In real life, Zheng He was a 15th-century Chinese mariner and fleet admiral. In fact, one fleet of sailing ships he commanded, the treasure fleet, was one of the first known group of ships to use star charts and constellations for navigation. In this sense, Zheng He commanded a “Star Fleet.”
In the context of Star Trek: Picard, this is the second time a historical mariner and sailor’s name has been given to a starship. Rios’ ill-fated ship, the USS Ibn Mājid, was named for 13th century Arabian navigator. Fans have also pointed out that another version of the USS Zheng He existed in the MMORPG, Star Trek: Online. But, that USS Zheng He was warping around in 2270, making it possible, that Riker’s new Zheng He is possibly just one of several Starfleet ships that have had that name over the years.
What kind of ship is the Zheng He?
According to the fan-run Star Trek Wiki, Memory Alpha, the Zheng He is a the same class of ship as the USS Ibn Mājid — both are part of the Curiosity-Class. If true, this would mean this particular class of Starfleet ship has been around for at least nine years. However, Memory Alpha might be jumping the phaser a tiny bit. In his Instagram talkbacks, Chabon simply said that many ships in the Curiosity-Class are named for historical navigators. As of this writing, it’s not clear if that automatically means the Zheng He is of the same class as the Ibn Mājid, though it might be. Chabon also said on Instagram that “ZH is brand new.”
That said, fans of Star Trek: Online have also pointed out the ships in the new fleet feel like blends of the Odyssey and Avenger-class ships seen exclusively in the game.
The bottomline is this: When asked directly about the specs of the Zheng He, Chabon replied, “gathering data…” and “preparing a report.”
