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Abramsverse Ship Classes

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

Note The Abramsverse is 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. Perhaps some of them such as the USS Kelvin should find their way into the "regular" section of this database, because they predate the timeline tampering. On the other hand, the ship's design and technology wouldn't really fit in there (much less its "official" size).

Federation Starships

Armstrong type	General description This type of starship has three nacelles of two 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 USS Armstrong NCC-1769
	Annotations 1) One of these vessels (previously referred to as "unnamed class I" at EAS) can be seen docked to the space station. This ship later departs from 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. They are most likely meant to be smaller though. 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. 3) On an early comparison chart that can be found in Star Trek: The Art of the Film and in the special features of the Blu-ray the Armstrong type is represented by a "USS Armstrong NCC-1769" (1969 being the year of the first manned moon landing). It is not entirely certain whether this very ship is actually in the movie, but the visible portion of the registry could be "1769" in the closest view that we are shown, so it is a good guess that it is indeed the Armstrong. 4) The chart in Star Trek: The Art of the Film also depicts a dark brown ship "USS Excelsior NCC-1729" with the same silhouette as the Armstrong type. But since the purpose of the chart is to allow a comparison of different types, this additional depiction is almost definitely just a placeholder for a design that was not yet decided on and that may have never made it into the movie. 5) If the relative scales of the comparison chart are still correct for the final ships, then the Armstrong type measures 254m (366m Enterprise), after a slight correction of the nacelle proportions, which are too clumsy on the chart.	Class specifications Length: approx. 254m

Enterprise type	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: Abramsverse 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 what it actually is: a brewery. 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 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. 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 took it for granted that the height of the saucer had to be the same as on the Enterprise refit with its remarkably similar saucer shape, which would make the ship overall 302m long. The design size was 366m according to Alex Jaeger of ILM, and this still makes sense, considering that in this case the shuttlebay door and the torpedo launcher would be the same size as on the TMP refit. Also, the hatches would be reasonably tall compared to just 1.8m on a 302m ship. The VFX team at ILM, however, purportedly scaled up the ship to as much as 725m (200%!), the main intention apparently being to be able to squeeze in all the big shuttles. (Embarrassingly, on the size comparison with the TOS Enterprise on the Blu-ray disc the relative scale is totally wrong. The new Enterprise would be just 490m long if we trusted the depiction, rather than the figures.) At 725m length the new Enterprise would be turned into a monster bigger than a Galaxy class! 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 366m ship. 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 Length: 366m (see here why) Max. speed: Warp 8

Kelvin type	General description The Kelvin is a single-nacelled 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. 2) Locations seen on the ship include the bridge, corridors, sickbay and a very spacious engineering/shuttlebay section. 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. It is odd that the warp nacelle has an extra exhaust (an impulse engine?) at its aft end, unlike on any other Federation design of the old continuity. 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 100. Also, there are apparently no escape pods on the Kelvin, and we saw only a few 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 even 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. The true size could be anywhere in between. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem for the Kelvin to be even 1500ft (457m), as stated on the Blu-ray, if we decided to put up with the 725m Enterprise. But then the ship scales in the movie would be genuinely flawed, even before Nero's incursion. 6) A better size comparison is possible with the early size chart depicted in Star Trek: The Art of the Film, although it doesn't include the Kelvin. But we can match the ship perfectly with the components of the Newton type. The saucer, the nacelles and the pod are all the same size. Discounting some inaccuracies of the Newton's depicted nacelles, this gives us a length of 315m for both the Newton and the Kelvin, provided the Enterprise is 366m long and the relative scales of the chart still apply. 7) 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. The real-world explanation is that May 14th is the birthday of J.J. Abrams' grandfather for whom he named the ship.	Class specifications Survey ship Length: approx. 315m Crew complement: 800

Kobayashi Maru type	General description This ship type seems to be a combined tanker and passenger vessel with two nacelles and two tank pods. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships Kobayashi Maru
	Annotations 1) 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. 2) The design of the ship with its underslung tank pods follows the lines of Roger Sorensen's Kobayashi Maru, first published in 1983. John Eaves changed the saucer to a round shape and gave the ship TOS-like nacelles on his sketch. These were later modified to the usual Abramsverse-style nacelles. 3) We don't have solid evidence that the Kobayashi Maru design is using the very same basic components as the other Abramsverse ships. But assuming that the nacelles and saucer are the same as on the Mayflower and Armstrong I arrive at a length of 284m for the ship. Interestingly, if the new Enterprise were just 302m long as I first assumed, the Kobayashi Maru may be 237m as on the display in "Star Trek II". But that is likely just a coincidence.	Class specifications Tanker Length: approx. 284m

Mayflower type	General description This is a smaller type of starship, consisting of a saucer and two nacelles. Timeframe: 2258.	Known ships USS Mayflower NCC-1621
	Annotations 1) Three of these vessels (previously referred to as "unnamed class III" at EAS) 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. 3) On an early comparison chart the Mayflower type is represented by the "USS Mayflower NCC-1621", here still with a rollbar that is not on the movie model. The Mayflower can be identified in the debris of the Starfleet vessels at Vulcan, where the Enterprise almost collides with a huge saucer, whose starboard half is missing. Actually, this saucer is considerably bigger than the Enterprise's, which has to be rated as a scaling error, considering that the Mayflower type was evidently designed smaller. Also, we can see the same saucer twice. First the Enterprise passes by above the saucer, and after a few cuts it shows up ahead of the ship again. 4) The huge saucer is labeled "NCC-1621" as on the early chart, although the Mayflower's journey was in 1620. Perhaps whoever labeled the ship took into account that upon their arrival the settlers spent the winter aboard the ship? 5) If the relative scales of the comparison chart are still correct for the final ships, then the Mayflower type measures 236m (366m Enterprise), after a slight correction of the nacelle proportions, which are too clumsy on the chart.	Class specifications Length: approx. 236m

Newton type	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 USS Newton NCC-1727
	Annotations 1) Three of these vessels (previously referred to as "unnamed class II" at EAS) 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 appears to be somewhat bigger than the Armstrong type, 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 the Newton type the second pod must be obstructed by a nacelle. 4) On an early comparison chart the Newton type is represented by a "USS Newton NCC-1727" (1727 is Newton's year of death). It is not certain whether this very vessel was actually in the movie, also because we can already relate six other names to the seven ships. But since we can spot the Mayflower and the Armstrong that appear to be labeled just as on the comparison chart, it is very likely that the Newton's name and registry is authentic too. 5) If the relative scales of the comparison chart are still correct for the final ships, then the Newton type measures 315m (366m Enterprise), taking into account a slight correction of the nacelle proportions.	Class specifications Length: approx. 315m

Unidentified Starfleet ships Not counting the Enterprise, 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 Armstrong type, Newton type and Mayflower type are recognizable, seven individual ships altogether that are assembled to a fleet. The smaller ships of class IV (below) remain at the Spacedock, as well as some still smaller designs that remain unidentifiable for now. We may assume that the explicitly mentioned Antares, Farragut, Hood, Truman and Walcott are in the fleet, but we can't relate the names to the designs, at least not with hard screen evidence.

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, and the one visible class IV doesn't look like it is preparing to to to warp.	Class specifications None available

Federation Shuttles

Enterprise 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 Length: approx. 36m First commissioned: 2387 Crew complement: 1 Max. speed: Warp 8

Medical shuttle 2233	General description Nothing is known about this small 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 widespread 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 (Name unknown) NCC-1701/2
	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 (Name unknown) NCC-0514/43
	Annotations These shuttles appear beside the Kelvin and are being used as lifeboats. They are likely standard shuttles, owing to their comparably clumsy look (resembling the classic Class F shuttle of TOS) 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 Width: approx. 4500m

Ground Vehicles

Car	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 can see this car at Starfleet Academy, in the scene when Kirk tells McCoy that he is taking the Kobayashi Maru test again. 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

Forklift	General description The forklifts in the Academy's shuttle hangar operate on the same principle as 20th/21st century vehicles of this kind.	Known vehicles No name given
	Annotations We can see two forklifts of the real-life type Sidewinder ATX-3000 in the shuttle hangar.	Class specifications Length: 2.1m

Motorcycle	General description Young Kirk rides a spokeless motorbike, apparently with electrical drive.	Known vehicles No name given
	Annotations With the exception of the missing spokes and the electrical (almost noiseless) drive, the handling, style and purpose of this vehicle is still much the same as of present-day motorbikes. Kirk gives the keys to a shipyard worker when he joins the Academy.	Class specifications Length: approx. 1.8m

Police hoverbike	General description The hoverbike is a small vehicle used by the police in the State of Iowa 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 Length: approx. 1.8m

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 similar as the K't'inga or D7 from the Prime Universe. Besides additional details such as four forward-mounted disruptor cannons and several "winglets" on the bridge module and the neck the overall proportions may not be quite the same. Another change is that the outer rim of the forward section is now sloping down instead of vertical. Star Trek: The Art of the Film depicts a concept sketch and the purported final model used in the movie. The ships are somewhat smaller than the Kobayashi Maru. 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. Gallery: Abramsverse Vessels	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. There is no good explanation why the cable is needed at all, instead of simply firing the drill beam from the Narada. 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. 4) A Romulan Bird-of-Prey and the T'Plana Hath appear as Easter Eggs aboard the Narada.	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 is not evident how a mining vessel can possibly be that heavily armed, although we can assume that it carries large amounts of explosives.	Class specifications None available

Unknown Starfleet Class

The following starship names were recognizable or were mentioned as assignments of the Academy cadets in 2258. The ships were most likely all among the fleet that left for Vulcan (and was destroyed there). We only can't relate the following 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 Truman, mentioned in the Academy hangar

USS Wolcott, mentioned in the Academy hangar
The name was previously believed to be Walcott, but is Wolcott according to the DVD subtitles.

Unknown Starfleet Station

Regula 1, space station mentioned in the Academy hangar
Well, this is an obvious homage to Regula 1 from "Star Trek II", but realistically not the same station.

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