A sister ship of the Enterprise-D, destroyed in 2365 by a malfunctioning Iconian probe.
The USS Yamato was a Galaxy-class starship of the twenty-fourth century, a sister ship of the Enterprise-D, named after a Japanese battleship. She was launched in the 2360s and was one of the most advanced ships in the Federation fleet, designed for long-range exploration.
The Yamato was commanded by Captain Donald Varley, a friend of Captain Picard. She was sent far from Federation space, where she investigated an ancient and powerful artifact, a gateway from the Iconian civilisation. The ship's computers were infected by a strange form of technology that caused problems with the ship's systems.
The infection spread and eventually caused a breach in the ship's warp core, leading to the destruction of the Yamato with the loss of her crew. The Enterprise-D, which also came into contact with the Iconian technology, was nearly lost too, and Picard was left with the question of what had happened. The Yamato's end was a tragic loss and a key moment in the story of the Iconians.