Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

U.S.S. Hathaway

A Starfleet vessel presented in a crippled, battle‑scarred state: damaged hull and degraded systems that force risky improvisation. Bridge officers treat the Hathaway as an expendable ally/decoy—its engines strained, crew exposed, and the ship’s limited, last‑ditch two‑second warp capability becoming a decisive technical quirk. Characters physically transfer command over the ship (Picard to Riker), rail against its potential sacrifice, and use its battered condition as the centerpiece of a high‑stakes deception under enemy contact.
15 appearances

Purpose

To collect, analyze, and present bridge sensors, tactical and navigational telemetry; to serve as the Hathaway's primary interface for diagnostics, external-status reporting, and warp/trajectory calculations.

Significance

Acts as the central obstacle and eventual salvation: first a visible testament to the ship’s devastation, later a fragile source of hope when Geordi’s jury‑rig turns despair into tactical options. The engines anchor character moments (Wesley’s awe, Geordi’s workmanship) and thematically emphasize improvisation, sacrifice, and survival under pressure.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

15 moments
S2E21 · Peak Performance
Kolrami's Forty‑Eight‑Hour Ultimatum

The Hathaway is named and framed as the exercise's objective: an eighty‑year‑old Starcruiser put into the center of the tactical problem, its orbit around the second planet turning it into a tangible, moral and operational test target.

Before: Aged starcruiser quietly orbiting the second planet in the simulation description; an entity in data and sensors.
After: Formally designated as the target for Riker's command trial and the subject of Enterprise tactical procedures.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Public Endorsement: Riker Stands Firm

The Hathaway functions as the named objective of the exercise — an aged eighty-year-old starcruiser whose orbit around Braslota's second planet frames the game's tactical problem and the moral weight of ordering an older ship into simulated harm.

Before: On station in orbit around Braslota's second planet, intact but designated as the exercise target.
After: Remains the designated target and focal point for the assigned forty-eight hour preparation window.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Gutted Engine Room — Dilithium Stripped, Stakes Revealed

The Hathaway's impulse engine bank is presented as a wreck: several main assemblies disconnected, housings torn and coolant conduits exposed. It functions here as the tangible obstacle to sublight maneuvering and as the visual shorthand for systemic damage that will require jury‑rigging and sacrifice to partially restore.

Before: Previously intact and functioning as the ship's primary sublight propulsion system; components secured and conduits sealed.
After: Multiple main pieces disconnected and exposed; housings scorched, temporary braces evident, emitting a precarious hum and signaling only limited impulse power initially recoverable.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
A Fragile Heartbeat: Hathaway Rises

The gutted bank of U.S.S. Hathaway impulse engines is the direct locus of Geordi's repairs; he installs patched wiring and final covers, then activates the unit. When the engines respond they emit a low hum and throb that signals restored limited power and propulsion capability.

Before: Torn duranium housings, exposed conduits, empty dilithium rills, jury‑rigged wiring; silent and inoperative.
After: Patched with temporary wiring and covers, producing a thin, precarious hum and limited operational output.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Warp Drive Dead End & Wesley's Resolve

The Hathaway's warp drive is the absent causative agent in the scene: diagnostics show no antimatter flow and no possibility of warp. Its silence converts a technical problem into a strategic and moral crisis for the crew.

Before: Installed but compromised — warp propulsion assembly damaged and unable to mediate matter–antimatter reactions.
After: Declared inoperable for the immediate situation; the ship must rely on non-warp strategies and human improvisation.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Wesley's Choice — Recommitment Under Fire

The Hathaway's warp drive is the absent-but-implied objective: its silence and lack of antimatter flow are the unstated antagonist of the scene, shaping dialogue and commanding the tactical and emotional stakes.

Before: Drive is nonfunctional — readouts silent and indicating no antimatter flow and collapsed crystal coupling.
After: Still inoperative; the assessment that warp is impossible forces the crew to consider alternative, improvised solutions rather than conventional propulsion repairs.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Duty Over Doubt — Picard Reinstates Data

The Hathaway is referenced as the tactical objective Picard asks Data to consider; though physically absent, the ship functions as the imagined target around which Picard forces a premise and strategic anticipation.

Before: Existing as the aged starcruiser under exercise conditions in shared tactical simulation schemas.
After: Remains the operative objective to be addressed by the forthcoming bridge plan; its status unchanged but its tactical relevance heightened by the conversation.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Picard Forces Data Back Into Duty — The Lesson of Fallibility

The starcruiser Hathaway is invoked verbally by Picard as the strategic object of the upcoming engagement. It serves as the concrete target around which Picard asks Data to formulate a premise, converting abstract fear into a specific tactical problem.

Before: Referenced in command discussions as the exercise/opponent starcruiser; not physically present in the room.
After: Remains the named strategic objective; its role is reinforced as the focus of Data's analytic task.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Riker Converts Kumeh Bait into a Talupian Counter

The Hathaway's impulse engines are implicitly invoked when Riker orders 'three-quarters impulse.' The command will alter engine output and vectoring, making propulsion systems an active part of the tactical response.

Before: At whatever cruising or tactical speed the Hathaway maintained prior to the order (steady but not at the specified three-quarters setting).
After: Placed on a higher-thrust setting (three-quarters impulse) on Riker's command to execute the Talupian counter once he gives the go-ahead.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Two‑Second Gambit

The Hathaway's warp drive (previously assumed inoperative) becomes a narrative object when Riker asserts a limited two‑second capability, transforming it from inert wreckage into the critical tactical instrument that makes a risky rescue/deception conceivable.

Before: Believed to be renderered warp inactive and functionally dead following prior damage assessments.
After: Revealed to possess a constrained, emergency two‑second warp capability that opens a narrow tactical window.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Two-Second Gambit — Picard's Moral Pivot

The Hathaway's warp drive functions as the story's technical MacGuffin: officially reported as crippled, yet Riker asserts a limited two‑second burst exists. Its contested condition creates the dramatic pivot that undermines Kolrami's certainty and forces technical analysis.

Before: Reportedly crippled and warp inactive; sensors and prior diagnostics list the drive as damaged with minimal or no antimatter flow.
After: Recharacterized by Riker's claim as possessing a narrow, high‑risk two‑second capability pending verification and potential use.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Millisecond Gambit

The Hathaway functions as the physical decoy/target in the deception: it will be fired upon by Enterprise torpedoes while executing a timed warp jump to escape destruction and appear annihilated to the Ferengi observers.

Before: A venerable, crippled Starfleet starcruiser under threat and the object of Ferengi interest.
After: Within the plan it remains physically intact if the warp succeeds, but will be intended to appear destroyed from the Ferengi perspective; its survival is contingent on perfect timing.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
The Millisecond Gamble — Riker's Moral Leap

The Hathaway is the intended target and instrument of the deception: it will act as though destroyed by executing a programmed two‑second warp jump a millisecond before torpedo detonation, creating the illusion of destruction for enemy sensors.

Before: Disabled and crippled but still controllable; positioned in the Ferengi's field of interest and under Starfleet's operational control.
After: Within the plan it is slated to execute a timed warp jump to feign destruction; no physical change occurs during the scene beyond being assigned that role.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Four‑Minute Millisecond Gamble

The Hathaway functions as the sacrificial decoy/asset whose apparent destruction is the core of the deception. It is the target of the Enterprise's torpedoes and the ship that must execute the millisecond warp to survive and deceive the enemy.

Before: Disabled but intact; under Riker's command and within the Ferengi's area of interest as a vulnerable, valuable target.
After: Intended to be momentarily 'missing' from enemy sensors (appearing destroyed) while actually executing a short warp and remaining intact if timing succeeds.
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S2E21 · Peak Performance
Hathaway Gambit — Ruse, Rescue and Vindication

The Starcruiser Hathaway is the contested prize: struck deliberately by Enterprise photon torpedoes to deny the Ferengi capture, rendered dark and then placed in tow via tractor‑beam. It functions as the moral and tactical fulcrum of Picard's decision.

Before: Disabled, crippled, vulnerable — the Hathaway is derelict and within Ferengi reach as the prize of the engagement.
After: Dark but under Enterprise tow via tractor‑beam; slated for repair and plotting to the nearest starbase with crew safely recovered.
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