Starfleet starship registry

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Starfleet starships in the fictional Star Trek universe are identified by a unique registry consisting of a two- or three-letter prefix, a string of digits, and, in some instances, a one-letter suffix. The combination is also called a ship's registry number despite the presence of letters. The most well-known registry among Star Trek fans is "NCC-1701", which belongs to the original USS Enterprise.

Contents 1 Use 2 Prefixes 2.1 NCC 2.2 NX 2.2.1 NX class 2.3 Other prefixes 3 Numbers 3.1 Mid 22nd century 3.2 Late 22nd century 3.3 23rd century 3.4 24th century 3.5 29th century 4 Suffixes 4.1 USS Enterprises 4.2 USS Excaliburs (non-canon) 4.3 USS Relativity 4.4 USS Yamato (error) 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Use

Registry numbers are emblazoned on numerous portions of a starship's hull. There are instances in which a ship's crew identifies another vessel based on its hull markings, particularly when examining debris.^[1] However, the primary means of identifying starships is not through hull markings, but rather through a transponder with an effective range far greater than reading hull lettering allows.^[2]

Tactical and other displays often represent a ship's position with an icon for its affiliated organization (e.g. a Starfleet shield) next to both the ship's name and its registry number.^[2]

[edit] Prefixes

[edit] NCC

"NCC" is the most common registry prefix, used by almost every known Starfleet vessel in the franchise. The prefix first appears in Star Trek: The Original Series and was created by designer Matt Jefferies. The Star Trek Encyclopedia^[3] says:

NCC doesn't stand for anything. It was devised by Matt Jefferies, art director of the first Star Trek series. Jefferies, who is a pilot, based NCC on 20th century aircraft registration codes. In such 20th century usage, an "N" first letter refers to an aircraft registered in the USA. A "C" second letter refers to a civil aircraft. Jefferies added a second "C", just because he thought it looked better. Think of it as being like the arbitrary three-letter code that's part of automobile license plate numbers in many states.

In The Original Series, the only registries seen on a ship's hull are for vessels of the same class as the Enterprise. The speculation by fans at the time was that "NCC" was a code like the United States Navy's hull classification symbols; the suggestion was that ships with "NCC" in the registry are cruisers and that other prefixes exist for other types of ship. However, this theory is discredited by the USS Reliant, which is a different design than the Enterprise yet shares "NCC" in its registry.^[4] Nevertheless, in the non-canon game Star Trek: Starfleet Command, "NCC" stands for "New Command Cruiser"; other prefixes, such as "ND", denote different ship types.

According to non-canon print sources, "NCC" is short for "Naval Construction Contract".^[5]

[edit] NX

Three pathfinders seen on screen have a registry beginning with "NX".

The USS Excelsior first appears as the "NX-2000" as a pathfinder for the Excelsior class,^[6] but it is later recommissioned as the "NCC-2000" for regular duty.^[7]

The USS Defiant is the first of a class designed to fight the Borg.^[8] Although the ship sees extensive service before and during the Dominion War, it never loses the "NX" in its registry, even though other ships of its class bear "NCC" registries (e.g. the NCC-74210 for the USS Valiant^[9] and NCC-75633 for the USS São Paulo^[10]).

The experimental USS Prometheus has the registry number "NX-59650".^[11]

The non-canon Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual claims that the USS Galaxy' is the pathfinder for the Galaxy class, and gives its registry as NX-70637. A Galaxy-class USS Galaxy is later seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, with the registry NCC-70637.^[12]

[edit] NX class

A significant use of "NX" is in "NX-01": the registry for the centerpiece of the titular starship in Star Trek: Enterprise.^[13] However, in that series, "NX" is not the designation for an experimental starship; rather, it indicates the vessel's class. The NX-01 is an NX class starship^[13] in the same way that some starships in "later" series are Constitution or Excelsior class vessels.

[edit] Other prefixes

A handful of other prefixes sporadically appear in various Star Trek series.

Registry	Name	Class	Role
NA-01[14]	Intrepid	NA	Earth starship
NAR-18834[15]	SS Vico	Oberth	Federation research vessel
NAR-32450[16]	USS Raven	Unknown	Federation research vessel
NCV-474439-G[17]	USS Relativity	Wells	Starfleet time ship
NDT-50863[18]	SS Milan	Unknown	Starfleet transport
NFT-1327[19]	SS Lakul	Whorfin	Federation transport
NFT-7793[19]	SS Robert Fox	Whorfin	Federation transport
NGL-12535[20]	SS Odin	Unknown	Federation freighter
NSP-17938[21]	SS T'Pau	Unknown	Vulcan transport

[edit] Numbers

Whereas the majority of known starships share the "NCC" prefix, the digits following that prefix (separated from it by a hyphen) are, with few exceptions, unique to each known vessel.

Two freighters in the non-canon animated series have the only two registries known to mix letters with the registry's digits: an unnamed robot freighter ("NCC-G1465"^[22]) and the USS Huron ("NCC-F1513"^[23]).

[edit] Mid 22nd century

Only two Earth Starfleet ships' registries are legibile on screen: "NX-01" for the Enterprise^[13] and "NX-02" for the Columbia.^[24]

[edit] Late 22nd century

Few episodes refer to ships from this era and fewer still reveal those ships' registry numbers. Among the handful of known late 22nd century registry numbers are "NCC-173" for the USS Essex^[25] and "NCC-189"^[3] for the USS Archon.^[26]

[edit] 23rd century

Most starships seen or mentioned in The Original Series have four-digit registry numbers beginning with "16", "17" or "18".^[27][28] One exception is the "NCC-1017" registry for the USS Constellation: the show's modelmakers used an old Enterprise model and simply rearranged the registry numbering.^[3] Because the USS Constitution's registry number is "NCC-1700", the Constellation's number is an inconsistency to the pattern of the first ship in a class having the lowest registry number among ships of that class.

Two of the major Starfleet vessels introduced in the TOS-era films – the USS Reliant and USS Excelsior – also have four-digit registries: "NCC-1864"^[4] and "NX-2000"^[6] (later "NCC-2000"^[7]), respectively. Other vessels generally follow this pattern,^[29][7] although there are a few vessels with three-digit registries. The most obvious one is the use of "NCC-638" for the USS Grissom.^[6] Other examples include "NCC-621" and "NCC-595" for the scouts Columbia and Revere, respectively.^[30]

[edit] 24th century

Starfleet ships in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager generally use five-digit registry numbers. The most frequently seen "guest" ships are Excelsior class starships whose registries range from the USS Berlin's "NCC-14232"^[31] to the USS Crazy Horse's "NCC-50446".^[32] Most vessel registries in The Next Generation fall within this range. Registry numbers in the 60000s and 70000s are more common in Deep Space Nine (featuring the "NX-74205"^[8] and "NCC-75633"^[10] USS Defiants) and Voyager (featuring the titular NCC-74656^[33]).

[edit] 29th century

The time ship USS Relativity has the six-digit registry "NCV-474439-G".^[17]

[edit] Suffixes

In Star Trek canon, the addition of a one-letter suffix to the registry is most notably used by successors of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

[edit] USS Enterprises

Starfleet reuses the original Enterprise's "NCC-1701" registry with each newly commissioned Enterprise, differentiating between vessels by affixing a letter to the end; "NCC-1701-E" is the registry for the sixth starship Enterprise to carry "NCC-1701" as part of its registry.^[34] These Enterprises are generally differentiated by referring to them as, for example, "the Enterprise-B" for the NCC-1701-B^[35] or "the Enterprise-C" for the NCC-1701-C.^[36] When facing the destruction of the Enterprise-E, Captain Jean-Luc Picard quips that Starfleet will likely build another Enterprise because there are "plenty of letters left in the alphabet".^[34] Although not canon, an Enterprise-F appears in two Star Trek novels.^[37][38] An Enterprise-J serves in an alternate timeline's 26th century.^[39]

[edit] USS Excaliburs (non-canon)

After the destruction of the Ambassador class USS Excalibur (NCC-26517) in Peter David's non-canon New Frontier series,^[40] Starfleet commissions a Galaxy class Excalibur with the registry "NCC-26517-A".^[41]

[edit] USS Relativity

The 29th century time ship USS Relativity has the registry NCV-474439-G. Following the pattern used with the Enterprises, this suggests that the Relativity is the eighth ship to carry the name. However, the vessel's dedication plaque indicates that it is the seventh Relativity.^[17]

[edit] USS Yamato (error)

Commander William Riker reads the registry of a phantom USS Yamato as "NCC-1305-E".^[42] However, this conflicts with the shooting model, which bears the registry "NCC-71807" in both this and a subsequent appearance.^[43] Despite the dialogue, "NCC-71807" is the correct registry number.^[3]

[edit] References

Unless otherwise indicated below, registry numbers cited in the article are either clearly visible on a ship's hull or clearly spoken aloud.

[edit] See also

• Starship name prefixes (Star Trek)

[edit] External links

• Registry article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.