To Boldly Go...

In my free time (my ever, so ample free time...hah!), I kinda enjoy Star Trek. The more recent incarnations are turning my stomach (particularly the emphasis on Treknobabble). However, I'm still a fan of The Original Series.

One aspect of Trek I particularly like is the classification of ships (maybe it's the anal-retentive part of my personality, I am after all a scientist...). As an example, here are the various incarnations of the U.S.S. Enterprise (a huge list of Star Trek ships, from all governments, is at the List of Ships maintained by J. Creighton).

The U.S.S. Enterprise, Constitution class. The original U.S.S. Enterprise, it was seen in the Original Series. Her first commander was Robert April, followed by Capt. Christopher Pike (seen in The Menagerie). Her most famous commander was Capt. James T. Kirk, who took her on a five-year mission and returned her successfully, the first commander in StarFleet's history to do so.

After returning from the five-year mission, the Enterprise underwent a 18--24 month refit. Commanded variously by Capt. Willard Decker, Admiral James T. Kirk, and Capt. Spock, she was eventually destroyed over the Genesis planet.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-A, also a Constitution class ship. Originally named the Yorktown, she was recommissioned after the Probe incident and placed under the command of Capt. James T. Kirk (Kirk was demoted in rank at the same time).

The U.S.S. Enterprise-B, Excelsior class. Commanded by Capt. John Harriman, it has only been seen in Star Trek: Generations. It appears to be an updated (or at least modified) version of the original U.S.S. Excelsior.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-C, Ambassador class. This ship has been seen only in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Yesterday's Enterprise. Her commander was Capt. Rachel Garrett and she was destroyed in battle over Narendra III.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-D, Galaxy class. Seen in the TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series, she was largely commanded by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. She was destroyed on and over Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations.

The U.S.S. Enterprise-E, Sovereign class. Made her debut in Star Trek: First Contact.

I've also found a few sites on the Web...

• The Star Trek Continuum, the official Star Trek site.

• Luca Sambucci's Best of Trek list of ST sites

• The Star Trek Archive, maintained by D. Joseph Creighton