Constitution class starship (Star Trek)

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In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Constitution class is a series of Starfleet vessels first put into service in the mid-23rd century. In the original Star Trek series, ships of this class support multiple roles, generally used for exploration and diplomacy, but also equipped for combat with armaments consisting of at least two photon torpedo launchers, two main phaser banks, and a number of secondary phasers.

Constitution-class ships are the only type of large Starfleet ship seen in the original series. The next type to be introduced in live-action Star Trek was the Miranda class. A ship of an older design, the Bonaventure, had been seen in the animated series episode "The Time Trap", which is now considered non-canonical.

The Constitution class label does not appear in The Original Series; the Enterprise's dedication plaque indicates it is a "Starship Class" vessel. The Constitution-class label was firmly attached to the ship by fandom in the early 1970s.

The USS Enterprise underwent an extensive refit after Kirk's five-year mission was completed (as seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture). A notion developed by the film's production team designated the refitted ship as the first vessel of the new Enterprise class. Supporting this notion is the fact that the bridge simulator seen on-screen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was designated "Enterprise Class". The 1987 reference work Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise also asserted that the refit Enterprise is now of a new "Enterprise-class". ^[1] However, later sources have since claimed that the refitted Enterprise remained a Constitution Class vessel.

Dialog in the first-season TNG episode "The Naked Now" identifies the pre-refit Enterprise as being Constitution class. A diagram seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country confirms the Enterprise-A is also Constitution class.

Constitution-class ships are not seen in service in the TNG era, set about 100 years after the original series, although the roughly contemperaneous Excelsior and Miranda-class ships are frequently seen. A planned appearance of a Constitution-class model for the USS Stargazer was changed, and dialog redubbed to make this a Constellation-class model instead. Starfleet museum is said to have a Constitution class ship. (TNG: "Relics").

In "Tomorrow is Yesterday", Kirk says that there are "only twelve ships like [the Enterprise] in the fleet".

Contents 1 Star Fleet Technical Manual 2 Encyclopedia list 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Star Fleet Technical Manual

According to the 1975 Star Fleet Technical Manual, the Constitution-class ships are as follows ^[2]

Name	Registry
USS Constitution	NCC-1700
USS Enterprise	NCC-1701
USS Farragut	NCC-1702
USS Lexington	NCC-1703
USS Yorktown	NCC-1704
USS Excalibur	NCC-1705
USS Exeter	NCC-1706
USS Hood	NCC-1707
USS Intrepid	NCC-1708
USS Valiant	NCC-1709
USS Kongo	NCC-1710
USS Potemkin	NCC-1711
USS Constellation	NCC-1017
USS Republic	NCC-1371

This makes a total of 14 Constitution-class starships. Of these, Farragut is established "Obsession" to have been destroyed at the time Kirk makes his statement. The Constellation, Intrepid and the Excalibur have yet to be destroyed in the first season, making a total of 12 other Constitution-class starships.

The Technical Manual notes that the Constellation, Farragut, Intrepid and Valiant have been destroyed, and that replacement ships have been ordered. The replacement Intrepid, named the USS Intrepid II appears in several novels of the era: this naming convention was not followed in the series. The Technical Manual also provides a list of ships to be of an improved Constitution class type, the Bonhomme Richard-class (including a USS Eagle NCC-1719, USS Essex NCC-1727, and USS Hornet NCC-1714), and a further improved variant, the Achernar-class. None of these types or registry numbers have ever been confirmed on screen, except for the Kongo.

The Technical Manual calls the class the "Constitution-class heavy cruiser". It posits the existence of a Saladin-class destroyer and a Federation-class dreadnought.

The Constellation (1017) has a lower registry number than the Constitution (1700). While convention suggests that the lowest registry number belongs to the ship the class is named for, the actual reasons for the 1017 registry number is because in the TV series, the model used for Constellation was constructed from the AMT model kit of the Enterprise. The labels for the Enterprise registry numbers (the only digits available with the kit) were rearranged on the model which was to become Contellation.

[edit] Encyclopedia list

The list of Constitution-class ships used internally at Paramount has been derived from Greg Jein's fan list, first published in 1975. This matched up registry codes from a wall display in "Court Martial" with known ship names in reverse alphabetical order, to get registries for other ships.^[3]The list given in the Star Trek Encyclopedia is based on Jein's list.^[4]

Name	Registry	Status	Notes
USS Constellation	NCC-1017[5]	On-screen	Destroyed in TOS: "The Doomsday Machine".
USS Constitution	NCC-1700[6][7]	Freeze-frame	Likely the class pathfinder. Recent technical manuals date its launch to 2244.
USS Defiant	NCC-1764[8]	On-screen	Disappears into a rift in space in "The Tholian Web". According to Ent: "In a Mirror, Darkly", it reappears 100 years in the past in the Mirror Universe.
USS Eagle	NCC-956[9][10]	Freeze-frame
USS Endeavour	NCC-1895[9][11]	Freeze-frame
USS Enterprise	NCC-1701[12]	On-screen	The ship featured in Star Trek under the command of James T. Kirk. Recent technical manuals date its launch to 2245. The ship is extensively refitted just prior to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and is destroyed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock when Kirk orders the ship's self-destruction to avoid its capture by Klingons.
ISS Enterprise	NCC-1701[13]	On-screen	The "Imperial Starship" Enterprise is seen in the original series episode Mirror, Mirror and is part of the Mirror Universe. It was commanded by James T. Kirk, who rose to command after assassinating the former captain, Christopher Pike.
USS Enterprise	NCC-1701-A[14]	On-screen	The second Constitution-class Enterprise. Non-canon sources generally agree that the ship is not new, but a renaming of some other ship, probably the USS Yorktown.[4]The Enterprise-A is ordered decommissioned in 2293 after the Khitomer Conference (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).
USS Essex[15]	NCC-1697[7]	Non-canon
USS Excalibur[16]	NCC-1664[7]	Registry non-canon	Destroyed in "The Ultimate Computer"
USS Exeter	NCC-1672[7]	Registry non-canon	Commanded by Captain Ronald Tracey. Found in orbit over Omega IV with its crew dead (TOS: "The Omega Glory"). The Exeter's later career is the subject of a series of fan-made short films in "Starship Exeter."
USS Farragut[17]	NCC-1647[18]	Presumed Constitution class. Registry non-canon.	Commanded by a Captain Garrovick, was James T. Kirk's first starship post. See TOS: "Obsession".
USS Hood[16]	NCC-1703[7]	Registry non-canon	Damaged in "The Ultimate Computer"
USS Intrepid[17]	NCC-1831 [19]	Presumed Constitution class. Registry non-canon.	Entirely crewed by Vulcans, the Intrepid is destroyed in "The Immunity Syndrome".
USS Lexington[16]	NCC-1709[7]	Registry non-canon.	Damaged in "The Ultimate Computer"
USS Republic[17]	NCC-1371[7]	Presumed Constitution class. Registry non-canon.	A ship that Kirk served on earlier in his career.
USS Potemkin[16]	NCC-1657[7][20]	Registry non-canon.	Damaged in "The Ultimate Computer"
USS Yorktown	NCC-1717[7]	On-screen	The starship Yorktown is disabled by an alien probe (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Both The Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual assert that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry suggested that the Yorktown was rechristened as the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) following the Probe Crisis.

A USS Kongo, NCC-1710, is listed on a computer readout in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The Star Fleet Technical Manual had previously asserted there was a USS Kongo NCC-1710. Jein's 1975 essay had proposed NCC-1732. The ship is not listed in the 1999 edition of the Encyclopedia. Jein's original list also gives Hornet (NCC-1868), Lafayette (NCC-1866), Tashik-Sotra (NCC-1865), and Valiant (NCC-1623).

[edit] References

1. ^ Johnson, Shane (1987). Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. Titan. ISBN 1-85286-028-6.
2. ^ Joseph, Franz (1975). Star Fleet Technical Manual. Del Ray. ISBN 0-345-49586-1.
3. ^ Jein, Greg (April 1975). The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship.
4. ^ ^{a b} Okuda, Mike, Denise, Okuda with Mirek, Debbie (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.
5. ^ "The Doomsday Machine." Star Trek: The Original Series. . The ship and its registry can be clearly seen on screen. The ship was represented by a commercially-available model kit of the Enterprise, with the digits rearranged.
6. ^ Its registry appears on a wall display in "Court Martial" (TOS). Both the Joseph and Jein make this the Constitution. Court Martial chart. Memory Alpha.
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} The registry is not seen on screen. Derived from Greg Jein's list by way of Star Trek Encyclopedia.
8. ^ "In A Mirror, Darkly." Star Trek: Enterprise. The registry is not seen the TOS episode in which the ship appears. It later appears in an Enterprise episode with the Jein registry.
9. ^ ^{a b} Listed on the Operation Retrieve chart in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Operation Retrieve chart. Memory Alpha.
10. ^ Jein's original list gave this as NCC-1685.
11. ^ Jein's original list gave this as NCC-1718.
12. ^ "The Cage." Star Trek: The Original Series.
13. ^ "Mirror, Mirror." Star Trek: The Original Series.
14. ^ First introduced in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
15. ^ Not mentioned or seen on screen. Was in production office's list of starship names. Listed in Encyclopedia as Constitution-class; name also used be the Star Fleet Technical Manual as a member of the Bonhomme Richard subtype.
16. ^ ^{a b c d} One of the Constitution-class ships to be damanged in "The Ultimate Computer"
17. ^ ^{a b c} Asserted in the Star Trek Encyclopedia to be of Constitution-class, although it was never seen on screen.
18. ^ Registry from the Star Trek Encyclopedia. Jein gives this number, but not from the "Court Martial" list.
19. ^ Derived from Jein's list via the Encyclopedia. Earlier versions of Jein's list instead give this as the visually similar NCC-1631.
20. ^ Jein's 1975 essay proposes NCC-1702 for this ship (not derived from the "Court Martial" chart.

[edit] External links

• Constitution class article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
• "Constitution class" at STARTREK.COM
• "Constitution Class" Blueprints and Schematics