Commissioned in 2183, the Normandy was initially commanded by an Alliance officer named Elli Zander. After Zander came into conflict with turian chief engineer Octavio Tatum over the limits of the ship's drive core, Zander was removed and David Anderson placed in command. Shortly thereafter, the Normandy was handed over to Commander Shepard when the Commander became the first human Spectre, and served as Shepard's main source of transportation and base of operations. The Normandy is named after the Battle of Normandy in 1944, a pivotal battle of the Second World War.