In the beginning, a group of Star Trek fans wanted to start a Belfast chapter.  After attending meetings in Dublin, they supported the dream of the new club with the support of the Cuchulain chapter.

Before it could begin, the name for the ship had to be chosen.  There was a big discussion with the local SciFi group, The Other Ones, at the time.

Many suggestions were made and put forward, but none sounded right.  The first CO was talking about the situation with his father when there was a mention of HMS Caroline, the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland still on service, sitting in a dry dock in Belfast.

Finally, the name was right, and the club began to take shape and become a full-fledged idea in reality.  The class of ship, Akira, was chosen from the 1988 movie of the same name.

The ship was officially launched in August 2014 before becoming fully commissioned in October 2016.