Registry

General Info
Starship Registry refers to the hull number assigned to every military (and some civilian) starship. In most cases, a prefix is used, followed by the vessel's hull number followed by if applicable a suffix.

Prefix
A prefix is used to denote empire ownership or other information. For instance NCC used on Starfleet Hulls is an abbreviation of 'Naval Construction Contract'. Also in use by the Federation are NX for a Naval Experimental Vessel, and NAR for Naval Associated Registry. Civilian contractors use their own, but the hull numbers are assigned by the Commerce authority to avoid duplication in record keeping.

Hull Number
A numerical value assigned to an individual starship for record keeping and distinction from other vessels that may have like names. Prior to the inclusion of transwarp in the fleet, Starfleet hull numbers had reached the 6 digit mark. Rather than continue increasing the numericals, as each class was refitted, or reassigned, their numbers were reset to a 3 or 4 digit number. Numbers are issued in block lines based on vessel class usually in 100 numerical increments. An example of this is the Century Class battle cruiser. Its registry numbers all are in the 10000 range. the next class of ship is 11000.

Suffix
In rare occasions, a suffix will be added to a starship's registry hull number. the most notable of these is the USS Enterprise, which has held the registry number 1701 since early 23rd century. Each incarnation simply gets a suffix after the number (A,B,C...) This practice is reserved for those ships who were lost after making a recognizable impact on Starfleet history. It is not a common practice.