Because "Star Trek" takes place in a universe driven by pacifism, exploration, and diplomacy, it may be difficult to gauge which starships are the most "powerful." In superhero comics, action movies, and "Star Wars", the phrase "most powerful" often alludes to one's ability to do damage, to dominate, to overpower a foe. Starships on "Star Trek," however, aren't damage-inflicting machines. They may be equipped with phasers, photon torpedoes, and other hyper-advanced weapons systems, but a starship is rarely measured by its ability to do damage.

I suppose, if the U.S.S. Enterprise really wanted to, it could handily wipe out entire cities on its own, unleashing a fusillade of explosive energy beams from space. Several Federation starships, working together, could likely make an entire planet extinct within a matter of minutes. For Trekkies, though, it's more important to measure a ship's power by the power of its sensors, the power of its engines,...