10 Times Star Trek Reused Ships And Hoped You Wouldn’t Notice 

The Tholian ship from "The Tholian Web" flipped upside down and augmented with Warp Nacelles (presumably from AMT model kits) became the Aurora in "The Way To Eden."

I was fully expecting to see the merchant ship from Star Trek III on here, as I believe it returned in TNG in "The Outrageous Okona" and on DS9 as a Cardassian freighter in "The Maquis" (I think), among other appearances.

Speaking of reusing things, if a Star Trek episode or movie (post-1991) features a Klingon Bird of Prey being used by the enemy faction, you *WILL* see stock footage from Star Trek 6 of Chang’s ship exploding.

The Romulan D7 was expressly noted by Scotty as being a Klingon ship, and it was either expressed or implied in that episode that there was a treaty and exchange of technology. The same explanation was used (at least behind the scenes) for why Klingons had cloaks and a Romulan-looking Bird of Prey in the Search for Spock. So, definitely a re-sue, but not a 'hope you didn't notice'.

Same Bird of Prey model was of course reused multiple times for different Klingon classes of quite radically different size and era.

In the 1970s and 80s the Romulan D-7 was explained as a technology exchange between the Klingons and Romulans. As far as I know, this satisfied fans and wasn't considered a lazy production trick on the part of the studio.

NERD MODE ACTIVATED!!! According to Starfleet Battles, the Romulan D7 (aka the Stormbird class) was similar to its Klingon counterpart in most ways, except; The Klingon version had faster warp capability, disruptors and greater impulse manoeuvrability, while the Romulan version had plasma torpedoes, superior shields and sensors and cloaking capability. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cram myself into a locker and give myself a wedgie.

The Pakled ship was reused all the time (I’m not even sure if pakled was the first use) and the Edo God (Justice) / Lyssian command center (Conundrum) were two ones I’ve always noticed

The fact that Voyager reused so many TNG and DS9 ships used to bother me during Voyagers first Run, since Paramount had put so much stress on being in a new and unexplored part of the Galaxy. Unfortunately production costs were a major factor, that and a hectic production schedule.

All the ships in the DQ just prove the Caretaker was a busy little Banjo Man.

It's always a good day when we get a video by Sean.

Elann of Troyus was to introduce the new model. Spock provides the introductory dialog when it finally comes clearly into view. That was the first episode filmed for S3 Enterprise Incident had to use another model, as the S1 Romulan model was witheld by the modelmaker because he was cut off with unpaid bills in S2. He was a private props designer that worked on Outer Limits and much of ST S1. He wasnt a guild member and the unions filed a greviance, but wouldn't let him join the props guild either. Norway Corp (ST) then refused to pay his outstanding invoices, so he took his props back....the ones he could. They used the klingon model, since AMT could provide as many as they wanted. Since Enterprise Incident showed first, Scotty gets to introduce the ship as Klingon. There were no Klingon ships shown in S1 or 2...just telemetry blips, the pinwheel or they were just talked about. CGI versions 15 years ago added them in. The Romulans squadron in Deadly Years was just recut scenes from Balance.

I loved this. It's the purest geekiest episode of TrekCulture I've seen. Great research, great writing--great job!

I think the most reasonable in-universe explanation is that a lot of ships probably got stolen or captured and recycled for someone else's use. Most sentient species had a common ancestor; it's a bit of a stretch, but maybe that evolutionary guide extended to other aspects of their lives as well?

If warp fields only work in specific shapes, then the ships generating certain warp field shapes may be shaped similarly to each other. For the most part, Federation starships are made in two basic shapes, the Enterprise shape and the Reliant shape. You could assume that the warp fields these ships generate could consist of one of two general shapes depending on the class of ship. You also see this with Klingon ships, there is the battle cruiser shape and the bird of prey shape. It could be possible for different races to design similar looking ships because of type of warp field they want to generate.

For most of this I think we just have to understand the time constraints the TV shows were under to crank out episodes and corners they had to cut in special effects and models. I noticed lots of times scenes, sets, and ships were reused but I still enjoyed the shows and movies.

Another example: the Drydock offices of TMP reused and flipped upside down for Spacelab Regula I in Wrath of Khan, and reused again in TNG and DS9 as various space stations / starbases.

Since making physical models is so expensive, lots of alien “ships-of-the-day” were reused. The Earth shuttle from TMP was re-nacelled to become the USS Jenolan from TNG “Relics,” then flipped upside down to become the Temporal Investigations shuttle from DS9 “Trials and Tribblations.” The orbital offices from TMP get completed and flipped upside down to be Regula I. You have to remember that people couldn’t watch the movies back to back like we can. Once the movie left the theater, that was it, so given that several years had passed, it would have been fairly safe to assume no one would notice.

I cannae believe you omitted the Lysian Command Structure from TNG’s “Conundrum”. It was previously used all the way in the first season episode “Justice” as the Edo God. You know, the one where they almost killed Wesley for stepping on the flowers.

Doesn't explain every model, but my headcanon has always been that some of these ships are mass-produced and then sold to species all around. Especially the cargo ships, it would make a certain amount of sense that you could just order a whole mess of them. This could also explain how some make it halfway around the galaxy. Another option is that some of these designs are from some of the precursor/extinct races out there. Holdovers from a now long-dead empire that were found and pulled out of mothballs.

Great episode / video. One ship I immediately thought of was Valkris's cargo vessel first seen in The Search for Spock. Valkris hired it to meet Kruge and his Bird of Prey and send the details of Project Genesis. This vessel later appeared as a vessel of the Sheliak Corporate in TNG season 3 episode Ensigns of Command. For TNG this ship was altered to add two struts / "pontoons" on the bottom of the ship.

The creativity inspired by low budgets will always inspire me, outcomes be damned.

Interesting video-I can’t tell the ships apart with all the modifications or not. It takes a real Trek Fan to know and explain all these changes. Amazing.

ship number 4... the front is also reused as Ferengi

The Romulan drone on ENT originated in the Delta Quadrant on VOY. It was barely notiiceable in the scene it was in, so it was given a color change to make it look Romulan, and used on ENT. Also on ENT, in S1, a Bajoran transport/ ship-of-the week was used as crashed vessel with holograms on board. And who could forget the use of a K'tinga class instead of Doug Drexler's D-4 design created for the series?

Boy, those Bajoran transport vessels look awfully similar to the first Pakled ship seen on film, and about a half dozen other times as well.

In Voyager, the Aeon cockpit in "Future's End" was also used in Kovin's ship in "Retrospect" and as Kes' starship in "Fury".

Got to mention The Merchantman from Star Trek III. 7 different appearances: 1. Merchantman ("Star Trek III") 2. Atlec security vessel (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona") 3. Sheliak colony ship (TNG: "The Ensigns of Command") 4. Peliar Zel II Beta Moon ship (TNG: "The Host") 5. Cardassian freighter Bok'Nor (DS9: "The Maquis I") 6. Vidiian ship type 1 (VOY: "Phage") 7. Klingon transport (DS9: "Rules of Engagement")

I don't know whether anyone has mentioned this yet, but: SS _Botany Bay_ ("Space Seed") and SS _Woden_ ("The Ultimate Computer") were obviously the same model. I suppose one could explain that by claiming that the shipyard that turned out robotic ore freighters either had the original _Botany Bay_ design from historical records, or else came out with their new design after reading Captain Kirk's report on the finding of _Botany Bay_ after all this time. Also: the "Asteroid Ship" _Yonada_ ("For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky") was the same as the actual asteroid in "The Paradise Syndrome."

In the 80's, the game "Star Fleet Battles" covered off the duplicate Klingon and Romulan ships via a Klingon-Romulan military treaty, through which Klingon ship classes were sold to the Romulans, who replaced the weapon systems with Romulan ones. Weirdly, SFB didn't have either of Romulan ships or weapons going to the Klingons under the treaty... which seems to be matched by canon unto this day. In Star Fleet Battles, it was more than just D7s that were shared, IIRC. I believe there was a frigate class, a scout ship, and possibly a dreadnought. Been a while since I played that game though.

lol.. Love that you have thought about this . As a long ST fan , I've noticed ( or thought I did) some of the repurposing of ships . Sometimes wondering if I was just remembering wrong when seeing a "new " ship. I don't really understand if, or know if there is a "ship plan" by SF . . I get SF is supposed to be peaceful but I have never ( aha to my knowledge ) seen a SF Battleship. ... which I think you really need in such a hostile space. Another point I'd like an expert like you to clarify... My memory ( far from infallible) is SF was not allowed to use cloaking ... because of treaties. (?) but was used by enemies.. Open Space seems like the perfect place for Cloaking use... because where can you hide..? . so can you clarify.? ... I think others may be interested in this. Thanks for your thoughts.

There are some incredible fun facts in this!

Following the Dictim, “Form follows function” (F^3), it wouldn’t surprise me if different species made ships which were similar in appearance, for similar purposes. The same thing can be noted in actual naval vessels… an aircraft carrier looks like other carriers, a battleship looks like other battleships, etc. (obviously, with changes in technology, corresponding changes are made in design… no need for a design with a low radar cross section when radar isn’t a thing. That said, in a radar environment, low observability becomes the driving element, and ships tend towards similar external shapes and forms. All that said, having the exact same ship appear in disparate areas over a large time frame doesn’t really make sense - except as a cost- and time- saving gesture!

The first one I saw back in the day was the not quite seeable "god" figure floating above the planetin season 1's Justice and the "Enemy" space station the the Enterprise D nearly destroys in season 5's "Conumdrum"

Suggestion for part 2: The Mazarite ships from "Fallen Hero" in Enterprise's season 1 began life as the upper haul on the Romulan Warbird designed by Andrew Probert in the TNG season 1 episode "The Neutral Zone". It was also the Illyrian ship in the season 3 Enterprise episode "Damage". Again just a suggestion. Excellent work still. 🖖

How about the Husnock ship which was reused as the Rigellian freighter and the Zepolite freighter in DS9 and as the Mondor in Voyager.

One possible explanation might be the unknown limits of warp-drive. We don't fully understand how its meant to work, but perhaps, just as the human bipedal design lends itself to life as a sapient species, meaning that most aliens are bipeds, certain starship designs are ubiquitous because they lend themselves towards compatibility with warp systems. You can even see evidence of this in canon, as Humans, Vulcans, and Klingons each stick to the same basic starship designs, for most part, suggesting that these are optimal for space-travel. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to suggest that certain starship designs recur in different species because those kinds of designs are well suited towards space exploration. Also, seen through this lens, the Romulans - the species with the least consistency in their ship designs - could be seen as intrepid innovators, pushing the boundaries of starship design. This idea of them as innovators makes a lot of sense, afterall they tend to develop the Federation's more technological threats; drone-ship, cloaking, quantum-singularity warp-core, cloning, etc.

There's the Nenebek from Final Mission. Probably one of the few cases of both a miniature and mockup being reused at the same time. It even overlaps by having it's viewport applied to a Maquis fighter so the interior could be used.

Salute to the editor salute salute another lovely job. Be well and be safe

I was waiting all video long to comment about the Xindi-Arboreal and Tellarite re-use, then I got to #1 and yous still found an additional portrayal of it...

Acamarian/Pakled/Trill/etc. are all the same repainted pizza slice 🍕

The ship used by Quatai in the Voyager season 5 episode "Bliss" would be reused in the Enterprise episode "Twilight", it is the vessel used by the Yridian

There’s the ship that appeared first in Star Trek voyager’s chaotic space episode where it then appeared as the romulan holoship in Star Trek enterprise episode babel.

Unless a ship is specifically for a planet or empire's individual navy, I have no problem believing, particularly with the mercenaries or less developed races, that they are essentially using a Toyota Corolla. Some ship designs are easier or cheaper to produce, so everyone uses something similar. Shouldn't be hard to understand; just look at what's happened to cars in the last twenty years. It's really hard to tell 'em apart without a manufacturer's badge. As for the one in the Delta Quadrant (did you say Delta or Gamma? I get them confused and I don't want to go back), it's a spaceship, unfortunately placed wormholes are a thing in Star Trek, I don't think it's a stretch to believe it ended up way off course.

The Botany Bay!

I love the Romulan D7.

...more precisely, the complaint of "reused" ships is that in the end of season 1 of picard was the fact that supposedly Starfleet was only using *1* model of vessel when Riker's fleet appears (the CGI models do point out that there are differences in their warp nacelles, but overall they appear collectively exact & identical), yet only in classic Trek, the "fleet" (more like squadron element) used to test the M-5 computer were all "Constitution" class which is surmised that only such large vessels like the Constitution (or "Starships", versus "spacecraft" or "spaceships" all of which seem to be identified to be *smaller* vessels) were not "automatable" (mentions of "automated transports" date back to "Where No Man Has Gone Before") due to their immense size, requiring vast crews to operate & maintain them (exploration of course necessitating such volumes of crew due to the constant tests, review of the data then further testing)- from Next Generation forward, all fleet sequences & scenes always show accurately that *multiple* vessel designs as seen in real world military naval applications (carriers supported by destroyers, frigates, small patrol or missile boats for example), such as when the 1701-D blockaded the route ferrying the Duras sisters with Romulan supplies, we see Nebula, Stagazer & other classes forming up with the Enterprise, as Starfleet would no doubt do is the crux of the main complaint- scenes of the massing of fleets in Deep Space Nine during the Dominion War, the retaking of Deep Space Nine, etc. all reveal Galaxy, Excelsior, Miranda/Avenger/Reliant, Maquis fighters, etc., not merely a single class or model of vessel, which is why TNG reused so many movie models, as we *still* use 60 year old naval vessels, & aircraft (B-52, etc.), so "reusing" older designed ships at least from TNG/DS9 & Voyager would not have been seen as out of place (yes, while indeed "member-berry" they may be, the series still "member-berried" us in the early episode with with the 1701-D hologram on display at Starfleet HQ after all 😏 )...

I do find a borg ship very boxy 😂

The Botany Bay ("Space Seed") and the ore ship from "The Ultimate Computer".

The ship in Star Trek 3 that delivered the Genesis plans to Kruge (which he promptly destroyed) seems like it was reused at some point, but I can't remember where.

Well back then is much more cheaper to reused old starships than building new ones.

The Lokirrim Warship is ubiquitous, too.

3:56 Just noticed Quark has the tricorder upside down.

I believe a part of the Romulan D'Deridex was used as a ship as well.

Kiva's Fajos ship (The Most Toys, TNG) was re-used as several freighters in DS9; several Bajoran ships/miscellaneous freighters were also repeat offenders.

The Tamarian Deep Space Cruiser would also be given X-shaped fins, and that variation saw frequent use.

The first one you mentioned there's a ship like that in the discovery season 5 clip. 4:37 they also reused the Jem'Hadar Rifle in Enterprise ep: Marauders.

Don't know if this counts, but Khan's sleeper ship was reused as the Woden, an automated freighter destroyed by the M5 in The Ultimate Computer. It was replaced by a Federation freighter type like the ones in the animated More Tribbles, more troubles.

Huh...Pretty cool!

well the dy100 got reused a couple of times. the bajoran fighter which also was a maquis vessel

I knew that ship from Night of the Creeps looked damn familiar!🤔

The Enterprise being reused as the Constellation, Defiant, Lexington, Hood, Potemkin…

The reuse of the "Botany Bay" as an unmanned mining ship. And the use of parts of the Romulan Warbird model in an ENT episode.

Uhh.... you didn't mention the main reason why the D7 Klingon battlecruiser started being used as the Romulan battlecruiser; which is kinda important and one of the craziest behind-the-scenes stories in Trek history (and possibly US TV production). Basically, there was/is a union for the propmakers, and because of extreme schedule pressure, the Star Trek producers got a non-union modelmaker to build the original Romulan Bird-of-Prey ship model in 2 weeks. The Union found out about it obviously, and threatened to take legal action + possibly strike against the production & the studio. It cooled down, but when they re-used the footage in the 2nd season, the Union got pissed again. The Studio ended up being forced to return the model to the guy who made it & refusing to pay him, and he smashed it in his backyard with a sledgehammer. So obviously the model wasn't available to be used going forward, and they couldn't even re-use the footage of it without a lawsuit. Also, as others have commented... this wasn't a "hope you didn't notice" situation. It was explicitly called out in the show multiple times and explained. Good video overall and good compilation; have a like. It was nice to see the different variations of ship back-to-back. One suggestion though: For TOS-ship stuff, you should include some original footage, instead of only using re-mastered CG 2000s footage like you did here; something is definitely lost when you're talking about the original models but not showing them.

7:54 The nose appears to be reused from the Ferengi D'Kora Marauder.

I recall in TNG there's a space station that is reused and it's very obvious. I think the second time it's a little transparent and supposed to be a totally different thing.

How many times has the little model NX Enterprise super imposed into many videos been reused? A new angle would be refreshing. Not yet spotted a reused Horgon though.

How about Botany bay the "Space seed ". Later use as a robotic freighter attacked by the enterprise in the "Ultimate computer" .

Should we at all be surprised that they'd reuse and redress ship models to save money?

The smuggler's ship from Star Trek III got some reuse in the Next Generation too.

I dunno, the USS Reliant model certainly got about a bit... :P

Wasn't there another vessel design that was used a few times in TOS? That was fun. :)

So, uh, still no video about Very Short Treks? It's not every day I get actual factual info from Giant Freakin' Robot, and even rarer that they scoop Trek Culture by days.

Some of these models are getting into "Ship of Theseus" territory

Alternate title could be five times Voyager's production team got lazy.

One I love is the enterprise D clones in DS9. What I mean is if you look at the Galaxy NCC's they read NCC 1701-D

Recycling the green option innit

The Earth orbital office complex from TMP, turned upside down to become the Regula-1 station in WOK, and re-used repeatedly in TNG, VOY, etc?

why is there a horgon floating around at 8:44?

in the Enterprise Episode Damage, the Alien ship that NX-01 steals a warp coil from, looks very much like the upper area from a Romulan Warbird, even has the same patterns, its just painted an orange color

The way the storyline goes the Romulans sold the Klingons the D7 design

I don't mind a resue of a ship fleet for scenes in any visual media. The appearance of thousands of ships is meant for showing the gravity & Gravitas of a situation. Not for us nerds and geeks to pour over frame by frame hoping a easter egg is their. I think its one of the silliest things a fan can mention and they need to work in production illustration or bringing what they want to screen OR pay for the effects to have every ship be uniquely different in a 3 to 5 second shot if have different ships in those frame matter. Its the story they are telling and it you know the story but nitpick at it for really silly reasons. As if Starfield can't copy and past a ship for efficiency purposes.

👍

Never thought it was a big deal seeing the "same" ship. Not like every ship would have been built as a one off "one of a kind" by any space going species. Not only that but just because the Earthlings were still advancing at light speed over just a couple hundred years there were other species that were using ancient tech that had worked for them for centuries, building the same ship over all that time (unknown numbers). You were bound to see the same type of ship more than once.

Just look at Dagra's (Enterprise )shuttle and think voyager and prodigy , twins peaks dad and Mantokian 4 dude tried to give Janeway claiming it was starfleet. Yeah I remember that but not the name of it lol. Then starfleet built one . What the 🎉 man, darkside of my 🫣👏🏼😮 Rey Wise underrated dude.

How about the Romulan drone ship and the unknown alien in VOY chaotic space episode?

The majority of people wouldn`t notice the reusing of ships and scenes and doubt they would care.

🖖

I really thought number 1 was gonna be good ol' NCC-1701, no bloody A, B, C, or D....did not the original model get reused for EVERY other Constitution Class vessel? The Farragut, the Defiant, the one Bob Wesley commanded in the M5 episode...weren't they all the Enterprise?

Every time I notice it, I should be paid by Paramount.

Does it seem strange to anyone else that Star Trek has an entire universe of interconnected species, all trading thoughts and ideas among them... but they all drive their own ships? Why wouldn't one enterprising species or another specialize in making spaceships and sell them? The assumption in all cases in Star Trek is to think the opposite. We consider cross-species, cross-planet trade only in cases of "spoils of war" or thieves. I think that's a mistake.

Doctor Who: I am pleased no one else in my multiverse created a time machine disguised as a London police box, Captain Kirk.

The model for the Enterprise is reused for other constitution class ships.

Wasn't the Defiant from DS9 based on a freighter?

The Kazon raider in the San Francisco chase of Star Trek Into Darkness

This is a historical episode, as this marks the last episode (for now) with our favorite Bearded Irishman 😢

I'm old, so, what about KHAN!'s sleeper ship in Space seed and the ore freighter M-5 destroyed in The Ultimate Computer?

Like in our world. Many Nations or in Treck Planets probably simply buy existing Models from well known Manufacturers from other Nations /Planets.. ( remains the problem why some show up in the Delta quadrant ;-)

Miranda class has seen a few reuses too...

a neutral planet has a design bureau and they have had commissions from many governments