How many times did Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) say "My ship!" in the series? He was not saying it offhandedly but with emphasis and affection. Kirk would have done anything to protect his ship, and I would go so far to say that he loved her and his crew. It can be argued that the Enterprise was as important as any character, and she would have distinctive features and a robotic computer voice that gave her a personality too.
Scotty
Another crewmember who loved the Enterprise was Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (the late great James Doohan). Scotty knew every inch of the vessel intimately and, if any damage was done to her, we could be sure that Scotty would take it personally. When a Klingon disparaged the ship, Scotty even got into a brawl to defend her.
When Kirk was annoyed with Scotty for starting the fight, he wanted to know what instigated the situation. When Scotty explained that a Klingon had spoken badly about the Enterprise, Kirk fully understood what ignited Scotty's anger.
A Totally New Universe
Gene Roddenberry (please see my last post about him) had a grand vision for Star Trek. He had many ideas in his head – the complexity of which could be overwhelming even for him. When NBC ordered a pilot in 1964, it became the time when everything in Gene's head had to be physically realized before filming could start. Star Trek producer Gene Coon said, "Gene created a totally new universe." Now it was time to translate that vision for others, which was not a simple task.
In the written proposal that Roddenberry brought to Desilu Studios, there were many different technologies that were mentioned (I will go into the these technologies in my next post). This included the transporter, communicators, and laser weapons. The ship was simply described as the USS Yorktown commanded by Robert T. April with a crew of 200. That was not much to work with for the person chosen to design the ship.
Not A Flying Saucer
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| Matt Jefferies |
Gene knew a great deal about what he wanted his ship to be, but he never made any drawings about how he wanted it to look. When Matt Jefferies – yes, Jefferies Tubes are named after him – was chosen to design the ship, and he had an enormous task on his hands. One thing was crucial – Gene knew what he didn't want it to look like. No flying saucer – that was being done over at CBS for Lost in Space.
Gene didn't want it to look like a rocket ship with fins, and he definitely didn't want it to trail smoke like the ship in the Flash Gordon serials. Gene wanted it to be futuristic, but Jefferies said, "I didn't know what the shape looked like." He had to take everything Gene said and try to design a ship that wouldn't look outdated before the show even was on the air.
Looking at a couple of Jefferies early visions of the ship, you can see he was still bogged down by what came before. Gene liked the sketches but told him that he had to keep trying. Going over what Gene had told him about the ship and what Gene didn't want, Jefferies was trying to figure out what he was missing.
Warp Drive
Gene told him that the ship would be very fast and have warp drive, and Jefferies asked himself, "What the hell is warp drive?" He assumed the engines had to very powerful, but also that they would not be inside the ship. Somehow they would be away from the main body of the ship. Eventually these engine tubes would be called nacelles, and they would be elevated in the rear of the ship on either side of the engineering hull.
He tried numerous designs – even one with the ship as a ball – but Gene kept rejecting them. Eventually he flattened out the ball, and it slowly became something flatter and wider and a little bit like a flying saucer, but it would be different because of the engineering hull and the elevated nacelles holding warp drive engines making it look distinctive. The color would be white to stand out against a backdrop of deep black outer space, and the ship's name would go across the top of the saucer section, but it would also need a number to distinguish it.
The Registry Number
Jefferies then decided to give the Enterprise a number. He wanted it to be simple, sleek, and easy to read. He owned an airplane with the license number NC-17740, which he simplified to NCC-1701 (with NCC coming from Naval Construct Contract). Jefferies figured that this would be the 17th ship with the name Enterprise, but since it was a new design it would the first in its class, hence 01.
A New Name
While Gene originally named the ship the Yorktown in the treatment given to Desilu, he changed the name to Enterprise. He wanted to give it a name that would remind people that the crew on this ship were pioneers, courageously embarking on a voyage to the stars, but Gene may also have been inspired by the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier with that name that was the subject of extensive media coverage in the 60s.
A Beloved Ship
Gene finally approved of the design, and Jefferies had been successful in creating one of the most iconic space vehicles ever seen on TV or movie screens. When looking at the Enterprise from the Original Series today, I still get goosebumps. It not only brings back great memories, but it also reminds me of that idyllic future that Gene envisioned.
I think of my youthful hope that a world without war, hunger, crime, or greed could exist one day. I still believe that it can happen, and that hope is stoked by the sight of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Until next time, Live Long and Prosper!
Please watch this video of the original Enterprise model that Matt Jefferies designed now housed at the Smithsonian.
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