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STARTREKHISTORY.COM UPDATED 06-22-11

That models page is fascinating. Question, though: is it correct to interpret the "17th cruiser design" caption on the Jefferies sketch as meaning it was his 17th try in real life? My understanding is that the "1701" registry was chosen because it was easy to make out onscreen, so that would suggest the caption means that it's the 17th cruiser class in-universe, as a justification for the registry.
 
^^ I always believed 1701 was chosen because it was easy to see. The "in universe" explanation sounds like something of a retcon which I'm uncertain as to how much validity it has.
 
^ As Warped9 just said, it has been bandied about in these forums that "NCC-1701" was chosen for its clear visibility on 1960s television. I have no conclusive verification of that, but I accepted it because it made obvious sense.
 
It could be more simple. The 17 refers to the 17th major design for Starfleet. But that doesn't reconcile with the only other registry we ever saw onscreen: 1017.

The Constellation appears to have been intended to be almost identical to the Enterprise only the registry doesn't make sense...unless the Constellation is older than the Enterprise (could be) and the registry signifies something else. I think this is more likely since it's unlikely Starfleet has several hundred Enterprise like ships in service.

Someone offered up an explanation sometime ago on another thread that could make some sense. The 1017 could mean to honour a previous ship of note named Constellation and hence why it was also commanded by a Commodore.

All this because someone was too lazy or sloppy to have put 1710 or 1711 or 1707 :rolleyes: Mind you they could have done it simply because they thought another registry too similar to the Enterprise could be confusing. In which case my answer would simply be, "Hello, the Constellation is the one all shot to hell, right?"
 
Here's my speculation for what its worth. It says on the drawing, "17th cruiser design". The fact that the numbers 1701 are used is coincidence. 1017 was used on the Constellation because those were the only numbers available that came with the ATM model kit. They could of course have painted some other numbers as they went through the trouble of Painting the name Constellation on the model, but time is money, and its cheaper and quicker to go with what's available.
 
^But what I'm saying is, the "17th cruiser design" caption on that blueprint could've been meant by Jefferies as an in-universe explanation for the 1701 number he'd already chosen for other reasons. It's jumping to a conclusion to assume it means it was his 17th try at a design for the Enterprise. I think if that were the case, we would've heard about it long before now and in multiple sources.
 
Jefferies went though at least seventeen designs in the first freakin' week, so that explanation's out.

The numbers were picked for their visibility and legibility, with the "17th cruiser design" being an after-the-fact justification, in case anyone asked, which nobody did.
 
Captain Robert April said:
Jefferies went though at least seventeen designs in the first freakin' week, so that explanation's out.

The numbers were picked for their visibility and legibility, with the "17th cruiser design" being an after-the-fact justification, in case anyone asked, which nobody did.
Click to expand...

What's your source for that bit of info; the after-the-fact part?

Thanks!
 
He said it in several interviews. The choice of the numbers and letters themselves were for visibility and vague familiarity reasons, the "17th cruiser design" was an after-the-fact justification, which turned out to be completely unnecessary.
 
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