A Federation starship whose apparent distress call reaches the Enterprise during the Capella IV mission of 2267, and which Scott chooses to ignore as a second Klingon trick.
The USS Carolina is heard of, but not seen, in the Original Series episode Friday's Child. While Kirk, Spock and McCoy are on Capella IV negotiating for mining rights, Scott takes the Enterprise out of orbit to answer a distress call from the freighter SS Dierdre, which claims to be under Klingon attack.
No freighter and no wreckage are found, and Scott realises the call was faked to draw the ship away. As he turns back, a second call comes in, this time naming the Carolina.
Scott refuses to be caught twice, quoting an old saying about being fooled once, and holds course for Capella IV, where a Klingon vessel is waiting to bar the way. The episode never settles whether a real Carolina was involved or whether the name was simply borrowed for the deception.