If there’s one thing Star Trek fans are known for, it’s the love of the tiny details about the universe of the Federation that helps bring the future to life — and now we’ve got some more Discovery details that help expand our knowledge of 23rd Century Starfleet.
While we’ve known for some time the official ship class designations of the series’ hero starships — the Walker-class USS Shenzhou and Crossfield-class USS Discovery (and sister ship USS Glenn) — but now thanks to StarTrek.com’s Star Trek Database, we can now learn that same information for the ill-fated Starfleet armada which faced off against the Klingons at the Battle of the Binary Stars back in Star Trek: Discovery‘s second episode.
- Engle-class USS T’Plana-Hath (NCC-1004): Named for test pilot and eventual astronaut Joe Engle, who test-flew the joint NASA-Air Force X-15 rocket airplane — and the space shuttle Enterprise — before eventually commanding the space shuttle Columbia.
- Nimitz-class USS Europa (NCC-1648): Named for World War II-era US Navy fleet admiral Chester Nimitz, who served as commander in chief of the US’s Pacific Fleet — and who eventually signed for the US during the Japanese surrender — and oversaw the US Navy’s submarine programs and, leading to the first nuclear-powered submarines.
- Hoover-class USS Edison (NCC-1683): Named for US Air Force fighter pilot Bob Hoover, who escaped Nazi captivity in a stolen plane, tested supersonic jets, and has been considered by many to be one of the greatest aviators in history.
- Cardenas-class USS Yeager (NCC-1437): Named for US Air Force brigadier general Robert Cardenas, a pilot who had a notable career in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, served as a test pilot for the USAF, and was assigned to notable posts over his career.
- Malachowski-class USS Clarke (NCC-1661): Named after US Air Force pilot Nicole Malachowski, the first female member of the famed Thunderbirds acrobatic flying team.
In addition to the ships with design sketches listed above, the database also identifies the Shepard-class USS Kerala (NCC-1255), named for astronaut Alan Shepard, and the Magee-class USS Shran (NCC-1413), named for Canadian pilot John Magee Jr., author of famed aviation poem “High Flight” – most notably used by president Ronald Reagan when addressing the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
UPDATE: Ship designer John Eaves has confirmed these namesakes on his Facebook page.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for more on Star Trek: Discovery!
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