Ship designation names

[xenexian 2]

Okay fellow trekkers, I'm at a bit of a loss here from a question that my 14 year old son threw at me. Among my many interests is history and in particular U.S. naval history with an emphasis on W.W.II. While watching a recent TNG episode my son asked my why, if Star Trek is taking place in the future, especially during a time when there is a single world government, are Starfleet ships still designated as USS? Most of us know that these designations usually refer to the country of origin or rather the country that the ship serves under, i.e. USS-United States Ship or HMS-Her Majestys Ship, and so on. If that's the case why are the Starfleet ships still labeled with this designation? I'm sure the United States still exists in this fictional future time but even so, if Earth is a part of an all encompasing Federation consisting of hundreds of other worlds, with crew members of different species, why would Starfleet ships carry an obvious Earth and, more to the point, human designation? Could it be that because humans were the driving force behind the founding of the Federation that we made the decision to give all Starfleet ships this identity just because we said so? Or does the USS stand for United Solar Systems? Wouldn't it make more sense to designate all Starfleet ships as UFP ships instead? UFP Enterprise or UFP Constitution would seem to be more in line with the idea of a unified designation for any ship serving under the Federation banner. Maybe UFP isn't sexy enough? I admit I couldn't come up with a resonable answer to my son's question and he left the room with his arms raised triumphantly over his head yelling that he finally got one over on old dad. Now this may have been covered somewhere else a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away but I don't recall ever seeing this addressed. Help me out here friends. I have a fourteen year old I need to put back in his place when it comes to understanding Star Trek.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Smart kid!

 

I believe the answer, as I once heard Gene R explain it is; USS stands for United Space Ship.

[xenexian 2]

Unfortunately, that sounds like a cop out to me. USS, in this future time, just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me considering the circumstances of what the Federation is supposed to be. Oh well, as usual, this is just my opinion and thoughts on the subject and I'm always open to hearing any sort of explanation concerning this.

[Q stole my bike 0]

I think it's because USS makes it sound cooler

[Captain Bolivar 0]

Firstly, U.S.S. stands for United Star Ship. It is not a reference to the U.S.A. or any other country. It is a reference to the Federation as a whole.

 

Secondly, any ship with U.S.S. on it is a Federation ship, but more importantly it is a Starfleet ship. This means the ship IS of Earth origin. The Vulcan's, Andorians, and all other members of Starfleet have their own ships. Because it is an Earth vessel they could have used another designation such as E.S.S. for Earth Star Ship because that IS what it is. It is also a Federation ship. Either way it would be correct. It wouldn't be correct, however, if the U.S.S. had something to do with one particular country from Earth because Starfleet represents all of Earth, and not any singular country.

[xenexian 2]

That's a good answer but still a little egocentric. The human way of trying to convice ourselves that we are still the center of the universe. It also still reeks a bit of American jingoism but it is an American TV show and a fictional one at that. I still think I would have prefered the EAS or UFP designation especially since it's the humans who usually are the most vocal in expressing the need to uphold and preserve the Federation. Thank you though. I can now offer a retort to my offspring. Just curious though, Captain Bolivar, where did you find this speck of Information?

[Captain Bolivar 0]

I didn't find that "speck" of information anywhere. I just came up with it on my own. As for it being egocentric... U.S.S. does stand for United Starship which refers to ALL those in the Federation. That doesn't seem egocentric to me. Yes it does happen to be the same abbreviation as American boats (U.S.S.) but it's the meaning of the abbreviation not the abbreviation itself. But I'm sure Gene decided to use U.S.S. because that is what the Navy used and decided to find a new meaning for it. (Gene was in the Navy for a short time)

[Nemesis 0]

Why not HMS? There HMS Enterprise

[TSonofvulcan 0]

HMS stands for "His (or her) Majesty's service" remember, there is not Britian, it is the Earth Government of the United Federation of Planits :)

[stoned_vulcan 0]

i thought HMS stood for her majesty's ship not service..? and yea it is USS i think origionally they just used it since it was a common ship name.. but then Gene was asked and had to make an excuse.. thats just my guess though..