When you have a show called "Star Trek," it is reasonable to expect that the characters in said show will have some means by which to, you know, trek through the stars. Perhaps something like a ship. A…starship!
After nearly 60 years of TV shows and movies, it should come as no surprise that Star Trek has its fair share of iconic starships. Almost every iteration of the franchise has been set on a unique ship that becomes a home for our characters as they explore strange new worlds. In fact, these ships are often so beloved that they almost become characters themselves.
With design languages that are both strong and flexible, each of the lead starships in Star Trek tend to be distinctly iconic in their own rights while still feeling like they fit within a larger world. Starfleet ships look like they are from Starfleet, Klingon ships look like they are from the Klingon Empire, and so on.
At my count, there are currently 13 distinct starships that serve as the lead ships for a given Star Trek series or movie. (Star Trek: Section 31 has starships in it, but it does not have a single “hero” ship the way most Trek productions do.) They each have their merits, but some are almost certainly prettier than others.
So, without further ado, here is an entirely subjective ranking of the prettiest ships in Star Trek (but just the exteriors for this one):
13. SS La Sirena (NAR-93131), Star Trek: Picard, seasons 1 & 2
The first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard are, in my estimation, among the worst Star Trek outings I have ever seen. Some of this is due to their utterly dreary darkness, but a lot of it is that the show is just boring. It should come as no surprise, then, that the hero ship for these two seasons, the La Sirena, is similarly dull and unremarkable.
Like the Picard series itself, the La Sirena is interesting as a concept. Whereas most Star Trek stories are set on Starfleet vessels and focus on Starfleet personnel, seeing a civilian ship, with people going on a civilian mission, sounds like an exciting change of pace. Alas, the La Sirena is just kind of an amorphous blob of a ship, like a Honda minivan in space.