USS Yorktown ( 23rd century ) The USS " Yorktown " was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . History . In 2268 , the " Yorktown " was scheduled to rendezvous with and transfer vaccine s for the Theta VII colony to the . ( ) In 2286 , the " Yorktown " was under the command of Captain Joel Randolph . While deployed near the Sol system , the " Yorktown " was one of the many vessels disabled by the Whale Probe near Earth . In Randolph ' s distress call to Starfleet Command , he noted that the ship had lost all power and that all non - essential crew were given hiber - sedative s to slow down consumption of life support reserves . Meanwhile , the chief engineer attempted to deploy a makeshift solar sail so as to focus and absorb radiation from a nearby sun they were orbit ing , with the hopes of generating power to keep the crew alive . ( ) In 2293 , Tuvok ' s father was a Starfleet officer serving aboard the " Yorktown " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The " United Space Ship " Yorktown " " ( identified as SS " Yorktown " ) was the name of the central starship in Gene Roddenberry ' s first " Star Trek " proposal to NBC in 1964 . The ship was named for the ( CV - 5 ) , a World War II American aircraft carrier , which in turn was named after the last major battle of the American Revolution , won in 1781 by a combined Franco - American army commanded by Gen . George Washington . ( ) Coincidentally , the historical World War II " Yorktown " was a class sister of the historical , after which Roddenberry ultimately named his starship . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 164 ) According to the , " " Roddenberry reportedly suggested the second , launched at the end of " Star Trek IV " , had previously been named USS " Yorktown " since it seemed unlikely that Starfleet could have built a new " Enterprise " so quickly . If this was the case , the " Yorktown " may have made it safely back to Earth and been repaired and renamed , or perhaps there was a newer , replacement " Yorktown " already under construction at the time of the probe crisis . " " The latter scenario could be supported by dialogue from " Star Trek V " where the " Enterprise " is described as a " new ship " by Scotty , whereas the former scenario serves as a convenient rationale for the difficulties Scotty had of getting the ship back in operational order after the debilitating effects the Whale Probe had inflicted on it . The season four internal studio document , " " ( 2nd ed . p . 6 ) , co - written by " Star Trek Encyclopedia " Co - Author Michael Okuda , emphatically stated this to be the case , reaffirmed in the later officially licensed " Star Trek Fact Files " and the 2010 reference book " USS Enterprise Owners ' Workshop Manual " . This was further validated when , in later " Star Trek Encyclopedia " s , Okuda described the 2293 " Yorktown " – the one Tuvok ' s father served on – as the " second " ship to bear the name . The Starfleet practice of renaming a vessel for a very deserving other vessel was later canon ically established in episodes and , when the was rechristened as the , when the original " Defiant " was destroyed in the Dominion War . The " Star Trek Encyclopedia " , " Star Fleet Technical Manual " , and all other reference work s confirm the " Yorktown " being a heavy cruiser . The producers of had the name included on their final fourteen ship list at the start of its second season , belonging to the " Constitution " - class , then still referred to as " " Starship " - class " by them . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , pp . 164 - 165 ) Incidentally , renaming vessels that were either under construction or recently constructed for by then lost in action counterparts had a real world basis , as it became established practice in the United States Navy to do so for aircraft carriers in World War II , these having become the most valuable assets in the war against Japan . Aside from honoring these lost ships , it also served to confuse Japanese intelligence at the time . However , it is very rare to rename a serving ship ; it is considered " unlucky . " NCC - 1717 was the registry number given to the " Yorktown " by Gregory Jein in his influential " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article , published in the April 1973 issue 27 of the " T - Negative " fanzine . Okuda took his cue from Jein ' s article and further propagated the registry in his reference work writings , most notably the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " . NCC - 1704 was the registry number assigned to the " Yorktown " by Franz Joseph in the unofficial " Star Fleet Technical Manual " . Its non - canon status notwithstanding , both and the above mentioned production staffers have firmly embraced the 23rd century ship as being the " [ U ] SS Yorktown ( NCC - 1717 ) , " Constitution " - class " , as was amply demonstrated when the British , officially licensed , partwork publication " " released a convention - exclusive model of the ship as such in 2016 . Apocrypha . The comic book series " " featured the " Constitution " - class " Yorktown " , endowed with Jein ' s registry number NCC - 1717 . The FASA sourcebook " " listed a USS " Yorktown " ( NCC - 2033 ) of this era which belonged to the . In the novel " " , the " Yorktown " was revealed to have become a museum exhibit on a starbase , but its bridge has been replaced with the original bridge of the first . In the story in question , Captain Montgomery Scott stole the " Yorktown " to rescue Spock , recently captured by the Romulans , and fitted it with an ancient Romulan cloaking device ( the one acquired in ) . The mission proved successful , but aid was still required from the for Spock , Scotty and the Unification movement to escape . In " Star Trek Online " , the " Yorktown " serves as Admiral Isaac Garrett ' s flagship during the Battle of Caleb IV and is one of the only Starfleet ships to survive the battle after being ambushed by Kor ' s battle group . The vessel ' s alternate reality counterpart , also , makes a brief appearance in the mission " Terminal Expanse " , attempting to disable a Delphic Expanse sphere in the Beta Quadrant .