WARP CORE BREACH

In the Star Trek fictional universe, a 'warp core breach' (or 'core breach') and 'antimatter containment loss' are both catastrophic events aboard a starship, either one of which can lead to that ship's destruction. A warp core breach destroys the USS ''Enterprise''-D, the primary setting of the television series '' and the film '', in ''Generations''. Other significant vessels in the franchise are similarly destroyed by a core breach or loss of antimatter containment.

Contents

Warp core breach

Antimatter containment loss

Occurrences

Beverage

External links

Warp core breach

A warp core breach occurs when a starship's matter and antimatter reactant fuels combine in an uncontrolled manner due to a failure of the ship's warp core ('': "Contagion"). The resulting explosion can destroy the ship (q.v.; see "Occurrences" below). Damage to a ship's warp reactor (such as the failure of the coolant system or other physical damage) can lead to a breach (''). A warp core breach can be initiated as part of a ship's auto destruct sequence ('': "Prophecy").
If a warp core breach is unavoidable, the warp core can sometimes be ejected from the ship (''TNG'': "Cause and Effect"). Some starships are modular, allowing a portion of the ship to separate from the section that contains the core (''Star Trek: Generations'').

Antimatter containment loss

Antimatter containment loss is related to a warp core breach in that both result in the uncontrolled mixture of a ship's antimatter fuel with normal matter, and both can lead to a ship's destruction (''). Containment loss stems from a failure in the ship's antimatter storage system, which relies on magnetic fields to keep the ship's antimatter "suspended" and out of contact with normal matter until being used by the warp core. That system's failure causes the suspended antimatter to interact with the matter surrounding it in an uncontrolled and devastating reaction (''TNG'': "Disaster").
As with core ejection devices, starships also have the ability to eject their antimatter storage units if it appears that their functionality may become compromised (''TNG'': "Contagion").

Occurrences

Ship	Cause	Results	Episode
USS ''Antares''	Charlie Evans removes the ship's baffle plate, causing a core breach	''Antares'' is destroyed	: "Charlie X"
USS ''Arcos''	Unknown event causes a core breach	''Arcos'' is destroyed	TNG: "Legacy"
Delta Flyer	USS ''Challenger'' attack causes a core breach	Delta Flyer is destroyed	VOY: "Timeless"
USS ''Enterprise''-D	Warp core damage from impact with USS ''Bozeman'' causes a core breach	''Enterprise'' is destroyed	TNG: "Cause and Effect"
USS ''Enterprise''-D	Warp core temperature increase (caused by Q) causes a core breach	Amanda Rogers stops and repairs breach	TNG: "True Q"
USS ''Enterprise''-D	Feedback from an energy transfer beam to a damaged Romulan vessel causes a core breach	''Enterprise'' is destroyed	TNG: "Timescape"
USS ''Enterprise''-D	Damage from another ''Enterprise's attack damages already weakened warp containment system	''Enterprise'' is destroyed	TNG: "Parallels"
USS ''Enterprise''-Ds	Anti-time phenomenon compromises antimatter containment integrity	''Enterprise''s are destroyed	TNG: "All Good Things..."
USS ''Enterprise''-D	Damage to warp coolant system from Klingon attack causes a core breach	Stardrive section is destroyed	''Star Trek: Generations''
USS ''Enterprise''-E	Deliberate warp core ejection and detonation	Son'a subspace weapon is neutralized	''
USS ''Equinox	Damage from Ankari attack causes a core breach	''Equinox'' is destroyed	VOY: "Equinox, Part II"
Hagath's ship	Sabotage causes a core breach	Ship is destroyed	: "Business as Usual"
Kohlar's ship	Core breach initiated as part of ship's self-destruct	Ship is destroyed	VOY: "Prophecy"
''Kumari''	Damage from Romulan attack causes a core breach	''Kumari'' is destroyed	ENT: "Babel One"
USS ''Orinoco''	Cardassian terrorist sabotage causes a core breach	''Orinoco'' is destroyed	DS9: "Our Man Bashir"
USS ''Pasteur''	Damage from Klingon attack causes a core breach	''Pasteur'' is destroyed	TNG: "All Good Things..."
Romulan science ship	Damage from errant experiment causes a core breach	Core is ejected and explodes	TNG: "The Next Phase"
USS ''Saratoga''	Damage from Borg attack causes a core breach	''Saratoga'' is destroyed	DS9: "Emissary"
Serova's ship	Serova deliberately overloads warp engines, causing a core breach	Ship is destroyed	TNG: "Force of Nature"
Unknown	Damage from Borg attack	All hands ordered to abandon ship; ship's fate unknown	''
USS ''Yamato''	Dilithium chamber magnetic seal collapses and Iconian computer virus prevents antimatter ejection, causing a core breach	''Yamato'' is destroyed	TNG: "Contagion"
Timeline alteration, parallel universe complication, and/or other anomaly prevents this from being a "real" event.

Beverage

A "warp core breach" is also a syntheholic drink (''DS9'': "His Way").

External links