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Memory Alpha

For the sector of space, please see Woden sector.

The Woden (NCC-325) was a 23rd century Federation Antares-type ore freighter operated by Starfleet. According to the Starfleet Registry, which listed the Woden, this ship was converted to automation, and Commander Spock described the ship as an "old-style" vessel.

The Woden was encountered by the USS Enterprise near Alpha Carinae II in 2268. Initial sensor scans described her as an unidentified large, slow-moving vessel. She was not programmed to answer hails. Under the control of the M-5 multitronic unit, the Enterprise moved to intercept her at warp 4 speed and destroyed her with photon torpedoes set to full power. Fortunately, the freighter was fully automated and carried no crew.

However, this spontaneous act of violence, which the computer prototype went out of its way to commit, proved to Captain Kirk that M-5 must be deactivated, which unfortunately proved impossible with the computer going out of control and resisting. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer")

Appendices[]

Background information[]

SS Botany Bay-Woden

The original Woden

In the 1968 original edition of "The Ultimate Computer", the Woden was simply a re-use of footage filmed of the SS Botany Bay studio model that first appeared in "Space Seed". In the first shot of the Woden, she had a distinct orange hull color.

According to "Space Seed", the last DY-100-class ship was built on Earth in the 1990s. This would make the Woden at least 268 years old at the time of her destruction. Considering the Botany Bay survived in deep space a similar amount of time even without maintenance and refueling, proves the DY-100 to be an extremely durable design. Accompanying the main entry for "Woden" in the 2016 Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 491), there was a dorsal profile of the Woden as a DY-100 class spacecraft, but this was clearly an oversight by author Michael Okuda, who had personally overseen its replacement in TOS-R: "The Ultimate Computer" himself eight years earlier.

In the 2008 remastered edition, the Woden was updated to be a modified version of the Antares CGI model, which originally appeared in the remastered edition of "The Ultimate Computer". This design was based on the NCC-G1465 ships. There was no indication the original production staff of the episode wanted to use any different type of ship to represent the Woden. In an interview with Okuda, he explained the reasons behind replacing the ship:

"I've always liked that ship design. It's not just a kitbash of Enterprise components. It's very different from the Enterprise, nowhere near as sleek and powerful, but it really looks like something that might have come from Matt Jefferies' drawing board." [1]

The registry number of the remastered Antares-type Woden, while not visible on screen, was obtained from Michael Okuda.

According to the Star trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 491), the Woden sector was named as a homage to this ship. The name Woden is that of an Anglo-Saxon deity; see also Odin.

Apocrypha[]

According to the Star Trek Maps, the SS Woden was in fact a DY-500-class vessel, a more recent design than the DY-100. It had the registry DY-504. This would be inconsistent with the canonical image of the SS Mariposa, a DY-500 ship featured in TNG: "Up The Long Ladder" which has a distinctively different design from the DY-100 configuration.

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