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Starfleet before the Federation

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard

Commodore
Commodore
The Phoenix made its warp flight in 2063, and the Federation is founded in 2161. Enterprise gave us a glimpse of pre-Federation Starfleet from 2151 to 2155 plus the NX-01's final mission in 2161. We've four NX-class ships: the Enterprise NX-01 in both the prime and mirror universe, the Columbia NX-02, and the Avenger NX-09 (I think) in the MU. We saw bizarro takes on the Enterprise in "Twilight" and "E2" as well. There's the Intrepid-type, the upgraded version of the ship that flies over the moon in the intro, and that weird transport ship that popped up a few times in S4. In S2's "First Flight," I think the Warp 2 barrier was broken some 10 years before the NX-01 Enterprise with a pair of NX-type test ships that were basically Archer-era takes on the Phoenix. Beyond added in the Franklin, the Warp 4 prototype which would slot somewhere between "First Flight" and "Broken Bow." This has me wondering, when did Starfleet become a thing, and how many Starfleet ship designs were there prior to the NX-01?

There's the NX-class, the Franklin (did it go into production?), the Intrepid-type, the moon ship (don't know what to call it), the NX-test ships, that transport ship (I'm assuming it's Starfleet and not civilian), and... was that it?

What do you guys think of that weird NX-class "upgrade" with the addition of a secondary hull? I never got the point of this, except "new and different is bad."
 
There's an Enterprise Era Starship Thread on the front page of this Enterprise forum. It has a pretty extensive series of pics of the various ships you've mentioned.
 
Right here:

 

I gave you the TLDR version.
 
Is was a name used instead of Starfleet in several early TOS episodes. They went through a few names before settling on Starfleet. It cropped up on TNG and Enterprise as an Earth organization.
Thanks for this. I also remember TOS not being able to decide if the Enterprise represented United Earth or the UFP. :shrug: On TNG and Enterprise, was it an obvious reference, or easier to miss if you're not looking for it?
 
What is this sourced from?
There are several references in TOS by Kirk of their authority. There is also Kirk's line in TOS that they are a "combined service."

For me, it basically means that while the Federation Starfleet operates over the whole of the Federation worlds, different department structures still exist to support to the mission and administer the fleet. Some of those structures get folded in to the Federation, and continue to operate under federal authority vs. one planet's authority.
 
There are several references in TOS by Kirk of their authority. There is also Kirk's line in TOS that they are a "combined service."

For me, it basically means that while the Federation Starfleet operates over the whole of the Federation worlds, different department structures still exist to support to the mission and administer the fleet. Some of those structures get folded in to the Federation, and continue to operate under federal authority vs. one planet's authority.
I'm 9 episodes in, did I miss it, or has it not popped up yet?
 
Thanks for this. I also remember TOS not being able to decide if the Enterprise represented United Earth or the UFP. :shrug: On TNG and Enterprise, was it an obvious reference, or easier to miss if you're not looking for it?
It's called early episodes weirdness. You'll find it on a few shows.

It was VOY not TNG, my mistake. On VOY it was painted on the side of a ship. In ENT it was on the floor of Starfleet HQ.
 
It was VOY not TNG, my mistake. On VOY it was painted on the side of a ship. In ENT it was on the floor of Starfleet HQ.
Which episodes? I don't remember any of this.
Quick read that it was first mentioned in "Charlie X" and...
I totally missed it. :eek:
It's referenced infrequently throughout the different series: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/United_Earth_Space_Probe_Agency
I'll check it out later. Memory Alpha is like the ONE website that'll freeze up my web browser.
 
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