Memento Mori
You lost someone too, didn't you?
You had a... a sister. But Starfleet records don't show any...
They do not.
She sacrificed herself for you, too, didn't she?
What's with all the Earth-specific starship names in Starfleet?
- Thread starter WarpTenLizard
- Start date
You lost someone too, didn't you?
You had a... a sister. But Starfleet records don't show any...
They do not.
She sacrificed herself for you, too, didn't she?
To me, Starfleet is still an Earth-based (or Human dominated) organization, so it's understandable that the vast majority of ship names are from Earth. Other Federation worlds--like Vulcan--still maintain their own local space services, so the names of their ships reflect where they came from, IMO.
There should be a USS Rayner.
Unfortunately it might require that Rayner be deceased for this to occur. But as Rayner is obviously too cool to die, Starfleet will just have to find a way around it.
Captain Rayner. What a guy.
And it would need to be in a work set in the 32nd Century or later.
Another silly line, why would any organisation state the siblings of fellow officers. Such information would be irrelevant, unless the sibling was the official Next of Kin.
Its a bit like Kirk not knowing he had The Vulcan ambassador's son on his ship.
Spock's personnel record probably looked like this
Name - Spock
Rank - Commander
Serial number - S 179 276 SP
Species - Vulcan/Human
Planetary origin - Vulcan
Citizenship - Vulcan/Earth
Next of kin - Redacted or Mysterious Human Teacher
Marital status - Betrothed T'Pring of Vulcan (Earth dates 2237-2262)
Marital status - Earth date 2263 on a need to know basis
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Nothing wrong with naming ships after states. But I also think they should have included non-US states and/or country subdivisions (ex: USS Oaxaca). Non-Terran names are unfortunately few and far between. At some point you're just throwing a jumble of letters at a ship without any background behind it.Ok back to the thread topic. I agree in universe the ships needed more non Terran names. Lower Decks (S3E10) was full of ships named after US cities, or states (California class, Texas class....really?) which is the writers' pandering to their mainly US audience.
Still think it small minded of them.
Then don't make Starfleet a galactic organisation, just make Star Trek 'The adventures of UESPA' which was the original premise.
My point was that we need more world/universe building, which leads to more non-Terran names to choose from. For example, for a founding Federation member, we know practically nothing about Tellar Prime.
Yeah, world building is poor in Trek productions
Unfortunately, even in the 24th Century, humans are far from perfect. When Starfleet tried give some starships alien-influenced names, there was backlash from a lot of Earthlings who would complain about "Forced Heterogeneousness" and would often have a rallying cry of "Go Space, Get Erased". Times have not changed all that much after all.
They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.
(Aristotle)
Agreed, Starfleet had about a million perfectly valid reasons to shelve Discovery and the spore drive forever, they didn't need to go as far as banning anyone from speaking of it.
Discovery pins indicate acknowledgement of the loss of the ship and crew. I should think the crew could be honored with having ships named for them. The USS Saru for sure.
One of many, actually.
TOS used a lot of different names for its military command before they decided on Starfleet. UESPA was just one of those. Others were just as pulp-sounding - Space Command, Star Service, Space Central, that type of thing.
I much prefer Starfleet. Short, to the point, and doesn't sound pulpy at all.
Earth-specific?
If you break it down even further, why is "Federation Standard" the English language?
All Federation starships use English in the LCARS displays and for their official hull markings. The names, as well as the official signage of the Federation, are printed in English on the hull.
It's not just Earth-specific. Arguably, Starfleet is very Euro/American-centric as well in a future where Mandarin, French, and Spanish probably still have a large number of speakers on Earth, even before considering the other languages used by Federation worlds across thousands of light-years.
If you break it down even further, why is "Federation Standard" the English language?
All Federation starships use English in the LCARS displays and for their official hull markings. The names, as well as the official signage of the Federation, are printed in English on the hull.
It's not just Earth-specific. Arguably, Starfleet is very Euro/American-centric as well in a future where Mandarin, French, and Spanish probably still have a large number of speakers on Earth, even before considering the other languages used by Federation worlds across thousands of light-years.
To combine two or three topics up thread:
The ban on info of/references to Discovery, her crew and her drive is established in onscreen dialogue; presumably it’s maintained for at least Spock’s lifespan or longer. It’s hard to imagine that bits of it didn’t eventually come out as old records got churned over by historians, and it’s reasonable to assume that there would not be a USS Saru or USS Stamets in the 23rd or 24th century, but there might be later on, eventually, if and when bits start to come out. I certainly wouldn’t expect the ban to still be in place after Discovery’s return, if it didn’t crumble sooner.
Diane Duane’s novels established that at least some species participating in Starfleet have their own ships that are still Starfleet, but their own designs or modification. For example, there’s a species that’s naturally much bigger and faster than humans, and its starships follow the basic disk-and-nacelles format… but much bigger and faster in every respect.
And yeah, the Federation is implied to be seen by many — the Klingons certainly, but also some humans — as the Human Empire. It isn’t, but there are times when it can certainly come across that way.
The ban on info of/references to Discovery, her crew and her drive is established in onscreen dialogue; presumably it’s maintained for at least Spock’s lifespan or longer. It’s hard to imagine that bits of it didn’t eventually come out as old records got churned over by historians, and it’s reasonable to assume that there would not be a USS Saru or USS Stamets in the 23rd or 24th century, but there might be later on, eventually, if and when bits start to come out. I certainly wouldn’t expect the ban to still be in place after Discovery’s return, if it didn’t crumble sooner.
Diane Duane’s novels established that at least some species participating in Starfleet have their own ships that are still Starfleet, but their own designs or modification. For example, there’s a species that’s naturally much bigger and faster than humans, and its starships follow the basic disk-and-nacelles format… but much bigger and faster in every respect.
And yeah, the Federation is implied to be seen by many — the Klingons certainly, but also some humans — as the Human Empire. It isn’t, but there are times when it can certainly come across that way.
Unless that’s just how the universal translator is making it sound/appear to us viewers? But there’s onscreen evidence in both directions here. On the one hand, Khan awakening hears Kirk speaking in English. (Then again, is he from the Indian subcontinent, or a genetics lab in Toronto?). OTOH, the UT breaking down in that DISCO episode results in cacophony.
…yes, yes it is. ?