|command]].

Later in 2364, the ''Drake'' was sent to [[Minos]] on a mission to investigate the disappearance of the [[Minosian]]s. After the ship reported arriving at the planet, there was no further contact with the ''Drake''. The {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}} would investigate the disappearance of the ''Drake'' and the Minosians.

The fate of the ''Drake'' was still unknown, however, in a conversation between a [[holographic]] {{dis|Paul Rice|hologram|image of Rice}} and Riker, the former, when stating the [[maximum warp|top speed]] of the "Drake" at [[warp factor|warp 3]], used the present verb tense of "is". This indicated to Riker that, while the crew might probably have been killed, the ship itself was not destroyed. When he asked for its location from Rice, he responded that the ship's location was "classified". ({{TNG|The Arsenal of Freedom}})

== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
{{omid|starship}}

In an internal list of starships, from 26 September 1990, the ''Drake'' was identified as a [[freighter]] which was presumably destroyed at Minos. {{twitter|trekdocs/status/846068126181666817}} 

In the main entry for this ship in the {{STE|1|80}} had the ship destroyed. However, in the second and third editions (3rd ed., p. 122), the ''Drake'' from "The Arsenal of Freedom" and the {{USS|Drake|2373}} from the {{DS9|Apocalypse Rising}} were treated as the same ship. Then, in the {{STE|4|1|218}}, they were treated as two separate ships, with the first ship being reported as destroyed. In the Starship Chart, for the {{STE|3|471}}, there were two ''Drake''{{'}}s listed. This list in {{STE|4|2|328}}, with a major change being that the first ''Drake'' was identified as a freighter.

According to the {{STE|3|122}} this vessel was a {{class|Wambundu}} starship, with the [[registry]] [[NCC]]-20381. The ''Encyclopedia'' further noted that "''the ship was named after the English [[admiral]] Sir {{w|Francis Drake}}, who commanded the first [[British]] ship to circumnavigate [[planet]] [[Earth]].''"

=== External link ===
* {{mbeta|USS Drake (NCC-20381)|USS ''Drake'' (NCC-20381)}}

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