I know many fans have questioned the "0" in front of the Kelvin's registry, but perhaps it can make sense in a real world manner. As an airplane enthusiast I was reminded of the Navy and Air Force practice of placing a 0 before the registration of any airplane in the fleet that was older than 10 years. Perhaps this might explain the Kelvin's registration-early Starfleet practice adopted the same method and it was later dropped by the time the Enterprise 1701 had reached its ten year mark (which at least according to TOS was rare for a ship to do). Does this make sense to anyone?
A thought about the Kelvin's registry
- Thread starter Brannigan
- Start date
The zero is simply a place-holder in for a registry number system that consistently uses four digits.
This makes perfect "real world" sense, just like many state license plates use four digits starting with zero -- such as license plate number ABC-0123, or check numbers that start with zeros. The first check in my checkbook was check number 0001, NOT check number 1.
There is nothing at all illogical about that sort of numbering system.
This makes perfect "real world" sense, just like many state license plates use four digits starting with zero -- such as license plate number ABC-0123, or check numbers that start with zeros. The first check in my checkbook was check number 0001, NOT check number 1.
There is nothing at all illogical about that sort of numbering system.
So how would you reconcile this with the Starfleet vessels we've seen that only use three digits?
I think the use of the zero simply makes it easier for the filmgoer to notice that the Kelvin is older than the Enterprise.
Different filmmakers.
But if that's not good enough for you, we've never had a frame of footage from the 2230s before, so that decade could've had a different registry scheme than the 2280s (when we saw our first three-digit registry on the Grissom).
Different filmmakers.
But if that's not good enough for you, we've never had a frame of footage from the 2230s before, so that decade could've had a different registry scheme than the 2280s (when we saw our first three-digit registry on the Grissom).
Simple:
I think if (for example) the Grissom was in this film, it would have the registry number NCC-0638. I don't think there will be any three-digit registry numbers in this film.
Abrams changed the way the Enterprise looks relative to TOS; couldn't he also change the system of registry numbers?
It's a more logical and real life registry style. Some people just want to bitch. The number makes perfect sense and is the proper form a registry number should have.
Maybe there was an older ship with the NCC 0638 prefix and starfleet decided to give USS Grisoom and some sister class ships three digit numbers, thus avoiding confusion with starships with older, similar numbers. By the late 23rd century, Starfleet was probably in a crunch when it came to assigning NCC prefixes, so they decided to reuse the 100-999 series without the 0. Using 3-letter digits without the beginning 0 was one way to squeeze in more numbering. On Starfleet databases, NCC 0638 and NCC 638 would be 2 different vessels. They’re only so many NCCs that could be assigned with a 4 digit system. Moving to a 5-digit system in the early 24th century alleviated these problems
So...why aren't there more leading zeroes, then? is JJ Abrams implying that there will be no registries in the post-TNG era from which Spock has traveled? Where's the other leading zero(es) if it's so intelligent?
^
^^Starfleet was short-sighted in the 23rd century. They thought they would only need 9999 registry numbers, but by the time the 24th century rolled around, they changed the registry system to include more digits (just like early license plates for automobiles had fewer digits than they do today).
In the 22nd century, the system only had 2 digits (such as the Enterprise NX-01)
It really isn't hard to accept the four-digit registry numbers, unless you are looking for something to nit-pick.
^^Starfleet was short-sighted in the 23rd century. They thought they would only need 9999 registry numbers, but by the time the 24th century rolled around, they changed the registry system to include more digits (just like early license plates for automobiles had fewer digits than they do today).
In the 22nd century, the system only had 2 digits (such as the Enterprise NX-01)
It really isn't hard to accept the four-digit registry numbers, unless you are looking for something to nit-pick.
I agree completely. I respect conformity to canon and picking nits about established precedent in Star Trek -- justification of abnormalities and production errors is a lot of fun. But we've known from the beginning that Abrams is going to be a bit "liberal" with established continuity in this film, and I think the Kelvin's registry reflects that.
Frankly, I'm disappointed (though not at all surprised) that some people here have chosen to get so bent out of shape about it.
Well, we also had dialog for three-digit registry ships in TMP as well.. so...
The argument becomes a minor continuity point. Why would a fleet that is already adressing the 'four digit' issue in 2250 suddenly just stop doing that and revert for pre NCC-1000 ships in 2270?
A very minor point, yes, but it's just one in a million...
That would only work if you recorded that number on the database a characters and not a number, if you enter a zero into a database without a decimal point after (i.e. 0.514 not 0514) the number would be displayed as 514.
This is assuming they would list the NCC and 0514 in different fields anyway, if they were saved as a straight NCC-0000 the problems solved.
That isnt the way you would record the registry when you would have alternatives to the NCC prefix though, keeping the prefix and the numbers seperate keeps the database cleaner, there is still the point of save as a number or a character - besides its a small point which Im not bothered about, I kinda like it.
Personally, not spending more than 3 seconds thinking about it because it is an utterly irrelevant detail?
ST-One
Vice Admiral
I posted this in another thread, but I think it's worth re-posting here. It's a scene that I think should be in the movie explaining the real reason for the zero in Kelvin's registry.
Exterior Kelvin hull. Workers are welding the ship together, similar to the Enterprise being welded in the trailer. Among the welders is a man painting on the hull. He has already painted NCC and is finishing the dash. At this moment, badass techno-disco music plays as the Badass Captain Robau struts out onto the hull. His uniform shirt is open half-way down his chest, because he is badass.
Robau: "I want this ship to have a four digit registry."
Painter: "I'm sorry sir, that's not possible. The ship's registry is NCC-514. That's only a three-digit number."
Robau: "Then put a zero in front of the registry."
Painter: "Sir?"
Robau: "Make the registry NCC-0514."
Painter: "I don't think I can do-"
Robau: "I am the Badass Captain Robau! If I want a four digit registry for my ship, then I will have a four-digit registry for my ship. Now paint me a zero."
Sighing, the painter paints 0514 until the hull.
Robau: "Badass."
Badass techno-disco music plays as Robau struts away.
Exterior Kelvin hull. Workers are welding the ship together, similar to the Enterprise being welded in the trailer. Among the welders is a man painting on the hull. He has already painted NCC and is finishing the dash. At this moment, badass techno-disco music plays as the Badass Captain Robau struts out onto the hull. His uniform shirt is open half-way down his chest, because he is badass.
Robau: "I want this ship to have a four digit registry."
Painter: "I'm sorry sir, that's not possible. The ship's registry is NCC-514. That's only a three-digit number."
Robau: "Then put a zero in front of the registry."
Painter: "Sir?"
Robau: "Make the registry NCC-0514."
Painter: "I don't think I can do-"
Robau: "I am the Badass Captain Robau! If I want a four digit registry for my ship, then I will have a four-digit registry for my ship. Now paint me a zero."
Sighing, the painter paints 0514 until the hull.
Robau: "Badass."
Badass techno-disco music plays as Robau struts away.
Well, Matt Jefferies posited originally that 1701 meant 17th heavy cruiser design, ship number 01 (presumably after the prototype) and then you could go up to 1799. So perhaps the Kelvin's class is the 05th light cruiser design, ship number 14.
Either Starfleet later decided to drop the '0' because the numbers get higher and higher or perhaps by the time we get to the 2280s Starfleet has gone sequential with their new registries and they no longer reflect class and ship number, hence we have NCC-638 for Grissom and they increase sequentially to the time of TNG, DS9, and VGR. The 1701 was always a special exception, so who's to say all the other ships weren't renumbered?
Either Starfleet later decided to drop the '0' because the numbers get higher and higher or perhaps by the time we get to the 2280s Starfleet has gone sequential with their new registries and they no longer reflect class and ship number, hence we have NCC-638 for Grissom and they increase sequentially to the time of TNG, DS9, and VGR. The 1701 was always a special exception, so who's to say all the other ships weren't renumbered?
And then you have the Constellation which throws a wrench into that.
I am aware the Constellation's registry number was simply a re-ordering of '1701' (since a model kit was used in the original). Don't suppose it ever occurred to them to either 1) use 1710, or 2) assuming they were fixated on 1017, perhaps shift the model kit's parts around a bit - do some last minute kitbashing - to make it a different class?
