Starship Identification

There are many Starships in the Federation, not all of them are Starfleet, but all have a registry number attached. But what exactly does the NCC mean in NCC-1701 ? What about the USS for that matter?
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This Video is for critical purposes with commentary.

[@JB-ym4up]

NCC stands for No Continuity Checks.

[@Firefox13A]

😂

[@ajjtazman]

I accept this canon

[@Ottophil]

That would be funny if they werent making it better

[@clone1eighty7]

Damn got em

[@endorbr]

It definitely does in NuTrek.

[@atomic_wait]

The X prefix is used in a lot of American experimental aircraft and naval vessels, standing as a phonetic reference to Experimental. I'm guessing NX is a reference to that.

[@chrisjohnson1146]

My thoughts exactly. Starfleet drew a lot from modern Earth military, so it would make sense that they would also use some variant of an X registry to identify an Experimental. Hell we even see something like this in Stargate with the X-301 hybrid fighter, the X-302 (later F-302) and the X-303 Prometheus class (later replaced with the BC-304 Daedelus class)

[@vic5015]

@@chrisjohnson1146 yeah. For example,, their class maming system basically follows US Navy and Royal Navy conventions.

[@mikes-qk1sh]

Yes the. X prefix is used for experimental aircraft that are more like technology demonstrators and never intended for production. A more meaningful designation would be Y which is used for a design intended for production ie YF-16 or YF-22 designating pre production versions of the F-16 and F-22

[@sugarfrosted2005]

And for many early experimental radio stations.

[@sgt_s4und3r54]

XP-72 can be seen at the USAF museum in Dayton. You hit the nail on the head as the Zumwalt class has an DD(X) classification.

[@robertf3479]

As I recall, the Prefix "NCC" first was published in the book "The Making of Star Trek" (1968) where the author explains "NCC" as meaning "Naval Construction Contract" with the prefix and registry number (NCC-1700) becoming the permanent hull identification number. I take this as canon.

[@troyblackburn4522]

I also read that book and remember the same reference. It’s also documented in the 1973 Star Trek (Enterprise) Blueprints as approved by Gene Roddenberry and copyrighted by Paramount. Sounds like Canon to me.

[@nathanaelculver5308]

I’ve just had a quick perusal through my copy of Making of… and cannot find a reference to "naval construction contract". Nearest I can come is this from p171 which suggests it. "The unit components [of the Enterprise] were built at the Star Fleet Division of what is still called the San Francisco Navy Yards." The earliest occurrence I’m aware of of "naval construction contract" is sheet 1 of Franz Joseph’s blueprints in 1973.

[@overtaxedcitizen4975]

@@troyblackburn4522 I came here to say this very thing; beat me to it. It is written on the blueprints (which I have owned since they were first available) so I would say that is much much more than “Fan Lore” as this video stated.

[@tedrickles6073]

Thanks for a phenomenally well made and documented video on ship’s registries.This KZbin video was created with style and reverence and as an informational video it’s worth rewatching over and over! A real role federation would be wise to use this as an instructional video welcoming all new first year academy cadets, assuming they hadn’t already seen it. My only itty-bitty complaint (and it is small) is that I’m a fan of seeing starships in space dock - either in Spacedock above Earth, or at the Utopia Planitia yards of Mars. So, Seeing so comprehensive a video as you’ve made, it only made me feel like visuals of some of the ships you showed would have been even grander if seen in spacedock. By the way, I’ll be a fan forever if you can do a KZbin video on the structures of spacedock, their history, relative times ships need to spend in spacedock for repairs and the history of when the various spacedocks were established. But, as far as I’m concerned- You’ve already established yourself as “The Man!” With this video- Thanks from the bottom of my Trek heart!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@spaceace1006]

Also the 1976 Blueprints!

[@davidarimond5762]

NX = Naval eXperiment NCC = Naval Construction Contract # assigned based on contract number. Class Numbering is just based on the Starfleet planning boards bookmarked number group. -Letter is an honorific for which an older name that was reused but needing a new registry number for record keeping.

[@DocWolph]

And as for the most recent episode of "Lower Decks", "NA".

[@chrissonofpear1384]

NCC - Naval Construction Code/Contract (very likely) NAR - Naval Auxiliary Reserve? Or Research? NSP - Naval Special Purpose? NCV - timeship, by 29th century or earlier NFT - freighter, transport - maybe civilian NDT - similar, also likely civilian. Ditto apparently NFT and NBT

[@morganb6717]

NA - Naval Autonomous

[@weldonwin]

NCIA - Naval Covert Intelligence Asset

[@MrGchiasson]

I bought a paperback boon in the early 70's that gave lots of good details about Star Trek. That was one of the first things listed. ( I added the book to my small trekking book collection).

[@lorenzo1701]

Also, in TOS, the shuttlecraft had the main star ship's registry, plus a "slash" (ie, the Galileo's registry: NCC-1701/7)

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

At least in TNG there was evidence of a similar process with at least two smaller shuttlecraft being seen (in background, mostly) bearing the Enterprise-D's registry and later a number following the slash as if marking the shuttle's "number" within the on-ship inventory

[@chrismc410]

@@andrewmalinowski6673 runabouts were considered small starships in their own right and given USS names and NCC numbers like any other starship.

[@Steve-Quinn-YC-GaSC]

Dash - a slash is either / or a \

[@troyblackburn4522]

I would say that given the term “Naval Construction Contract” appears in the Star Trek Blueprints of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 which were adapted by Gene Roddenberry and bear his name and were copyrighted by Paramount in 1973, that this constitutes more than just a popular fandom term. In fact, it constitutes Star Trek Canon. I have an original copy of the blueprints and can provide a picture or scan if you’d like.

[@nathanaelculver5308]

"Naval Construction Contract"appears on the first sheet of my mid-7Os set of the blueprints But while it makes it something more than just "fan lore" I personally think its a little strong to call it canon. Scans of the blueprints are available pretty much all over the internet these days. Probably the best set is over at Cygnus-X1.

[@QalOrt]

My thoughts was always: NCC is Naval Commissioned Craft, NX is Naval Experimental, NAR is Naval Auxiliary Reserve

[@FLAME4564]

thats most likely the more fitting name for the NCC prefix since its a more dignified and insipring term not to mention it was nispired by how the irl navy operates with their ships after theyre constructed they too are commisioned into service too so its only fitting that Gene Rodenberry himself would have demmed the NCC prefix to be named the Naval Commission Craft prefix as a fitting name for all federation ships while the NX prefix would be named Naval Experemintal prefix to all those ships undergoing a shakedown cruise and testing of all new systems and being pathfinders for all new techs like how the TOS Enterpise was for the TMP refit and all other ships in the TMP era.

[@donovanulrich348]

Except Navel implies sea Nationally or Neutrally works just aswell Since star fleet became a research and exploration based program, with the unified help of humanity and then other worlds

[@QalOrt]

@@donovanulrich348 I can concede that the N in NAR could be National, like National Academic Research or National Astrometric Research

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

I’ve considered taking up the task of rewriting all of Trek as a fan project, and one of the first things I have on the list of ways to smooth out the canon is codifying how the registries work.

[@Ottophil]

This is dumb

[@RichO1701e]

You need a girl mate.

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

@@RichO1701e No duh. But I have plenty of brainpower to spare.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@RichO1701e one with similar interests so they can work on it together !

[@TheDJOblivion]

@@SchneeflockeMonsoon don't listen to him, they're nothing but an expensive distraction, plus if you had the right girl she'd be just as excited to rewrite Trek with you as you are.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

The NCC being defined as Naval Construction Contract goes back to the original Enterprise blueprints, and star fleet technical manual. Both of these where published (professionally) before most of the viewers of this video where born.

[@SnazBrigade]

I assumed NX was a nod or just borrowed from the USAF's tendency to label experimental craft with an X designation. They're even colloquially known as "X-Planes". For example, the Bell X1 and X2 were prototypes for supersonic flight, the X12 for Hypersonic, the X18 for tiltwings, the X35 became the F35 etc etc.

[@TheCokoll]

You are both right and wrong) in USAF X like in X-1, X-5 ment completely experimental craft, whereas f-35 was not started as X-35, but rather as XF-35, as it was not an experimental craft, but a preproduction prototype. Same with XB-70, etc.

[@xyreniaofcthrayn1195]

​@@TheCokoll uh not to mention that preproduction prototypes must choose a pattern for construction that pass experimental testing for all components. Can't have rather outdated technology prone to failure or there is no more way to get the component anymore.

[@CLSiler2]

@@TheCokoll You are incorrect. The prototype of the F-35 was indeed X-35, just like its competitor for the JSF contract was the X-32. This is different than the contract that resulted in the F-22 as the prototypes that competed were the YF-22 and YF-23 designations respectively. If the DoD had followed the recommendation from the office that allocates the MDS Designations for aerospace vehicles, then the X-35 would have become the F-24. Unfortunately, there was a press conference about the X-35 winning the contract, and when the general in charge of the announcement was asked by a reporter what the Fighter's production name would be, he simply said "F-35" without checking what the official DoD recommendation was. As an additional wrinkle, the official Biography of of Col. Joseph A. Lanni claims that he flew several classified prototypes, including a "YF-24". If true, than a reason for the DoD to stick with the F-35 designation would dodge not only embarrassing a flag officer, but would also avoid confusion for personnel with clearance to know about the alleged YF-24, and potentially awkward conversations if the designation ended up being F-25 instead.

[@StarFleet_Tech1701]

Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek's creator) was in the Air Force and Navy so he borrowed a lot of terminology from them.

[@TheCokoll]

@@CLSiler2 will search about x-35. Doesnt seem to be to plausible, as there was always a distinct pattern when a plane starts as XF (XB, XA, etc depending if its a foghter bomber, etc) as a first couple of prototypes, than changes to YF when it reaches a small preproduction series run, and lastly cuts to just F when finally enters full service

[@Chipmunk_of_Vengeance]

X is quite often used for Experimental, like the XF-12 (which would become the A-12 and SR-71). So it makes sense fo the X in NX to mean Experimental.

[@kdrapertrucker]

No, the XF-12 did not become the A-12, the A-12 came first and was very Top Secret. And as not even an Air Force aircraft, being a Cia asset. The SR-71 was a twin seat version of the A-12 oxcart which as later used. The xF-12 as a prototype of an iterceptor version of the SR-71 which was experimental in that they had to make aerodynamic chang's to the airframe and test to ensure the weapons bays could successfully deploy missile at Mach or faster.

[@talideon]

I prefer to think of 'NA' as meaning 'naval ancillary' or 'naval autonomous', but 'naval automated' also makes sense. I think the 'X' in 'NX' is a nod to the use of 'X' in the naming of many US prototype and experimental craft.

[@img00]

I was thinking more Naval Automaton myself but who knows 😊

[@okashi6]

I once asked my dad and grandma what NCC stood for back in the early 90s. It took a few weeks but my grandma found the answer. Looking back now, she did all of this without the internet and had to read through so many books to find the answer.

[@peterl.104]

What is the answer she found?

[@okashi6]

@@peterl.104 honestly, I don’t remember. It has been almost 30 years since that moment

[@LaserParody]

@@okashi6 Whatever the answer, it sounds like the moment itself was the real game changer. Wonderful memory to have. TY for sharing.

[@RafaleC77th]

I was always under the impression it was Naval Construction Code - but the Contract take on it makes more sense seeing how its a Civilian agency.

[@EinherjarLucian]

"Naval Construction Contract" for NCC was featured in the FASA Star Trek RPG's "Starship Construction Manual."

[@MrMyu]

The novel "Best Destiny" is where I first saw NCC as Naval Construction Contract. The Excelsior-class USS Bill of Rights was listed as NEE-2010 for Navel Exploration Extension. So definitely beta canon, but not exactly an assumption that crept into accepted knowledge

[@StarFleet_Tech1701]

Beginning in 1973, I had always known this: USS - United StarShip, NCC - Naval Construction Contract

[@Vipre-]

I believe Navigational Contact, or Communication, Code was floated somewhere as a possibility. It'd fit as well since encountered ships were often identified by registry first then name based on the registry in various episodes and films.

[@mamayl8592]

I like the code myself as it implies the number following identifies it within a listing or group.

[@Vipre-]

It'd also explain the A, B, C practice when a number was reused for a ship as the earlier ship might still be around in a museum fleet using its code for identification.

[@harrisonrothacher2250]

I actually compiled all of the registries, classes, and ships into an excel spreadsheet to look at the correlation between the time period they were active in and their registry number. It was relatively coherent, albeit with a few major outliers, like the Solvang in lower decks (with a much lower registry than it should have had) and the Pegasus from TNG (which had one much higher than it should have given when it was active)

[@mr.flibble3190]

I wonder whether discontinuous registry numbers might come from a counterintelligence strategy. Randomly selected numbers or blocks of numbers could be reserved for random "early" or "late" out-of-sequence assignment to make it more difficult for Threat force intelligence to determine how many ships of any given class have been commissioned.

[@chrissonofpear1384]

If the Pegasus was launched 2347 or later, it makes a fair bit of sense, I suppose. The Prometheus must have been delayed a fairly long time, though, before it's October 2373 launch. And the USS Phoenix NCC-65420, launching around March 2363, may be a bit on the low side? Meanwhile, I continue to compile a massive list, from a variety of sources, both official, semi official, and some fan.

[@harrisonrothacher2250]

@@chrissonofpear1384 the phoenix, if you stretch the timeline of the arils and Norway classes, fits fine, albeit a little wonky. What doesn’t fit is the Melbourne, which as around in the 2280s having a registry of 62043. Glad I’m not the only one interested in anomalous ship registries.

[@chrissonofpear1384]

@@harrisonrothacher2250 That is how I treat it, yes. Lots of gaps left in 52100, 61900, 63200-500 and 64900, and so on. So there'd be a lot of spaces left over, for later. I did not hear of the Melbourne being around in the 2280s, however. If that is the Excelsior-class version (rather than the proto-Nebula one) then it may be another case of re-numbering. But then both ships might be around at once. And the USS Franklin likely got a new registry post 2160, too. I tend to average numbers of ships a year as between 350 to 660, but can be higher, at times. During the 2320s for a while, it seemed to shoot up hugely - maybe lots of scout ships and transports were suddenly added? Or early runabouts.

[@harrisonrothacher2250]

@@mr.flibble3190 I had a theory similar to this, since in the TMP films there was a series of registries in the 80000s, most of which had nonsense names and duplicate registry numbers, so I thought it might be some secret starfleet code that they could use to communicate privately. It could be a decent explaination for any out of place ship number we see on a datapad or not as an official ship, at the very least.

[@stevengalloway8052]

Thank you for this underrated subject of Starfleet ship number destinations... 👏👍

[@AndreiTupolev]

According to wiki, which does quote Matt Jeffries, the fellow who designed it, 'NC' came from the prewar US civil aircraft registration code, and 'C' was added because it could be an S in Cyrillic 🤔, and '1701' because it was the first of Starfleet's 17th class of ship.

[@solomonkane102]

It comes from a photo of a biplane in the air from above from around 1920. Large letters on the wing say NCC, standing for navy Curtiss class.

[@davidalangay1186]

Entertaining and informative. Thanks for producing this video.

[@audeamus1180]

I remember reading somewhere in the 80's or 90's NCC was for "Naval Calling Code", therefore the Enterprise's pennant number is 1701. Like the battleship USS Missouri is "63".

[@JubeiKibagamiFez]

I love your videos. I'm such a nerd for this stuff.

[@sagacious03]

Neat look into this! Thanks for uploading!

[@RA-hi5ln]

N is the prefix for aircraft registration in the US. I believe Gene Roddenberry's plane's registration started with NC so they just added the extra c on. X is a refrence to the X-planes.

[@numberyellow]

Yeah i've read that too.. This is one of the infrequent instances where i'm disappointed with the research on one of these videos.

[@TheOneTrueDragonKing]

This was the explanation in the Star Trek Encyclopedia circa 2001, so...

[@No1sonuk]

Yeah. IIRC, the extra C was because they decided that's how far they'd get with changing/adding letters in 300 years.

[@waltermc3906]

back in the day CC was used to designate a Naval Cruiser. I had always assumed that NCC was meant ti be analogous of that

[@jamesmarciel5237]

In the U.S. designations, CC actually is the designation for a battle cruiser.

[@waltermc3906]

@@jamesmarciel5237 which is exactly what the klingons designated the Enterprise in Star Trek 3

[@paulfelix5849]

The X is used for Experimental because E is already used for other purposes. Most specifically, US aircraft can bear letters that show they have been modified from their original design for a specific task such as G for gunship or R for a reconnaissance. E is mostly for training.

[@mikejankowski3088]

Interesting note on the NA ships.... I wonder if the AI tech in the Texas Class will also play into the eventual Synth attack on Mars in 2385 - at least as another reason to "ban" AI tech

[@lordomacron3719]

I think a little historical note on naming tradions are the Royal Navy Letter Classes. With every ship of the class given a name starting with the same letter. I do find it interesting the different conventions that naming and registries that were used over history.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Of course they’re kind of abandoning that now, with the City-class simply being named after cities (and the first ship of the line is the HMS Glasgow, not the HMS City!)

[@janwitkowsky8787]

@@kaitlyn__L Heresy!

[@kilroywashere513]

Fascinating video🤔.

[@Wildcard120]

Thanks for the information.

[@tolazytothinkofanamd2351]

Never been this early. Great video as always

[@Jeffjg18]

Great video explanation!!

[@abrahamvieyra5730]

Highly interesting topic. The Starship NAVIGATIONAL CRAFT CARRIER was something I heard back during production of DS9 references.

[@korvatusklok4059]

Thanks for this video. I'm actually designing my own defiant style ship and was just trying to figure out it's registry number

[@elcowabungahe-man6156]

Great video of Trek info love the shot's of the Nebula Class my favorite class of starship

[@kabobawsome]

I mean, in the real world, it's not beyond even very serious navies to use odd letters that sound or look cooler to make acronyms or designations sound better. Also in the real world, the "X" is *specifically* very commonly used for Experimental.

[@EliotJohnson]

Neat and entertaining!

[@generichardson4771]

gene rodenberry in an interview when asked about the ncc he said when he looked at aircraft they would usually have nc as part of the tail number so he said hmmm lets just add an extra c for the starships and boom there you have it

[@DonJoyce]

Well strung out!!

[@looneyburgmusic]

After the release of ST:TMP, there was a collectors book released of Trek Starship blueprints, and that book had "NCC" meaning Naval Construction Contract.

[@raymondoverbee2300]

Also in that book listed all ships classes names and call letters at that time I had the book and in ST:TNG All Good Things the future enterprise with a 3rd nucell would be classified as a Dreadnought class

[@Condor1970]

I read once back in the 70's, that NCC originally stood for the name of the Shipyard Company that made the primary series of starships. Shuttles and other ships have different designations. "Naval Construction Contractors".

[@LiamDennehy]

NX has a heritage for experimental craft - e.g. the X-35 demonstrator and development craft became the F-35 Lightning II. The Bell X-22 was used to research fan/rotor VTOL, and is why the Osprey is designated the V-22.

[@barrybend7189]

Considering it's not as complex as Japanese aircraft designation codes it's better than nothing.

[@thomasparker7305]

Was very interesting

[@Sparky1701]

I have to dig up my blueprints of 1701 from 1973 - I think they stated eight on there that it is Naval Construction Contract. And I think those were 'made canon' by Roddenberry

[@dynamojoeful]

I remember reading that NCC was just chosen by Roddenberry because he liked the sound of it, so the acronym has always been open to interpretation, the interpretation that I like best is ‘Navigational Constellation Code’, with this idea that Starfleet HQ tracks the position of all ships relative to each other and the deployment of ships is like a galaxy-wide fluid that changes organically reacting to events and opportunities.

[@3Rayfire]

That is a pretty cool explanation. Almost too elegant....but doesn't cover NX classifiations....

[@anthonylowder6687]

@@3Rayfire And it doesn’t make any sense at all!!

[@edbangor9163]

Roddenberry-based Starfleet on the US Navy. LCC is amphibious command ship. There are no surface craft with an N in their class designation. The logical conclusion is that N has something to do with orbit or space, and the CC still means command ship. Since Roddenberry pulled the lettering out of thin air but was still basing them on the US Navy, we have to use US Navy rules for hull numbers.

[@3Rayfire]

@@edbangor9163 Actually he was (Army) Air Force and the NC comes from a civilian aircraft registration. However the registration idea came from Matt Jefferies who was also Air Force. Both worked on bombers.

[@edbangor9163]

@@3Rayfire Roddenberry was Army Air Corp, true. But Starfleet itself is modeled on the US Navy. The USS makes the subject beyond any doubt.

[@gerrymichaud3851]

As per one of my Star Trek TOS novels, NCC 1701 Enterprise. Naval Construction Contract 1701. When the Enterprise was on the drawing board it was NCC 1700. But by the time construction started the design had changed so much, with new technology like the Daystrom duotronic computer, they decided to create a new contract, hence the NCC-1701. I believe it was the novel, Final Frontier.

[@Torgo1001]

I always thought NCC-1700 was USS Constitution's Naval Construction Contract number, since Enterprise was a Constitution-class vessel.

[@NeoTechni]

I am wheezing at your NFT jokes. Excellent😅

[@EmpyreanFrost]

"Much like NFT's" :D a man of culture.

[@marvelboy74]

I like when the naming convention of the ships matches the class, such as the Danube class Runabouts or California class. By that thinking, we should see very few A-B-C's floating around.

[@fluffskunk]

I always had it in my head as "Naval Construction Corps" as though that was a Starfleet organization signing off on its safety and integrity, and registering it as an active Starfleet vessel. NX would follow as "Navy eXperiment" meaning it wasn't certified and you were onboard at your own risk. Basically a certification that an engineering team independent from both the shipyard that built her, and the crew who'd be operating her, had signed off on all her critical systems during a shakedown.

[@sagesheahan6732]

Oh hey! A Bonaventure-class! Neat!

[@captnrobvious47]

I remember an interview with Matt Jefferies talking about this. I belive he said the suffix "letter" at the end of a number indicates a refit, not so much a famous ship. I know this differs from what we see on screen but I just like this logic better.

[@mem1701movies]

Yeah. The way he drew it that on TMP it should be 1701-A

[@1leggeddog]

Simple subject,b ut informative!

[@richardjohnson9543]

I recall reading that starship registry numbers are based on the markings you see on airplanes, some of which begin with NC and NX for experimental models. It's said that Jeffries just added an extra C because it looked better and more advanced. Airplanes are also the basis for starship running lights

[@QziQza]

running lanterns, flags, and pennons, are a maritime convention dating back to the earliest naval vessels.

[@JoeySchmidt74]

@@QziQza pretty sure he's on about the colouring used in Trek.

[@xtraspecialmango]

Nice Coaxial Conduits

[@stevenserna910]

US Civilian aircraft registration numbers frequently started with N meaning "National". The numerals also designated a fleet numeral designation by the factory that also had to do with the year of manufacture. Like vehicle VIN numbers, there are so many now, they've probably had to re-designate several times over the course of time.

[@NCC-72545A]

I always considered the U.S.S. stood for United Star Ship

[@TARDISver40]

Top class waffling.

[@mmasque2052]

I always thought Klingon ships got designated by the Federation as “IKV so-and-so” for Imperial Klingon Vessel. And IRV for Imperial Romulan Vessel. Who the Klingons and Romulans handled their ships’ designation was never discussed.

[@HairTorque]

My word... You sir, are a massive nerd! I salute you.

[@HairTorque]

Actually, it almost made me cry. I've been pondering these registration prefixes since the 80s. This video, for some reason, felt like... Felt like ,when I first discovered the internet, and other nerds.

[@ThatWolfFromHyruleGaming]

I don’t think the 1700 block of numbers was exclusively used by the Constitution class. Remember the Constellation from the Doomsday Machine episode? Its registry number was 1017. Of course, the reason for that is because they used a model kit of the Enterprise and changed the numbers around. In-universe, it could be that sometimes registry numbers are random or chosen. The Phoenix from the TNG episode The Wounded had a registry number of 65420. Who knows for sure.

[@mammutMK2]

Maybe they just reserved a block. New great ship class, want to start by xx00 , federation ist just growing, so they chose the 17 (maybe even just like glock chose the 17, not because it's the 17th gon, it's because they have 17 patents on it) because it was the 17th design? So they plan the construction of 15 ships and reserve the number 1700 to 1714....some time later they plan on building 5 more and they end with leftover nubers

[@chbu7081]

Maybe the designers and builders of that ship gave them numbers that had personal meaning to them.

[@mem1701movies]

@@mammutMK2 you’re right as the designer Matt Jefferies chose those numbers because they couldn’t be confused like 3689. AND he said it was the 17th design 01 first bird. Don’t know why they didn’t make the CONSTELLATION 1710.

[@digitalis2977]

More likely that the Constellation was a rebuild with a registry number carried forward: Constellation is a shop name as old as ships themselves, so it would be natural that United Earth/Early Starfleet would use the name in short order, and no "-X" designations appear ANYWHERE in TOS until Roddenberry decided to blow up the Enterprise in Star Trek III and apply it to a new vessel as the 1701-A at the end of Star Trek IV...indicating when a ship was destroyed or decommissioned prior to that event, the name and registry were likely just recycled without the alpha-numeric suffix.

[@shindoushuichi0287]

A couple of interesting real world registration facts, in the USAF the tail numbers usually come from a combination of the last two digits of the year and the build number of the craft. Like for the A-10C, tail numbers would be 79-195. Built in 1979 and was the 195th plane of that year to be built.

[@shindoushuichi0287]

Also the X for experiment is also a real world thing for the USAF. The X-23 was an experimental high altitude hyper sonic test bed until it was replaced by further development platforms.

[@AndreiTupolev]

That was the fiscal year they were ordered. For some with long lead times like the B-2, the tail number could have a date years before it was actually built

[@LaserParody]

that'd be rough when 3 different airframes get their 150th plane all built the same year. Trainwreck waiting to happen.

[@shindoushuichi0287]

@@LaserParody well true but then if that would be the case I would imagine they would identify by airframe and then tail number.

[@bigglessy]

USS Audacious NCC-26248-A reporting in! Always enjoy trying to find a unique or historical tie-in for registry numbers in STO.

[@LENZ5369]

I think 'United [Federation of Planets] Star Ship' for USS makes more sense than United Space Ship. 'Federation Starship' was said alot.

[@jamesmarciel5237]

I believe United Federation of Planets, Space Ship” is what is actually said in TOS as opposed to what others are claiming as being “canonical”, “United Space Ship”

[@crystalheart9]

So many things I didn't know about the Enterprise.

[@AustynSN]

In my head canon, the IKS prefix is a screen translation by the universal translator. The Klingons name it with Klingon letters that may or may not have phonetics that correspond to Terran letters. On the flip side, their own computers translate the image of the starfleet ships registries to the first letter of the klingon translation of the specific words for which each letter stands.

[@Davegvg3576]

According to the guys at the Howard Anderson Visual effects company NCC was an amalgam between the early us Navy NC flying boats and the soviet CCCP - they figured a starship would be built in a time where all the major countries on earth would have to come together to supply component tech and labor.

[@Mad-Bassist]

Cool video! I guess if one sees a ship registry of ICV... we're all done!

[@ElimGarakOnDS9]

I remember once reading in one of the technical manuals that NCC stands for Naval Command Construction. But that was oh so many years ago 😂

[@kenefdz]

I believe in the novel The Final Frontier , NCC stood for Naval Construction Contract (or Code).

[@rcslyman8929]

Yeah, I know we didn't just pull it out on a whim. It was written somewhere that got circulation and reached a wide enough distribution to gain "obscure reference" notoriety. Probably not the novel itself (I don't remember it explicitly, but I do know I read it way back when), but I can't immediately point to anything else out of memory. I mean, like he said, no canon source, but... we, the general fandom, didn't just make it up. The term came from some document somewhere.

[@NorthForkFisherman]

Naval Contract Code. At least as how well I remember the canon books and blueprints from the 70's. Damn. I wish I still had them.

[@cliftonbeck6536]

In Des Monies at a convention in the early 90's I asked James Doohan about the use of NCC he said that he and Gene agreed it was Navel Construction Contract. I assumed others also asked James or Gene and got the same answer

[@21stcenturyguy25]

These excerpts are from a thread on the Star Trek Memory Alpha forum that I read recently According to both "The Making of Star Trek", and the second season writers guide update, NCC officially stands for "Navy-Curtis Craft", referring to the fact that the design and construction of the cruisers was a combination of the Navy's and Curtis Industries inputs. Curtis Industries is (will be) an industrial ship-builder located in San Francisco that has fulfilled many Starfleet-bid projects. The Navy was responsible for transporting the components into low Earth orbit, and assembling the ship in space. In plate #3 of the Original Franz Joseph Designs Star Trek Blueprints, NCC-1700 is clearly labeled as the "Naval Construction Contract Number" for the USS Constitution. For those of you curious as to the origin of "Naval Construction Code", Mada101 is correct. It comes from a Diane Carey novel entitled Star Trek: Best Destiny. At the beginning of several different chapters, the novel sets the scene location by utilizing the ship's name followed by the words "Naval Construction Contract 1701-A" or "Naval Experimental 2001" The Star Trek Enterprise registration number, NCC-1701, was inspired by Matt Jeffries' own 1935 Waco YOC airplane, which was registered as NC-17740. His plane is now housed in a museum in Richmond, Virginia.

[@roberta4145]

NCC- Navel Construction Contract. Was first established in the FASA role play game.

[@bluelionsage99]

Pretty cure the Enterprise blue prints I had back in 1978 / 79 or so indicted that NCC was indeed naval construction contract.

[@mabs9503]

I've often wished we'd have seen other examples of the letter suffixes for a "successor" type ship. The USS Eagle NCC-956 would have been perfect with an A or B suffix.

[@jaymartin8273]

Same here! There have to be other ships with just as long and great histories as the Enterprise :=)

[@kaitlyn__L]

Me too. For instance why is the new Stargazer 82893 instead of 2893-A? They even kept the 2893. Similarly it would’ve been very cool for the Defiant to get an -A. Yet we see it for Discovery which isn’t even a replacement, just a refit (albeit that’s for culpable deniability purposes surrounding time travel). Seemingly they’ve done it a lot more in the future though, with Voyager-J, and the Relativity-G.

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

What I think should be noted was that both Jeffries and Roddenberry had aviation backgrounds and (at least according to a display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum) the "NCC" was chosen as it was a callback to aviation registries of "non-commercial craft" and at least in-universe the Constitution-class itself was supposed to possess a "17" as a signifier of their class with last two digits being the vessel's own identifier within the class. Aside from the inconsistent numbering and strange designators it's also strange how in "Enterprise" the only NX known was a pre-Federation "experimental" class which in the novels was reclassified with NCC upon formation of the Federation

[@90lancaster]

I kinda like "Naval Autonomous" for the Texas Class as well there is the ties to paramount and paramount did the Live action Transformers movies, and they repeatedly called them "Autonomous Robots" so that would tie in nicely. I'm pretty sure that NX stands for Xperimental for several reasons. The X-Planes (I won't post a link but do a search for "List of X-Planes") But also it seems to fit with the Plot of Enterprise very well for it to mean that. The "warp 5 Xperimental programme #01".

[@Bionickpunk]

Could also be "Naval Automaton".

[@90lancaster]

@@Bionickpunk Could be but i'd associate that term more with organic forms like humanoid or animal puppets. Autonomous Vehicle sounds like something the US Navy would use as a term more and so seems to suit Star Trek to me too. If they had like a federation combat mech then perhaps that term automaton would suit that "maybe".

[@Chieffino]

Using X is a common standard in modern experimental craft to represent the craft is under development. The DDX-1000 was the designation for years for the DDG-1000 USS Zumwalt class Advanced Guided Missile Destroyer.

[@elwoogie1963]

Constitution class notable exception USS Constellation NCC-1017 from The Doomsday Machine, due to budget and resequencing the decal sheet numbers from the Ertl model used during the episode production.

[@Firefox13A]

Eagle had to be a starship of another class that was converted into a Constitution refit. Most Starfleet construction became modular in the TMP+ era. I heard NCC was “Naval Construction Contract” as well and ran with it.

[@kellysavage7073]

that is what i heard it was as well Firefox13A

[@kaitlyn__L]

Jeffries envisaged it being modular from day 1 - he sketched the nacelles popping-off and being replaced with square ones in the 60s. Agree we didn’t see many signs of it until TMP though.

[@lazrus01]

I always thought "NCC" was "naval crewed class", which seemed to work when "NA" seemed to be "naval automated".

[@kaitlyn__L]

Quick, we have to scan TAS for any hull registries on the automated freighters! (Or I suppose the automated asteroid mining ships from SNW, they could’ve actually feasibly coordinates that detail if they cared enough.)

[@excelents]

Before they received their respective names the Titanic's Hull Number was 401 and her sister ship the Olympic was 400.

[@NCMA29]

Interesting! But of course the hull numbers assigned by a shipyard don't translate into pennant numbers after the vessel become operational...

[@RWSCOTT]

on some of TOS engineering conduits the gag acronym 'GNDN' is printed ('Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing') :D

[@kaitlyn__L]

GNDN has seen plenty of revival appearances now too :D though there were a few call-outs to it in TNG-era, they were usually printed too small on those labels to be read on screen.

[@excelents]

If memory serves correctly in the TNG technical manual there is also mention of the ODN Bypass = "Obviously Does Nothing"

[@RWSCOTT]

@@excelents lol!

[@SPDSTEVE]

NCC officially stands for "Navy-Curtis Craft", referring to the fact that the design and construction of the cruisers was a combination of the Navy's and Curtis Industries inputs.

[@robertfousch2703]

Well us older fans have always known it's Naval Construction Contract. All the early books and stuff from the 1970's stated that was what the markings meant.

[@jetfire1153red]

agc prefix was an Andorian Equivalent for the NCC used by the Federation.

[@EDSKaR]

There might be a mirror to real world historians here. For IKS "Imperial Klingon Ship" might be similar to the use of the term IJS "Imperial Japanese Ship", which was never used by the Japanese, but is used by modern historians so that every ship gets a nice 3 letter tag. Similarly KMS for "Kriegsmarine Schiff" (ship) for German ships of the same era was not used during the time, only by historians.

[@joemaldonado3]

hey... I can't wait for the idents from the competitor, Star Wars.

[@ConkysGhost]

Franz Joseph has it as "Naval Construction Contract Number" in his Blue Prints of the Constitution class ship.

[@brianartillery]

Naval Construction Contract. It's a real abbreviation that was used on US Navy vessels.

[@michaeldelucci4379]

The NCC letters are the old number system of aircraft identification by the old bureau of aviation. Since Roddenberry was a pilot that is how NC became NCC

[@gravytrain8041]

Way back in the 90s, I saw somewhere. That it stood for Nebula Class Cruiser. Which sounds awesome. But, over all, doesn't seem to hold core containment...

[@sevenstarsd77]

According to both "The Making of Star Trek", and the second seaon writers guide update, NCC officially stands for "Navy-Curtis Craft", referring to the fact that the design and construction of the cruisers was a combination of the Navy's and Curtis Industries inputs.

[@anthonylowder6687]

I have read the book….where do you find that I have never heard or read that!!

[@sevenstarsd77]

@@anthonylowder6687 This is the book I read: The Making of Star Trek: What It Is - How It Happened - How It Works ‎Ballantine; First Ed edition (January 1, 1968)

[@L.Scott_Music]

I've always understood USS to be United Star Ship, as that is what they typically referred to these ships as (Star ships that are capable of traveling between stars), and of course in relation to Star Fleet.

[@franksanta-teresa971]

Yup, even Kirk would refer to his ship as the Starship Enterprise...kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3TMc2upnp1-sNk

[@PlumbPitiful]

I heard it stood for United Space Starship with "United Space" basically being all the planets of the Federation

[@marksteele9827]

And unofficially some ships in personal fan fiction like mine also are dubbed HMS as His or Her Majesties ship. This goes back to the British Crown fighting the augments during the 21st century. While there is United earth, the monarch still advises and warns the prime Minister of earth from time to time, it can also happen with the president of the UFP.