Discoverse Federation Ship Classes

Starfleet ShipsSection 31 ShipsNon-Starfleet ShipsShuttlesSpace StationsSatellites and ProbesUnknown Starfleet ClassUnknown Non-Starfleet ClassUnknown Stations

 

There are fundamental discrepancies between the reimagined Starfleet ships of Discovery & Strange New Worlds on one hand and the ones of the five classic Star Trek series on the other hand, discrepancies that require to separate them.

 

Starfleet Ships


Archer type

General description

The Archer is a small 23rd century Starfleet ship with a single warp nacelle that can be operated by a crew of only three.

Known ships

USS Archer NCC-627
 

Annotations

  1. The ship design appears in SNW: "Strange New Worlds" in orbit of Kiley 279 and in "The Broken Circle" docked to Starbase 1
  2. This design seems to be inspired by the "obscure canon" Saladin/Hermes class, but there is no reason to assume they are in any way related.
  3. It doesn't make sense for a ship with a crew of only three to establish first contact with a civilization. Much less would it be reasonable for all three of them to beam down and abandon their vessel in orbit of a planet that has the technology to detect and attack it...

Class specifications

None available

 


Cardenas

General description

The Cardenas class is a comparably large ship type that is in service in the mid-23rd century. The design features a saucer with a small boxy engineering hull at its aft end and four angular nacelles on pylons that are arranged as an "X".

Known ships

USS Buran NCC-1422
USS Yeager NCC-1437
 

Annotations

  1. The Cardenas class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. The USS Yeager can be seen in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars". The ship was identified by John Eaves.
  3. We can clearly identify the Mirror Universe ISS Buran NCC-1422 in DIS: "What's Past Is Prologue" (pictured on the right). It is a reasonable assumption that the USS Buran of "our" universe is the same class and has the same registry.
  4. John Eaves named the class for Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas of the US Air Force.

Class specifications

Length: 440.7m

 


Constitution



SNW refit

General description

The Constitution class was introduced around 2240. The design consists of a round saucer, thin neck, tubular engineering hull, tapered pylons and tubular nacelles. The ships of this class have a reputation of being illustrious, although they are only mid-sized. The USS Enterprise is the flagship of Starfleet.
Article: The Visual Continuity of Star Trek
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

USS Cayuga NCC-1557
USS Defiant NCC-1764
USS Enterprise NCC-1701
USS Excalibur NCC-1664
 

Annotations

  1. The "new" USS Enterprise NCC-1701 first appears in DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?". The ship was heavily redesigned "to utilize 2018's VFX technology" and was also scaled up in order not to be dwarfed by the massive ship designs of the reboot series.
  2. Although the relative proportions are overall still roughly the same, there are considerable changes to all elements of the ship. The bridge module is flatter now (although on the ship as it must have looked in 2257 it should be taller than the familiar one on the series Enterprise from TOS). Actually, it looks like the whole deck 1 is missing, and the bridge is on what was deck 2. The Enterprise also has the customary bridge window of the Abramsverse and Discovery now. The saucer edge wall slopes up at 45° instead of previously 60°. The impulse engines have a very different shape on the redesign. The neck was shortened. The redesigned engineering hull is shorter and also less tapered and more rounded, like on the 2271 refit. Likewise, the new shuttlebay resembles the refit version, rather than the original. The same goes for the warp pylons, which are sloped and tapered instead of straight and rectangular, and were shortened just like the neck. They also sport a previously unseen slit. The redesigned nacelles only very roughly resemble the original ones. They incorporate elements familiar from Enterprise NX-01, and overall various add-ons the original Enterprise never had. Only the nacelle end caps are a small tip of the hat, as they look like on the pilot version from "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before", with a flat sloped surface instead of the later "ball" of the series Enterprise.
  3. While the alleged intention of the redesign was to adapt the ship for an appearance on Discovery, all changes to the original Enterprise use retro elements that are rather reminiscent of the NX-01 and the Enterprise refit from TMP. Except for the possible bridge window, there is no "DIS style" in the redesign (no angular nacelles, no odd angles in the hull, no boxy add-ons), which raises the question why this ship had to be redesigned at all, rather than only refined with more details such as thrusters and visible hull plates. The customary blue lighting of space in the series would have done the rest to make it fit. And since the Enterprise retro redesign, as unwarranted it may have been to change anything, arguably looks a lot better than most other DIS ships, it further calls the decision into question to alter everything else in Discovery so radically, "for a modern audience".
  4. The Enterprise was further modified between DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow II" and SNW: "Strange New Worlds". On the outside, large windows were inserted into the upper saucer edge, explaining the windows as they are seen in the new crew lounge and in Captain Pike's spacious quarters. The bridge was modified, removing the corridor behind the aft consoles, among many smaller changes. There is a new engineering set instead of the "cathedral" seen in SHO: "Q&A", and the dumb "rollercoaster" turbolift is fortunately gone for good. The problem is that these apparently extensive modifications fall into a very short time span between the end of DIS and the beginning of SNW, as can be inferred from dialogues in "Strange New Worlds". The freshly repaired ship (the whole front section of the saucer was rebuilt from scratch, thousands of cubic meters!) would be substantially refitted yet again, only a few months later?
  5. For season 2 of Strange New Worlds, the neck of the Enterprise was modified and is curved now. There is no in-universe explanation.
  6. The makers of Discovery and SNW love TOS by their own affirmations. But according to their series, the look of the TOS Enterprise has never existed. As much as we may still want to reconcile the new Enterprise (which looks good after all!) with TOS, it would make absolutely no sense if the ship had been substantially refitted some time after "The Cage" prior to DIS, only to be reverted to the familiar look after the end of SNW until 2264 (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"). Even if we decided to discard the visuals of the first pilot in favor of the rest of TOS, the new appearance of the Enterprise has too little in common with the ship as it looked in TOS. It already includes many cues of the 2271 refit ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture"). So it seems new Trek keeps the option to spare the TOS movie era (well, except for the size issue), but the series shows no mercy with TOS, whose designs are retroactively invalidated.
  7. The wireframe diagram of the USS Defiant NCC-1764 shown in DIS: "Despite Yourself" probably shows us the appearance of the ship after 100 years in Terran service, but it is clear that the Defiant must have looked just like the reimagined Enterprise when it crossed over to the Mirror Universe.
  8. Regarding the size of the redesign, my benevolent supposition was that "only" the deck heights were changed from 3m to 4m, which would have enlarged the Enterprise to 385m. But Eaglemoss gives us a length of 442m, which indicates that the deck structure must be very different too. The countless shuttles seen in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow II" and the absurd rollercoaster turbolift inside a huge empty space as seen in SHO: "Q&A" clearly require the reboot ship to be a lot more spacious than the original, and more than "only" 3 times in terms of internal volume.
  9. A behind-the-scenes video for DIS season 2 shows a display with orthographic views and specifications of the "new" Enterprise. Here, the ship has the exact (small) hull dimensions of the original TOS Enterprise, although this is physically impossible because the proportions of the redesign are different, as evidenced by my comparison with the original. The ship on the display also has straight nacelle pylons like on the original Enterprise, although it appears with sloped pylons on screen. This display was not clearly visible in any episode though.
  10. Dr. M'Benga says "I am chief medical officer. On the flagship of Starfleet." in SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria".
  11. The Sombra class is listed in an individual entry although its design, which is identical to the Constitution, doesn't justify it. By the logic of SNW, any ship of a Constitution configuration seen on this series, and retroactively even any ship known as a Constitution class from TOS, could be a Sombra class as well! This database keeps the "legacy" ship USS Excalibur NCC-1664 (commemorated on Remembrance Day in SNW: "Memento Mori") as Constitution class.
  12. The Cayuga is identified as a Constitution-class vessel in SNW: "Hegemony".
  13. In the alternate timeline of SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", the USS Enterprise becomes the UEF Enterprise (for United Earth Fleet).
  14. The fictitious "USS Ravenous" appears in a cynical TV ad for "Edward's Tribbles" in SHO: "The Trouble with Edward".
  15. The animated Short Treks episode "Ephraim and Dot" shows the reimagined instead of the original Enterprise during the time of TOS, together with legacy characters of TOS. In the same animated episode, the Enterprise refit and the USS Reliant look just like in the movies (although the ship destroyed in "Star Trek III" is embarrassingly labeled "NCC-1701-A").

See also Starfleet Ship Classes A-K

Class specifications

Length: 442m

 


Crossfield

General description

The Crossfield class is a large experimental ship type of the mid-23rd century. The design consists of a saucer with three separate concentric rings, which is connected by a thin neck to an engineering hull with a triangular planform. The two nacelles of this ship type are extraordinarily long. USS Discovery and USS Glenn were equipped with a revolutionary spore drive that could take the ships to remote regions of space almost instantly. The ship goes to "black alert" when this drive is being activated, upon which the two outer rings of the saucer hull spin in opposite directions. After the loss of the Glenn, the Discovery is the only vessel left with this drive. Its use, however, was discontinued. The armament of the Crossfield class includes phasers and photon torpedoes. A spacious shuttlebay is located at the aft end of the engineering hull.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

USS Discovery NCC-1031
USS Glenn NCC-1030
 

Annotations

  1. The design of the Crossfield class bears a resemblance to the two "Planet of the Titans" prototypes of the 1970s.
  2. The Crossfield class was specifically designed as a testbed for the new spore drive. Assuming that ship classes are still named for the lead ship, the USS Crossfield must have been destroyed or is permanently out of service for other reasons, because the Discovery and the Glenn were explicitly said to be the only ships with this technology.
  3. The crew complement can be inferred from a statement by Saru that he has "134 souls to protect" (DIS: "Choose Your Pain").
  4. John Eaves named the class for Albert Scott Crossfield, the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound.
  5. According to Bryan Fuller, the registry NCC-1031 is a reference to Halloween.

Class specifications

Length: 750.5m
Crew complement: 136

 


Daedalus

General description

The Daedalus class was a commonly used design in the early days of Starfleet in the mid-22nd century. Unlike most later starships, the Daedalus had a spherical main hull.
Article: Daedalus Class Problems
Gallery: Various Starfleet Ships

Known ships

USS Essex NCC-173
 

Annotations

A panel with a depiction of a Daedalus class is visible in the Enterprise ready room at least since SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria". Timothy Peel confirms that the depicted ship is the USS Essex.

See also Starfleet Ship Classes A-K

Class specifications

None available

 


Engle

General description

The Engle class is in service in the mid-23rd century. It is a mid-sized ship type. The design consists of a saucer that blends into a tapered section at its aft end, atop a boxy lower hull. Two angular nacelles are placed on either side of the ship's hull.

Known ships

USS Earhart NCC-1052
USS T'Plana Hath NCC-1004
 

Annotations

  1. The Engle class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. Both the USS Earhart NCC-1052 and the USS T'Plana Hath NCC-1004 can be seen as part of the fleet in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars". This was confirmed by John Eaves.
  3. Eaves named the class for USAF test pilot and astronaut Joe Engle.

Class specifications

Length: 387.7m

 


Farragut type

General description

The Farragut is a Starfleet ship type with two nacelles on pylons underneath the saucer hull.

Known ships

USS Farragut NCC-1647
 

Annotations

  1. The Farragut prominently appears as Kirk's ship in SNW: "A Quality of Mercy". A ship of the class can also be seen in the drydock in SNW: "Strange New Worlds" and docked to Starbase 1 in "The Broken Circle".
  2. The ship belongs to the same lineage as the DIS/SNW-style Constitution. The saucer may be the same size. Note that the two pylons are bent inwards and are much closer together at the bottom end with the nacelles.
  3. This is supposed to be the same USS Farragut that was mentioned in TOS, most notably as Captain Kirk's previous posting as a young officer under Captain Garrovick (TOS: "Obsession"). The TOS ship is often listed as another Constitution class, as first suggested by Greg Jein, although real canon evidence is missing. SNW keeps the retroactive registry NCC-1647 but changes the class.
  4. Nurse Chapel wears a commemorative badge of the Farragut on Remembrance Day in SNW: "Memento Mori", insinuating that she too served on that ship.

Class specifications

None available

 


Helios

General description

This is a small ship type that can serve as a tug. The design consists of a saucer hull and two underslung nacelles.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. Two tugs appear in DIS: "Brother". They tow the USS Enterprise, using tractor beams. It seems likely that the ships are specifically built for this purpose, and are not just smaller standard ships that are used for this task because they happen to be available.
  2. The design consists of a saucer hull of a Malachowski class and nacelles of the Hoover class, but not quite with the correct relative scaling, as the nacelles would have to be somewhat longer than the saucer in this case. A production sketch by William Budge confirms that the nacelles were scaled as well as shortened. It also shows that the design includes warp pylon spikes from the Shenzhou and a custom-made secondary hull "bridge" between them, giving the ship a Shenzhou semblance.
  3. The two tugs are considerably smaller than the Enterprise, not much longer than 200m long according to the new scales of the Discoverse. Based on the saucer of the Malachowski class, we arrive at a length of 241m.
  4. The hull of the Eaglemoss model is labeled as "USS Zimmerman NCC-1616". Quite possibly the two ships that actually appeared on the show had no name or registry. The name Helios is used in the Official Starships Collection and is accepted here just like other class names that were not explicitly mentioned in the series.

Class specifications

Length: approx. 241m

 


Hiawatha type

General description

The Hiawatha is a medical frigate. The design consists of a semicircular command section if front of a large boxy hull.

Known ships

USS Hiawatha NCC-815
 

Annotations

  1. The ship was designed by Ryan Dening as modular, with pods that can be dropped and land on a planet.
  2. We can see the Hiawatha on Discovery's viewscreen, crashed on an asteroid and broken apart, in DIS: "Brother". No detailed model was built for this purpose.

Class specifications

Medical frigate
Length: 599.5m

 


Hoover

General description

The Hoover class is in service in the mid-23rd century. It is a mid-sized ship type. The design consists of a saucer that blends into a tapered section at its aft end. The two nacelles are located underneath the ship's hull.

Known ships

USS Dana NCC-1690
USS De Milo
USS Edison NCC-1683
 

Annotations

  1. The Hoover class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. Both the Dana and the Edison can be seen in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars". This was confirmed by John Eaves.
  3. Although the saucer of the De Milo (SHO: "The Escape Artist") looks like it has gaps like on the Crossfield class, it is probably just a standard Hoover class, as also indicated by the lighting. The interiors (transporter and corridors) visible in the Short Treks episode are the ones of the Crossfield class though.
  4. John Eaves named the class for USAF pilot Bob Hoover, who escaped Nazi captivity in a stolen plane and served as test pilot.

Class specifications

Length: 356.3m

 


Kelcie Mae type

General description

The Kelcie Mae has an elongated primary hull and a single nacelle on top.

Known ships

USS Kelcie Mae
 

Annotations

This very odd-looking design is seen at the beginning of SNW: "Under the Cloak of War".

Class specifications

None available

 


Magee

General description

The Magee class is in service in the mid-23rd century and is a comparably small ship type of its era. The characteristic feature of this design is that the two nacelles intersect the saucer hull.

Known ships

USS Shran NCC-1413
USS Cabot
 

Annotations

  1. The Magee class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. The USS Shran appears in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars". The ship was identified by John Eaves. The Cabot, a research ship of this class, was featured in SHO: "The Trouble with Edward".
  3. John Eaves named the class for John Gillespie Magee Jr., poet and Royal Canadian Air Force pilot.

Class specifications

Research ship
Length: 225.2m

 


Malachowski

General description

The Malachowski class is in service in the mid-23rd century and belongs to the smaller ship classes of its time. The design consists of a saucer that blends into a rectangular aft section. Two angular but tapered nacelles are located underneath the main hull.

Known ships

USS Clarke NCC-1661
USS Sioux NCC-1621
 

Annotations

  1. The Malachowski class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. Both the Clarke and the Sioux can be seen in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars". This was confirmed by John Eaves.
  3. One ship of the class is probably visible alongside a Shepard class in the drydock in SNW: "Strange New Worlds".
  4. John Eaves named the class for Nicole Malachowski, first female pilot of the USAF Thunderbirds.
  5. The registry of the Sioux, NCC-1621, would belong to the Mayflower in the Kelvin Timeline.

Class specifications

Length: 277m

 


Nimitz

General description

The Nimitz class is in service in the mid-23rd century. The class belongs to the large ship types of Starfleet, the USS Europa serving as Admiral Anderson's flagship in the Battle at the Binary Stars. The main hull is saucer-shaped. Two angular nacelles are placed below and two above the saucer hull. The two latter are connected by a horizontal strut with a pod in the center.

Known ships

USS Europa NCC-1648
 

Annotations

  1. The Nimitz class was designed by John Eaves.
  2. In DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars", the USS Europa was Admiral Anderson's flagship. The Europa was destroyed by the cloaked Klingon cleave ship as a demonstration of power. Another ship of the class can be seen at the space station in DIS: "Choose Your Pain".
  3. This ship class is 383.3m long according to the Official Starships Collection, although owing to its deck structure it unquestionably looks like 500m. There are worse problems regarding the DIS ships, so EAS acknowledges the officially given sizes.
  4. John Eaves named the class for Chester Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet in WWII.

Class specifications

Length: 383.3m

 


NX Class

General description

Enterprise is the first ship of the NX class and a prototype vessel of Earth Starfleet equipped with the first human-built propulsion system to attain Warp 5.
Article: A Close Look at 22nd Century Technology
Article: A Close Look at Enterprise NX-01
Gallery: NX Class

Known ships

Enterprise NX-01
 

Annotations

A panel with a depiction of an NX class is visible in the Enterprise ready room at least since SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria". Timothy Peel confirms that the depicted ship is Enterprise NX-01.

See also Earth Ship Classes

Class specifications

Length: 225m

 


Shepard

General description

The Shepard class is in service in the mid-23rd century and is a large ship type. The design consists of a saucer and a pylon assembly leading up to two angular but tapered nacelles above the saucer hull.

Known ships

USS Gagarin NCC-1309
USS Kerala NCC-1255
USS Ride NCC-1265
 

Annotations

  1. The Shepard class was designed by John Eaves. If we turn the ship upside down, it looks almost like the Walker class, because it is based on a discarded design for the Shenzhou.
  2. The Kerala and the Ride appear in DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars", the Gagarin is ambushed and destroyed by the Klingons in DIS: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum". We can also see a ship of the class at Starbase 1 in DIS: "The War Without, the War Within".
  3. Note that the Kerala and the Gagarin have different styles of the hull markings. It is possible that the lettering was enlarged for the Gagarin so the ship that is also mentioned in dialogue would be better recognizable on screen.
  4. One ship of the class is visible in the drydock in SNW: "Strange New Worlds".
  5. John Eaves named the class for test pilot and astronaut Alan Shepard, commander of the Apollo 14 mission.

Class specifications

Length: 505.5m

 


Sombra

General description

The Sombra class is a fast ship type with smaller crew size, but otherwise built with the same components as the Constitution class.

Known ships

USS Peregrine NCC-1549
 

Annotations

  1. The only differences to the Constitution class are in the colors. The Sombra has blue hull markings and blue doors instead of red ones. Otherwise the two ship classes are identical. Time Peel provided a detailed background graphic that confirms that the structure and the size (442.57 meters long) are the same.
  2. The Peregrine emergency landed on Valeo Beta V in SNW: "All Those Who Wander", although it was obviously not built for such an event and suffered heavy damage. Nevertheless, the huge powerless ship could be salvaged with ease, using the Enterprise's tractor beam.
  3. Why is a ship that is identical to the Enterprise on the outside and inside said to be of a different class? The writers seem to be plagued by a feeling of remorse after introducing yet another ship of the Constitution class, of which only twelve are supposed to exist according to TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday". The attempt to establish that the Peregrine belongs to a different class, however, fails, considering that it passes the duck test for a Constitution class on all accounts.

Class specifications

Length: 442m

 


Unnamed ship type

General description

This is a Federation ship of the mid-23rd century but its class name and further specifications are unknown.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

A starship with a Crossfield-class primary hull and a nacelle and pylon design similar to the NX-class refit can be seen at Starbase 1 at the beginning of SNW: "The Broken Circle". The very same design will appear later in the episode as the ship of the syndicate on Cajitar IV, whose configuration is unknown and which is mistakenly initially identified as "Crossfield class".

See also Discoverse Klingon Ship Classes

Class specifications

None available

 


Walker

General description

The Walker class is in service in the mid-23rd century, and is considered an old design at this time. It is a large ship type. The design consists of a saucer and a pylon assembly leading down to two angular but tapered nacelles below the saucer hull. The bridge is located on the underside of the saucer. The class is capable of atmospheric flight and of landing on a planet. The transporters of the USS Shenzhou are still based on the outdated lateral vector principle.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

USS Shenzhou NCC-1227
 

Annotations

  1. The Walker class was designed by John Eaves. The "old" ship of the reimagined 23rd century is in the tradition of the late 24th century design sketches by Eaves for ST Online. One similar ship, the Leondegrance, would appear in the background on Star Trek: Picard, this time as an early 24th century design.
  2. Length of the ship according to the Official Starships Collection.
  3. John Eaves named the class for Joseph A. Walker, NASA test pilot.

Class specifications

Length: 423.4m
Deck count: 15

 

Section 31 Ships


Deimos

General description

In the mid-23rd century, Section 31 operates large ships with two nacelles. These ships feature a large number of battle drones that can be detached from the main hull.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

These ships were probably present in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow" and "Such Sweet Sorrow II", but can't be clearly distinguished from the other (probably smaller) two-nacelled design. Concept artist Ryan Dening says he designed two basic sizes, medium and large, each with two or four nacelles. According to the Official Starships Collection, the 2-nacelled ship without the rollbar is the Deimos class.

Class specifications

Length: 872.13m

 


Hou Yi

General description

In the mid-23rd century, Section 31 operates medium-sized ships with four nacelles, a "rollbar" and a triangular main hull. These ships feature a large number of battle drones that can be detached from the main hull.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

NI-1009
 

Annotations

We can see this type in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow" and "Such Sweet Sorrow II". In a side-by-side comparison on the viewscreen of the Enterprise, we can recognize the difference between the two four-nacelled ship types. Concept artist Ryan Dening says he designed two basic sizes, medium and large, each with two or four nacelles. According to the Official Starships Collection, the 4-nacelled ship with the rollbar is the Hou Yi class.

Class specifications

Length: 645.26m

 


NCIA-93 type

General description

In the mid-23rd century, the secret Section 31 operates a fleet of more than 30 starships, some of which are of this design. The small Section 31 design includes foldable warp nacelles, as well as a form of cloaking. It is equipped with tractor beams and with tractor rigs that are attached to the other ship's hull to lock the beam on.

Known ships

NCIA-93
NI-1101
 

Annotations

  1. According to Ryan Dening, the ship can fold down the nacelles to change the sensor profile so it wouldn't be easily recognizable as a Federation ship.
  2. The small Section 31 stealth ship first appears in DIS: "Point of Light" in orbit of Qo'noS. It uses the tractor rigs on the USS Discovery in "Saints of Imperfection".
  3. The registry NCIA-93 is mentioned in DIS: "Light and Shadows" but no name. We can see a total of three ships in the episode. NI-1101 can be seen on the hull of the ship in "Through the Valley of Shadows". It is possible that these particular Section 31 ships have no names but the variation in the registry is odd.

Class specifications

Length: 274m

 


Nimrod

General description

In the mid-23rd century, Section 31 operates these large ships with four nacelles and a triangular main hull. They feature a large number of battle drones that can be detached from the main hull.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

NI-0064
 

Annotations

We can see this class in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow" and "Such Sweet Sorrow II". In a side-by-side comparison on the viewscreen of the Enterprise, we can recognize the difference between the two four-nacelled ship types. Concept artist Ryan Dening says he designed two basic sizes, medium and large, each with two or four nacelles. According to the Official Starships Collection, the 4-nacelled ship without the rollbar is the Nimrod class.

Class specifications

Length: 872.13m

 


Section 31 Headquarters

General description

The Section 31 Headquarters was a space station in the place of a penal colony abandoned as long as a century ago. It was protected by a minefield consisting of different types of mines that, among possible others, could slice a starship's hull or could deceive its navigational sensors. An AI named "Control" was installed aboard the station. In 2257, Control killed the crew of the Headquarters and was subsequently destroyed by the USS Discovery.

Known stations

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The Section 31 Headquarters appears in DIS: "Project Daedalus". Its destruction happens off-screen and is mentioned in the following episode, "The Red Angel".
  2. It is not quite clear whether the Headquarters is the same structure as the old penal colony, or was newly built. The interior looks quite worn out.

Class specifications

Width: 507.6m
Height: 802.8m

 


Shiva

General description

In the mid-23rd century, Section 31 operates medium-sized ships with two nacelles, a "rollbar" and a triangular main hull. These ships feature a large number of battle drones that can be detached from the main hull.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known ships

NI-0047
 

Annotations

We can identify the two-nacelled ship with the rollbar in "Such Sweet Sorrow II" (an event after which the surviving ships were probably scrapped). Concept artist Ryan Dening says he designed two basic sizes, medium and large, each with two or four nacelles. According to the Official Starships Collection, the 2-nacelled ship with the rollbar is the Shiva class.

Class specifications

Length: 645.26m

 

Non-Starfleet Ships


Festoon type

General description

This is a privately owned yacht of arms dealer Baron Grimes.

Known ships

The Festoon
 

Annotations

  1. Grimes's yacht can be seen at the end of DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad". The ship was designed by Ryan Dening with the directive to make "Donald Trump's spaceship... over the top, big, ridiculous, super-yacht".
  2. The design length is 388.26m according to Ryan Dening. The visual evidence from "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" allows this enormous size, although the ship would work a lot better if it were a lot smaller.

Class specifications

Length: 388.26m

 


Mining drone

General description

Remote-controlled unmanned vessels are used to carry ore in the region of the Earth outposts in the year 2266.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

Many of these ships appear when Kirk uses them as a bait for the Romulan fleet to attack in SNW: "A Quality of Mercy". Pike quickly makes up the name "Delta-class attack ships" for them. I assume the mining drones exist not only in the alternate future that Pike experiences but also in the real year 2266.

Class specifications

Unmanned

 


Mudd's ship

General description

Prior to the 2260s, Harry Fenton Mudd owns a ship with a roughly tubular main hull and a number of nacelles attached to it.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. Mudd's ship can be seen at the end of SHO: "The Escape Artist".
  2. This is a kitbash job consisting of a Klingon DaSpu' hull with Starfleet nacelles taken from the Cardenas class and the Engle class. Neither the combination of Klingon and Federation technologies nor the scale of the ship is plausible (it would be well over 400m long based on the known sizes of the nacelles). So we should imagine to see something different than a Klingon ship with nacelles stolen from two different Starfleet classes.

Class specifications

None available

 


Ore freighter

General description

This small cargo ship is equipped to carry radioactive ore. Its shielding doesn't allow to use the transporter.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The ship can be seen in SNW: "Memento Mori" when docked to the Enterprise.
  2. The design is by Ryan Dening. The visual comparison with the Enterprise in the scene and on a diagram that is briefly visible allows a size estimation.

Class specifications

Ore freighter
Length: approx. 80m

 


T'Plana Hath type

General description

This is a possibly old Vulcan ship type that is still in use by the mid-23rd century.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

The T'Plana Hath as in "Star Trek: First Contact" can be seen in the background of Burnham and Sarek's katra vision in DIS: "Lethe", the moment that Sarek first attacks Burnham. It may have been meant rather as an Easter egg than as an attempt to create continuity. Anyway, the ship looks like it could really belong there. We don't know if it's actually the same 200 years old design, but it doesn't look like a museum piece, so a similar ship could be still in service in the mid-23rd century.

See also Vulcan Ship Classes

Class specifications

None available

 


Vulcan cruiser

General description

This is a small warp-capable ship of Vulcan origin in the mid-23rd century. Its warp engine is U-shaped, resembling the typical annular drives of several other Vulcan designs.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The Vulcan cruiser appears in DIS: "Lethe" as the small ship that Sarek is on when his aide committs a suicide bombing. One more can be seen on a lower landing platform. Several more ships of this design are visible in Burnham and Sarek's katra flashback in the same episode.
  2. We can also see the design in the alternate timeline of SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", as Spock's ship.
  3. The designation "cruiser" (previously "corvette") is used by Eaglemoss for the Official Starships Collection. Ben Robinson calls it "Solkar class" (which is the name of Sarek's grandfather).
  4. We can see that the ship is about 35m long when it is landed on Vulcan in "Lethe". The length is 43.3m according to the Official Starships Collection scale chart.

Class specifications

Length: 43.3m

 


Vulcan ship

General description

This is a large and fast Vulcan ship of the 23rd century.

Known ships

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The ship takes T'Pring to the rendezvous with the Enterprise in SNW: "The Serene Squall". It is a new design that apparently uses elements from the above Discoverse Vulcan cruiser but has a closed ring drive and a possibly smoother hull, a bit like the designs from Enterprise. The lighting indicates this ship has many decks, unlike the cruiser.
  2. At the beginning of the episode, there is a communication delay with Starfleet of two days near the edge of the Federation. Later in the episode, this delay is gone and it also takes T'Pring at most a few hours to arrive with this apparently ultrafast ship.

Class specifications

None available

 

Shuttles


Class C

General description

This type of a warp-capable shuttle is the standard on the USS Discovery and other starships of the mid-23rd century, as well as for prisoner transports. It has two pilot seats, and a large crew or cargo compartment. The shuttle can launch probes and is equipped with a hull armor including window blinds.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known shuttles

DSC-01
DSC-05
DSC-06
DSC-08
DSC-12
DSC-23
SHN-03
↪ 03 (retconned)
SMT-05
SPT-21
 

Annotations

  1. In DIS: "Context is for Kings", the prisoners arrive aboard the Discovery in the shuttle SPT-21. The Discovery has several shuttles of this type, such as the repeatedly seen DSC-01 (call sign "Disco One").
  2. DSC-23, Spock's shuttle in DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow II", has a different looking aft section than the shuttles seen so far, with some lateral extensions.
  3. Admiral Cornwell's "cruiser" in DIS: "Lethe" also appears to be of this type. We can't see how she arrives, but when she departs for the peace mission, she can see boarding such a shuttle. The registry is not legible, but arguably it is her own shuttle or "cruiser", not one of the Discovery.
  4. The SHN-03 appeared in SHO: "The Brightest Star" but was digitally altered to just "03" for DIS: "The Sound of Thunder", now belonging to the Archimedes instead of the Shenzhou.
  5. Georgious's shuttle in DIS: "An Obol for Charon" is labeled "SMT-05" (not recognizable on screen).

Class specifications

Length: 12.98m

 


Escape pod type 1

General description

This type of escape pod is used on ships of the Nimitz class and the Walker class.

Known pods

No name given
 

Annotations

In DIS: "Battle at the Binary Stars", the Europa and the Shenzhou use the same type of escape pods, which looks much like a fully-fledged shuttle.

Class specifications

None available

 


Escape pod type 2

General description

This type of escape pod is used on the deuterium refinery.

Known pods

No name given
 

Annotations

We can briefly see these pods, besides standard shuttles, flying away from the station that Pike is going to destroy as the end on SNW: "Lost in Translation".

Class specifications

None available

 


Landing pod

General description

There are four single-seated pods on the USS Discovery, which were built specifically to deal with gravitational anomalies. These pods are launched through a channel in the engineering hull, rather than through the normal shuttlebay door.

Known pods

Pod 1
Pod 2
Pod 3
Pod 4
 

Annotations

  1. We can see the four pods in DIS: "Brother". All four are destroyed or abandoned.
  2. The concept and geometry of the launch channel on the Discovery is utterly unrealistic. It must be several hundred meters long. And why is it that the exit is at the aft end, although the pods are stored in a submerged part of the shuttlebay close to the aft end? Is there a 180 degree turn somewhere? Even if we assume it somehow fits into the engineering hull, the question arises if it was built specifically for the pods or if it also has a normal purpose. Why is it necessary at all to accelerate the pods inside the ship? Finally, the pods are ejected successively through the same exit, less than one second apart. What happens if one of the first three gets stuck?

Class specifications

None available

 


Large shuttle

General description

This type of shuttle is considerably larger than a standard shuttle.

Known shuttles

Geronimo NCC-7901
 

Annotations

We can see this shuttle as Christine Chapel is being transported to D'Gal in the a flashback of the Klingon War in SNW: "Under the Cloak of War". The design has the same cockpit section as the standard shuttle of 2259 (also on the inside, so the set could be re-used) with a considerably enlarged aft section similar to a 24th century runabout.

Class specifications

None available

 


Mudd's shuttle

General description

This is a very small ship, actually more like a shuttle, for probably no more than one passenger.

Known shuttles

No name given
 

Annotations

All we can see of Mudd's shuttle that he hides inside the gormagander in DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" is a very rough outline produced by Tilly's and Burnham's scans.

Class specifications

None available

 


Standard shuttle 2259

General description

This type of shuttles is the standard on the USS Enterprise around 2259. It has two pilot seats, and a large crew or cargo compartment.

Known shuttles

Cervantes
Galileo
Stamets
 

Annotations

  1. Shuttles of this type appear in SNW: "Strange New Worlds", "Children of the Comet", "Memento Mori", "All Those Who Wander", "A Quality of Mercy", "The Broken Circle", "Among the Lotus Eaters", "Charades", "Lost in Translation", "Those Old Scientists" and "Hegemony".
  2. The very angular design is reminiscent of the TOS shuttle Galileo 7 aka Class F. This may be more than just a tip of the hat. It is well possible that the Strange New Worlds shuttles are supposed to be the (much more spacious and advanced) reimagination of the classic Class F.
  3. We don't know whether the extremely streamlined (yet less advanced?) Class-C shuttles from Discovery were suddenly all retired between 2258 and 2259. They don't appear any longer on SNW.

Class specifications

None available

 

Unidentified shuttles in Paris We can see several shuttles in Paris towards the end of DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?".

Unidentified shuttles in San Francisco Several shuttles are visible in San Francisco in SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera".

Unidentified Vulcan shuttles Several shuttles appear on Vulcan at the beginning of DIS: "Lethe".

 


Worker bee

General description

The worker bee is a small one-seated craft for repairs and other extravehicular tasks. The craft can be equipped with manipulator arms and/or laser cutters.
Gallery: Discovery Federation Vessels

Known shuttles

042
 

Annotations

We can first see the worker bee in DIS: "The Vulcan Hello".

Class specifications

Length: 5.54m

 

Space Stations


Deuterium refinery

General description

This is a huge facility to collect naturally occurring deuterium and convert it to starship fuel.

Known stations

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. Such a station was seen in Bannon's Nebula in SNW: "Lost in Translation". Pike was forced to destroy it because extradimensional aliens indigneous to that that nebula were harmed by the procedure. The CG model is based on Starbase 1 with "collector" add-ons.
  2. According to Memory Alpha, the name "Bavali Station" is mentioned in writing.

Class specifications

None available

 


Drydock

General description

The drydock is used to service or repair starships.

Known stations

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The Enterprise is repaired in such a drydock towards the end of DIS: "Such Sweet Sorrow II". The design is reminiscent of the drydocks seen in Star Trek Enterprise, and also contains elements of the famous one from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
  2. Essentially the same drydock also appears in SNW: "Strange New Worlds", but now as a cluster and with additional structures on top.

Class specifications

None available

 


Spacedock type

General description

This is a huge space station in Earth's orbit.

Known stations

Earth Spacedock
 

Annotations

The space station near Earth that the Klingons approach at the beginning of "Will You Take My Hand?" is quite obviously meant to be the familiar Earth Spacedock with its characteristic mushroom shape, as it first appeared in "Star Trek III", here still under construction.

See also Federation Space Stations

Class specifications

None available

 


Starbase 1 type

General description

This design is common to a number of massive starbases, such as Starbase 1. It has docking facilities for several starships. Similar looking space stations also exist in Earth's orbit. Starbase 1 is usually surrounded by a number of pods with forests that were preserved by sending them into space during the nuclear winter on Earth.

Known stations

Starbase 1
 

Annotations

  1. The design first appears as an unnamed starbase in DIS: "Choose Your Pain". In DIS: "The War Without, the War Within", the Klingons have conquered Starbase 1 and slaughtered its crew. Since the distance of 100AU from Starbase 1 to Earth was explicitly mentioned, it is a major error that we see the station in orbit of a clearly inhabitable planet.
  2. When Starbase 1 reappears in SNW: "Strange New Worlds", "Spock Amok" and "The Broken Circle", it is no longer in orbit of a Class-M planet. Also, it is surrounded by biospheres now that didn't exist when the Klingons attacked. We may conjecture that these were jettisoned before the Klingons arrived, also because the station possessed the docking arms for the pods already back then.
  3. Each of the pods with a forest inside must be several kilometers across, although they don't look all that large relative to the station. Since Eaglemoss says the diameter without the pods is merely 3 kilometers (which makes sense with the visual evidence from DIS), it looks like the whole structure was scaled up by at least a factor of 2 for SNW.
  4. We can see at least two more space stations of the same design in Earth's orbit at the end of DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?". These may be supposed to be satellites, but owing to the design they look like space stations.
  5. The design of Starbase 1 also appears in the animated episode "The Girl Who Made the Stars", both as the real station and as a miniature.

Class specifications

Diameter: 3074.62m
Crew complement: 80,000

 


Starbase 28 type

General description

This is a smaller starbase, but large enough to allow half a dozen Constitution-class ships to dock.

Known stations

Starbase 28
 

Annotations

  1. We can see a small portion of the interior and a diagram of the station in SHO: "Ask Not".
  2. Some foreign-language subtitles in DIS: "Choose Your Pain" identified the unnamed starbase of that episode as "Starbase 28". But this starbase is the same type as Starbase 1, whereas Starbase 28 in "Ask Not" has a different shape and a much smaller size.

Class specifications

None available

 

Satellites and Probes


Interstellar relay

General description

Such a type of unmanned relays allows interstellar communication links through subspace.

Known relays

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. The Shenzhou investigates a malfunctioning (and actually sabotaged) interstellar relay in DIS: "The Vulcan Hello".
  2. An unidentified satellite can be seen at the end of DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?", as the Klingon fleet retreats from Earth. It is the same design as the interstellar relay and may have the same function.

Class specifications

None available

 


Mycelial transport vessel

General description

This is an unmanned probe capable of planetary landing and take-off.

Known probes

No name given
 

Annotations

The transport vessel is used to plant and harvest spores in DIS: "The War Without, the War Within". While this may not be the original purpose this kind of probe was developed for, it seems likely they were designed to fertilize planets with plants, rather than fungi.

Class specifications

None available

 


Standard probe

General description

This is a probe that is small enough to be launched from a standard shuttle of the mid-23rd century.

Known probes

No name given
 

Annotations

  1. Pike and Tyler launch such a probe from the shuttle DSC-05 in DIS: "Light and Shadows", to investigate the temporal anomaly.
  2. The probe in DIS: "Light and Shadows" returns from the future with considerable upgrades, such as tentacles that are capable of penetrating the hull.

Class specifications

None available

 

Unidentified Earth Outpost satellites Several satellites or drones can be seen near Outpost 4 in SNW: "A Quality of Mercy".

Unidentified Earth satellites Several satellites can be seen in Earth's orbit at the end of DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?". They are too small and too indefinite to be identified.

 

Unknown Starfleet Class

USS Angelou, commemorated by Hemmer in SNW: "Memento Mori"

USS Antares, listed as a previous posting of Christopher Pike in DIS: "Brother" and commemorated by Una Chin-Riley in SNW: "Memento Mori"

USS Archimedes, mentioned in DIS: "The Sound of Thunder" as the starship that made first contact with Kaminar

Previously the shuttle SHN-03 seen in SHO: "The Brightest Star" indicated it was the Shenzhou. This was retconned for "The Sound of Thunder".

USS Aryabhatta, listed as a previous posting of Christopher Pike in DIS: "Brother" and of Una Chin-Riley in SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera"

USS Bowman, mentioned as the ship that Cadet Thira Sidhu's husband serves on in SHO: "Ask Not"

USS Chatelet, listed as a previous posting of Christopher Pike in DIS: "Brother" and of Una Chin-Riley in SNW: "Ad Astra per Aspera"

USS Cooper, mentioned as undergoing a refit in DIS: "Despite Yourself"

The crew of the Discovery actually encounters the Mirror Universe version of the ship (which was not shown either).

USS Cuyahoga, commemorated by Joseph M'Benga in SNW: "Memento Mori"

USS Gallant, commemorated by Nyota Uhura in SNW: "Memento Mori"

USS Hood, shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

USS Hoover, mentioned as destroyed in a Klingon attack in DIS: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"

We may assume this is the class ship of the Hoover class, but it is not entirely certain.

USS Iowa, mentioned by alternate Kirk as his birthplace in SNW: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"

This, of course, is a playful alteration because "our" Kirk was born in the State of Iowa. Considering that it is the UEF Enterprise in this timeline, he should have referred to the ship as UEF Iowa.

USS Kelvin, mentioned as George Kirk's ship in SNW: "A Quality of Mercy" and "Lost in Translation"

There are reasons to assume this ship doesn't look the same in the Discoverse as in the Abramsverse.

USS Kongo, commemorated by Spock in SNW: "Memento Mori" and shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

The Kongo is traditionally identified as a Constitution-class ship (since the Star Fleet Technical Manual) but might a different class just as well.

USS Lexington, shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

USS Muroc, mentioned as destroyed in a Klingon attack in DIS: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"

USS Palenque, commemorated by Erica Ortegas in SNW: "Memento Mori"

USS Potemkin, shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

USS Republic, listed as one of James Kirk's previous assignments in SNW: "A Quality of Mercy" and shown on a dsiplay in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

USS Saratoga, mentioned as destroyed in a Klingon suicide attack in DIS: "The War Without, The War Within"

USS Valiant, shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

USS Yangtze, commemorated by a crewman in SNW: "Memento Mori"

 

Unknown Non-Starfleet Class

SS Carlos, colony ship, listed on a screen in SNW: "The Serene Squall"

The Carlos, Raccoona and Tiptree were made up by the pirates but it seems likely they pulled authentic names from a database.

Gallough, freighter "similar to the Antares-class", mentioned in Oriana's file in SNW: "All Those Who Wander"

SS Raccoona, colony ship, listed on a screen in SNW: "The Serene Squall"

SS Puget Sound, colony ship, mentioned on a PADD in SNW: "Strange New Worlds" and commemorated by La'an Noonien-Singh in SNW: "Memento Mori"

Tellarite merchant vessel D-756, bridge shown SHO: "The Escape Artist"

SS Tiptree, colony ship, listed on a screen in SNW: "The Serene Squall"

 

Unknown Stations

Deep Space 2, shown on star charts in SNW: "The Broken Circle" and SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

Deep Space K-7, listed on several star charts (DIS & SNW), mentioned as the destination of a shipment of vidium power cells in SNW: "All Those Who Wander"

Of course, this is supposed to be the same station as in TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles".

Lya Station Alpha, shown on a star chart in SNW: "Subspace Rhapsody"

Starbase 12, listed on a star chart in SNW: "Strange New Worlds" and "Spock Amok"

Starbase 23, mentioned in DIS: "Light and Shadows"

Starbase 40, mentioned in SHO: "Q&A"

Starbases 2, 4, 9, 11, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 39-Sierra, 46, 88, 211, 234, G-6, shown on star charts in SNW: "Under the Cloak of War" or "Subspace Rhapsody"

Star chart references are not complete. There may be more occurrences than listed here.

 


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