10 Times Star Trek Reused Ships And Hoped You Wouldn’t Notice
Star Trek thought these ship designs were so nice that they used them twice!
Have you ever been halfway through an episode of Star Trek and then thought to yourself - hold on, I've seen that somewhere before, haven't I? Well, don't worry, you're not losing your mind. Reusing ship designs is almost as old as the franchise itself. Back in The Original Series days, it seemed as though there was only one set of blueprints that Starfleet owned, not to mention their enemies also.
The sheer number of designers who have worked behind the scenes on Star Trek is staggering, as is their output. It would then be such a shame if their unusual ships-of-the-week only saw airtime for a scant few minutes in one episode - thus, creativity is born.
Let us also bear in mind the demanding timeframes of television. Back in the day, upwards of twenty episodes a season was the norm, so staying on top of new designs every week was no mean feat. In fact, one of the entries on this list even borrowed a design from another property altogether, but more on that later.
See how many of these ships you knew were reuses, and let us know if there's any you think we missed!
10. Romulan Scout Ship/Science Vessel/Nerada
The Romulan Scout Ship was designed by Rick Sternbach, debuting in The Defector. The design was based on Andrew Probert's earlier D'deridex-class Warbird, echoing the green colour scheme, wing span, and forward module. This initial design was more obviously a small support vessel, evidenced by the cockpit windows at the front.
The Next Phase would then introduce the Romulan Science Vessel. For this, the studio model was altered, with the forward module being changed, and the more obvious cockpit design removed. At the aft of the ship, a hammerhead-style crescent was added, this time serving as a section similar to the sensor pod on a Nebula-class ship.
The ship would then return in Favorite Son. This time, the only significant change was to the colour of the ship, switching from green to brown.
Sternbach himself was less than thrilled with the model's continual changes, lamenting that once the designs left his desk, he had no control over what happened to them. When it came to the Science vessel and the Nerada specifically, these were quite obviously the same design, a Romulan one, and stood out in the episode.