The Constellation's registry number

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Unlikely...the Enterprise and Defiant were obviously both starships.

Me, I'm going with the explanation that BOTH 'Starship' and 'Constitution' class are true.

[Warped9]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ Unlikely...the Enterprise and Defiant were obviously both starships.

Me, I'm going with the explanation that BOTH 'Starship' and 'Constitution' class are true.

Uh, practically everything we saw on TOS in space was a starship in some form or fashion, but the issue is whether they were of the prestigious Star Ship Class in context of TOS' universe. Kirk said there were only twelve like the Enterprise in the fleet, but more than twelve Constitution-class ships have been counted.

[EliyahuQeoni]

blssdwlf wrote:

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It's possible. Then again we do have NCC-2000 USS Excelsior. The lead ship of the Excelsior Class, IIRC.

Which started out as a testbed/prototype for a new class of ship equipped with "TransWarp" drive. I don't think its ever been said on screen, but its been speculated that her original registry - NX-2000 - was an indication of her eXperimental status. NCC-1700 could have initially been NX-1700 and was later commissioned as NCC-1700 after NCC-1701 had been launched.

[blssdwlf]

EliyahuQeoni wrote:

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Which started out as a testbed/prototype for a new class of ship equipped with "TransWarp" drive. I don't think its ever been said on screen, but its been speculated that her original registry - NX-2000 - was an indication of her eXperimental status. NCC-1700 could have initially been NX-1700 and was later commissioned as NCC-1700 after NCC-1701 had been launched.

Sure, but being the experimental ship didn't change the Excelsior from being the lead ship and having the class name. The existence of NX/NCC-1700 would've made that ship the lead ship making 1701 the second ship.

[EliyahuQeoni]

blssdwlf wrote:

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Sure, but being the experimental ship didn't change the Excelsior from being the lead ship and having the class name. The existence of NX/NCC-1700 would've made that ship the lead ship making 1701 the second ship.

I see the chain of events like this:

• NX-1700 prototype 17th starship design built and used for trial runs.
• Trials are finished and construction begins on the 17th design's first production build: NCC-1701.
• USS Enterprise NCC-1701 is launched and commissioned.
• Sometime later NX-1700 is refitted for active service as NCC-1700

I think the class name could go either way. I wasn't really arguing either way for what class 1701 was, but rather just that she could still be the 1st build of the 17th design even if NCC-1700 exists. In the case of Excelsior, for whatever reason, they decided to convert the prototype to an active duty ship before building NCC-2001, which makes her number not technically correct, but these things happen sometimes in real life.

[Spike730]

I'd say Starship class was used in the 2240s for the 17th cruiser design when the class was launched as Starfleet's state of the art ship of the line. These vessels were so prestigous that their commanding officers weren't simply captains but "Starship Fleet Captains" (Garth of Izar was referred to as such and it probably got later shortened to "Fleet Captain").

But then the 18th cruiser design and the 19th cruiser design were launched and the 17-cruisers weren't that special any more and everyone started to call them by their other class name.

[Robert Comsol]

Warped9 wrote:

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Kirk said there were only twelve like the Enterprise in the fleet, but more than twelve Constitution-class ships have been counted.

There you go, 12 starships Enterprise Class and a yet to be established amount of Constitution Class starships.

Bob

[Spike730]

Strictly speaking there are only 11 Connies and one of them (Defiant) could've been under construction at the time Kirk stated that.

USS Constitution
USS Enterprise
USS Hood
USS Lexington
USS Defiant
USS Constellation
USS Excalibur
USS Exeter
USS Intrepid
USS Potemkin
NCC-1707

[Timo]

In dramatic terms, it would be quite a disappointment if the Enterprise turned out to be of Enterprise class in TOS. Suddenly, our bluecollar heroes, working stiffs from outer space, the everymen who play it straight in face of absurdity and bring space down to earth, would be thrust into a unique and noteworthy position by no virtue of their own, operating the class ship of a prestigious starship class.

Timo Saloniemi

[Ronald Held]

Not highly satisfying, but perhaps several time traveling episodes made minor changes to the timeline before DTI was formed?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Warped9 wrote:

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Uh, practically everything we saw on TOS in space was a starship in some form or fashion, but the issue is whether they were of the prestigious Star Ship Class in context of TOS' universe. Kirk said there were only twelve like the Enterprise in the fleet, but more than twelve Constitution-class ships have been counted.

If it's a starship, it's a Star Ship.

[blssdwlf]

EliyahuQeoni wrote:

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In the case of Excelsior, for whatever reason, they decided to convert the prototype to an active duty ship before building NCC-2001, which makes her number not technically correct, but these things happen sometimes in real life.

Or that is the norm? First ship is 2000 and that doesn't change and she's the first ship. First ship is 1700 and she's still the first ship. We're not given any indication that the Excelsior had an unusual naming convention or classification.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And there's also NX-74205....

[blssdwlf]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ And there's also NX-74205....

Which would seem to nix the idea of a series like 17xx or 20xx.

[EliyahuQeoni]

blssdwlf wrote:

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Or that is the norm? First ship is 2000 and that doesn't change and she's the first ship. First ship is 1700 and she's still the first ship. We're not given any indication that the Excelsior had an unusual naming convention or classification.

Oh, absolutely. There is nothing on screen to indicate any rhyme or reason to the registry numbers on starships. I was just pointing out how Jefferies' 17th ship design, 1st build template could be used despite there being an NCC-1700, which doesn't seem to fit. It makes just as much sense to have NCC-1700 be the first ship of the series, or have the first ship of the series/class be NCC-1681 for that matter. Nothing on screen says that Star Ship/Constitution/Enterprise have to have registries that start with NCC-17xx.