USS
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
USS is the designation given to various sea-faring and space-faring ships. The designation originated on Earth.
As shorthand for "United States Ship," the US Navy used the USS prefix on the hulls of various seaships and aircraft carriers, including:
By the early 22nd century, Earth spaceships of certain agencies, such as the USS Enterprise (XCV 330), placed the USS designation on their hull. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
- It is possible that the USS designation still means "United States Ship" at this point in history.
The United Earth Starfleet used the "USS" designation on certain computer graphics for NX class starships, such as the USS Enterprise NX-01 and the USS Columbia NX-02. However, they did not label the hulls of the starships and the ships were not commonly addressed with the prefix. (ENT: "Divergence")
The Federation Starfleet used the "USS" prefix on the hulls of their starships and as part of a starship's title. USS was referred to as standing for either "United Space Ship" (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "Space Seed", "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "Patterns of Force", "Assignment: Earth", "Elaan of Troyius") or "United Star Ship." (TOS: "The Squire of Gothos", "Court Martial") This designation was used as early as 2167 on the Daedalus-class starship, the USS Essex. (TNG: "Power Play")
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[edit] Background Information
The Star Trek pitch by Gene Roddenberry refers to a "United Space Ship".
The use of USS for Earth starships was first shown in Star Trek: The Motion Picture in the drawing of the USS Enterprise (XCV 330) on display in the recreation deck of the refitted USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
Earth Starfleet's use of USS was not mentioned until a computer graphic on the Enterprise episode "Divergence". This graphic designated both the Enterprise NX-01 and Columbia NX-02 with the USS prefix, which may have been a mistake on the part of the graphics designers, as neither ships' hull designation used "USS".
