# Ncc-1701 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574 "2010-09-21T19:59:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/1 "2010-09-21T19:59:36Z")
What does the NCC stand for? Inquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/2 "2010-09-21T20:04:11Z")
Naval Construction Contract ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/3 "2010-09-21T20:04:20Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > What does the NCC stand for? Inquiring minds want to know. Without looking it up, I think the “CC” stands for Constellation Class… From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(NCC-1701)) > [@](#): > > Star Trek art Director Matt Jefferies designed the original Enterprise, which in series creator Gene Roddenberry’s first series outline drafts was named Yorktown.[4] The ship’s “NCC-1701” registry number stemmed from “NC” being one of the international aircraft registration codes assigned to aircraft registered in the United States; the second “C” was added for differentiation. The “1701” was chosen in order to avoid any possible ambiguity (according to Jefferies himself, the numbers 3, 6, 8 and 9 are “too easily confused” [5]). Other sources cite it as a reference to the house across the street from where Roddenberry grew up.[6] ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/4 "2010-09-21T20:38:25Z")
I seem to recall an old Star Trek book of mine that said it stood for “Naval Commission Code”. I’ll have to see if I can find that when I get home from work. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/5 "2010-09-21T20:54:47Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Without looking it up, I think the “CC” stands for Constellation Class… It doesn’t stand for anything, just like “U.S.S. in U.S.S. Enterprise” doesn’t mean anything plausible, either. There have been a few halfhearted attempts at retconning it but it’s still just a fairly random registry number that the prop department came up with. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/6 "2010-09-21T20:58:04Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Naval Construction Contract I agree with this - it was in David Gerrold’s “The World of Star Trek” book from the 70’s. I might even still have this paperback in my attic. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/7 "2010-09-21T21:04:15Z")
Not Competently Crewed Nterstellar Conestoga Class ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/8 "2010-09-21T21:30:42Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > > [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > > > Naval Construction Contract > > I agree with this - it was in David Gerrold’s “The World of Star Trek” book from the 70’s. I might even still have this paperback in my attic. I think it was also in the _Star Trek Blueprints_ and perhaps even in the original _Star Fleet Technical Manual_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/9 "2010-09-21T21:51:16Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > > [@WordMan](#): > > > > Without looking it up, I think the “CC” stands for Constellation Class… > > It doesn’t stand for anything, just like “U.S.S. in U.S.S. Enterprise” doesn’t mean anything plausible, either. No, Kirk and Pike both referred to the _United Space Ship_ Enterprise in the original series, (TOS: “The Cage”, “The Menagerie, Part I”, “Space Seed”, “The Gamesters of Triskelion”, “Patterns of Force”, “Assignment: Earth”, “Elaan of Troyius”) so it does stand for something, canon-wise. Alternately, it has also been referred to as the United Star Ship Enterprise, also in-episode (The Squire of Gothos, Court Martial), although this is used less frequently. However, it is still a part of the Star Trek canon. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/10 "2010-09-21T22:21:20Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Naval Construction Contract This is my memory as well. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/11 "2010-09-21T22:38:48Z")
Naval Construction Contract was stated in the 1975 blue prints which are not considered canon however some of the movies used the blue prints for screen grabs on various view screens. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/12 "2010-09-21T22:49:35Z")
Someone asked James Doohan this at this first Star Trek convention I ever attended, and he said, as above, that he thought he recalled it was for “Naval Construction Contract.” Probably from the same blueprints/technical manual mentioned here. As far as unofficial, semi-canon, non-onscreen references go, I’d take that as a pretty definitive source. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/13 "2010-09-21T22:52:39Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > Naval Construction Contract was stated in the 1975 blue prints which are not considered canon however some of the movies used the blue prints for screen grabs on various view screens. Which would make them canon, at least by Memory-Alpha standards. If it appears onscreen, it is canon, even if you have to freeze frame to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/14 "2010-09-21T22:54:19Z")
As Wordman’s wiki quote states Matt Jefferies came up with the registraion but the numbers were based on his airplane a 1935 Waco Bi-plane with the number NC-177410.😉 [![](http://www.mattjefferies.com/images/01-waco-full.jpg) ](http://www.mattjefferies.com/images/01-waco-full.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/15 "2010-09-22T04:46:06Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > > [@WordMan](#): > > > > Without looking it up, I think the “CC” stands for Constellation Class… > > It doesn’t stand for anything, just like “U.S.S. in U.S.S. Enterprise” doesn’t mean anything plausible, either. There have been a few halfhearted attempts at retconning it but it’s still just a fairly random registry number that the prop department came up with. BZZZZT! Wrong answer. See the periods between the letters? U.S.S. stands for United States Ship. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ship) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/16 "2010-09-22T05:17:01Z")
So is this Jefferies fellow who the “Jefferies tubes” are named after? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/17 "2010-09-22T05:46:03Z")
Well current airplanes have N-xxx numbers on their tails. So I assumed it was an outgrowth of that. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/18 "2010-09-22T15:13:12Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > > [@friedo](#): > > > > It doesn’t stand for anything, just like “U.S.S. in U.S.S. Enterprise” doesn’t mean anything plausible, either. There have been a few halfhearted attempts at retconning it but it’s still just a fairly random registry number that the prop department came up with. > > BZZZZT! Wrong answer. See the periods between the letters? U.S.S. stands for United States Ship. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ship) Starfleet isn’t an arm of the United States government. The United States doesn’t even exist anymore in the Star Trek universe. The point is that “U.S.S.” was chosen because that’s what American audiences (and writers) were familiar with as a prefix for a ship. The fact that it doesn’t make any sense was overlooked, and only later was the nonsensical “United Space Ship” chosen to fit the abbreviation. WTF does that even mean? United Space? A spaceship united? United with what? Starfleet is a naval/exploratory arm of a state called the United Federation of Planets (and even _that_ detail wasn’t clear in the very beginning.) A sensible ship prefix would be something like UFP or UFPS or even SS for Starfleet Ship. The fact is nobody thought that far ahead, and attempts by dweebs to come up with some tortured retroactive canonical explanation are super lame and not even worth of LARPers. > [@Chronos](#): > > So is this Jefferies fellow who the “Jefferies tubes” are named after? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/19 "2010-09-22T15:33:02Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I seem to recall an old Star Trek book of mine that said it stood for “Naval Commission Code”. I’ll have to see if I can find that when I get home from work. I found my ST: TNG Technical Manual but it didn’t say anything about the NCC acronym. Oddly enough, that was about the only acronym that wasn’t spelled out in that book. I know I’ve got a Technical Manual from the original series somewhere but couldn’t find it. It’s probably packed away in a box somewhere in the basement. Doesn’t matter anyway, I think I’ve pretty much been overruled at this point… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574/20 "2010-09-22T16:01:51Z")
Does the Tech Manual mention NCC-1701-c’s Cetacean crew? The blueprints do. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ncc-1701/554574.md?page=2)