Well, I’ve been on a bit of a starship binge lately so let’s have a look at another legacy
name with a lineage all of its own, like the Enterprise. This time, let’s look at the
USS Farragut. The Farrgut is one constant vessel name it seems, a legacy that begins
in the 1800s. As usual, this video will contain a lot of memory beat content.
Starfleet’s Farragut was named after naval vessels of United States Navy from as early
as the 19th century. The first seems to have been a Torpedo boat and it was named after
a David Farragut from the American Civil War. During World War 1, there was a Clemson-Class
Destroyer of the same name. During the Second World War, there was a USS Farragut that was
eventually decommissioned. June 1957 saw the emergence of the Farragut Class Destroyer,
one of which bore the name and as of recording, there is a Arleigh-Burke class USS Farragut
DDG-99. It seems like there has been very little time
in recent history where there wasn’t a vessel with the name, and this continues into the
fictional future of Star Trek. One of the twelve constitution class vessel
was named the USS Farrgut and constructed around the same time as the first five of
her ilk, including the Hood, Constitution and Enterprise. She was active by 2247 and
given the registry NCC-1702. Some references list it with the number 1647, however so far,
the constitution ships are generally 1700s, and so 1702 makes more sense. Its first captain
was Nechama Rabin but by 2254 it had changed hands to Captain Stephen Garrovick. Lieutenant
James T. Kirk took the position of phaser operator marking it as his first deep space
vessel. In 2257, Captain Garrovick was killed in action
above Tycho IV and command fell to the next highest available officer, Kirk. He returned
the vessel to the nearest Federation Starbase for repairs. Before it could be effectively
returned to service however it came under attack once again from an extradimensional
creature and in order to save the 200 crewmembers, the saucer was detached and the primary hull
destructed. A second constitution vessel was launched
sometime in the 2260s and also called the USS Farragut with a new registry of NCC-1729.
This ship had the first captain of Kelly Bogle who was replaced in 2268 by Captain Philips.
As part of the final Constitution refit that occurred in the 2270s, the Farragut was brought
in for extensive overhaul but disappeared shortly after. By the time it was found again
in unknown circumstance, the Constitution’s time in the spotlight had passed and it was
assigned to the new Federation member world, Magna Roma and rechristened the USS Centurion.
Sometime after the vessel’s disappearance, an Excelsior class USS Farragut with the early
registry NCC-2021 was launched, but not much of this vessel is known but it likely operated
into the early 24th century. The next ship of this legacy we see is the
USS Farragut, NCC-60597. This was a Nebula class vessel. As such, it had extensive utility
thanks to this class’ large array mounted atop the vessel. This module was interchangeable
among the Nebula class, from enhanced scanners to a tactical variety that was essentially
a large weapons platform. The Farragut was the latter, continuing the tradition of it
being a warship of sorts. But totally not because Starfleet doesn’t do warships. Just
science vessels with planet levelling arsenals strapped to their back.
It seemed be utilised in several rescue operations in its lifetime, once in 2369 where it and
several other vessel responded to help the refugees from abandoned Cardassian camps,
Cardassian and Bajoran alike. It also responded to the crash of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D
to evacuate the survivors. In the Klingon-Federation tensions that led
up to the Dominion War in 2373, the USS Farragut was destroyed in an ambush in the Lembatta
Cluster. That same year, a brand new vessel bore the
name. This was another Excelsior class vessel. Huh, look I love the Excelsior, but that does
seem like a bit of a step backwards… Well, turns out this vessel, registry NCC-2582 was
in reservation as a cadet training vessel, much as the original enterprise had been at
the end of its career. It was the emergence of the Dominion threat that made Starfleet
turn to reactivating older vessels, upgrading and sending them to the front in an effort
to bolster the fleet. This was the fate of the “new” USS Farragut which eventually
served as the flagship of Admiral William Ross.
These ships seem to have one constant in common. Battle. Named for a lineage of contemporary
destroyers, the Constitution class was attacked twice in quick succession, the Nebulae class
was a casualty of war and the final Excelsior class saw use as a flagship in the final assault
on Cardassia Prime. It seems that whenever firepower is needed, a Farragut isn’t too
far away. Thanks for watching this light lore video
on another of Star Trek’s legacy vessels and as usual, if you have another ship name
you want me to investigate, the comments section or smoke signals are usually a good way to
get my attention. Until the next video, I’ve been Ric and I’ll see you later. Good hunting.