Ship Registry Codes

Largely copying the Construction Rule's section on Starfleet Registry Numbers, the SFC RPG will follow these methods:

United Earth Starfleet

The UESF assigned hull registries per the classification code of the vessel's class. So, for example, a vessel that was designed as a cruiser would receive the appropriate classification code (ex: CC) followed by a registry number for that particular class of ship within that classification. So, for example, the first cruiser class might have the CC range of 01-15, while the second class would have the next CC range of 16-30. Within the UESF’s period of time, ships generally didn’t see their type change (ex: heavy escort to escort), so there weren’t any conflicts with competing numbers within one type. Therefore, two ships could possibly share the same hull number, though their classification codes would certainly differ (ex: NCC-37 and NDD-37).

The classification codes used by the UESF were limited to the following:

CC - Cruiser

CP - Clipper

CV - Corvette

DD - Destroyer

ET - Escort

SM - Medical Ship

SS - Scout

TT - Transport

X - Explorer

United Federation of Planets Starfleet

The UFP Starfleet utilized several different registry systems. The first took hold immediately upon the consolidation of the UESF into the UFP's rolls. The previous classification codes were dismissed and the abbreviation for Naval Construction Contract, NCC, was adopted to precede the registry number of all active Starfleet ships. (The one exception is for prototype ships, where they are not considered active; their registry was preceded by NX, where the X stood for 'experimental', until the ship was activated.)

(see Texas on p. 159 of PDF)

The second system: each individual ship class, inherited or new-build, was then assigned a block of 100 numbers, even if all 100 numbers were not assigned. When a new class was built, it would receive the next block of 100 numbers. If a class exceeded 100 units built, it would be assigned another block of 100 numbers, often separated from the original block. This created gaps within the overall numbering sequence, appearing to suggest there were more starships within the Starfleet than actually existed.

Starting in the 24th century, it was decided to go with a less ‘managed’ system. Instead, blocks of 1,000 numbers would be assigned to each calendar year, with ships being assigned their registry numbers as they were ordered. The numbering scheme didn’t wipe the previously registered numbers, but instead jumped to 11000, starting in the year 2301. (The thousand's digit usually indicates what year the vessel was intended to be commissioned, though this did not always hold true.)