USS Kongo The USS " Kongo " ( NCC - 1710 ) was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . In 2293 , the " Kongo " was assigned a Neutral Zone patrol mission . The ship was named as eighth on a Starship Mission Assignments chart on the bridge . ( ) Background information . The name " Kongo " and its registry number were not from dialogue , but only derived from sheet four of the briefing charts background artwork for Operation Retrieve in " The Undiscovered Country " . However that particular page was not featured in any of the releases of the movie , though the preceding " Starship Mission Assignments " okudagram , on which the sheet was based , was , albeit it mostly illegible , at the communications station on the bridge . The registry originated from Franz Joseph ' s reference book " Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual " , which listed the " Kongo " – with the NCC - 1710 registry – as a heavy cruiser . Although not considered as canon the " Technical Manual " was used for the references in it , as it had been in the first three , and which was for this case confirmed by Michael Okuda , who created both the " Mission Assignments " and " Operation Retrieve " briefing charts . The name " Kongo " though , had already been envisioned by the producers of when they composed a list of fourteen ships at the start of its second season , belonging to the " Constitution " - class , then still referred to as " " Starship " - class " by them and including the " Kongo " . Producer Robert Justman remarked on a memo of an earlier draft of the list , " " I think there would be several other candidates , such as Saratoga and perhaps another English carrier , a French carrier , a Russian carrier and certainly a Japanese carrier . " " ( " The Making of Star Trek " , pp . 164 - 165 ) Though there had been plenty of historical Japanese aircraft carriers to choose from , the historical was in actuality a Japanese battleship of the World War I - II era . However , along with the " Constitution " , it was the only one of these ships that was neither seen nor named in the course of the series and its configuration was never canon ically established . In his influential 1973 " The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship " article , studio model vendor , but then fan , Greg Jein also postulated the " Kongo " to be " Constitution " - class , but in his case endowed with the registry " NCC - 1732 " . Mike Okuda has since then fully endorsed Jein ' s postulations , employing them wherever he could in canon – most notably in his reference work s , but more specifically in the remastered series – , but became aware of his friend ' s article too late to alter the " Kongo " registry , as he had already employed the Joseph - derived one . As a result , " Kongo " together with the for the same reasons , are the only " Constitution " - class vessels of the original fourteen to sport Joseph - derived registries . As stated , no opportunity has been afforded to Okuda to retcon " Kongo " with the Jein registry , and due to its absence in canon ( outside the mission assignment chart that is , illegible though it is ) " Kongo " has not been acknowledged in any of the later officially licensed reference works , contrary to the " USS " Constitution " NCC - 1700 " which has as the class vessel , despite the fact that it too has not been confirmed as such in canon . According to the unseen page four of the " Operation Retrieve " briefing charts , the " Kongo " was commanded by N . Rodis , and the ship was located in Sector 21803 . The ship ' s captain was named after the sixth movie ' s art director Nilo Rodis - Jamero .