The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) was a Federation Ambassador-class ship that was in service with Starfleet in the mid-24th century. The Enterprise was commissioned in 2332 at Earth Station McKinley, where she was placed under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett. This was the fourth Federation starship to be commissioned to bear the name Enterprise.

In 2344, the Enterprise responded to a distress call from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III, which was under attack by the Romulan Star Empire. When the Enterprise arrived at the outpost, she was engaged by four Romulan warbirds. Few details are known about the actual battle. What is known, however, is that the Enterprise was destroyed with the presumed loss of all hands. However the Romulans took a number of the ship's crew prisoner.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Klingons were deeply impressed by the act of self-sacrifice by a Starfleet crew to protect a Klingon outpost, and the Enterprise-C's ultimate legacy was reinforcing the relations between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets, leading to a close alliance of peace.

During the battle at Narendra, Romulan disruptor fire created a temporal rift, which the Enterprise unwittingly escaped through into the year 2366. Her disappearance from 2344 created an alternate timeline in which the Federation was at war with the Klingon Empire and losing badly. The U.S.S. Enterprise-D of that timeline assisted the Enterprise-C in making partial repairs and buying time for her to return through the rift to fulfill her destiny at Narendra.