Star Trek's long history has seen its fair share of disasters. From Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) on Star Trek: The Original Series to Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) on Star Trek: Discovery, starship captains and their crews have been preventing disasters and saving people across the galaxy for as long as Starfleet has existed. But Starfleet cannot prevent every catastrophe. Whether due to war, natural disaster, or a targeted attack, the United Federation of Planets has weathered many storms throughout its history.
Almost every Star Trek series has seen at least one major disaster, although some had more of an impact on the franchise than others. For example, much of the Federation-Klingon war of 2256-2257 took place in the background of Star Trek: Discovery season 1, when the USS Discovery was in the Mirror Universe. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on the other hand, devoted multiple seasons to the Dominion War, becoming the first Star Trek series to tell such a dark, serialized story. Disasters this catastrophic left their mark on the Star Trek timeline and often reverberated throughout the galaxy for years after they occurred.
8The Xindi Attack Earth (2153)
Star Trek: Enterprise
In March of 2153, the Xindi launched a devastating surprise attack on Earth using a powerful particle beam to carve out an area from Florida to Venezuela. The attack killed around 7 million people, including the sister of Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer). In the wake of the disaster, Starfleet ordered the Enterprise NX-01 to halt its mission of exploration and return to Earth. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) soon learned that the Xindi attacked Earth based on false information that humanity would one day destroy their home planet.
The Enterprise traveled to the Delphic Expanse in search of the Xindi, who were planning a much larger attack. In the end, Captain Archer and his crew managed to stop the Xindi weapon before it destroyed Earth, although the Enterprise lost 27 crew members along the way. The incident also led to increased xenophobia among humans, emboldening the extremist group known as Terra Prime. The Enterprise crew thwarted Terra Prime's attempt to derail negotiations for the Coaltion of Planets, the precursor to the United Federation of the Planets.
7The Federation-Klingon War (2256-2257)
Star Trek: Discovery
Although the Federation and Klingon Empire signed a peace treaty after the war, relations between the two powers remained strained for decades.
In 2257, Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) took Discovery to the Mirror Universe, inadvertently dealing the Federation a massive blow. By the time Discovery emerged back into their universe nine months later, the Klingons occupied nearly 20 percent of former Federation space. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) ultimately made the Klingons stand down by threatening the destruction of Qo'noS and giving L'Rell (Mary Chieffo) control of the Empire. The estimated casualties for the Federation included around one-third of the fleet and nearly 100 million dead; the death toll for the Klingons was unknown.
6Vulcan Is Destroyed In The Kelvin Timeline (2258)
Star Trek 2009
In J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, 24th century Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) and the Vulcan Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) inadvertently travel to the 23rd century in the wake of the Romulan supernova. Nero blames Spock for failing to prevent the destruction of Romulus, which resulted in the death of millions of Romulans, including Nero's wife and unborn child. Nero's arrival in 2233 created the alternate Kelvin timeline when he destroyed the USS Kelvin. Nero then spent 25 years waiting for Spock to arrive. When Spock emerged in 2258, Nero captured his ship and marooned the Vulcan on Delta Vega, forcing him to witness the destruction of his planet.
Although the USS Enterprise arrived and attempted to prevent the destruction of Vulcan, they were ultimately unsuccessful. The Enterprise did manage to rescue some of the Vulcan elders, but Spock's mother, Amanda (Winona Ryder), died on the planet. Over six billion Vulcans were killed, with only an estimated 10,000 surviving members of the species. Ambassador Spock eventually found a suitable colony for the survivors, which became known as New Vulcan. Vulcan's destruction deeply affected the Kelvin universe Spock (Zachary Quinto), making him more emotional. It also prompted the Starfleet Intelligence organization Section 31 to take a more active role in the defense of the Federation.
5The Battle Of Wolf 359 (2367)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
When the Enterprise-D finally arrived, they found only debris and no signs of life. The undamaged Borg cube continued its approach to Earth, but the Enterprise destroyed it just in time. In the wake of this disastrous battle, Starfleet began constructing its first class of warships, the USS Defiant, which would later prove vital in the Dominion War. The trauma of this particular battle stuck with Captain Picard for the rest of his life. Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) of the USS Titan and Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) of Deep Space Nine both survived the battle, although Sisko's wife was killed and Shaw was left with PTSD.
4The Dominion War (2373-2375)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Fought from 2373-2375, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dominion War remains one of the most devastating conflicts in galactic history. Soon after the Bajoran wormhole opened up travel to the Gamma Quadrant, expeditions began hearing rumblings about the mysterious Dominion. Before long, the Dominion began infiltrating the Alpha Quadrant, replacing important political figures with Changeling agents. The Cardassians eventually joined the Dominion, starting the Dominion War in earnest by capturing Deep Space Nine. Over the next several months, Federation forces suffered heavy losses in a series of engagements with the Dominion. Captain Benjamin Sisko led Federation and Klingon forces to retake Deep Space Nine in 2374.
Sometime after the Dominion War ended, a group of rogue Changelings, some of whom had been experimented on during the war, continued to plot against the Federation in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Still, the Dominion continued its attack, capturing Betazed, and eventually recruiting the Breen. With help from Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson), Sisko manipulated the Romulans into joining the fight, but a Breen attack on Starfleet Headquarters set the Federation Alliance back again. In the end, the Cardassians rose against the Dominion and the Federation forced a surrender. Cardassia, in particular, had been decimated in the war, with over 800 million civilians dead, as well as 7 million troops. The exact death toll of the Dominion War remains unknown, but the conflict altered the balance of power in the Alpha Quadrant for decades to come.
3Mars Attack Of 2385
Star Trek: Picard
Although unknown at the time, the Mars attack was orchestrated by Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) and the Romulan Zhat Vash, a secret cabal of Tal Shiar operatives who sought to destroy all synthetic life.
In the wake of the Attack on Mars, the Federation and Starfleet pulled back from missions of exploration, focusing on defense. The Federation Council banned all synthetic life, believing that some kind of malfunction in the synths had caused them to attack. The ban on synthetics led to the death of Thaddeus Troi-Riker, the son of Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), because the cure for his illness required an active positronic matrix. Admiral Picard proposed a plan to continue the Romulan rescue efforts and resigned from Starfleet in protest when they turned him down.
2The Romulan Supernova (2387)
Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Picard
With Starfleet no longer helping the Romulans, Ambassador Spock hatched a plan to use red matter to create a black hole that would hopefully absorb the supernova. Although Spock did manage to keep the supernova from expanding, he was too late to prevent the destruction of Romulus. In the aftermath of Spock's attempt, the Romulan Nero attacked him and both ships were pulled into the black hole and sent back in time. Nero emerged first, destroying the USS Kelvin in 2233, creating the Kelvin timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek films. The exact death toll of the supernova remains unknown, but millions of Romulan lives were lost with the destruction of their home planet.
1The Burn (3069)
Star Trek: Discovery
By 3189, the Federation only included 38 members worlds, compared to 350 at its height.
Soon after arriving in the 32nd century, Captain Michael Burnham and her crew began investigating the Burn and eventually discovered the cause. Around 3064, a Kelpian ship crashed on Theta Zeta, leaving only one child survivor after the crew died of radiation poisoning. The young Kelpian, Su'Kal (Bill Irwin) had developed a connection to dilithium while in utero. When he learned the fate of his mother and the rest of her ship's crew, his emotional outburst caused the Burn. After this revelation, Burnham and her crew helped rebuild the Federation and Starfleet, bringing hope back to Star Trek's 32nd century.
