Enterprise--Federation starship registry number NCC-1701 identifies one of twelve original starships in the Constitution heavy class assigned to 5-year missions. This ship was first commanded by Captain April whose Chief Security Officer was George Kirk, father of the present captain. These two men took the ship on its shakedown cruise. The second captain was Christopher Pike. This class of starship is the largest free-moving man-made object in space, to date. At 947 feet long, 417 feet wide, 23 decks tall and weighing 190,000 tons, it is most formidable. Its design, crew compliment (SEE App C) and supplies would allow it to sustain itself for 18 years. Built at Terra's San Francisco naval yards under the direction of StarFleet Command, the Enterprise is designed to cruise at warp 3 or 4 (SEE App D) and maintain a standard orbit of 1,000 to 7,000 miles above a planet. The ship is not designed to enter an atmosphere of a planet (SEE Crisis on Centaurus) or land on a planet. It is composed of three sections. The saucer-shaped primary hull, 417 feet in diameter and 11 decks tall, contains all elements necessary for independent operations if needed. The cigar-shaped secondary hull, 340 feet long, 112 feet in diameter, contains the twin engine pods, each 504 feet long, 60 feet in diameter. Although the Enterprise is operated and fitted as a military vessel, it is not considered one. Its continuing mission is "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new civilizations" and to open up new vistas for humankind. Often the ship is called upon to give assistance---military, political, and medical---to settled locations, to transport people and goods to various planets, and to test the integrity and courage of the ship and its crew. To protect itself and to establish its strength, the ship carries a wide variety of weapons. Included in its arsenal is a battery of ship-mounted phases, three banks of each. The ship's principal weapons are enormous versions of the hand phaser. A second type of weapon is the photon torpedoes, "energy pods of matter and anti-matter contained and held temporarily separated in a magno-photon force field" (Roddenberry 194). Also the ship can utilize its tractor beam as well as its transporters when needed. Standard individual weapons, panchromatic helix accelerated stimulated emissions radiation, better known as hand phasers, work on the same principle as the ship's banks of phasers. These contain a quantity of energy that can be polarized, focused, and transmitted in any frequency or energy state (Davies 148). There are three types of hand-carried phasers. This first is small, not much bigger than a tape-cassette, and can be worn on the belt under the uniform shirt. The second is a combination of a small phaser but mounted onto a pistol and worn handing from a weapon's belt. The third type is a phaser rifle. Standard on a starship are the various pieces of sensory equipment that enable it to perform its missions while maintaining the safety of its crew. Often these sensors are the ship's best weapon. To man and operate such a vessel requires a large crew. The Enterprise carries a crew of 430, with a third being female. This crew is composed of international and multi-racial and alien members. To control a large crew, a line of command is required. All the ship's members are known as the crew. However, a small group are known as "senior officers." This group has varying amounts of authority. The ship has a captain, a first officer, commanders, lieutenants, ensigns, yeomen. Most of these titles designate levels within a discipline. For example, lieutenants are found in navigation, engineering, and medicine. Although the Enterprise operates at the outer end of a chain-of-command, the captain, on ship, is in absolute control. His superior is a Starbase Commander and StarFleet Command. Starbase Commanders are subject to StarFleet Command, whose main headquarters is located in San Francisco, Terra. All of the crew are divided into three sections: science (blue shirts); engineering and ship's services (red shirts); and command (gold shirts). To service the crew, the starship is equipped with many areas, three of which are the most interesting. Included on the Enterprise is the ship's library-computer, the most sophisticated of its kind, capable of storing and retrieving vast amounts of information. Its services can be channeled to any station or viewing screen on the ship. In addition to the elaborate computer system, and tied to it, is the ship's galley, making it possible to feed the 430 crew members anything they request. To provide recreation, a variety
