Uh, newest SNW episode spoilers I guess.
In “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” we are introduced to James Kirk, captain of the UEF Enterprise. This prefix is visible on the dedication plaque when La’an arrives on the bridge.
Curiously, later in the episode when La’an asks Kirk where he was born he says the USS Iowa.
What gives? Was the Iowa was a cargo ship? Maybe in this timeline, “USS” stands for “United Shipping Service.” Or perhaps at some point, UEF ships did use the prefix and they changed it because the wanted “Earth” more clearly in the identifier.
What do you think?
Just had this discussion in my annotations post. My take is that it’s a civilian ship, as you suggest. Not necessary a cargo freighter, just not part of the United Earth Fleet.
It could be a US ship. Perhaps the civilian ships retain their national status and only the military is unified under the United Earth Fleet.
Does it make sense to have ships from a specific country when earth IS, according to Kirk, a complete wasteland?
Maybe their space fleets are all that is left of those specific countries? Maybe they were maintained in service with the vague idea of being a “government in exile” (or “society in exile”) before eventually uniting as “United Earth”, but purely in space.
What gives? Was the Iowa was a cargo ship? Maybe in this timeline, “USS” stands for “United Shipping Service.” Or perhaps at some point, UEF ships did use the prefix and they changed it because the wanted “Earth” more clearly in the identifier.
Maybe it’s a case of Starfleet vs United Earth? There was a rebranding sometime down the line, similar to how Earth is one of the few Federation powers that doesn’t maintain its own spacefaring force.
Does it make sensé to have ships from country when earth IS a complété wasteland apparently?
We do not know when the UEF was formed. It could be a relatively new initiative having taken longer to get started without the help of the Vulcans. The USS Iowa is a United States Starship whereas the UEF Enterprise is the United Earth Fleet ship. Sometime between Kirk’s birth and the ‘present’ Earth was finally able to form a central government (or at least a centrally organized spacefleet) under one banner.
