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Star Trek (2009) Ship Classes

Federation Starships - Federation Shuttles - Space Stations - Ground Vehicles - Alien Starships - Unknown Starfleet Class

Note The latest movie takes place in a new continuity, but it is definitely meant to be canon. It is intended to form an integral part of the Star Trek Universe, although it effectively erases TOS from history. The redefinition of events and characters and the redesign of all sets, props and ships disconnect the movie from the existing Star Trek continuity in a similar fashion as the Mirror Universe. This is why the "Star Trek (2009)" starships are in "confinement" at EAS. Some of them such as the USS Kelvin may eventually find their way into the "regular" section of this database, because they predate the timeline tampering.

Federation Starships

Constitution	General description This is the USS Enterprise as it appears in "Star Trek (2009)", an alternate reality version of the ship that Kirk commanded from 2264-2269 with a different look. This Enterprise already looked so when it was launched under Captain Pike in 2258. Article: The New Enterprise Design Gallery: Star Trek (2009) Vessels	Known ships USS Enterprise NCC-1701
	Annotations 1) The new Enterprise was designed by Ryan Church and built into a CGI model at ILM. 2) Compared to the pilot version (2254-2264) and the largely identical original Constitution class as it appeared in TOS (2264-2268) the changes to the re-imagined "Star Trek (2009)" vessel are substantial. Its proportions are roughly similar, retaining the basic saucer-neck-engineering-nacelle configuration. The secondary hull and the "organic" nacelles are totally new. There is a spinning "fan" in the Bussard collector, and the fins at the nacelle aft end have movable segments. The saucer is essentially the same as the one of the TMP refit, and hence different than the somewhat smaller one of the TOS Enterprise. Some of its details such as the windows and the three stripes on the edge even seem to be identical. The bridge dome is a bit like in TMP and very different than on the TOS model. 3) The locations for the ship seen in the film are: bridge, sickbay, crew quarters, corridors, engineering and the transporter room. The playful interior of the bridge is nothing like in TOS but like a generic 24th century bridge. There is a real window instead of a viewscreen. Other rooms have been totally restyled as well. The corridors now have round cross-sections. The interior of the engineering section looks like a 20th century industrial complex. There are largely no recognizable decks in this section, and much of the volume is filled with a maze of water pipes. This is very different than on any other Federation ship of any era, and it begs the question whether the huge filming set (an actual brewery as it seems) would fit into the engineering hull at all. In a similar fashion, the shuttlebay may be too small for the many bulky (>10m long) new shuttles, which are stacked in some sort of shelves on two levels on either side of the shuttlebay. Here the shuttlebay looks like it is at least 40m across, but that has to be a scaling error. 4) Since the new Enterprise is different because history has been altered, there is no need for an in-universe justification why it doesn't look like the TOS ship. There is no need to make the design fit in any fashion. Still, it is true that the re-imagination would be somewhat plausible as a predecessor of the Enterprise refit of 2271 mainly because of the saucer, but only as a direct predecessor. It would be very odd to build a new ship in 2258 with features that the refit would have as late as in 2271, only to regress to a more basic style for just five years between 2264 and 2269. Regarding the saucer that looks just like the one of TMP, it would have been a nice nod if Spock had arrived earlier and had given the plans of this ship to Starfleet. But up to the point when the Narada shows up above Vulcan no one in the Federation is even aware that history has been altered. 5) Comparing the side views of three Enterprises, I obtain a length of 302m for the new ship. I took it for granted that the height of the saucer has to be the same as on the Enterprise refit with its remarkably similar saucer shape. There is still an uncertainty of a couple of meters. In any case the "official" length figures of 2300ft to 3000ft are ludicrous. The Enterprise would be turned into a monster bigger than a Galaxy class! The initial design size was 366m according to Alex Jaeger, and the VFX team at ILM scaled up the ship to squeeze in all the big shuttles. Yet, the basic proportions, the recognizable deck structure and many details are proof that it can't be a lot longer than 300m. Every possible other detail pointing to a larger size should be reinterpreted in an adequate fashion to fit with the overwhelming evidence of a 300m or perhaps 366m ship. For now I will stick with 302m, although I may eventually settle on 366m. More about the scaling issue. 6) The Enterprise is being built on the ground, in teenage Kirk's neighborhood in Riverside, Iowa. This is in contrast to everything we knew about ship construction so far. (The ship that Kirk sees in Iowa is indeed the Enterprise. The "1701" is visible as the shuttle passes by the warp engines.) 7) The official movie site at startrekmovie.com tells us that the new Enterprise belongs to the Constitution class, just as in the original universe. There is no canon confirmation in the movie itself, however. The Enterprise may just as well be the first of her class. See the original Constitution class.	Class specifications Heavy cruiser Length: approx. 302m (see here why) Max. speed: Warp 8

Kelvin type	General description The Kelvin is a Federation survey ship from a generation before the Enterprise and is destroyed in 2233.	Known ships USS Kelvin NCC-0514
	Annotations 1) The Kelvin design is of a so far unseen ship class predating the new universe. Its original task is to investigate an anomaly, from where the Narada attacks and destroys the Kelvin. The ship is commanded by Captain Robau with George Kirk as first officer. 2) Locations seen on the ship include the bridge, corridors, sickbay and engineering. Like the new Enterprise, the Kelvin has a bridge window instead of a viewscreen.  3) The main deflector (with a shuttlebay at its aft end) is located above the bridge and a single nacelle below it. Discounting the Saladin/Hermes that could only be glimpsed on a monitor, the Kelvin would be the only Starfleet vessel besides the barely visible Freedom class from TNG: "Best of Both Worlds" with just one nacelle. Also, it is odd that the warp nacelle has an extra exhaust (an impulse engine?) at its aft end, unlike on any other Federation design. Still, the Kelvin rather nicely blends in Starfleet's design lineage, at least style-wise. More about the design at Intel's Shipyard site. 4) It is odd how a survey ship (such as the Oberth class is one) can have a crew of 800, twice as many as the original Enterprise. It is possible that the crew complement was increased and the CGI of the ship was scaled up much like it was done with the Enterprise, although it doesn't make any sense in-universe before Nero's incursion (the possible real-world reason is the dramatic license that George Kirk's self-sacrifice saved 800 people and not just 200). Also, there are apparently no escape pods on the Kelvin, and we saw only a couple of shuttles of the size of the TOS shuttlecraft leave the scene, at most 20 (which is already a lot for any kind of starship). It is hard to believe that each of them could have been crammed with 40 people. 5) Irrespective of the crew complement, owing to the poor scaling references of the movie the size of the Kelvin is hard to estimate. If the saucer edge is two decks thick, the ship would have to be about 350m long (assuming these decks are as thin as on the 305m TMP refit). Its nacelles would dwarf the "ample nacelles" of the new Enterprise! With a one-deck saucer (and somewhat taller 4m decks such as on the 366m new Enterprise) the Kelvin would be around 250m long. This size is definitely more reasonable, especially since the ship class I (below) seems to have the same type of nacelles and overall similar proportions and is somewhat smaller than the Enterprise as can be seen at the spacedock. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem for the Kelvin (and the other Starfleet ships in the movie) to be 350m or even somewhat longer if we went with the 725m Enterprise. But then the ship scales in the movie would be genuinely flawed, even before Nero's incursion. Interestingly, if the Kelvin were as long as 350m with two decks in the saucer, the huge saucer seen at Vulcan might belong to unnamed class I with its similar structure, if the Enterprise were small (although it still wouldn't be supported by the spacedock shot). 6) The leading "0" is a unique oddity in a 4-digit registry. We know that later in the 23rd century, registries below NCC-1000 will have just three digits.	Class specifications Survey ship Length: approx. 250m Crew complement: 800

Kobayashi Maru type	General description This ship type seems to be a combined tanker and passenger vessel.	Known ships Kobayashi Maru
	Annotations Unlike the Kobayashi Maru of the year 2284 of the Prime Universe, we can actually see the tanker on the screen in the test that Kirk takes in 2258 in the "Star Trek (2009)" timeline. As already mentioned in the Prime Universe entry, the Kobayashi Maru is most likely a ship with a made up name, albeit of an existing class.	Class specifications Tanker

Unidentified Starfleet ships Seven Starfleet vessels with familiar saucer-nacelle arrangements or variants thereof leave for Vulcan in 2258. At the Spacedock in Earth's orbit, the separately described unnamed classes I-III are recognizable, seven individual ships altogether. We know that the Antares, Farragut, Hood, Truman and Walcott are among them, but we can't relate the names to the designs. Some smaller designs at the Spacedock are not identifiable either. At Vulcan, the Enterprise runs into the remains of the seven vessels. Curiously at least one saucer among the debris appears to be considerably larger than that of the Enterprise, although none of the ships, which were all docked to the Spacedock, is bigger than the Enterprise. This saucer is labeled "USS Mayflower NCC-1620", giving us one of the two missing names.

Unnamed class I	General description This type of starship appears to have three nacelles of different sizes beneath the saucer. A "rollbar" with a pod is located above the saucer. The aft section of the saucer is cut out. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations 1) At least one of these vessels can be seen docked to the space station. A ship of this type later leaves the station and is visible on the upper starboard side ahead of the Enterprise before going to warp. 2) The nacelles appear to be of the same as those of the Kelvin, with what looks like impulse engines at their aft ends. The central nacelle is longer than the port and starboard ones. The pod is reminiscent of that on the Miranda (in its original form as USS Reliant) and may hold the torpedo launchers.	Class specifications None available

Unnamed class II	General description This type of starship has two nacelles above the saucer that are connected by a beam with a pod. The backward half of the saucer is cut off, with only two massive struts for the nacelles protruding to the aft. The two engineering hulls beneath the saucer mirror the arrangement of the nacelles. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations 1) Three of these vessels can be seen docked to the space station. When leaving the station, one of them is visible on the lower port side and one on the upper starboard side ahead of the Enterprise before going to warp. 2) The nacelles appear to be of the same as those of the Kelvin, with what looks like impulse engines at their aft ends. The two lower pods are unlike the nacelles in size and shape, and they look like engineering hulls. Overall, this design is somewhat bigger than the unnamed class I, as indicated by the spacedock shot and by the size of the saucer relative to the supposedly identical nacelles. 3) I previously assumed there was another type of vessel with essentially the same configuration but with only one underslung pod. But on two of the three docked vessels of type II the second pod must be obstructed by a nacelle.	Class specifications None available

Unnamed class III	General description This may be a smaller type of starship. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations 1) Three of these vessels can be seen docked to the space station; we see one of them go to warp. 2) The configuration is Miranda-like, with two Kelvin-style nacelles with integrated impulse engines underneath a round saucer. The ship type is somewhat smaller than the Enterprise.	Class specifications None available

Unnamed class IV	General description This could be a small starship or a large shuttle. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations The vessel can be seen in the lower left in front of the big central sphere of the spacedock. It looks like a disk with two engine tubes on top. I assume that it is not one of the vessels of the rescue fleet for Vulcan. As Sulu forgot to release the "parking brake", the Enterprise was probably the last ship to leave.	Class specifications None available

Federation Shuttles

Constitution lifeboat	General description This lifeboat of the Enterprise is equipped to hold just one person. It does not seem to be maneuverable in any fashion and is probably just designed for a safe landing on the nearest inhabitable planet.	Known shuttles No name given
	Annotations Spock puts Kirk on such a lifeboat to get rid of him after the destruction of Vulcan. We can see how the lifeboat is launched from the round hatch in the ship's neck. Provided the Enterprise is not another Titanic and there are enough lifeboats for everyone, the rest should be hidden behind break-away plates and should be considerably bigger.	Class specifications Length: approx. 2.5m

"Jellyfish" type	General description This is a small experimental vessel operated by the Vulcan Science Academy in the late 24th century. It has rotating parts and a drop-shaped main body into which a sphere is embedded. The vessel is very fast and is armed with beam weapons.	Known shuttles No name given
	Annotations 1) Spock is the only crew member, when he embarks this little ship to create a black hole to stop the supernova from expanding. After running into Nero, he involuntarily travels back to the 23rd century. As opposed to what may have been reported earlier, the ship itself is not originally built for time travel. 2) My side view is based on the ship's depiction in the Countdown comic. In Countdown it is identified as a prototype ship designed to withstand atmospheres that would tear most ships apart. It is nicknamed "Jellyfish" there.	Class specifications First commissioned: 2387 Crew complement: 1 Max. speed: Warp 8

Medical shuttle 2233	General description Nothing is known about this 23rd century vessel yet.	Known shuttles Kelvin Medical Shuttle 37
	Annotations James T. Kirk is born on such a shuttle, when his mother Winona has to be evacuated from the Kelvin in 2233. The overall design of the medical shuttle is the same as of the Kelvin standard shuttle 2233. Besides being specially equipped, the medical shuttle has large red markings at its aft end.	Class specifications None available

Standard shuttle 1	General description This 23rd century shuttlecraft, in service at least from 2255 to 2258, is equipped with several seats.	Known shuttles Bardeen 70172 (Name unknown) 12091 (Name unknown) 78072 (Name unknown) NCC-1701/9
	Annotations These shuttles are commonplace in the years 2255-2258. They belong to the complement of Starfleet Academy, of the Enterprise, of other starships and of the Delta Vega Outpost. The shuttle's angular general shape is in the tradition of the good old Galileo. The pods may be only impulse engines or thrusters for atmospheric flight, but in case of Delta Vega this wouldn't help a lot to leave the planet.	Class specifications Length: approx. 12m

Standard shuttle 2	General description This is another type of a 23rd century shuttlecraft, in service in the year 2258.	Known shuttles Gilliam Moore
	Annotations A second type of shuttles in the hangar scene has a more rounded windshield. This portion looks a lot like on the Type 6 from TNG.	Class specifications None available

Standard shuttle 2233	General description These are probably standard issue shuttles, part of the USS Kelvin's inventory in 2233.	Known shuttles (Name unknown) NCC-0514/3
	Annotations These shuttles appear beside the Kelvin and are being used as lifeboats. They are likely standard shuttles, owing to their comparably clumsy look (with a cross-section resembling that of the TNG Type-15 shuttlepod) and to the fact that the Kelvin is a survey vessel.	Class specifications None available

Unidentified Vulcan shuttles We can see several small vessels on the planet Vulcan.

Space Stations

Spacedock	General description A huge space station is located in Earth's orbit in the year 2258. It consists of a spherical core and disk-shaped outriggers.	Known stations No name given
	Annotations 1) There is no reason why the station shown in the new movie would have to be the very same as the Spacedock in the TOS movies. Still, we may have expected it to be a nod to that design. The new spacedock, however, bears a similarity to the Star Fleet Headquarters designed by Franz Joseph for his Star Fleet Technical Manual. 2) In the novelization, this station is identified as Stardock 1 but it remains unnamed in the movie.	Class specifications None available

Ground Vehicles

Ground vehicle	General description This streamlined wheeled vehicle seems to be the 23rd century version of a 2-seated car. The timeframe is 2258.	Known vehicles No name given
	Annotations We may possibly see this car at Starfleet Academy, in the scene when the drilling tether shows up near San Francisco. The car is a real-world compact fuel-efficient vehicle named Aptera that appears to be close to series production.	Class specifications Length: 4.4m

Police hoverbike	General description The hoverbike is a small vehicle used by the police on Earth around the year 2240.	Known vehicles No name given
	Annotations We can see how a (robo?)cop on such a bike pursues the Corvette with young Kirk to an abyss.	Class specifications None available

Alien Starships

Klingon "Warbird"	General description These ships appears in the Kobayashi Maru scenario of 2258. We should assume that it is an authentic Klingon ship type.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations 1) The Klingon ships of the Kobayashi Maru scenario (apparently six altogether) look much like the K't'inga or D7 from the Prime Universe. But the design has been slightly modified. Among other possible changes the outer rim of the forward section is now sloping down instead of vertical. 2) The Klingon vessels are consistently called "Warbirds" in this movie, on displays and in dialogue. The Narada purportedly took down a fleet of 47 "Klingon Warbirds". Klingon ships were previously called Warbirds only in ENT: "Broken Bow", and Brannon Braga freely admitted that it was in error. But there's no information that would be more persistent than false information.	Class specifications None available

Narada type	General description This massive starship from the late 24th century used to be a Romulan mining vessel. The Narada is operated by a Romulan called Nero. It is equipped with a drilling platform on an extendable tether, capable to drill deep into a planet with a high-energy beam. The Narada is heavily armed, including a large number of missiles.	Known ships No name given
	Annotations 1) In 2387, when Nero goes after Spock, the Narada is drawn into an anomaly and emerges in the 23rd century. It is not built for time travel in the first place. 2) The design is radically different than traditional TNG era Romulan design, and it looks like an octopus with hundreds of highly irregular tentacles. It must be a couple of kilometers long, seeing how easily the USS Kelvin on ramming course fits inside. The CGI has purportedly been scaled to 5 miles length, with a drilling cable of another 5 miles. This, however, is absolutely impossible as in the movie we can clearly see that the drilling platform is still in the breathable atmosphere of Vulcan, while the ship has to be in stationary orbit thousands of miles higher in order to be able to drill at all! (Provided that Vulcan is at least remotely Earth-like.) 3) According to the non-canon Countdown comic the Narada had been upgraded with Borg technology before Nero went on his crusade, explaining the size, the bizarre look and the formidable weaponry.	Class specifications Mining vessel

Narada missile	General description These are the Narada's missiles, cone-shaped, with wings and with green impulse engines.	Known missiles No name given
	Annotations The Narada unleashes numerous of these missiles in its attacks on the Kelvin and, 25 years later, on the Enterprise. It remains a mystery how a mining vessel can possibly be that heavily armed.	Class specifications None available

Unknown Starfleet Class

The following starships were mentioned as assignments of the Academy cadets in 2258 and were most likely all among the fleet that left for Vulcan (and was destroyed there). We only can't relate the names to the above ship classes.

USS Antares, mentioned in the Academy hangar
This is the supposed true name of the ship, while in the movie itself it sounded a lot like "USS Centaurus".

USS Farragut, mentioned in the Academy hangar

USS Hood, mentioned in the Academy hangar

USS Mayflower NCC-1620, name visible on the "huge saucer" at Vulcan, with an obvious registry

USS Truman, mentioned in the Academy hangar

USS Walcott, mentioned in the Academy hangar

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