# USS *Reliant*

Picard's early ensign posting: a 24th-century Starfleet vessel remembered through service records, night watch, and one very opinionated lieutenant.

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## Service dossier

**Registry / identity**

USS Reliant, 24th-century Federation starship

**Class / type**

Federation starship, class unrecorded

**Picard's role**

Ensign posting; night-watch officer

**Recorded period**

Active in the 2320s; Picard's service is associated with 2327 to 2330

## Why this ship matters

The *Reliant* was a 24th-century Federation starship operated by Starfleet. It was active in the 2320s, during Picard's earliest years after Starfleet Academy.

Lieutenant Nakamura was assigned to the vessel when he first met Ensign Jean-Luc Picard. Nakamura made a memorable impression by venting to Picard about snap inspections and the admirals who ordered them.

Picard sometimes served night watch aboard the *Reliant*, placing the ship in the quiet junior-officer stretch between his Academy record and his later command-track rise.

In 2364, Captain Picard earned a Service Award for his time aboard the *Reliant*. The award was later stored in Picard's section of the quantum archive at the Starfleet Archive Museum.

Exhibit signage for *Jean-Luc Picard: The First Duty* identified Picard's service aboard this ship as 2327 to 2330 and said he helped with its decommissioning while waiting for completion of the USS *Enterprise*\-D in 2364.

Archive versions of the *Reliant* record differ: some omit the night-watch reference, while expanded archival cuts restore it. The ship also shares its name with the earlier USS *Reliant* associated with the Genesis incident.