USS Centaur

The USS Centaur (NCC-42043) was a Federation destroyer that was in service with Starfleet in the late 24th century. In 2374, the Centaur was under the command of Captain Charlie Reynolds.

In that year, the Centaur mistakenly attacked a Jem'Hadar attack ship being commanded by Captain Benjamin Sisko for a covert mission. The Centaur pursued the attack ship into Dominion territory before being chased off by additional Jem'Hadar ships. 

While posing as Kamar, a Cardassian "loyal" to the Founders, Elim Garak claimed to have been taken prisoner by the Centaur and held aboard one of their shuttlecrafts. 

The Centaur was also part of the fleet that carried out Operation Return a few weeks later. 

Background information
The Centaur was probably named for the creature of classical mythology.

The Centaur was a "kitbashed" scale model created from the saucer section and warp nacelles of two AMT/Ertl USS Excelsior model kits and the torpedo rollbar and bridge from an Ertl USS Reliant kit. It was listed as " starship variant" in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual due to the use of the Excelsior saucer section. However, it has now been established that the original scale of the shooting model was much smaller and was based on the bridge section and other details from the Reliant model, not the saucer section. No further name was known; it was generally referred to as "Centaur-class" or, and was considered a prototype. Whatever its formal class designation, dialog from "Sacrifice of Angels" suggests that it was considered a "destroyer" type starship.

Registry number
The Star Trek Encyclopedia gives no registry number in its entry about this ship, although NCC-42043 was used in the Star Trek Fact Files and Star Trek: The Magazine. As for the shooting model itself, we know only that the number was used along with the name Buckner.

Apocrypha
The Centaur and its crew were featured in the Star Trek: The Dominion War novels Call to Arms and Sacrifice of Angels.

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USS Кентавър USS Centaur USS Centaur