USS Exeter (NCC-1672)

USS Exeter (NCC-1672)

The USS Exeter was a Constitution-class heavy cruiser in service in the 23rd century, commanded by Captain Ronald Tracey.

In 2267, the Exeter was on a mission patrolling the region surrounding the Omega system. While arranging preparations for a planetary survey of Omega IV, with the village elders, Tracey and his landing party contracted an unknown bacteriological disease. When the landing party, sans Tracey, transported back to the Exeter, they infected the entire crew. Tracey was able to survive due to remaining on the planet's surface where a natural immunization to the disease occurred due to the planet's atmosphere.

Six months later, after Starfleet lost contact with the Exeter, the USS Enterprise was dispatched to locate the missing ship. The Enterprise would discover the undamaged and apparently deserted Exeter in orbit of planet Omega IV; the ship's complement of four shuttlecraft was still present in the hangar deck. When boarded, the ship's helm was found left on automatic and the entire crew of 400 were found dead, in the form of dehydrated crystals.

Upon reviewing the final log entry made by the ship's chief medical officer, Dr. Carter, it was discovered that the crew had died as a result of contamination from the, otherwise undetected, bacteriological disease. Captain Tracey would be located on the planet's surface, and eventually arrested for violating the Federation's Prime Directive. (TOS: "The Omega Glory")

Exeter personnel

• See: USS Exeter personnel

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Appendices

File:Logo USS Exeter (NCC-1672).PNG

Assignment patch of the USS Exeter

Background

The registry of the Exeter is stated as being NCC-1672 in the Star Trek Encyclopedia. It was not derived from any filmed episode or script, but was devised after the run of the Star Trek series by writers associated with later productions.

The Exeter was listed in Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual under the registry NCC-1706. While the number derived by studio sources is more accepted, it is inconsistent in that it precedes the registry of what some consider the prototype of this class, the USS Constitution NCC-1700, causing many to prefer the older, dis-proven, Technical Manual interpretation. See the Constitution-class article for further information on the studio's position on these conflicting registries.

According to the Star Trek Compendium, an early draft of the script described the ship as the USS Argentina.

This vessel may be named either for several sailing vessels named HMS Exeter and serving in Earth's British navy, or they may be named for the city Exeter in that country.

Exeter's dedication plaque on the Bridge is quite a bit larger than the ones on the Enterprise or the USS Defiant.

Apocrypha

It is not clear what was going to happen to the Exeter after the episode. It was probably decontaminated and returned to service, but there's no evidence that this was the case. In the non-canon web-based Fan film "Starship Exeter," the Exeter is refitted and placed under the command of Captain John Quincy Garrovick for future adventures.

This episode was recreated by GAF as a three disc steroscopic View-master presentation. A booklet recounting the story accompanied the discs, but it was not completely faithful to the shooting script. A "Lieutenant Raintree" is featured, and he was killed in the same manner as Lt. Galloway; "Phil Raintree" was a character in an early draft of this script, one being considered for filming as the second pilot.