Forum:Why are there Vulcan ships if they are part of Starfleet?

The only race that I know of that continues to use race-specific ships in the federation up to (and probably beyond) VOY are the Vulcans. In ENT there are Tellurite and Andoran ships (since it's before their membership) but in TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY there are only Federation vessels except for Vulcans AFAIK. Anyone know why there are no Andoran ships in Starfleet for example? --83.233.114.203 21:27, December 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * I assume by "Vulcan ships" you mean ships staffed by only Vulcans(like the Intrepid and T'Kumbra). Or do you mean Vulcan defense vessels? Just because it wasn't said that other races had ships like that, doesn't mean they don't.  We just haven't seen them.--31dot 21:31, December 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you mean just ships in general? Because I would assume that every Federation member has its own civilian ships, which we know Vulcan has. --Golden Monkey 20:07, December 11, 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking on the vulcan vessels that departed to the gamma quadrant in VOY. As quoted from Vulcan article on memory alpha "Today, Vulcan remains one of the principal Federation members, and is deeply involved in all levels of that society. Their tradition of exploration has continued; in the 24th century, a Vulcan ship was the first to make formal contact with a Gamma Quadrant civilization, upon encountering the Wadi. (DS9: "Move Along Home") They were at the forefront of exploration in the Gamma Quadrant, encountering the Rakhari and finding the remains of the Hur'q civilization. (DS9: "Vortex", "The Sword of Kahless")". It states specifically "Vulcan ship" and that's where my question originated from. 83.233.114.203 18:39, December 26, 2009 (UTC)
 * Gotcha. :) Just because a race joins the Federation does not mean that they surrender their right to either operate their own ships, or the right of their citizens to operate their own ships. Vulcans are often scientists and exploring space furthers that science, which is why their ships went to the Gamma Quadrant.--31dot 00:49, December 27, 2009 (UTC)