USS Eagle

The USS Eagle (NCC-956) was a Federation starship that was in service with Starfleet in the late 23rd century.

The Eagle, along with the USS Excelsior and the USS Potemkin (NCC-1657), was selected for the primary operational phase of the abandoned assault code-named Operation Retrieve, which would have rescued Captain James Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy from Rura Penthe in 2293. According to the plans, the Eagle was to provide protection on the Potemkin's port flank as this ship retrieved the two Starfleet officers.

At the time of the operation's proposal, the Eagle was conducting a colony re-supply mission in Sector 22858. 

Background
This starship and registry were not referenced in dialog. This vessel appeared in the plans for Operation Retrieve presented by Colonel West. Save for the USS Excelsior, the Eagle and five other starships were graphically represented by the silhouette of a movie era refit  vessel.

From this, the Star Trek Encyclopedia listed the ship as a Constitution-class vessel.

An unseen element from the Operation Retrieve charts included a list of starships, their registries and their commanders. According to this list, the Eagle was commanded by K. Garretson. 

The Eagle was originally one of the names proposed by Robert Justman on a preliminary ship's name list for use in The Original Series to which he annotated, "I think there would be several other candidates, such as Saratoga and perhaps another English carrier, a French carrier, a Russian carrier and certainly a Japanese carrier." Had his suggestion made the final list, the British would have footed the bill. (The Making of Star Trek, p.165)

Apocrypha
The non-canonical Star Fleet Technical Manual lists the USS Eagle as a Constitution-class starship, with the registry NCC-1719.

The Andorians: Among the Clans by S. John Ross featured a listing of a Constitution-class USS Eagle with the registry NCC-956 listed in the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the chart seen the Federation President's office in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In the Andorian language invented by Ross it was known as the USS Atlirith (an Andorian eagle).

External link


USS Eagle U.S.S. "Eagle" NCC-956