History- USS Panther

The USS Panther was launched on 12 March 2015 as the USS Panther NX-74922 and the USS Helen Pawlowski NCC-8494 was her Support Ship.

The name “Panther” comes from the presumed extinct cat called the Carolina Panther. The cat was known to roam the North Carolina area. Some believe even to this day that the Carolina Panther still exists but it avoids human contact.

The initial crew were prior crewmembers of the USS Helen Pawlowski and USS George Washington who decided it was time to expand into the Wilmington, NC area and that there was a need for a correspondence chapter. Currently the crew is scattered across the United States such as Missouri, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Rhode Island. Commander Douglas Kirk was elected to lead the chapter as the Commanding Officer and Major General Michael Timko III as the First Officer. The first few months had been devoted to organization of the chapter and setting up a good foundation for the chapter to grow.

The first challenge that the chapter had to face was the resignation of the First Officer who for personal reasons left both the chapter and STARFLEET at the end of July 2015. Commander Kirk quickly appointed Captain Margie Baldia as the new First Officer.

The USS Panther during her shakedown cruise was heavily involved in community service activities that included the Toys for Tots, Angel Tree Project, Food donations, Recycling and Clothing donations.

On 31 December 2015 the chapter completed her shakedown cruise and was officially commissioned as the USS Panther NCC-74922 in the organization called STARFLEET, where she continues to her community service activities and above all else, to have fun!

On 1 March 2016 the USS Panther became an affiliated chapter in what was called Task Force Carolinas. This group consisted of chapters from around North and South Carolina. The Task Force would coordinate activities between chapters, help settle disputes between chapters, and finally to assist in recruiting drives and other projects that would benefit all chapters.

On January 1, 2017 the chapter SFMC unit was deactivated because the chapter had two types of ground forces on it, and it was decided that only one such unit would have been assigned to the ship. It was decided that to keep the “Trek” theme, that the chapter would retain the MACO unit.

On February 28, 2018 Captain Douglas Kirk stepped down as the command officer of the USS Panther after serving as the commanding officer for over 2 years. On March 1, 2018 Captain Patrick Condry was elected the new Commanding Officer and appointed Commander Lance Dyl as the First Officer. With the results of the election, the chapter was moved from Sector 1 (North Carolina) to Sector 15 (Rhode Island).

With many of the chapters that were affiliated with Task Force Carolina moving out of the Carolinas, the Task Force was renamed STARFLEET TASK FORCE 31.

On March 15, 2018, after heated debate with issues in STARFLEET’s SFSO, the USS Panther’s assigned MACO unit left SFSO and joined with the Task Force 31 MACOs. Over the next few years, the chapter continued with her activities and projects until 21 December 2021 when Command Lance Dyl decided it was time to launch a new chapter from the USS Panther called the USS Templar. With a vacancy in the First Officers position, Captain Condry appointed Commander Bethany Fernandes as the new First Officer.

Things began to turn sour with STARFLEET because of sever issues of none-tax filings, the mismanagement of funds leading up to one of the canceled ICs, multiple hacks of the organizations bank accounts and other issues.

On August 11, 2022, members began calling for the USS Panther to leave STARFLEET and concentrate on her affiliation with Task Force 31. A motion to call a vote on the issue to take place on August 20, 2022.

THE FUTURE?

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