Captain John Harriman was the commanding officer of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-B in 2293.Captain Harriman was quite young when he took command of the Enterprise-B. Captain James T. Kirk was his childhood hero, having read about Kirk's legendary exploits while attending grade school.Harriman's character appears to be in his mid 30s which would have put his date of birth in the mid to late 2250s, thereby making him in his early teens during the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.
On the demonstration voyage of the Enterprise-B, for which Captain Kirk was an honored guest, the ship received a distress call from two El-Aurian ships trapped in the Nexus. Captain Harriman at first opted to relay the message to another starship as his was ill-equipped for a rescue mission, but upon learning that his was the only one in range, he attempted to rescue the ships through various means, Kirk informing him that "Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair". When his efforts proved ineffective, he swallowed his pride and asked Captain Kirk, who was far more experienced in these kinds of situations, for advice.After the Enterprise-B rescued a number of El-Aurian survivors, the starship was itself caught up in the Nexus. With no other options left, Harriman offered to leave for the deflector room to make enhancements to the ship's deflector dish that would make it possible for the Enterprise to escape. Kirk, however, believed Harriman's place was on the bridge of his ship, and so the elder captain left instead. Kirk was able to modify the deflector dish, making it possible for the Enterprise to escape, but at the apparent cost of his own life.Following the incident, Harriman joined Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov in what was left of the deflector room, gazing at open space in horror upon the realization that the legendary Kirk had been lost.
