SS Valiant

The SS Valiant was an Earth starship that was in service in the mid-21st century. In 2065, the Valiant embarked on a mission of deep space exploration. (, display graphic)

During the expedition, the Valiant encountered a magnetic space storm that overwhelmed her impulse engines and swept the vessel into the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy. The galactic barrier caused severe damage to the Valiant, and the death of six crewmen. One of the crewmen affected by the barrier began to develop extremely powerful psychokinetic abilities, posing a threat to the ship. In an effort to stop this individual, who was growing more dangerous, the captain of the Valiant gave the order to destroy his own ship.

By 2265, the Valiant had been missing for two hundred years. The disaster recorder ejected from the Valiant just prior to its destruction was recovered by the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), as the Enterprise was preparing to probe outside the galaxy. Reviewing the data recovered from the memory banks of the recorder, the crew of the Enterprise discovered the final fate of the Valiant. 

Background information
Although the Valiant's call letters aren't established in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", they are said to be "VAL 115" in the episode's script. The teleplay also refers to the ship, interchangeably, as both the "USS" Valiant and the "SS" Valiant, but most commonly with the former of those prefixes. It is additionally described, in the script, as a Galactic Survey Cruiser.

The year of launch and the type of mission for the Valiant are stated on a viewscreen graphic in. The year contradicts a statement in – that the Friendship 1 probe paved the way for all the manned missions that would follow it from Earth in 2067. The graphic can be seen here.

The Valiant was again referred to as a galactic survey cruiser in Star Trek Maps, which also gives the vessel the registry NCC-S1104. According to the same source, the ship exited the galaxy at a vertical upward angle slightly towards the galactic center and encountered the galactic barrier approximately 780 light years away from Earth. The same account of an upward trajectory was repeated in the Star Trek Star Charts (page 10). However, the point at which the ship encountered the barrier was depicted to be approximately two thousand light years away from Earth.

A model of the Valiant was built by Greg Jein for the first edition of the Star Trek Chronology. On its hull the ship was named Valiant with no USS or SS. The model was also marked with the registry number ADC-11031 and the number 02 on the bridge module. According to Doug Drexler, this model influenced the design of the SS Conestoga, a ship also launched in the 2060s, for the Star Trek: Enterprise episode.