What does NCC-1701 stand for ?

[Shakabutt]

Does anybody know ?

[JadziaKathryn]

I never got what NCC is supposed to stand for, but I imagine it's ship #1,701.

[Shakabutt]

No i don't think 1701 stands for that,because Enterprise-D and E were 1701 as well

[Distracted]

Airplanes have call numbers for identification purposes. They're related to when the aircraft was registered but owners also have some choice over which letters they want to use, kinda like license plates. I've always assumed that it was Enterprise's ID number, without real significance symbolically.

[Rigil Kent]

Well, you can't use modern US Navy hull registry codes as an example 'cause they actually mean things (like DD being a destroyer and CV being a carrier)...

Do not try to apply logic to Starfleet ... it doesna work.

[Shakabutt]

Okay so 1701 is the license plate ,NCC ?

[dark_rain]

Okay so 1701 is the license plate ,NCC ?

National Crap-flinging Caretakers?

Seriously tho, I Imagine that "Coalition" is in there somewhere

[Jedikatie]

Well, this is what the article about the Starship Enterprise over at wikipedia says. Though don't take it as gospel...

The relevant part of the article states that:

The particular combination of letters and numbers for the ship's registry, NCC-1701, was chosen because it would be easily readable at a glance by television viewers. "NCC" (unofficially known as ' Naval Construction Contract ' was chosen by analogy to modern civil aircraft identification codes. In a popular video game by Interplay, Starfleet Command, NCC is known as 'New Command Cruiser'.

[Shakabutt]

So where does the name Connie come from ?

[Elessar]

you mean Constellation?

I believe it was Matthew Jeffries (the real Matthew Jeffries) who came up with the "NCC-1701" registry. He took the modern NC for aircraft registries and literally just "added another C". That's what I saw on some Trek special anyway. I forget where 1701 came from.

[Rigil Kent]

Actually, it's Constitution-class. I verified this over at MA before I replied...

In response to Shaka's question, the -1701 is a Constitution-class cruiser. It's a naval naming convention that the first ship of a particular hull gives its name to the class of ships. For example, the NX-02 Columbia under Hernandez would technically be an Enterprise-class ship, not an NX class. NX is the hull registry code, not the class identification.

[Elessar]

oh yeah. Well, I guess I liked Constellation more

[Rigil Kent]

Well, I think they had Constellation-class ships in 24th century ...

[Jedikatie]

^
Well, the USS Constellation was Matt Decker's ship in The Doomsday Machine. Never noticed before looking it up to double check and make sure that I had the correct episode that the Constellation's registry number is simply an anagram of Enterprise's... (It's the NCC-1017).

[CX]

NCC is just a prefix that stands for active duty Starfleet. NX is an experimental Starfleet vessel.

And there is a Constellation class, which was evidently commissioned sometime in the TOS movie era. Basically it's a four-nacelled Conny kitbash. Just look it up online.