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. () This information was generally transmitted via registration beam. () These registries could also be forged. ()
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 vessels 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 Augments' 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:
Prefix	Stands for 	Agency / Government 	Example
CGN 	unknown 	unknown (2369) 	CGN Caroliqe
CAR 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	CAR 54-Q
CGM 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	CGM Gh'aster
CSS 	Confederate States Ship 	Confederate States of America (1861-1865) 	
CSS 	unknown 	Confederation of Earth (2401) 	
DEV 	unknown 	unknown (2183) 	
ECS 	Earth Cargo Service/Ship 	Earth Cargo Service (2102–2153) 	
FGMS 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	FGMS Gyt'aerat
FMS 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	FMS Geldonero
GCA 	unknown 	unknown 	GCA Metlaok
GCS 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	GCS Recio
GHD 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	GHD Per'ot
GS 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	GS 12
HMS 	His/Her Majesty's Ship 	Royal Navy (1705–2135) 	
IKS 	Imperial Klingon Ship 	Klingon Empire (2268–2375) 	
IRW 	Imperial Romulan Warbird 	Romulan Star Empire (2369) 	
ISS 	Imperial Starship 	Terran Empire 	
ISS 	Imperial Starship 	Terran Resistance Forces 	
ITA 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	ITA Elmira
KSF 	unknown 	Kelpien and Ba'ul Alliance (31st century) 	
NSS 	unknown 	Ni'Var Government (32nd century) 	
PWB 	Praetorial Warbird 	Romulan Star Empire (2375) 	
 	unknown 	unknown (1996–2401) 	
 	Starship 	UN (2123) 	
 	Starship 	American Continent Institute (2236) 	
 	Starship 	Merchant Service (2261–2262) 	
 	Starship 	United Federation of Planets (2267–2370)	
 	Starship 	Starfleet (2364) 	
USGS 	unknown 	unknown (2370) 	USGS Powell
USS 	United States Ship 	United States of America (1800s–2130s†) 	
USS 	United Space Ship/United Star Ship	Starfleet (2161–present) 	USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
VK 	unknown 	Russian (2105–2160) 	
VSS 	Vulcan Star Ship 	Vulcan (25th century) 	
† 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:
Registry Prefix	Agency / Government 	Example
 	Starfleet (Alternate reality, 2250s) 	Bardeen (70172)
B 	unknown (2368) 	B-24-CLN
BA 	Starfleet (Alternate reality, 2250s) 	BA-36
BCD 	Iyaaran (2369) 	BCD-31775
BDR 	United Federation of Planets (2360) 	(BDR-529)
C 	unknown (2370) 	C-57-D
C1 	unknown (21st century) 	(C1-21)
CV 	United States of America (1940s) 	(CV-6)
CVN 	United States of America (1986) 	(CVN-65)
 	Earth Cargo Service (2151) 	(ECS-2801)
FG 	United States of America (1969) 	Bluejay 4 (FG-914)
H 	Starfleet (2373) 	H-47
NA 	unknown (pre-2143) 	Tycho Base (NA-01)
NA 	Starfleet (2381) 	(NA-01)
NCIA 	Section 31 (2250s) 	NCIA-93
NI 	Section 31 (2250s) 	NI-1101
NAR 	UN (2123) 	(NAR-7678)
NAR 	United Federation of Planets (2293–2368)	(NAR-18834)
NC 	Starfleet (2154) 	NC-05
NC 	United Federation of Planets (2269) 	Aurora (NC-17740)
NBT 	United Federation of Planets 	(NBT-30894)
NCC 	Starfleet (2167–2379) 	Raging Queen (NCC-42284)
NCV 	Starfleet (2800s) 	(NCV-474439-G)
NFT 	El Aurian (2293) 	(NFT-1327)
NGA 	Federation (2328) 	(NGA-24858)
NSP 	Vulcan National Merchant Fleet (2364) 	(NSP-17938)
NX 	Starfleet (2143–2375) 	(NX-01)
OV 	NASA (1976–2000s) 	OV-165
VS 	Federation registered (, 2270s) 	(VS 5047 61192259584-5)
XCV 	unknown (pre-2143) 	(XCV-330)
YLT 	Yridian (2369) 	YLT-3609
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 grain ship 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, and the , with the registry NC 1540-J. (; )
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 (454435), Romulan warbird (19386), and a Cardassian warship (324384950). (; )
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 jumpships and military shuttles that were not assigned to a starship. (; )
Starfleet sometimes used sequential lettering after a registry number was repeated. During the 23rd and 24th centuries it was employed to honor a former vessel. () In the 25th century, the practice instead changed to denote both a major refit of an existing vessel as well as the commissioning of a new ship. ()
Examples of this include:
Starship	Registry number	Dates
 	NX-01-A 	2374
 	NCC-1664-M 	31st century
 	NCC-1701-A 	2286–2293
 	NCC-1701-B 	2293
 	NCC-1701-C 	2344
 	NCC-1701-D 	2363–2371
 	NCC-1701-E 	2372–2379
 	NCC-1701-F 	2401
 	NCC-1701-G 	2402
 	NCC-1701-J 	26th century
 	NCV-474439-G 	29th century
 	NCC-1067-M 	32nd century
 	NCC-74656-A 	2384
 	NCC-74656-B 	2401
 	NCC-75656-D 	unknown
 	NCC-74656-J 	31st century
 	NCC-1305-E 	2365
 	NCC-80102-A 	2396–2401
== Appendices ==
=== Background information ===
The most famous registry number, of course, is "NCC-1701" of the original . It was conceived by Enterprise designer Matt Jefferies, who was a pilot before joining the Star Trek staff as art director, 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, Jefferies 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 Enterprises registry number, Jefferies 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. ()
Elaborating a bit more, Jefferies has stated in later interviews, "Since the 1920's, N has indicated the United States in Navy terms, and C means 'commercial' vessel. I added an extra C just for fun. Interestingly, Russia's designation is CCC. So The N and C together made it kind of international. After that, I had to pick some numbers. They had to be easily identifiable from a distance, so that eliminated 3, 8, 6, 9 and 4-none of which is that clear from a distance, That didn't leave much! So 1701 was as good a choice as any. The reason we gave for the choice afterwards was that the "Enterprise" was the 17th major design of the Federation, and the first in the series. 17-01!" (Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, p. 62), "(…) which, incidentally and coincidentally, happens to be very close to the license number on my airplane – NC-17740. But I have never really stepped out and squashed the rumor that the number on the "Enterprise" came off my airplane." (; Jefferies incidentally, bought his plane in 1968, four years after he had designed the Enterprise and her corresponding registry number) 
According to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, 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 Star Trek: Ships of the Line (2009) 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.
=== External link ===
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Category:Identification technology