"Starfleet" vs. "Star Fleet"

[WendellM]

This will be a non-issue for more than 99% of all Star Trek fans and maybe 99% of TOS fans as well. If you expect/use "Starfleet" rather than "Star Fleet," then there's nothing to see here [Blade Runner voice: "move on... move on"]. But for those few left...

For a long time the two-word "Star Fleet" spelling versus the one-word "Starfleet" one may have seemed more TOS, but upon review it's unjustified. The one-word version showed up in 1979's ST:TMP, but the two-word version seemed more 1960s TOS-y to me, like "Star Trek" itself (which wasn't "Startrek"). Plus there were the Star Fleet Technical Manual and Star Fleet Battles: icons of late 1970s Trekdom.

However, screencaps are definitive. The plaque in "The Naked Time" is (sort of) legible, showing:

"U.S.S. ENTERPRISE
STARSHIP CLASS
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.":

While letters may be a bit vague, the spacing certainly isn't, and "STARSHIP" is clearly one word.

Given that, the on-screen spelling of "STARFLEET" in "The Menagerie" seals the deal:

So, that's it. One word, ever since TOS.

Heh. I've "seen the light."

 

[Harry]

"Star Fleet" seems to stem mostly from the, well, Star Fleet Technical Manual.

There is one interesting appearance of "Star Fleet":

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Starfleet_Medical.jpg

That image appears to suggest "Star Fleet" is an archaic spelling, appearing only in an old-fashioned typeface on a piece of art in front of the building with a more modern "Starfleet" text.

That all being said, I think it's pretty clear that "Starfleet" is the prevalent spelling, with "Star Fleet" as possibly an early alternate spelling.

 

[Neopeius]

"Star Fleet" seems to stem mostly from the, well, Star Fleet Technical Manual.

There is one interesting appearance of "Star Fleet":

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Starfleet_Medical.jpg

That image appears to suggest "Star Fleet" is an archaic spelling, appearing only in an old-fashioned typeface on a piece of art in front of the building with a more modern "Starfleet" text.

That all being said, I think it's pretty clear that "Starfleet" is the prevalent spelling, with "Star Fleet" as possibly an early alternate spelling.

Commodore Decker pronounces it as if there are two words.

He was also crazy.

 

[alchemist]

FWIW, the production company used "Star Fleet" and "Starfleet" interchangeably.

Dave, clouding the issue.

 

[WendellM]

There is one interesting appearance of "Star Fleet":

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Starfleet_Medical.jpg

FWIW, the production company used "Star Fleet" and "Starfleet" interchangeably.

Dave, clouding the issue.

Great, I thought I had the issue resolved... [Decker]but not any more![/Decker] More seriously, thank you both for that info.

Commodore Decker pronounces it as if there are two words.

He was also crazy.

True. I also recall Tal pronouncing it as two words in The Enterprise Incident, but he's a furriner so it don't count. <spits chaw on the floor>


Well, I'm no longer pure Star Fleet heretic, but it looks like I can't be Starfleet orthodox either. I guess I'm reformed.

 

[Drake]

I use Starfleet myself, but I'm not likely to snert indignantly if someone else chooses to use Star Fleet.

 

[alchemist]

Great, I thought I had the issue resolved... [Decker]but not any more![/Decker]

I dug up a memo I have from Bob Justman to Gene Coon. Here's an excerpt of some "proof":

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They weren't consistent about this during TOS - like so much else. Probably variant spellings in things like "The Making Of Star Trek" is one source of the contradictions.

I usually spell it "Starfleet" but in the context of working on "Starship Exeter" spelled it "Star Fleet" - not that the spelling actually appeared anywhere that will matter to our limited audience.

 

[EnsignHarper]

Is that memo about 'Tribbles'? Just a guess....

Great, I thought I had the issue resolved... [Decker]but not any more![/Decker]

I dug up a memo I have from Bob Justman to Gene Coon. Here's an excerpt of some "proof":

 

[WendellM]

I dug up a memo I have from Bob Justman to Gene Coon. Here's an excerpt of some "proof":

I usually spell it "Starfleet" but in the context of working on "Starship Exeter" spelled it "Star Fleet"

All that matches my general inclination, too. TOS-era = two words; TMP and later = one word (as shown in Lee Cole's Peel-Off Graphics Book from back in the day with the SF HQ logo that appears in the film).

What started this was that I was submitting some TAS quotes to IMDB and there was a reference to Harry Mudd selling a Star Fleet/Starfleet installation. The subtitles had "Starfleet" but I was feeling retro and so I went with "Star Fleet." That got me wondering about on-screen references, so I looked around and found the Menagerie image (the version in The Enterprise Officer's Manual has "Star Fleet Command" and that's what was stuck in my head, so seeing the screencap was a surprise).

That Menagerie cap is the only on-screen TOS text that I'm aware of; if anyone has any other on-screen appearance of "Starfleet/Star Fleet" in TOS, I'd love to see it. However, that's only a prop, and those do sometimes vary, such as this two-word version of "Star Ship" from "Court Martial" as opposed to the one-word version on the Enterprise's plaque:

So, based on this thread, I guess I might as well go with my instincts and stick with "Star Fleet" for TOS/TAS. Thanks, all.

 

[Nerys Myk]

They weren't consistent about this during TOS - like so much else. Probably variant spellings in things like "The Making Of Star Trek" is one source of the contradictions.

I usually spell it "Starfleet" but in the context of working on "Starship Exeter" spelled it "Star Fleet" - not that the spelling actually appeared anywhere that will matter to our limited audience.

I often used "Star Fleet" when talking about TOS. Then someone added a (sic) after the term when quoting a post, so I stopped.

 

[Albertese]

For me, I use "Star Fleet" when referring to the Earth fleet prior to the incorporation of the Federation, or when talking about the Fleet as relating to Star Fleet Battles.

I use "Starfleet" to refer to the fleet of the Federation, regardless of series.

This probably is contradicted by numerous on-screen "proofs" one way or the other, but I don't care. (For instance, I bet any appearance of the word in Enterprise would be the one-word Starfleet in spite of the fact that I would personally type it out as "Star Fleet")

So.....Meh....?


--Alex

 

[Outpost4]

There is one interesting appearance of "Star Fleet":

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Starfleet_Medical.jpg

No shit they use them interchangeably. The building says "STARFLEET" and the monument/sign says "STAR FLEET". They can't even keep it straight within one shot!

Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

 

[Esteban]

IIRC, there's a memo from Gene Roddenberry (Making of Star Trek?) where he encourages the use of Star Fleet, Star Ship, Star Base, etc.

He is thinking of the promotional value, and likens such use to the 60s Batman's Bat Cave, Bat-Mobile, etc.

Again, I recall this memo came out midway through the first season, after we heard such things as "Space Central", "Star Fleet Control" and of course the truly awful "UESPA" (sorry, D.C., you knows I loves ya, but when you couldn't quite get it right in "Friday's Child", referring to Earth, then the Earth Federation, you obviously hadn't read the memo).

But I digress...I believe it was really Gene Coon who got it all under control, finally. How he spelled it, we may never know.

 

[Kirk1980]

Man, it IS a shame he died so early, isn't it? (RE: Coon.)

 

[alchemist]

It's about the outline for Operation -- Destroy, the precursor to Operation -- Annihilate.

Is that memo about 'Tribbles'? Just a guess....

I dug up a memo I have from Bob Justman to Gene Coon. Here's an excerpt of some "proof":

 

[KirksFlyingFist]

Interesting. Maybe it's one of those things that can be spelled either way and still be correct?

 

[trevanian]

Great, I thought I had the issue resolved... [Decker]but not any more![/Decker]

I dug up a memo I have from Bob Justman to Gene Coon. Here's an excerpt of some "proof":

Got any more nuggets of wisdom from Coon?

 

[Harry]

Interesting. Maybe it's one of those things that can be spelled either way and still be correct?

*vanishes in a puff of logic*

 

[Green Shirt]

Interesting. Maybe it's one of those things that can be spelled either way and still be correct?

Kinda like the "gray" vs. "grey" thing.

BTW, I prefer "gray", because "grey" looks like its pronounced "gree".