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In Star Trek TOS S1E18 - The Squire of Gothos - Kirk says:
Uhura, notify the Discovery on subspace radio.
This seemed unusually prescient given the current Star Trek series.
My question is: What is Kirk referring to when he says "Uhura, notify the Discovery on subspace radio"?
The Squire of Gothos" opens as the Enterprise travels through a "star desert" containing no stars.
KIRK: Something, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: Unusual, Captain. I'm now getting a sizable space-displacement reading.
KIRK: Can you verify that, Navigator?
DESALLE: No, sir. Forward sweeps are negative. Wait. Verified, sir. We must be in some sort of light warp or we'd have picked it up earlier.
KIRK: Put it on visual.
(A purple globe appears on the viewscreen)
DESALLE: Iron-silica body, planet sized, magnitude one E. We'll be passing close.
SPOCK: Inconceivable this body has gone unnoted on all our records.
KIRK: And yet, here it is. No time to investigate. Science stations, gather data for computer banks. Uhura, notify the discovery on subspace radio.
UHURA: Strong interference on subspace, Captain. The planet must be a natural radio source.
What Kirk says In his last line seems to be a condensed form of what he would have said if he were taking his time and being perfectly grammatical. Military and naval speech patterns are often very concise. Subordinates are expected to correctly fill in the blanks and understand their orders. The correct interpretation of Kirk's statement should be something like:
And yet, here it is. [We have] No time to investigate. [Spock, Order the] Science stations [to], gather data for computer banks. Uhura, notify [Starfleet command of] the discovery on subspace radio.
or:
And yet, here it is. [There is] No time to investigate. Science stations [are ordered to], gather data for computer banks. Uhura, notify [Starbase Twelve of] the discovery on subspace radio.
(Starbase Twelve was mentioned as their command base in "Space Seed").
In both reconstructions of Kirk's meaning, "the discovery" would be the strange new planet that Kirk ordered Uhura to to notify headquarters about, not the person, place, thing, or organization to be notified.
The show's official novelisation (based on an earlier version of the script) contains a very slightly different and altogether clearer version of the exchange.
So, Kirk thought, imagination must bestir itself, stretching the credible to include the incredible. There was a certain dryness in his retort. “But there it is, Mr. Spock, incredible though it be.” He swung around to face his bridge people. “We can’t stop to investigate now. All science stations will gather data for computer banks. Lieutenant Uhura, report the discovery of this planet on subspace radio.”
As you can see, it's not the USS Discovery they're communicating with, it's the discovery of the planet that they're communicating to Starfleet Command.
