Question to fans & authors about the Vesta- and Luna-class ships

[Masiral]

And there's always that embarrassing moment when the audio book people call you and ask how the U.S.S. S'Grzdyx is pronounced and you have to admit that you have no idea.

"It just looked good on the page."

That's when you mess with them and say that's it's pronounced "Orange."

Or "Throatwobbler Mangrove."

 

[Avro Arrow]

There's also the Gorkon. In fact, wasn't it the first canonically established Starfleet vessel named after a non-human?

There was Spock's shuttle Surak in TMP.

But that wasn't a Starfleet vessel, was it? I always thought it was a civilian ship of Vulcan registry.

While ship names like USS Cha'*click* kfnn' *click* agd'yrudxizZ might satisfy some, I prefer human names. Yes, it works out racist in-universe, but the franchise is aimed at humans!

I'm going to have to disagree. I prefer a diversity of names. Having alien-sounding ship names helps the Federation seem more like a multi-species interstellar society, rather than a "Homo Sapiens Only Club". I always enjoyed the diversity Diane Duane brought to her ship names, as well as her starship crews.

Oh, and I think they actually spell it USS Cha'!kfnn'!agd'yrudxizZ.

 

[Christopher]

There's also the Gorkon. In fact, wasn't it the first canonically established Starfleet vessel named after a non-human?

There was Spock's shuttle Surak in TMP.

But that wasn't a Starfleet vessel, was it? I always thought it was a civilian ship of Vulcan registry.

Hmm, there's conflicting information. The David Kimble blueprint set published in 1980 clearly identifies it as a Starfleet vessel, and its design is a larger version of the Starfleet shuttles glimpsed in the hangar bay matte painting, with a warp sled attached -- essentially a runabout. But Memory Alpha says it had a "VS" registry, suggesting Vulcan Space Service. And the dialogue says "Federation-registered," not "Starfleet-registered."

So it's hard to say. It's a Starfleet design (at least the shuttle part), but maybe it's one that was decommissioned for civilian use.

I'm going to have to disagree. I prefer a diversity of names. Having alien-sounding ship names helps the Federation seem more like a multi-species interstellar society, rather than a "Homo Sapiens Only Club". I always enjoyed the diversity Diane Duane brought to her ship names, as well as her starship crews.

That can work in books, but on TV a more shorthand approach is generally preferred, and it can be confusing to use an alien name to suggest "our guys," unless it's a name the viewers are already familiar with as belonging to a Federation member race, like Surak or T'Pau. Not saying I agree with that limitation, but I understand their reasons.

 

[DEWLine]

If it's got "USS" in front of the name and an "NCC" registry on the hull, that's usually enough shorthand to tell viewers whose side the ship's on. Surely that much has been made clear to the general public by now?

 

[Christopher]

If it's got "USS" in front of the name and an "NCC" registry on the hull, that's usually enough shorthand to tell viewers whose side the ship's on. Surely that much has been made clear to the general public by now?

In visuals, sure, but a lot of ships are only referenced in dialogue.

 

[DEWLine]

Point taken.

 

[Argrathi]

Yeah, I think that's why alien names work so much better in the novels, because you have the benefit of seeing the "USS" in print. Sometimes it would be referenced in dialogue on the show, but usually USS was left out.

 

[Markonian]

Some of the Starfleet ships from the TNG background computer screens have alien names, like the USS D'hjty.

 

[Argrathi]

Yeah, that's true as well.