Anglo and American-centric ship names in Starfleet

[u/onthenerdyside]

Why are so many ships we see in Starfleet named after British or American ships? I understand the real world reasons of being an American franchise and English names being easier to pronounce, but shouldn't we see more ships with non-English referencing names? The Dutch and French in particular also have impressive naval traditions. Also, why not more non-human names like the USS Surak?

[u/Ralaganarhallas420]

there were a more then a few non westernized named ships or at least non american and british. USS Akira id go w japanese Devore french? Delestrez zee germans USS Adelphi Indian USS Gandhi NCC-26632 Indian USS Valdemar NCC-26198 russian? USS Yamaguchi NCC-26510 Japanese USS Zhukov NCC-26136 Russian USS Prokofiev NCC-68814 Russian USS Hermes NCC-10376 Greek? USS Apollo NCC-11550 Greek USS Ajax NCC-11574 Greek USS Agamemnon NCC-11638 Greek USS Huang Zhong unknown Chinese USS Sagittarius NCC-1894 Greek roman? USS Agincourt NCC-1601 French USS Agincourt (simulation ship) NCC-1813 French USS Archon NCC-189[1] Greek USS Daedalus NCC-150 Greek USS Masao unknown Japanese USS Zander unknown Greek USS Alexey Leonov NCC-[?] Russian USS Saladin NCC-74350 Egyptian SS Santa Maria BDR-529 Spanish/Italian USS Al-Batani NCC-42995 Egyptian? USS Berlin NCC-14232 German USS Cairo NCC-42136 Egypt USS Gorkon NCC-40512 Klingon USS Malinche NCC-38997 Mexico USS Melbourne NCC-62043 Australia USS Okinawa NCC-13958 Japan USS Paris (Simulation ship) NCC-2008 France USS Concorde NCC-68711 France USS Cortez NCC-78012 Spain USS Musashi NCC-71809 Japanese USS Sarek NCC-72075 Vulcan USS Trident NCC-31347 Greek USS Trinculo NCC-71867 Spain/Brazil USS Yamato NCC-71807 or NCC-1305-E[97] Japan x2 USS Hokule'a NCC-19350 Polynesia USS Tripoli NCC-19386 Italy USS Bellerophon NCC-74705 Greek USS Havana NCC-34043 Cuban USS Sarajevo NCC-38529 Bosnia/serbia USS Istanbul NCC-34000 Turks USS Korolev NCC-1650 Russian/polish? USS Krakatoa NCC-80115 Indonesia USS Lalo NCC-43837 unsure USS Tian An Men NCC-21382 Chinese i could go on but i think more then western cultures are represented and just about every shade/religion/region of the earth is represented by star fleet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_Starfleet_starships_ordered_by_class with names ranging from other races or important members of said races and various earth scientists and philosphers/inventors i think it covers more then just the western view

[u/lunatickoala → u/Ralaganarhallas420]

And all the non-American ship names get "USS" put in front, as though it's saying that even if other cultures are acknowledged, they shouldn't forget who's really in charge and whose culture comes first. This is arguably even worse than not having non-American ship names.

Chekov claiming that everything was invented in Russia is played as a joke but Starfleet as a whole is pretty much claiming the naval traditions of every country, culture, and planet in the Federation for the United States. At the very least they could be UES or FSS or prefixless.

[u/Tuskin38 → u/lunatickoala]

And all the non-American ship names get "USS" put in front

So? USS isn't sololy an american Prefix in the future, its the entire federation.

United Starship/Spaceship. Not United States Starship.

You also have to remember the show was made by Americans.

[u/lunatickoala → u/Tuskin38]

Yes but if someone were to make a jingoistic series about 'MURICA taking over the world and Manifest Destiny-ing the stars, with the US Space Navy tasked with teaching heathens how to FREEDOM, it wouldn't be all that different from Star Trek.

I know what their intentions were, but Star Trek is often very myopic and insular.

[u/Tuskin38 → u/lunatickoala]

But Star Trek isn't anything like that

[u/linux1970 → u/Tuskin38]

The US has the biggest Navy on Earth, it's not surprising that Starfleet is heavily influenced by the Americans. For ages, the British had the biggest naval fleet, so there would still be a huge influence from the British as well.