Destruction of the USS Kelvin

In 2233 the Federation starship USS Kelvin was investigating a strange lightning storm in space when an enormous, heavily armed vessel emerged from it. The ship was the Narada, a Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero, which had been thrown back in time from the late 24th century after the destruction of Romulus.

Nero demanded to speak with the Kelvin's captain, Richard Robau, questioned him about Ambassador Spock and killed him. First Officer George Kirk took command, ordered the crew to abandon ship and stayed behind alone to pilot the crippled Kelvin into the Narada, buying time for the escape shuttles. Among the evacuees was his wife Winona, who gave birth to their son James Tiberius Kirk aboard a shuttle as his father died.

The Narada's arrival split history in two. The original continuity, now called the Prime timeline, carried on unaffected, while a new branch, later named the Kelvin timeline in honour of the ship, began from this moment. In that alternate reality, Kirk grows up without his father and the Federation develops differently, as told in the films Star Trek (2009), Into Darkness and Beyond.