USS Farragut ( 23rd century ) The USS " Farragut " was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . " Farragut " had a crew complement of approximately four hundred . In the mid - 2250s , the " Farragut " was commanded by Captain . The ship was also Lieutenant James T . Kirk ' s first deep space assignment , following his graduation from Starfleet Academy , where he served as navigator . In 2257 , the " Farragut " suffered heavy casualties while on deep - space assignment at Tycho IV . While exploring the planet , a dikironium cloud creature was discovered , and would subsequently be responsible for the deaths of two hundred " Farragut " crewmen , including Captain Garrovick . Nearly ten hours of record tape s , including reports filed by the ship ' s executive officer , as well as the young Lieutenant Kirk , chronicled the encounter . According to the tapes , Kirk insisted upon blaming himself because of his delay in firing at the creature . The ship ' s executive officer disagreed , stating for the record : " " Lieutenant Kirk is a fine young officer who performed with uncommon bravery . " " Eleven years later , it was determined that Kirk could not have prevented the death of his captain , when the encountered the same creature and discovered that phaser s were ineffective against it . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Although no official registry or class was established during the TOS - era when this ship was mentioned , both the " Star Trek Concordance " and the , using the information created by Greg Jein in his " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article , identified this ship as a heavy cruiser with the registry number NCC - 1647 . Doug Drexler confirmed this on his blog , Drexfiles . Many other publications , beginning with " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 165 and Franz Joseph ' s " Star Fleet Technical Manual " , listed " Farragut " as a " Constitution " - class heavy cruiser with the registry NCC - 1702 . ( The " Technical Manual " also listed the vessel as being destroyed , as does " The Making of Star Trek " , although there was no canon evidence supporting that assertion . ) The " Farragut " was " " named for American naval officer , who commanded Union ships during the American Civil War , famous for his rallying cry , " Damn the torpedoes , full speed ahead ! " " " ( ) In the " Star Trek Encyclopedia " ( 4th ed . , vol . 1 , p . 262 ) , there was a starboard profile of the " Farragut " . Apocrypha . Two DC comic books in the second volume provided non - canon appearances of the " Farragut " in " Behind Enemy Lines ! " and " All Those Years Ago . . . " . Further appearances in DC issues included " " showing a model of the " Farragut " with the NCC - 1647 registry , while the comic " Debt of Honor " showed the ship with the registry NCC - 1702 ( matching the " Star Fleet Technical Manual " ) . The ship appeared in the Gold Key TOS issue " Murder Boards the Enterprise " . In the novel " The Ashes of Eden " by William Shatner , Kirk participated in an early holodeck recreation of his first encounter with the creature , that confirms that he could have done nothing ; if the " Farragut " had fired on the creature , the entire ship would have been destroyed . The ship also made appearances in a number of other novels including " Web of the Romulans " , " The Rings of Tautee " , " Crisis on Centaurus " , " The Covenant of the Crown " , and " Treaty ' s Law " . In the novel " The Captains ' Honor " , the USS " Farragut " had been decommissioned from Starfleet and was operated by the Romans of the planet Magna Roma as the USS " Centurion " . In the computer games " " and " " , Kirk mentions that his first dealings with the Vardaine were as a Lieutenant on the " Farragut " .