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

[edit] Use

Registry numbers are emblazoned on numerous portions of a starship's hull. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds", Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Shelby identifies ships destroyed by the Borg based on their hull markings.[1] In other episodes, such as TNG's "The Wounded", ships are instead identified via a transponder.[2]

In "The Wounded", Star Trek: Nemesis and other instances, computer displays 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][3]

[edit] Prefixes

[edit] NCC

"NCC" is the most common registry prefix
"NCC" is the most common registry prefix

"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[4] 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. ”

Jefferies attributed the extra "C" to a combination of the US aviation code "NC", and the Soviet equivalent "CCCP".[5]

In The Original Series, the only registries seen on a ship's hull are for vessels of the same class as the Enterprise. Jeffries chose "1701" for legibility at a distance, rationalising it as being the 1st ship of the 17th design.[6]

According to non-canon print sources, "NCC" is short for "Naval Construction Contract".[7] In the non-canon game Star Trek: Starfleet Command, "NCC" stands for "New Command Cruiser"; other prefixes, such as "ND", denote different ship types.

[edit] NX

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

The first of these is the USS Excelsior, which first appears in the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, with the registry "NX-2000". It is the pathfinder for the new Excelsior class. By the time of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, it is seen in active duty, with the registry "NCC-2000".

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 USS Dauntless, a ship made to look like a Federation starship, has the registry NX-01A in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Hope and Fear".

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] Star Trek: Enterprise era

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

[edit] Between Enterprise and The Original Series

Few episodes refer to ships from this era and fewer still reveal those ships' registry numbers. The only firmly established registry number in this era is "NCC-173" for the USS Essex[25]. The Star Trek Encyclopedia claims that the USS Archon, mentioned but not seen in "The Return of the Archons", has the registry "NCC-189".

[edit] The Original Series and TOS film era

The USS Grissom has the three-digit registry "NCC-638"
The USS Grissom has the three-digit registry "NCC-638"

Most starships seen or mentioned in The Original Series have four-digit registry numbers beginning with "16", "17" or "18".[26][27] 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.[4] 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"[28] and "NX-2000"[29] (later "NCC-2000"[30]), respectively. Other vessels generally follow this pattern,[31][30] although there are a few vessels with three-digit registries. The most obvious one is the use of "NCC-638" for the USS Grissom.[29] Other examples include "NCC-621" and "NCC-595" for the scouts Columbia and Revere, respectively.[32]

[edit] The Next Generation et al. era

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"[33] to the USS Crazy Horse's "NCC-50446".[34] 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[35]).

[edit] Beyond TNG

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.[36] These Enterprises are generally differentiated by referring to them as, for example, "the Enterprise-B" for the NCC-1701-B[37] or "the Enterprise-C" for the NCC-1701-C.[38] 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".[36] Although not canon, an Enterprise-F appears in two Star Trek novels.[39][40] An Enterprise-J serves in an alternate timeline's 26th century.[41]

[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,[42] Starfleet commissions a Galaxy class Excalibur with the registry "NCC-26517-A".[43]

[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".[44] However, this conflicts with the shooting model, which bears the registry "NCC-71807" in both this and a subsequent appearance.[45] Despite the dialogue, "NCC-71807" is the correct registry number.[4]

[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.

  1. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
  2. ^ a b Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Wounded"
  3. ^ Star Trek: Nemesis
  4. ^ a b c Okuda, Michael & Denise (1994,1997,1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-03475-8. 
  5. ^ Interviews: Matt Jefferies: Why NCC-1701?. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
  6. ^ Herbert F. Solow and Yvonne Fern (1997). Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671002198. 
  7. ^ Joseph, Franz (1975). Star Trek Starfleet Technical Manual. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-34074-4. 
  8. ^ a b Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "The Search, Part I"
  9. ^ Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Valiant"
  10. ^ a b Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "The Dogs of War"
  11. ^ Star Trek: Voyager: "Message in a Bottle"
  12. ^ "Tear of the Prophets". Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  13. ^ a b c Star Trek: Enterprise: "Broken Bow"
  14. ^ Star Trek: Enterprise: "First Flight" - The Intrepid's identification as the NA-01 is conjecture based on one of the mission patches visible in the 602 Club.
  15. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Hero Worship" - visible on an Okudagram
  16. ^ Star Trek: Voyager: "The Raven"
  17. ^ a b c Star Trek: Voyager: "Relativity"
  18. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "New Ground" - visible on an Okudagram
  19. ^ a b Star Trek: Generations - visible on an Okudagram
  20. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Angel One" - visible on an Okudagram
  21. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Unification" - visible on an Okudagram
  22. ^ Star Trek: The Animated Series: "More Tribbles, More Troubles"
  23. ^ Star Trek: The Animated Series: "The Pirates of Orion"
  24. ^ Star Trek: Enterprise: "Affliction"
  25. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Power Play"
  26. ^ Star Trek: The Original Series: "Court Martial"
  27. ^ Star Trek: The Original Series: "The Doomsday Machine"
  28. ^ Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  29. ^ a b Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
  30. ^ a b Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
  31. ^ Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
  32. ^ Star Trek: The Motion Picture - names and registry numbers audible amid communications chatter during the Epsilon 9 establishing shots
  33. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Brothers" - visible on an Okudagram
  34. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Pegasus"
  35. ^ Star Trek: Voyager: "Caretaker"
  36. ^ a b Star Trek: First Contact
  37. ^ Star Trek: Generations
  38. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
  39. ^ David, Peter (1992). Imzadi. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-86729-6. 
  40. ^ Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield (2002). Millennium Omnibus. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-4249-0. 
  41. ^ Star Trek: Enterprise: "Azati Prime"
  42. ^ David, Peter (1999). Star Trek: New Frontier #8: Dark Allies. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-02080-3. 
  43. ^ David, Peter (2001). Star Trek: New Frontier #11: Restoration. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-1064-5. 
  44. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Where Silence Has Lease"
  45. ^ Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Contagion"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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