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In Star Trek, what is the Captain's Gig?


This site says that a Galaxy-class Starship has a "Captain's Gig".


What is it and do we have any examples (from any episodes) of how it looks or works?



Answer



The "Gig" is in fact the small vessel (known as the "Captain's yacht") docked underneath the ship's saucer section on the Enterprises D and E.


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The one on the Enterprise-D (The 'Calypso') was never used or even referred to in the TV show, with descriptions existing solely in the various technical manuals and trading cards:


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There's a brief overview in the TNG Technical Manual:




This is one of those nifty things that we may never get to see on the show. We did briefly flirt with the idea of actually using the captain's yacht in Samaritan Snare, but it was decided to use an "executive shuttlecraft" instead. Patrick Stewart informs us that the yacht is named Calypso, after Jacques Cousteau's ship. Visual effects coordinator (and Navy veteran) Ron B. Moore points out that naval tradition would probably insist the craft be called the Captain's Gig.





The one on the Enterprise-E (the 'Cousteau') was used briefly in the film Star Trek : Insurrection. You can see it in the film clip below and the original concept art here





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