Captain's yacht
The captain's yacht was a large support craft built into the design of several Federation starship classes, including the , , and  starships. It was docked to the underside of the saucer section.

History 
On the , the name of the captain's yacht was the Calypso. It was destroyed, along with the Enterprise-D. in 2371. ()

On the , the name of the captain's yacht was the . In 2375, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E used the Cousteau to travel to the surface of the Ba'ku planet. (, okudagram; )

The   also carried a captain's yacht. ()

Known Captain's yacht 
Named
 Calypso
 

Unnamed
 Cerritos captain's yacht

Appendices

Appearances

Background information 
Designer Andrew Probert came up with the concept of the captain's yacht while designing the . Although it was never seen in use, it was labeled on the master systems display screen in main engineering and on Commander William T. Rikers bridge console ("New Ground"), docked at the bottom of the saucer section almost directly opposite the main bridge. Probert suggested possible ways for the yacht to be used during the first season, including not showing the yacht but mentioning it in dialogue, but his ideas were rejected. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (p. 164) claims that the producers almost used the yacht in , but decided to use an "executive shuttlecraft" due to budgetary constraints. According to Patrick Stewart, the yacht would have been called Calypso. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, p. 164) This name for the yacht was mentioned in the notes to the captain's yacht entry of the . With the latest edition of the , the name has been changed to Cousteau.

A captain's yacht is visible on the underside of several  starships, such as the  and  as well.

Rick Sternbach designed similar craft into the  and the , known as the aeroshuttle and the waverider, respectively. Like on the Enterprise-D, however, these vessels were only depicted on technical schematics and never seen in operation or referred to in dialogue.

Ronald B. Moore notes in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual that naval tradition would insist on calling such a craft the Captain's gig rather than the Captain's yacht.

Apocrypha 

In the  UK Comic strip series, the dome at the bottom of the saucer section of the   is also seen detaching as a similar auxiliary vehicle.

The Captain's yacht is an obtainable ship in Star Trek Online. It is one of the game's many bonuses for subscribers and Lifetime subscribers, obtainable once a player reaches 400 days subscribed or automatically once the Lifetime subscription is activated. It resembles the Cousteau.

External link 
 

de:Yacht des Captains
fr:Yacht du capitaine
ja:艦長専用艇
Federation shuttle classes