Registry A registry was a place to record or register information . One such registry was the Vulcan Genome Registry . ( ) Vessels were often registered by agency . They may have recorded a vessel ' s name , registry number , history , and basic ship information . ( ) Ship registries were used as early as the 19th century . In 1893 , after overhearing a time - lost Data mentioning a starship , Samuel Clemens asked , " " What registry is that ! ? " " ( ) Throughout the 20th century , both civil and military aircraft were registered . In addition to registration , military aircraft were given serial numbers . One of these registry abbreviations , first used by American civil aviation , later appeared on Earth shuttles and starships . This was the abbreviation NC . An example of an NC registry was " NC 18602 " ( the " California Clipper " ) . ( ; ; ) In the 23rd and 24th centuries , Starfleet vessel s were able to check both historical registries from Earth and Vulcan as well as the Starfleet Registry . ( ; ) Between 2254 and 2364 , registry numbers skyrocketed from the NCC - 1701 of the to the NCC - 87270 of the . The was not listed in any registry , although this might have been a result of the fragmented records in that era , and the Augment s ' desire to remain hidden . ( ) Registry numbers and prefixes . In some governments and agencies , a ship entered into a registry received a prefix that was placed before the vessel ' s name . This prefix was used to easily identify the vessel as belonging to that agency . A registry prefix should not be confused with a ship ' s prefix code . Vessel prefixes include : † With Earth ' s national prefixes ( British HMS and Russian VK ) still in use up to the founding of the Federation , it is probable that " USS " still meant " United States Ship " in the same time frame , but we only have one example to look at . Items listed in a registry generally had a number or code to help identify the specific entry . In some registries , the registry number was preceded by an abbreviation as well : Aside from the registry prefixes , Starfleet has also used letters " after " the main registry prefix to further define specific types of craft . This was seen in the freighter , with its registry of NCC - F1513 and the ships with the registry NCC - G1465 . ( ) The first Earth ship to have warp drive installed , " " , had an anomalous arrangement of the registry numbers , 10281NCC . ( ) So did , with the registry NCC - 2010 - 5 . ( ) Shuttlecraft assigned to starbases and other installations were given registries indicating their origin . Such vessels were the " da Vinci " SB4 - 0314⁄2 from Starbase 4 and the " Picasso " SB11 - 1201⁄1 from Starbase 11 . ( ) The shuttlecraft " Verne " assigned to Relay Station 47 was simply given the registry RS - 47 . ( ) On Starfleet display graphics , Klingon , Romulan , and Cardassian starships had had registry numbers or identification codes without a letter prefix . These included ships like the Klingon ( ) , Romulan warbird ( ) , and a Cardassian warship ( ) . ( ; ) " In the alternate reality , an escape pod of the was registered as 313 - C . Starfleet did not use registry prefixes on small craft such as jumpship s and military shuttle s that were not assigned to a starship . " ( ; ) Starfleet sometimes used sequential lettering after a registry number was repeated to honor a former vessel . ( ) Examples of this include : Appendices . Background information . The most famous registry number , of course , is " NCC - 1701 " of the original . It was chosen by Matt Jefferies , who was a pilot before joining the " Star Trek " staff , and based the registry number on 20th century codes . In the early 20th century , the letter " N " indicated a United States origin , and the letter " C " indicated a civilian aircraft . As American craft used NC and Soviet craft used CCCC , Jeffries combined the two as NCC . His philosophy was , " " If we do anything in space , we ( Americans and Russians ) have to do it together . " " In a sketch of the " Enterprise " , drawn by Jefferies , he states the numbers " 1701 " stand for the 17th cruiser design , serial number # 1 . Also , upon choosing the " Enterprise " s registry number , Jeffries decided that the number should be easily readable , so he was careful to avoid numbers that could be confusing , such as 3 , 6 and 8 . ( ) According to the " " , the registry prefix NXP was used for study models , also called pathfinders , in the development phase of a starship class . For the escort , the pathfinder was designated NXP - 2365WP / T . According to the , the registry prefix for the " Odin " was NGL and for the it was NDT . Based on usage – and – it is probable that the " VK " prefix was used on Russian starships in " Star Trek " . In the real world , the Russians do not use prefixes for their ship names . VK , however might be an homage to Tom Clancy . In the book , the primary " Alfa " - class attack sub is named " V . K . Konovalov " , in honor of . Apocrypha . According to the novels of Diane Duane and Peter Morwood , Klingon starships use a " KL " registry number prefix . Diane Duane ' s " Rihannsu " novels give the prefix " ChR " for Romulan starships . According to the " " calendar ( for the month of December ) , the registry prefix " X " was used for static test models . An example was the " X - 17B " , which was used for evaluating the performance of a refitted heavy cruiser in the mid - 2260s .