Triton

[Captain Atkin]

Which doesn't make it on-screen canon, of course, it's simply a studio source and it can be contradicted without contradicting any previous TV episode or movie. Nothing is part of continuity until it's actually part of continuity. That the Intrepid was crewed by Vulcans has never been contradicted or elaborated upon; there's no reason to think that they weren't in Starfleet.

Data was constructed by aliens and Spock was an only child, right up until they weren't.

Memory Alpha lists the USS Intrepid (NCC-1631) as a Federation Consitution-class starship, that is crewed "almost entirely" by Vulcans. So it may be that it wasn't just Vulcans on the ship when it was destroyed. Spock says he senses the death of 400 Vulcans. A ship that size, like the Enterprise, would have about 430 crew members. Nothing states if the Captain was a Vulcan, or if the Vulcan officers were starfleet personel. So really, anything storywise is up for grabs as far as Intrepid is concerned. The fact is, it is established in writing that Spock is the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet, and I don't see anything contradicting that by Vulcans serving on the USS Intrepid.

With Triton taking place during the time of Pike in the alt-universe (pre-TOS), I would think it a safe bet to assume that Spock was the only Vulcan serving at that time in Starfleet. The rest would come later.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

I doubt that Spock was the first Vulcan to serve aboard a starship. I've never assumed he was, and while it may be stated in the Making of... and in the Writers' Guides, those sources also say Uhura can do voice impersonations at the drop of a hat or some such.

 

[Captain Atkin]

I doubt that Spock was the first Vulcan to serve aboard a starship. I've never assumed he was, and while it may be stated in the Making of... and in the Writers' Guides, those sources also say Uhura can do voice impersonations at the drop of a hat or some such.

Again, the question isn't if Spock was the first Vulcan to serve on a starship - it was if Spock was the first Vulcan to join Starfleet. Every written bio I have seen online about him says that he was the first. There could always have been Vulcans, like T'Pol on Enterprise, who served on ships but were not members of Starfleet, and the impression he gave by his actions was that it wasn't a normal thing for Vulcans to do.

When the Administrator at the Vulcan Science Academy looks at Spock's file in JJ's movie, he sound's almost agast that Spock would have put Starfleet down on his record as a choice of organizations to join. From what we have seen on Enterprise and Nu-Trek, I would say Vulcans were still a bit snobbish about joining Starfleet at that time. Even Sarek in TOS did not approve of Spock joining Starfleet. Again, this is whole new universe, so anything is possible, but I do think there is something special about Spock being the first Vulcan to join Starfleet.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Two points spring to mind here. Firstly, whatever is written as regards Spock being the first Vulcan to join Starfleet in bibles has never been explicitly stated onscreen, therefore it is open to debate.

Secondly, what happens the Abramsverse, is a completely different kettle of fish, and whether Spock was or was not the first in the Prime Universe, does not mean he was in the Abramsverse.

Bottom line, either interpretation could be correct.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Two points spring to mind here. Firstly, whatever is written as regards Spock being the first Vulcan to join Starfleet in bibles has ever been explicitly stated onscreen, therefore it is open to debate.

Secondly, what happens the Abramsverse, is a completely different kettle of fish, and whether Spock was or was not the first in the Prime Universe, does not mean he was in the Abramsverse.

Bottom line, either interpretation could be correct.

Agreed, and that's exactly the point. The Triton folks don't have to change anything here to fit in with established Trek canon - if they decide that the unestablished but popular first-Vulcan-in-Starfleet is important to them, they can adjust for that without contradicting what we've been shown.

OTOH, if they decide that the possibility exists that other Vulcans were in Starfleet before Spock they can pitch it that way without contradicting what we've been shown.

Given that the only on-screen data point I know of comes from "The Immunity Syndrome" - and it's that Starfleet ship full of Vulcans - it's clear to me that the only on-screen evidence we have favors Vulcan officers before Spock.

That said, if Paramount ever makes a movie or TV episode asserting as fact that Spock was first, that's all that will matter as far as canonicity is concerned.

I doubt that the studio will ever revisit pre-Abrams TOS in any canonical medium, so it's likely to remain an open question.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Also agreed. Should have added, "as Dennis has already said."

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

p. 31 of the Third Revision (April 17, 1967) Writer's Guide makes no mention of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet.

p. 8 of the Star Trek proposal (1st Draft, March 11, 1964) makes no mention of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet. It does say he's probably half-Martian, though.

I don't have The Making of Star Trek accessible. Does anyone know if it actually says, "Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet," and on what page it says that?

 

[Melonpool]

I want to say that that was in an episode, though I can't recall which one (maybe "Journey to Babel" or "Court Martial?"). Other than that, the only place I remember that bit about Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet being in was the old FASA game manuals, though I do remember thinking about it while watching Star Trek 2009, so I'd think it was someplace other than the decidedly non-canon role-playing game.

 

[BillJ]

Never mentioned on-screen.

 

[Melonpool]

I figured out where I first read about Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet: The Enterprise Officer's Manual -- a fan-made "supplement" to The Starfleet Techincal Manual. I bought this book years ago (probably 1984-5) and had almost forgotten about it.

This blog post that I found by typing "Spock first Vulcan starfleet" jogged my memory:

http://www.allyngibson.net/?p=1033

 

[fleetcaptain]

Just ran across this thread and all the artwork so far looks good. I'm interested in seeing how this turns out. The Triton had me thinking Luna class like everyone else too.

 

[jimcat]

Hello everyone,
The whole "Spock's the first Vulcan in Starfleet" thing has always bothered me, too. It comes up an awful lot, considering it wasn't ever explicitly stated.

My own guess (and it is purely a guess) is that it started off as some reasonable speculation based on the fact that no-one, including the ship's Chief Medical Officer, knows more than a few rumours and stories about pon farr until Spock explains it in "Amok Time". Surely if there have been lots of Vulcans in the fleet, then the topic is going to have been dealt with at some point before then, at least to the extent of some standing orders to ship's captains about requests for leave by Vulcans. Which still doesn't make anything canon, whatever that is.

That still leaves the USS Intrepid to be explained, but maybe that was operated on some kind of "lease-lend" arrangement between the Federation and Vulcan. At least until the whole ship and the entire crew were gobbled up by a space amoeba, that a Human-crewed starship was able to beat. Is it a speculation too far that there might have been a review of the whole idea after that?

Timon

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, the fact that the "first" thing isn't canon pretty much obviates the need to explain the Intrepid; the latter is on screen and can be accepted as given.

 

[jimcat]

Dear Dennis,
Somehow I always feel a need to explain the Intrepid. If it's a sister-ship to the Enterprise, and named according to the usual practice (after the USS Intrepid) why only that one ship of a dozen with a specifically non-human crew? If it's a specifically Vulcan ship in a specifically Vulcan fleet, why isn't it more differentiated? Or is Starfleet ... ah ... segregated?

On a broader note (and having done the sensible thing and read the whole thread),

This looks like a very interesting project, Andymator. I look forward to seeing the end product. A diverse crew is good. And I think no Vulcans for obscure and possibly incorrect continuity reasons would be bad. As would not having any women starship captains (but I don't think anyone would call you on that).

Best wishes for the safe launch of the Triton and many voyages,

Timon

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

I would say that it's a matter of environment. It's probably easier to put mostly Human or Vulcan or Andorian crews on a starship than to have such a wide variety of habitats. Vulcan is clearly hotter than Earth, Andoria appears to be much colder. Would you want them all uncomfortable to one extent or another?

 

[Captain Atkin]

I would say that it's a matter of environment. It's probably easier to put mostly Human or Vulcan or Andorian crews on a starship than to have such a wide variety of habitats. Vulcan is clearly hotter than Earth, Andoria appears to be much colder. Would you want them all uncomfortable to one extent or another?

Quite logical!

 

[pimp]

regarding op, why don't you copyright your pictures/animations with name or something, just to be on the safe side, or you can't because Star Trek is already copy right????? (I dunno these things)

But you got some nice pics there

 

[Andymator]

I have to confess, I had never heard of Spock being the first Vulcan in starfleet until Captain Atkin brought it up to me. I love Star Trek, I grew up loving Star Trek, but I've never been a part of any kind of "fan community", so I've never really been exposed to these kinds of "fanon" notions.

Either way, it's not critical to Leynah's backstory. The line about them serving together for years is more to inform the way their relationship works, not an important plot point. I don't really have a position on it one way or the other.

regarding op, why don't you copyright your pictures/animations with name or something, just to be on the safe side, or you can't because Star Trek is already copy right????? (I dunno these things)

But you got some nice pics there

I don't own Star Trek, and Triton is clearly a derivative work, so no I cannot copyright it. If you mean to ask why I don't watermark my images to prevent them from being used by others it's mostly because I don't care, heheheh. I have absolutely nothing to gain from doing Triton (other than the fun of it all), and subsequently I have absolutely nothing to lose. If somebody else is out there having fun with my work then that's great!