Wolf 359

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Several destroyed starships at Wolf 359

Wolf 359 (also CN Leonis) is a star located about 7.8 light years from Sol in the constellation of Leo.

The real Wolf 359 is a flare star that modern scientists have determined is a red dwarf, spectral class M6, massing 0.093 of Sol with absolute magnitude +16.56.

Wolf 359 is most notable as the site of the first major engagement between Starfleet and the Borg. In 2367, a fleet of 40 ships under the command of Admiral Hanson engaged a Borg cube commanded by Locutus at the Battle of Wolf 359. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D had been assimilated by the Borg, and as Locutus, unwillingly provided them with a decisive advantage through his knowledge of Starfleet technology and tactics. This led to the Federation fleet, tasked with preventing the advance of the Borg to Earth, being quickly overwhelmed and utterly destroyed. Of the 40 vessels that engaged the Borg cube, 39 were destroyed, resulting in approximately 11,000 deaths. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II")

After the disastrously one-sided engagement, the Borg cube advanced towards Earth. It quickly breached the Mars Defense Perimeter by defeating the much smaller and weaker force available there and took up position over the Earth as it prepared to assimilate Humanity.

The Enterprise-D had been disabled in a previous contact with the Borg that took place shortly before the battle at Wolf 359. Had she been able to join the fleet there as planned, it is very likely that she, too, would have been destroyed. Ultimately, the Enterprise was able to destroy the Borg cube and end the threat by turning Picard's knowledge of the Borg, gained as Locutus, against them.

Among the ships lost at Wolf 359 were the USS Melbourne, command of which had been offered to Commander William Riker, and which he had declined.

Also lost was the USS Saratoga, where then Lt. Commander Benjamin Sisko was serving. Sisko lost his wife Jennifer in the destruction of the Saratoga, and Sisko long blamed and hated Picard for his role in her death. (DS9: "Emissary")

Star chart of surrounding area.

On several occasions in 2364, viewscreen readouts aboard the USS Enterprise-D showed the location of Wolf 359, in the form of charts from the Enterprise-D library computer. (TNG: "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost", "Conspiracy")

[edit] Background

The Enterprise computer's star chart was a drawing by Rick Sternbach that had originally been published, years earlier, on page 77 of the reference titled Spaceflight Chronology. This chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes in the 2050s and 2060s, but no text attesting to this fact was included in the portion used on screen, just the labeled names of the stars.