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The USS Thunderchild (NCC-63549) was a Federation Akira-class starship operated by Starfleet during the 24th and 25th centuries.

Service history[]

In 2373, the Thunderchild was a part of the fleet that fought a Borg cube seeking to assimilate Earth. (Star Trek: First Contact)

In 2384, the Thunderchild joined a Starfleet armada sent to intercept the USS Protostar near Gamma Serpentis. Like all other ships in the fleet, it was subverted by the living construct and took severe damage when their weapons were turned against each other. (PRO: "Mindwalk", "Supernova, Part 1")

In 2401, the Thunderchild joined a Starfleet armada assembled to confront the massive Singularity that emerged from a spatial anomaly. The ship was briefly compromised when the Borg Queen began assimilating the USS Stargazer and obtained its command codes. After an understanding was reached with the Queen, the Thunderchild joined the Borg in a coordinated effort to deflect a massive energy burst from a newly forming transwarp conduit. (PIC: "The Star Gazer", "Farewell")

Frontier Day fleet formation, 3

Listed on a fleet formation display

Later that year, the Thunderchild participated in Frontier Day celebrations near Sol Station. Along with the rest of the fleet, it was seized by the Borg Collective after its younger crew were assimilated by a Borg signal transmitted via Jack Crusher. (PIC: "Vox")

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

The name of the Thunderchild and its designation as an Akira-class vessel were taken from production sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 396). One image of the Thunderchild sketched in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 509) mislabeled the ship's registry as "NCC-83549". This image was replaced by a new image for the latest edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia.

Alex Jaeger, who designed the ship's exterior, explained, "The name Thunderchild was given to me by production and is named after the warship in H.G. Wells '[The] War of the Worlds'." [1](X) This is the source given for the name in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 396), as well. In that novel, HMS Thunder Child (two words, not one) diverted Martian fire away from transport ships evacuating civilians out of London. Tragically, HMS Thunder Child was destroyed, with all hands lost, but was able to destroy two of the Martian Tripods.

Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass confirmed this ship's appearance in "The Star Gazer" and shared the CGI model by Thomas Marrone. [2](X)

Apocrypha[]

The Thunderchild was mentioned in the Pocket DS9 Millennium novel The Fall of Terok Nor, when it docked at Deep Space 9. In the Pocket TNG novel Rogue, part of the Section 31 series, the Thunderchild contacted the USS Enterprise-E.

The role playing game supplements Starships (from Decipher) and The Price of Freedom (from Last Unicorn Games) both described the Thunderchild among the lists of Akira-class starships. The Thunderchild also appears in the Star Trek Adventures role playing game (from Modiphius Entertainment) as an NPC starship assigned to the Shackleton Expanse (β).

The Thunderchild made an appearance in the Peter David novel, Before Dishonor. It was the first vessel to make contact with a sentient Borg cube en route to assimilate Earth. The vessel became the victim of "absorption", the cube's method of assimilation, and was later destroyed by the planet killer. According to the novel, the captain of the ship at the time, as well as during the Battle of Sector 001, was named Matsuda (β).

External link[]

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