Spoilers: Details On Star Trek Movie Ships

Ships like the USS Reliant (STII), The Klingon Bird of Prey (STIII), USS Excelsior (STVI), the Son’a Flagship (Insurrection) along with the various Enterprises have all been key locations for past Star Trek films. Now, based on information from a number of sources, TrekMovie.com has put together a summary and some details on the ships of Star Trek (2009).
[MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW]

Even though there has been a lot of talk about the early days of Kirk and Spock and Starfleet Academy, JJ Abrams new Star Trek will be spending quite a lot of time in space. This article will detail the four ship locations where much of the action will take place.

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701
As expected, the primary location of the film is the Enterprise with the bridge being the key location on the ship. About three to four out of the twenty weeks of shooting took place on the bridge set. We will see the ship under the command of both Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) and James Kirk (Chris Pine). In addition to the bridge, other locations for the ship seen in the film will be: sickbay, crew quarters, engineering, a transporter room plus corridors and turbolifts. All sets were built at Paramount with the exception of engineering which was done on a redressed industrial location.

In the past, the interior look of the various Enterprises regularly changed from film to film, and JJ Abrams Enterprise is no exception. So far we have only seen a sliver of the bridge from this photo taken during JJ Abrams live chat with fans at TrekMovie.com.

The USS Kelvin
The Kelvin is a Federation starship from a generation before the Enterprise and smaller than the Enterprise. It is of a new ship class never seen before. The ship is commanded by Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) with George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) as first officer. Locations seen on the ship include the bridge (which reflects an earlier design than the Enterprise and is a lot ‘busier’), corridors, sickbay and engineering.

The Romulan Ship
TrekMovie.com previously reported that the primary villains of JJ Abrams Star Trek are the Romulans, who come from the 24th century. They travel through time in a ship, but the ship is not necessarily built for time travel. The ship is commanded by Nero (Eric Bana). The design of the interior of the ship is apparently different than traditional TNG era Romulan design and said to be ‘surreal.’ It is not yet known what the name of this ship is.

Spock’s Time Ship
As reported before, the Star Trek film involves time travel and elder Spock (Leonard Nimoy) traveling through time. However (contrary to previous rumors about the Guardian of Forever) Spock uses a Vulcan ship specifically built for time travel. The ship is small and has a crew of one (Spock). The film will feature the bridge and also the ship’s ‘time core.’ It isn’t known what the name of the ship is, and it may be that the ship has no name.

Other ship locations
In addition to the above four ships there are some other ship locations that will be seen (and had sets built). These are:

  • Medical shuttle (from the USS Kelvin era)
  • Transport shuttle (from Kirk’s time at Academy)
  • Federation Ship Bridge Simulator for Kobayashi Maru Test (redress of USS Kelvin bridge)

A lot of ships for one film
Note the above list may not be entirely comprehensive, but is based on the best info available to TrekMovie at this time. There are certainly more ships which will be seen in the film’s space scenes. That being said, there will be a lot of on-board ship action in this film. A source tells TrekMovie that more ship interiors were created for this film than any other Trek film before. And unlike previous Trek films there is a minimal amount of ‘redressing’ being used. The USS Kelvin and the USS Enterprise are totally unique. All this means that Star Trek will truly be (as co-writer Bob Orci said in one interview) ‘a starship adventure.’

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Ship, ship Hoorah

I want to live on Spock’s time ship. I also want a t-shirt that says “Spock’s Time Ship”.

Cool details.!!!! Makes me sad though. I didn’t get to be a part of the movie though I was casted and even fitted for a uniform :( Just never was called in for filming.

Oh well :(

Great. This is going to be yet another time paradox story.
I started out being very excited about #11, but as more tidbits surface, the more cynical I become.

coolness!

can’t wait to see this stuff! :D

“The USS Spock’s Time Ship” has a nice ring to it.

Of course, all of this makes the Vulcans in Enterprise look like even bigger idiots. “Time travel isn’t possible! The vulcan science command said so!” I’m paraphrasing of course…

It would be illogical to continue to deny the possibility of time travel once it was proven. By the 24th C., it’s well established.

Some once thought the world was flat. Others that man could not fly, or break the sound barrier, or travel faster than light . . .

(Oops. Got a little ahead of myself there!)

– Harry

I thought we were still talking about Spock, Harry, and not quoting Sybok. ;)

I love me some starships and time travel stories! Things are looking up, kiddos.

And Anthony, I’d love to know how you get all this info out of your sources. You must have one persuasive personality.

I am so glad to read this!

I know some people want the whole ‘suprise’ thing and i respect that but this just makes me salivate!

only 11 months to wait

Finally, SOMETHING that we can use to calm our frayed nerves after a hard days work when we’re trying to go to sleep. Now I wish some of those movie bastiges would give us some more pictures.

I wish we got to see a huge epic Starfleet battle withthe Romulans involving a handful of ships.

Oh man a time traveling ship for Spock…

I never liked that in TOS, STIV + STVIII the Federation IS capable of timetravel without much of a problem.

Worst news so far on Trek 11 (for me).

This is not a time paradox story from the looks of it. If I read everything correctly, I see it in this fashion.

Spock goes back in time, creating Star Trek-B. All events thus from the point at which he comes back in time (including future JJ Abrams Star Trek films) would take place in Star Trek-B. It would allow for extracannonical changes that we’ll see.

If you check this out quickly you can get a smuggled look at the “time core” from Spock’s ship before the studio presumably swoops in:

http://www.bobsbits.tv/assets/images/gal_10.jpg

Oh, come on, Dennis. I mean, paging Senator Vreenak!

Very funny, Dennis :)

But if Spock had a TARDIS, that _would_ be pretty cool …

#16
I really hope that is a fake…

16

is that not a picture of the tardis?

16. Dennis Bailey – May 27, 2008
“If you check this out quickly you can get a smuggled look at the “time core” from Spock’s ship before the studio presumably swoops in:”

Wow… I didn’t know that GE made “time cores”.

‘Spock uses a Vulcan ship specifically built for time travel.’

this would seem to make the prospect of a TNG cameo less likely

Where’s the rinse cycle button?

This sounds great. Fantasic job, Anthony…

15. Son

I think others have also pointed out on past threads that everything post-First Contact (a la ST:ENT) takes place in an altered universe, e.g., 1) the presence of the crew from TNG during Cochran’s first warp flight, which some have conjectured influenced the naming of the first warp-5 ship as “Enterprise” (which past series never mentioned); and 2) the finding of Borg frozen on Earth in an episode of Enterprise (as a result of First Contact, effectively altering when the Borg first discover Earth (vis-a-vis their first introduction by Q).

I’m sure there are other examples that people can name.

Wow – major spoilers indeed! Spock a time ship?

Thank God! This dashes the Spock ghost in the future rumours that have been floating about!

You guys obviously know a lot more than you are letting on.

….the adventure continues….

“My friends took a ride on Spock’s Time Ship®, and all they brought me was this lousy t-shirt!”

#19
“I really hope that is a fake…”

Oh, it’s totally real. Fortunately, though it’s a one-man ship there’s plenty of room ’cause it’s bigger on the inside than the outside…

I was hoping they would of used “The Guardian” that would of been a good tie in.

So George Kirk is going to be Tahir’s first officer – bitchin’ news! I was wondering where Tahir was going to figure in the ST timeline. Wonder if poor George will be killed off in a space battle onboard the USS Kelvin. I love knowing that we will finally have some concrete canon insofar as Kirk’s father is concerned – there was just never enough background given for our favorite captain of all time. This new familial info will probably play a major role in young Kirk’s decision to attend Starfleet Academy and get into space where his father served (and perhaps died).

As for elder Spock’s Vulcan Time ship – hey, if Michael J. Fox can have a time-traveling Delorean, why would anyone begrudge our most beloved Vulcan his own time ship?! Only one thing needs to be changed – it needs to have an additional seat for me to sit in, as he will be traveling back in time far enough to knock at my door, pull me into his arms and hop back into the ship with me.

Spock’s time ship has four wheels, gull-wing doors and doesn’t time travel ’till it hits 88mph. The “time core” is known as the “flux capacitor” and can beat the flashing lamp off that old Tardis any day. Man, I’m tired of time travel… I defy any good sci-fi writer tio write a Star Trek story that equals The Wrath of Khan without using such a flimsy and sorely over-used plot device. Seems almost impossible, doesn’t it?

This sounds interesting. I wonder if, when in the time ship, Spock or someone else in the 23rd Century will mention how the Vulcan High Command in “Enterprise” said that time travel is impossible. This USS Kelvin sounds cool also. It’d be nice to see a design that was a combination of the NX-class from “Enterprise” and the new Constitution-class, just to have a “bridging the gap ship” so to speak between “Enterprise” and this.

Thank you, Anthony (you knew how excited we would become when you were writing this article, did you not – and thank your source for us as well).

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! I need to see costumes and ships!!!!!!!!!!! Please?

about time,now i thick it’s real,we wont see Shatner,but I cant wait to see this movie.

OK great that they discuss what the ship looks like, now when can we see the Bloody ship?! I thought they were gonna have a pic of it out soon!

I’m glad that a little more information is getting out, partly because it gives us a slight idea of how the plot might go (Vulcan time ship as opposed to GoF or slingshot effect). Of course, this will do nothing to quench fans’ thirst for pictures. I don’t think we’ll see anything before ComicCon in July. Maybe they’re saving it until then for the big Enterprise reveal.

Hey, since Spock has a time ship, why doesn’t he go and keep Shatner/Kirk from getting killed after he stops the Romulans from killing Pine/Kirk? There, and nobody could come up with a scenario where Shatner could be in the new movie? What, the time travel ship is not re-usable?

I’m getting sick of coming to this site and hearing about Science Friday, and rehashes of old news…

GET ME SOME PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice to hear someting news from Star Trek XI, still one thing is still sure. William Shatner is not on it :)

SWEET!!!

This bodes well for the possibility of some nice ILM-Trek Space Battle(s)!!!

ARRRR!!!!

In book cannon George Kirk was chief security officer aboard Captain April’s Enterprise at one time. Ultimately he was lost in space aboard a starship that disappeared…his fate unkown.

Thanks, Anthony. A spoiler worth spoilin’ for, indeed.

I loves me some good starships, I does.

#31—I don’t feel that it is overused at all with the original characters. It may have been POORLY used on occasion, but if done well, it can be quite enjoyable. Of the existing 6 original Trek movies, it was only used once, and in 79 original episodes, I can only recall 3 which involve any type of time travel. So correct me if I’m wrong, but there are only 4 total time travel stories involving the original characters, despite 79 episodes and 6 movies. That is less than 5% of the time. Overused? I can only assume that you are referring to its more frequent use in the spinoffs and TNG-era movies.

#32—I seem to recall either Abrams, Orci, or Lindelof saying that they would acknowledge ENT. How they will do so? Who knows? I do like your idea of showing a fusion of NX and Constitution class in the USS Kelvin, though.

AP, I have mixed reactions about the spoilers here. We’re all dying to know, of course, but this early in the game it almost seems irresponsible for you to have revealed this much….

Reminds me of the classic Van Halen song, “Can’t Get This Stuff No More” in which David Lee tells us about his date with a supermodel… then rhymes something with “steak and potatos are better in a bucket”.

That’s the thing about self-improvement – don’t get me wrong, I plan to get some soon. Outside the wire, somethings movin’… The barn burnt down, now I can see the moon. A slice at time, like a pizza pie… You serve up the truth, I don’t want it anymore. Keep that in mind, when we say goodbye… cause you can’t get this stuff no more…..

There’s only one first time, fellas.

=h=

Dennis, that’s clearly poached technology from the Tardis.

I’m all for the new ship, but I wonder why they chose the name “Kelvin?”…….

* Isn’t that the name of the By Any Other Name species, & planet?

Either that or…………..

Its a tempature designation. I remember Spock, or one of the TOS characters once talking about something reaching “X ” Kelvin degrees.

38. Negotiator – May 27, 2008
Hey, since Spock has a time ship, why doesn’t he go and keep Shatner/Kirk from getting killed after he stops the Romulans from killing Pine/Kirk? There, and nobody could come up with a scenario where Shatner could be in the new movie? What, the time travel ship is not re-usable?”

Correct

Lord Kelvin was the mad man who had many conspiracy theories and kooky ideas who none the less was the father of MANY scientific methods and theories we still use today. Including the temperature scale Kelvin.

Kelvin is a system of temperature where 0 degrees = absolute 0 or -273 degrees C. The freezing point of water is right around 273 degrees Kelvin and 1 degree Kelven = 1 degree C.

Oh, and regarding the Tardis, so he’s Dr. Spock now? (sorry, I just couldn’t resist.)