The USS AKULA was conceived out of a background of Naval Service and that original 1999 conception has stuck with every MMO since.
A coincidence that Star Trek Expanded Canon includes "USS Akula (NCC-1090) was an Akyazi-class perimeter action ship on active duty in Starfleet during at least the late 23rd century. It was the lead ship and a prototype for the Akula subclass of perimeter action ships. The subclass featured an extended deflector pod beneath the superstructure of the ship."
As a Former Naval Aviator, I flew helicopters for 10 years. One of our primary duties was Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). For some reason, I took great interest in the name of the USSR Attack Sub (SSN) Akula Class, the Russian name for "Shark." I named one of my Siberian Huskies after it and took it as my name in EQ for a brief time then permanently starting in Dark Age of Camelot (Midgard.) The Red Shark Fin was appropriate as a Russian Shark so it became my logo. The Hull Number, NCC-6612, is representative of my birthdate, December (1st), 1966.
The Latin Phrase, Ex Scientia Tridens means literally "From Knowledge, Seapower." As a Naval Officer it hits close to home, but even more so as it is the Motto of the U.S. Naval Academy!
I was under the impression that Akulax was a Submarine Guy, the Akula, the Red Shark Fin, hunt for Red October kinda stuff. I wanted the patch to look like a an instrument on a U-boat, thus the metal finishings, dark background, the bubble instrument tic marks. I created 28 red shark fins ( a 4 compass point multiple of 7 ) and floated it on top of the display panel, compass like. I felt the thin gold rails gave it a feel of swiss craftsmanship and precision. The font looked aquatic.
_________________ Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
I'm a bit of a history buff. The character name I've chosen, Myles Keogh, was a highly-decorated civil war officer, and member of the 7th Cavalry. Captain Keogh fought fiercely and bravely during the Battle of the Little Big Horn, but was killed along with more than 200 of his fellow troopers on June 25th, 1876.
Keogh's chosen mount was "Comanche" - a mustang that fought with him through several indian war engagements. Comanche was wounded on several occasions, but always carried Keogh through the battle.
When reinforcements arrived at Little Big Horn, they found Comanche barely alive, suffering from multiple bullet and arrow wounds. It's often touted that Comanche was the only US survivor of the main engagement of the battle. In fact, there were a handful of other US mounts that did 'survive' the battle, but were shot on the battlefield when found a few days later.
Comanche was nursed back to health and was subsequently highly decorated by the US Army. He spent the remainder of his life as a mascot at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was one of only two cavalry horses to be given full military honors upon death.
Comanche was preserved in 1890 and can still be seen at the University of Kansas' Natural History Museum in Lawrence, Kansas.
I saw Comanche for the first time as a child, and was instantly fascinated by his story, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. I finally made the trip to Montana a few years ago, and walked the path that the battle took. It was well worth the trip.
The ship patch that Admiral Turner has created honors the real history of Comanche, Myles Keogh and the 7th Cavalry. The patch's shape reflects a swallow-tailed guidon - a small flag or 'standard' commonly carried into battle indicating a particular company or regiment. The two interior colors - red and white - were used on guidons carried by the 7th Cavalry.
The 7th Fleet's logo features prominently, as does a horseshoe which symbolizes Comanche's role as a cavalry mount. The nine holes on the horseshoe signify the 9th letter of the alphabet - "I" - which represents I Company.
The patch has two sets of seven stars. The seven stars on the left signify the past - the 7th Cavalry. The seven stars on the right signify the future - the 7th Fleet.
The Latin motto - "Ad Astra Per Aspera" translates as "To the Stars Through Difficulties". I thought it a fitting motto given the history represented in the patch as well as the hopeful future that Star Trek symbolizes.
Being a Space nut that I am, and the fact that I would give anything to travel into space, especially when the Shuttle program got started back in the late 70's early 80's was one of the reasons that I chose the Challenger. The other reason, is my mom was a teacher most of her life before she retired. So I thought I would honor both my passions at one time.
This design was easy for me, I fashioned it after the shape of the original Challenger patch. The 7 stars represent the 7 astonauts lost on that last mission STS-51-L, & the apple represents the Teacher in Space Project.
STS-51-L crew - Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight.
I am proud to have researched the history of this ship, her history is long and service distinguished .
The Saratoga was named after the battle near Saratoga New York, (September 19 and October 7, 1777) conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American Revolutionary War.
The first ship to bear the name Saratoga was launched in 1780 and was lost the following year.
The Saratoga was laid down on 7 March 1814, launched on 11 April 1814 She was a corvette class and was instrumental in the fleet actions on Lake Champlain.
Her keel was laid down in the summer of 1841 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 26 July 1842 and commissioned on 4 January 1843. She served in the following fleet actions and squadrons. Africa, Brazil, Home and East India. She served in the Mexican-American war, American Civil war and served as escort and guard in the Caribbean West Africa. She ended her days as training ship.
USS Saratoga (ACR-2), a later name for cruiser USS New York (ACR-2)
USS Saratoga (CV-3) was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the fifth ship to bear her name. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, Lexington, which is the third actually commissioned after Langley and Saratoga. As Saratoga was visually identical to Lexington, her funnel was painted with a large black vertical stripe to assist pilots in recognizing her. This identifying mark earned her the nickname "Stripe-Stacked Sara." During this incarnation of the Saratoga she played major roles in supporting fleet actions of WWII. She served as resupply ship for other carriers in bringing their fighter squads back to full strength. Saratoga received seven battle stars for her World War II service.
The CV-60 is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War. She was launched on 8 October 1955 and served until August 4 1994 when she was decommissioned.
Star Trek Ships bearing the name of Saratoga
USS Saratoga NCC-1867 Disabled by alien probe
USS Saratoga NCC-31911 Ship aboard which Benjamin Sisko serves as first officer[51]. Destroyed at the Battle of Wolf 359.
USS Saratoga NCC-31911-A Replaced above Saratoga, Little else known
Excalbur class. USS Saratoga #NCC 94550 Commander Deven Scott commanding . She is a nobel ship with a proud history serving the 7th fleet, Invictus Gallus Gladiator !
Works Cited
wikipedia.org
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Resist when surrounded, Fight when you have to, And obey orders explicitly when in danger.
USS Massachusetts (NCC-95959), known as "Big Mamie" to her crewmembers during earth World War II and continued with its christening. She is the second ship of the United Federation of Planets to be named in honor of the sixth state of the former United State of America.
During The Dominion War Massachusetts was initially assigned to duty in the Bajoran System, and exchanged shots with Jem'Hadar battleship during Operation Torch. Transferred to the 7th fleet in 2409, Massachusetts participated in the Klingon Raid campaign and the Borg Campaign, and in the latter campaign took part in the Battle of Wolf359 for search and rescue. In 2375 she was one of several ships assigned to bombard targets on planet Chin'toka, one of the Cardassian Home Worlds.
The Patch represents the Minutemen that were members of teams of select men from the American colonial militia during the ancient American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to threats of fellow soldiers in the war, hence the name.
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"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his."
- George S. Patton
"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."
- Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
One of the most famous names on the Starfleet register is U.S.S. Hood. The current U.S.S. Hood, NCC 2541, is an Excelsior class starship launched in 2287. Hood underwent a period of extensive testing with the experimental Transwarp drive before finally being commissioned on stardate 8457.5. Her motto is taken from HMS Hood and is 'Ventis Secundis' meaning 'With favourable winds'. This Hood was launched during the time which NX 2000 Excelsior was still undergoing testing with her revolutionary new Transwarp drive. Hood was originally designed to incorporate the Transwarp drive, but initial testing revealed problems. By the 2290s, Hood had been converted to conventional warp drive and had taken her rightful place as one of the new vanguard exploratory vessels, pushing back the boundaries of the final frontier.
The first commanding officer of this new Excelsior class U.S.S. Hood was Captain Thomas Saunders. Saunders had been the Executive Officer aboard the old Constitution class U.S.S. Hood and was continuing the "family line" of the Hood. Saunders requested and received Commander Richard Hawkins from the Excelsior. Hawkins had extensive knowledge of the Transwarp system aboard the Excelsior, NX 2000 and was a little bitter with Captain Styles for replacing him with Captain Mongomery Scott for a period in 2285. Hawkins soon joined the Hood as her Chief Engineer - determined not only to whip the Transwarp drive into operational condition, but to deliberately exceed all the standards set by the Excelsior. Hawkins was on his last 5 years as a Starfleet officer before retirement and was determined to go out on the Hood: this was family.
With the declaration of Transwarp drive as a failure, both Excelsior and Hood were converted back to standard warp drive - some argue that the Hood never was actually fitted with Transwarp drive. The Hood then went on to a successful 5-year deep space mission of exploration and diplomacy, attaining First Contact with 2 races and discovering over a dozen new sentient forms of life.
Captain Matthew Tovey took command of the Hood on stardate 9523.5. The Hood was launched from spacedock after the reports on the explosion at Praxis first reached Starfleet Headquarters. Hood was sent to Starbase 24 as a back-up should the Enterprise-A not be ready. After the arrest of Captain James T. Kirk and Doctor Leonard H. McCoy, Hood was sent to find the Enterprise-A but was 'unable to locate her'. By stardate 11222.5, USS Hood was the flagship of Admiral Matthew Tovey and the Second Fleet. The Hood operates from Starbase 77, currently the closest starbase to the Klingon border. Shortly after this, Hood was put in for SLEP refit at starbase 11, with Excelsior class U.S.S. Albion taking over the role of flagship for the 2nd Fleet.
As of Stardate 11733, U.S.S. Hood was two thirds the way through her Service Life Extension Programme. The modifications should see the Hood well into the twenty-fourth century. Admiral Tovey transferred the Hood back to the 2nd Fleet on stardate 11793.5 once Albion's refit was completed. U.S.S. Hood is now under the command of Captain Christa Peel and once more is assigned to 'boldly go....'.
U.S.S. Hood is currently assigned to Starbase 77 and the Forward-deployed task group of 'Force H'. Hood is the flagship for Commodore Maxwell Buckingham, commanded by Christa Peel. The Hood is there to explore the Nirophian Corridor and unexplored space that lies beyond. Hood shares this duty with sister ships Albion, Fearless and later to be joined by the new Endeavour. With the state-of-the-art command and control flag facilities aboard the Hood, Buckingham is able to use her as a mobile command platform to control starship operations through the Corridor.
The previous starship Hood.
Constitution class NCC 1703, was launched on March 27th 2246 - 330 years after the commencement of construction on her namesake, HMS Hood. Hood was constructed at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards and is the sister ship of the famous USS Enterprise 1701. The first Commanding Officer was Captain Richard Blake.
Like her other Constitution class sisters, Hood revolutionised the Starfleet. In 2260, when the 12 were selected, Hood was one of the first selected for the 5-year missions. Hood's 5 year mission began in 2266, 20 years after her launch. Whilst the U.S.S. Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk grabbed the headlines as Flagship of the Fleet, Hood was always a close second under Captain Emma Roberts.
Stardate 4210 saw the Hood redirected from it's supply mission to Science Station Delta Zero Five and instead directed to Starbase 10. At Starbase 10 Federation Representative St. John Talbot boarded. U.S.S. Hood then led a fleet of Federation colony ships to Nimbus III, where they rendez voused with their Klingon and Romulan counterparts.
The Enterprise, under James T. Kirk, had encountered 'complications' involving Klingons on the planet Neural. First officer Spock had been injured and thus the Enterprise was taken off this high-profile mission and the second ship of the fleet, Hood, was substituted at the last moment.
Stardate 4729.4: Hood under Captain Roberts was diverted to rendez vous with the U.S.S. Potemkin, U.S.S. Excalibur and flagship U.S.S. Lexington. Together, the four ships would perform wargames against the starship Enterprise, equipped with the new M-5 computer. The Hood was fired upon by the Enterprise during the disasterous M-5 computer trials. Along with USS Potemkin and U.S.S. Lexington, the Hood suffered casualties. The U.S.S. Excalibur was not as lucky, her crew all being killed and the ship reduced to a floating hulk. The U.S.S. Hood had to report to starbase for repairs lasting months. The paperwork following this disaster lasted even longer, involving a formal inquiry.
The refit would allow U.S.S. Hood to remain in service for longer than expected. However, the incident also highlighted the encroaching age of the design. Plans were already afoot to redesign the Constitution class starships. The Enterprise was to be the first ship back into spacedock. Constitution herself suffering badly during her five-year mission [Author's note: possibly even destroyed if the publicity material suggesting Enterprise was the only vessel to survive the 5-year mission. But I'd take that with a pinch of salt].
The Hood's uniform insignia continued in use after the uniform change, until it was superceded in 2277. This is the command white version.USS Hood as refit during the 2270s.In the early 2273 the refit of Hood was brought forward when the V'ger Crisis of stardate 7411 occured. Captain Emma Roberts order the ship at maximum warp for as long as possible in order to try to assist the Enterprise. Hood was almost shaken apart by the exertion, her Chief Engineering Officer, Lieutenant Commander Hawkins, was heard swearing from one end of Engineering to the other as his beloved starship was strained to breaking point. Hood never participated in the crisis itself, but arrived at Earth barely 40 hours after Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise had saved the day. Hood limped into San Francisco Orbital Yards looking the worse for wear.
Despite being offered a promotion to flag rank, as had happened with James T. Kirk, Captain Emma Roberts declined. She saw herself in the command chair of the Hood for another five-year mission, and no amount of bribery from Starfleet Headquarters would change this. Captain Roberts managed to keep most of her crew for the second mission, although Commander Singh was promoted for his own command, and she The Hood's new uniform insignia in 2273. This is the engineering red version, as worn by Chief Engineer Hawkins in 2273.lost her Chief Engineer - Commander Richard Hawkins - for a brief stint on the U.S.S. Potemkin, although this wasn't to last as he wanted to return to his 'home' on the 'Mighty Hood '.
The Hood was involved in some classified clashes with the Romulans during the late 2270s, rumours abounded that she even fired upon a Romulan Warbird. Commodore Emma Roberts was succeeded in 2280 by Captain Elizabeth Buckingham. Captain Buckingham was well schooled in diplomacy and was involved in a memorable encounter with Klingon Captain Koloth. The exchange between the captains is often played at Starfleet Academy as an example of the linguistic sword-play that can occur in deep space.
Author's Notes on the starships Hood:
Little is actually known in canon Star Trek history about the starships named Hood. There have been two - Constitution class NCC 1703, U.S.S. Hood and later in Star Trek: The Next Generation we were introduced to an Excelsior class U.S.S. Hood. The first ship named Hood appeared once as a squadron of Constitution class vessels fought the M-5 computer equipped Enterprise. The Potemkin, Lexington and Hood were all badly damaged in the exercise, with the Excalibur being tragically lost. The history concerning the refit of the Hood in the 2270s is based upon conjecture. Established Trek art department notes infer that the Constitution class were all refit after the 2260s, Hood was therefore part of this programme. A Service Life Extension Programme [SLEP] is standard procedure for naval warships of a certain age. Iowa Class battleships and various classes of aircraft carrier [e.g. Essex class] have also undergone such programmes.
U.S.S. Hood model being prepared for 'Encounter at Farpoint'. Her registry number is now known to have been NCC 2541.The latter Hood, as seen in ST: The Next Generation, was the previous assignment of Commander William T. Riker before he joined the Enterprise-D. No launch date has ever been officially established for the Excelsior class Hood, but the registry number, and configuration of the studio model, would suggest somepoint around the time of Excelsior in her NX 2000 incarnation. The reason for this is due to the discovery of photographs of the Hood model from "Encounter at Farpoint", disproving the long-held belief that the Hood was NCC 42296. The actual model [whose registry is far too small to read onscreen] is actually NCC 2541. The belief that this was not changed for filming is supported by the next appearance of the Excelsior studio model which was dressed up as U.S.S. Repulse NCC 2544, which would require only the simple change of the final digit in the registry number. The appearance of the Hood in DS9 as a CGI model had the incorrect registry number of 42857 - same as the U.S.S. Lakota - in error. It is therefore quite possible that except for Mike Okuda's displays, we have never seen a Hood registered as NCC 42296. The Memory Alpha website attempts to reconcile this anomaly by stating that there were two canon U.S.S. Hoods and the NCC 2541 therefore was an anomaly in filming. Given what happened with the U.S.S. Valkyrie this will probably turn into a semi-canon unseen Hood from somewhere between 2287 and 2361.
The Excelsior class Hood was commanded by Captain Robert DeSoto, and was seen in the episodes Tin Man, Encounter at Farpoint and was referred to on various occasions. The Hood was originally intended to appear in 'Encounter at Farpoint' as an Ambassador class starship, and it is therefore possible that the errant registry number of NCC 42296 was given to this vessel in anticipation of it being Ambassador class. The U.S.S. Hood appeared as a CGI model during the dramatic sixth season of Deep Space Nine, appearing in many of the decisive space battles of that series. Hood's last mention was as part of the squadron of starships racing to assist Picard's Enterprise-E against the Remans in Star Trek: Nemesis.
Author's Notes on the namesake for the starships Hood:
The namesake for U.S.S. Hood in the Original Series of Star Trek was the battlecruiser H.M.S. Hood, laid down on the day of the Battle of Jutland. Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy between the two World Wars. Hood was truly the flagship of the fleet, and it was a dramatic encounter between this legend and her nemesis, Bismarck, that placed her in the annals of history. During the fateful encounter between H.M. warships Hood, Prince of Wales and the German battleship Bismarck, a shell from the Bismarck pierced the armour of the Hood, destroying her in two dramatic explosions. Hood sank in barely three minutes, taking with her all but three of her crew. It is safe to state that the United Kingdom was in mourning and a state of utter shock and disbelief when the news was broken. It was after the destruction of H.M.S. Hood that the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered every warship available to sink the Bismarck. In a matter of days this was done, and a chapter of naval history was written.
H.M.S. Hood was discovered on Friday 20th July 2001. Hood lies in three major pieces, the central portion lies inverted some distance away from the bow and stern. A memorial service was held by the final survivor of the Hood, Ted Briggs. To the left is an image of the bow section of the Hood, where the memorial plaque now lies. H.M.S. Hood is a designated war grave and it is the hope of the author of this website that the Hood is respected and left in peace. Click on the image of the Hood's bow to visit the website of the H.M.S. Hood association with all the information on the 20th century Hood that one could want.
"Attention crew of the star ship Bomhomme Richard."
"It is my greatest honor to lead you into the unkown, as part of The 7th Fleet. There are many captains giving this same speech to their crews, but perhaps fewer will have the same pride that we hold for our fleet."
"I have attached to your personal logs, a brief history of the origin of our ship's name: USS Bonhomme Richard NCC 9-1779-A"
Quote:
The first USS Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a frigate in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones on 4 February 1779, by King Louis XVI of France as a result of a loan to the United States by French shipping magnate, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray.
Jones renamed her Bon Homme Richard - usually rendered in more correct French as Bonhomme Richard, to honor Benjamin Franklin, the American Commissioner at Paris whose almanac, Poor Richard's Almanac had been published in France under the title Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.[1]
On 19 June 1779, Bonhomme Richard sailed from Lorient accompanied by Alliance, Pallas, Vengeance, and Cerf with troop transports and merchant vessels under convoy to Bordeaux and to cruise against the British in the Bay of Biscay. Forced to return to port for repair, the squadron sailed again 14 August 1779. Going northwest around the west coast of the British Isles into the North Sea and then down the east coast the squadron took 16 merchant vessels as prizes.
On 23 September 1779, they encountered the Baltic Fleet of 41 sail under convoy of HMS Serapis (44) and Countess of Scarborough (22) near Flamborough Head. After 18:00 Bonhomme Richard engaged Serapis and a bitter engagement, the Battle of Flamborough Head, ensued during the next four hours that cost the lives of nearly half the American and British crews. At first, a British victory seemed inevitable as the more heavily armed Serapis used its superior firepower to rake Bonhomme Richard with devastating effect, killing Americans by the score. The Commanding Officer of the Serapis then called on Jones to surrender, who replied, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones eventually succeeded in lashing the two ships together, nullifying his opponent's greater maneuverability and attempting to take advantage of the larger size and considerably greater crew of the Bonhomme Richard. An attempt by the Americans to board Serapis was repulsed, as was an attempt by the British to board Bonhomme Richard. Finally, after another of Jones's squadron joined in the fight (uncaringly causing serious collateral damage aboard the Richard) the British captain surrendered at about 10.30pm. Bonhomme Richard, shattered, on fire, and leaking badly defied all efforts to save her and sank at 11:00 on 25 September 1779. John Paul Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the United Provinces for repairs.
"I welcome the follwing and introduce the following command staff to our ship."
"As a final note, it is a dangerous place out in the frontiers of space. The Federation and the Klingon Empire are at war. So we shall set forth into the unknown with these words on our lips, or in our minds....
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