10 Favorite Starships of Modern Trek

10

Luna class

The Luna class is the oldest "new" ship design of Star Trek. It was created by Sean Tourangeau and premiered in the Star Trek: Titan book series in 2007 as Captain Riker's USS Titan, whose name had been established in "Star Trek Nemesis". This look of the Titan entered the realm of canon in 2020 when it appeared on Lower Decks, and ultimately in season 2 of Picard. The lines of the Luna class are influenced by the Akira class (especially as the saucer and the nacelle shapes are concerned), although it is somewhat smaller in size. I don't think a ship with a large compact hull needs a pod, but I have to admit the Luna class carries its pod with grace.

9

Salcombe type

We can see this ship only in the background at the end of "Star Trek Beyond". Other Starfleet designs of the Abramsverse disappoint because they are either unbalanced (like the Enterprise), bland (like pretty much every other ship from "Star Trek (2009)") or overblown (like the Vengeance). The Salcombe stands out as a design that is both intriguing and still realistic if we dare to look closer. The ship is not pretty from quite every angle, but it is a consequential and skillful extrapolation of the design philosophy of the Abramsverse.

8

Franklin type

Another ship from "Star Trek Beyond", and a gem of sorts, because the Franklin may serve as the so far missing link between the Abramsverse and the Prime Timeline. It could be used for a tentative fourth season of Enterprise, and still comes across as appropriately less advanced than the classic Enterprise from TOS. The absence of overblown technology and overblown scaling is a pleasant exception in the Abramsverse. The Franklin is clearly my favorite design from that universe, and I am even willing to forgive the movie the unrealistic idea that it is still spaceworthy after sitting on a mountain top for a century.

7

Kazon slaver ship

We can see this small Kazon ship/shuttle twice in Prodigy. And although it is hard to believe that the technologically challenged Kazon would show up so close to the Alpha Quadrant, I have high praise for the way that the slaver ship follows the established design lineage - instead of creating something re-imagined and unrecognizable, as it happens too often in modern Trek. In addition, the design is also visually pleasing, combining aesthetics with utilitarian features such as the large aft hatch.

6

Phoenix class

The Phoenix-class SS Eleos is the Crushers' ship in Picard season 3. I cherish the decision to make the design small, and to have its crammed interior layout play a part in the story. The Eleos gets destroyed after just one episode, but we will remember it as a reasonable and quite good-looking medical support ship.

5

Parliament class

The Parliament class appears a few times on Lower Decks, most prominently in LOW: "Cupid's Errant Arrow", where the USS Vancouver serves to illustrate the difference between a capital ship with diplomatic glamor and a sturdy support vessel like the Cerritos. I just love how the Parliament class combines saucer, warp pylons and impulse engines in a so far unseen arrangement and yet wonderfully fits into the design lineage. The idea that the warp pylons contain inhabitable space is a bit weird though.

4

Sagan class

First seen in PIC: "The Star Gazer" as the eponymous ship, the Sagan class is one of the few four-nacelled designs of Starfleet, and among the sexiest ones. It simply looks like a late-24th century design done right. I would have loved to see more of the USS Stargazer, but unfortunately season 2 took a wrong turn. I don't care as much for the Echelon class, which appears in season 3 and which is nothing but a Sagan that is missing the two lower nacelles.

3

Magee class

Surprise! Who would have expected that a Discovery design is among my favorites? The Magee is on this list because it takes starship design in a new direction with its embedded nacelles but doesn't mess up the lineage in the course. Unlike its various cousins from DIS season 1, this ship does actually work for the era it appears in. And if we decide to disregard Discovery (as I know quite a few fans do), it looks just as fitting as a 24th century vessel (as seen in SHO: "Children of Mars".) The Magee may not be the prettiest starship, but its unusual structure has grown on me.

2

Oh's Warbird

It is easy to imagine how the supernova destroyed the industrial base of the Romulan Empire, including the capability to built and maintain massive starships. In this light, the comparably small vessels that debut in PIC season 1 are only consequential. I like how Oh's Warbird is not simply a shrunk version of the huge D'deridex class from the TNG era but goes in a somewhat different direction while staying unmistakably Romulan.

1

Radiant class

Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, my number one favorite new Trek ship is an obscure design. The Radiant-class USS Stargazer was designed by Bill Krause. It only appeared in a showcase aboard the 24th century ship of the same name. But once I saw the drawings of the Radiant class, I immediately fell in love with this elegant design that fits perfectly in the TOS era and that I would just love to see "for real" next to the original Enterprise.