posted
A missing deflector is very convenient - now we can't tell if it was of the elderly Ambassador style or a more modern Galaxy/Nebula/New Orleans variety...
Any info on the saucer bottom?
Where did I hear the line "Among the things used were [...] Enterprise components that didn't come out of the mold quite right"? Was it in Nemecek's TNG Companion? I thought these referred to components of the E-nil or E-A, but apparently the parts that belonged to those ships were "quite right" and specifically designed as "damaged" for an earlier movie appearance. Perhaps Nemecek (?) referred to E-C and E-D components instead, and Greg Jein actually had a sub-par E-C hull component in his possession, with misshaped front and aft ends?
A 500m ship with three Galaxy nacelles is a dangerous challenger to the E-D for the title of the biggest and baddest. I have difficulty inventing a backstory for the ship that would prevent it from out-shining the Galaxy class and would explain its later absence. Perhaps these would be extreme-deep-space explorers, built in small numbers - but why would one be near Earth? Perhaps three nacelles were an experiment that failed - but why would a failure remain in service with all that armament and stuff? The ship doesn't look like an overarmed "dreadnought" or anything, either - not when compared to the Miarecki ships with lower NCCs and longer (if segmented) phaser strips.
Timo Saloniemi
[This message has been edited by Timo (edited July 03, 2000).]
posted
From what I've seen of the "Best of Both Worlds" screencaps, the Princeton looks like it has a circular saucer, not the Galaxy type. I thought before that it was another Excelsior Class prototype from Bill George, but it does look like the picture, even to the damage. If Greg Jein had access to the Enterprise-C molds or to the models that came out imperfect, then the Princeton might be an Enterprise-C that had the saucer face a different way with an add on Galaxy bridge and warp nacelles. The damage on the saucer could have been where the imperfections showed up.
------------------ Personal Ad # 74913
-I'm an 18 year old Filipino student in the Los Angeles area looking for a steady boyfriend to compensate for very healthy sexual appetite. Must be white, blond, and have blue eyes.
posted
That saucer could have been a prototype design for the Galaxy class. It does show an evolutionary step between the Ambassador or Galaxy classes in design. The slight oval shape and a rear shuttle bay.
------------------ It is better to walk the path of the devil than to be in the path of the devil. Though it still might not be the right path.
posted
But the Ambassador saucers already have a rear shuttlebay. It's just hard to see (I thought it wasn't there even after having seen the pictures on Bernd's Yamagochi/E-C comparison page - but the rolling door IS visible if you look closely enough).
Apparently, Starfleet in the 2330s-50s decided to see if the engine shape introduced for the New Orleanses and whatnot could be upscaled for heavy-duty work. They didn't upgrade the existing XXXXXL sized hull components too much for this experimental ship, but mainly used Ambassador hardware to cut costs. Their first attempt went a bit over the top, though, and the actual "production models" of Nebula and Galaxy classes were judged to require no more than two of the new engines.
But at least three ships of Niagara class apparently got built, so the ships couldn't be mere "X-planes" or prototypes. They probably filled a gap in Fleet strength (left by the rapid aging of the Ambassador class, or low Ambassador production numbers, or something) until the Nebulas started coming off the dockyards.
Or then they really are special-purpose ships, perhaps deep-space explorers - which, however, begs the question of why the Princeton and the Wellington would loiter anywhere near Earth.
posted
You don't come home for shore leave from a real deep-space mission (the kind that would set the ship apart from our regular aquaintances which visit Rigel or Deneb). Your kids may come home to get a burial or something.
No, I don't think the three-nacelled beasts really were specializing in long-range stuff. But what else can a ship with three oversized engines specialize in, then? It's not a mere prototype since three of them exist at least, it's not superheavily armed, it has no unrecognizable or extraneous components apart from the extra engine...
And if it is a regular non-specialized starship doing standard Enterprise stuff and visiting Earth now and then, then why the special engines? Especially since the similarly sized Ambassador made do with two smaller, older ones.
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Three words: Rapid Response Fleet.
Think about it: a medium-to-large-sized vessel...massively overpowered in terms of propulsion...medium-grade weapons....the only thing it COULD be is a RRV.
For those unaware with the "rapid response vessel" concpet, it's similar to Mastercom's "space control ship" idea, where a fast medium- or large-sized ship is quickly dispatched to a hotspot area to assess the situation, provide a Starfleet presence, & basically give interim support until the more capable multi-mission ships can arrive. Usually, RRVs are frigates or cruisers; these basic types have the variant sizes & speed needed to build a RRV off of.
In the past, I've theorized that the New Orleans-class might be a RRV & I built up my Bastille-class frigate along those lines as well. Potentially, the Niagara-class could be a cruiser-sized RRV, the higher end of the subtype.
------------------ "Do you know how much YOU'RE worth??.....2.5 million Woolongs. THAT'S your bounty. I SAID you were small fry..." --Spike Spiegel
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I intend to use the Niagara-class in my upcoming Story as a Tug-Tender and/or Troop-Transporter. For me, the ship looks like some kind of heavily overpowered ship, with a lot of strength....some kind of tractor. And i'm currently trying to built a modell of the Niagara-Class when i noticed something odd: where is the photon-torpedeo-launcher?
------------------ This is how i prefer the borg... in pieces!!! -- Janeway in Dark Frontier
posted
There could be a launcher or two flanking the deflector array (blasted apart by the Borg and in any case invisible from the angle of our one and only photograph). One could also squeeze a tube between the secondary and primary hulls even though there is no appreciable neck between them - after all, the Nebula class apparently has a launcher in its virtually nonexistent neck as well (as seen in First Contact).
The ship might be a two-naceller that hauls along a third, inert nacelle as a spare... But if I were hauling a spare, I'd sure dump it before going into a battle! For a tug, the ship seems overarmed and has a saucer seemingly far too big. I'd omit a saucer from a tug altogether...
posted
I think the Niagara class might be a prototype ship. Her saucer looks pre-Galaxy but pro-Ambassador class. Her secondary hull is a Ambassadro type. Her nacelles are clearly Galaxy type ones. I think the Niagara was built with a rptotype saucer during the 2330's to test out the Ambassador type components. Then later when she was finished she was put bacxk into dock. But in 2350's she was brought out again to test out the Galaxy type nacelles. That is why there are currently two Niagaras with 2 totally different numbers, one in the Ambassador class range and one close to the Galaxy class range.
The USS Princeton was reluanched from spacedock to help fight the Borg at Wolf 359. She did badly becuase she was not meant to fight but to be a prototype.
------------------ It is better to walk the path of the devil than to be in the path of the devil. Though it still might not be the right path.
posted
I like the idea of the design at first using Ambassador style engines. Those are sufficiently smaller to make the ship look palatable even if there are three of them.
Perhaps the original ship wouldn't have been just a prototype, then, but part of an operational class built in small numbers to accompany the Ambassador class. Perhaps only one vessel would have been converted into an engine testbed for the Galaxy engines.
But why would the registry of the ship change with the conversion? It wasn't even an NX registry, but a regular-service NCC one.
If the original Ambassador-like ships were just a slightly more powerful explorer class parallel to the Ambassadors, and served with distinction, Starfleet may have tried to build a new batch with newer engines to meet the same role. The new ships weren't experimental, nor complete failures, but they were *relative* failures nevertheless - and the failing wasn't understood until the first Nebulas were introduced and shown to be so much better with just two engines. By that time, Starfleet had already NCC'd the registry of the newbuild Princeton, though, and perhaps even built her a sister ship or two.
If the Niagara is a deep space exploration design, then the reason they would be near Earth could be because of refits. If they class is being refited as they finish their current missions it would also allow for ships within the same class having different nacelles among other features.
posted
The Niagara Class starships, from the available evidence in the TNG episodes, appear to be assigned to missions within the Federation. USS Wellington *2364 Computer refit at Starbase *2367 In Federation sector Was involved in incident mentioned in "Ensign Ro". Planet location unknown. USS Princeton *2367 Near Wolf 359
These ships began operations in the mid-24th century. The structural history of these ships is unknown as there is one known example, and this example is heavily damaged. There is no evidence that these ships did or didn't fought in the Dominion War. Considering the apparent age of this class, the possibility exists that the class did fight in the Dominion War.
On the side- The Dominion War battle scenes in my opinion were a wasted oppurtunity. With their budget, the people at Foundation Imaging could have created battles that featured modern starships in combat against Dominion warships. When the war began, I had hopes of seeing unknown classes in operation-the Apollo, the Bradbury, etc. The CGI artists for Babylon 5 did more with less money.
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