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NX-01???? The registry number dance continues.
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Peregrinus: [QB] *heh* Judging from the responses, that's my cue... Correct on the prefix story, but let me elaborate. Matt Jeffries (from here on out referred to as 'Matt') started with the 'NC' of American civilan aviation codes, added another 'C' just cuz, and later found out that the civilian aviation code for the Soviet Union was 'CCC' and thought it was a cool symbolism in unintentionally melding the two. The numbers came from eliminating any numerals that might be unclear onscreen -- 3, 8, 5, 2, 6, 9. He fiddled with the remaining options in various permutations until he decided '1701' was as good as any. Matt was also the first to come up with a meaning behind the prefix and the hull number. As his notes indicate, 'NCC' he thought would be a good prefix for Starfleet's Cruisers or Heavy Cruisers. The meaning of the number he noodled up as indicating Starfleet's 17th Cruiser or Heavy Cruiser design, and the 01st production hull built after the prototype (NCC-1700). The first major refit would be denoted by altering the registry to NCC-1701A (no second dash). This is what he was going from when he created the infamous wall chart for "Court Martial" (TOS 15). Those 16XX registries were intended to be the immediate predacessor Cruiser design before the [i]Constitution[/i] class, which fandom and the novels later denoted [i]Baton Rouge[/i] class. This is what he was going from when he created the displays for Khan to be reading in "Space Seed" (TOS 24). And it might have remained thus throughout the series were it not for "The Doomsday Machine" (TOS 35). Lazy modelmakers trashed an off-the-shelf AMT model kit to make the U.S.S. [i]Constellation[/i], rearranged the decals to make the ship 'NCC-1017', and it got on the air that way. They didn't stop to think that maybe the number used for the [i]Enterprise[/i] might have some significance. They didn't ask the ship's designer what he thought the [i]Constellation[/i]'s registry ought to be. Which is a real pity, or else they might have made her 'NCC-1710'. Or even -- had they splurged for a second kit or decal sheet -- 1707, 1711, 1717, or 1771. I sigh and shake my head when I think they might even have made it the [i]Constitution[/i] at NCC-1700... But oh, well. It was during this second season that a very troublesome book was published called "The Making of Star Trek". I call it troublesome because Stephen Whitfield's approach leaves me baffled. And I can't ask the man about why he did things the way he did because he's dead. Near as I can tell, although he consulted with the entire crew, when it came to Matt Jeffries, he only included those bits pertaining to the [i]Enterprise[/i]'s exterior, plus the bridge set. No references are given for any of the other technical stuff he spews forth, from the internal layout of the [i]Enterprise[/i] to the composition of the crew to the listing of "Sharship class" vessels. Big for instance... Matt Jeffries was opposed to a massive engine room, but Gene insisted, so Matt designed the Main Engineering set. He fully intended it to be below decks in the secondary hull, and Gene seems to have been of this opinion, as well. So where Mr. Whitfield came up with the saucer placement for Main Engineering is utterly unknown to me. 'Nother big for instance... At one point, Mr. Whitfield clearly states the final list of "Starship class" vessels (meaning what we know as [i]Constitution[/i]-class), and includes the [i]Valiant[/i] -- despite the fact that elsewhere in the chapter he cites the class as being roughly forty yeas old and basic research should have pointed out this flaw, the [i]Republic[/i] -- despite the fact that nothing in the episode gave even the slightest hint that the [i]Republic[/i] was [i]Constitution[/i]-class, and the [i]Farragut[/i] -- same as the [i]Republic[/i], but this time not even a registry number was given. Unfortunately, this book was used as the primary source of information by a gentleman who made probably the biggest contribution to Treknical fandom ever, even if he was, in retrospect, wildy inaccurate about a great many things. Enter Franz Joseph... [End of Part I; Part II follows after I eat something] --Jonah [/QB][/QUOTE]
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