Editing USS Defiant (NCC-1764) (section)

==Final Mission and Loss==

In 2268, the Defiant responded to a distress call in an unexplored sector, claimed by the [[Tholian Assembly]]. Shortly after entering the region, the Defiant crew began experiencing sensory distortion, and insanity quickly spread throughout the ship. The ship's medical surgeon was unable to determine what was happening, and eventually the insanity induced by the phenomenon led the crew to kill each other.


Three weeks later, [[Starfleet]] ordered the USS Enterprise to mount a search mission to locate the Defiant. On stardate 5693.2, the Enterprise located the Defiant, only to find it lost between universes in a space warp. The Enterprise's instruments recorded that space itself was literally breaking up, the result of a previously unknown phenomenon known as a [[Interphasic Rift|spatial interphase]]. The Enterprise boarding party beamed aboard the Defiant and discovered signs of mutiny – the captain's neck was broken and his crew dead.

At that time the Defiant was visible in the "normal" universe at interphase, then, as a result of a later phaser exchange between the Enterprise and the [[Tholian]]s, created a hole through the spatial interphase, which was pushing the Defiant to parts unknown, trapping Kirk between universes. [[Rank|Captain]] Kirk was eventually saved when the Enterprise, encased in a Tholian web, entered the interphase, and, upon utilizing full power, was thrown clear of the region while Kirk was locked in the [[transporter]] beam. (TOS: "The Tholian Web")

:<small><strong>The ship may have visited Exo III as a chart of it appeared on the wall in one of its science labs.</strong></small>