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» Flare Sci-Fi Forums » Star Trek » Starships & Technology » Class of the Xhosa (Page 1)

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Author Topic: Class of the Xhosa
Timo
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In the ongoing struggle against misconceptions perpetuated by the Encyclopedias, here's a question:

In which episode and in what context was the freighter Xhosa, captained by Kasidy Yates, identified as an Antares class vessel? Or was it so identified at all?

I'm rather sure the name Antares was not used in "Way of the Warrior" or "For the Cause", which featured this ship in a prominent role. But I also think I did hear the name uttered somewhere. Am I imagining things?

Timo Saloniemi

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Hobbes
 Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat 
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Looking at my Antares-class page I have this entry for the Xhosa.

SS Xhosa NAR-
Small cargo freighter owned by Petarian interests. In 2372, commanded by Kasidy Yates, the Xhosa was intercepted by the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, the IKS M'Char.
Xhosa is pronounced 'Zosha.' The exterior of the Xhosa was a re-use of Batris ("Heart of Glory" - TNG). The bridge interior, seen in "For the Cause" - DS9, had a control panel and instrument designs that were closely based to the panels designed for the original USS Enterprise bridge.
"Way of the Warrior" - DS9.


That's basically what I got from the ST:Encyclopedia. I get the feeling though at the DS9 creative staff wanted to show it was Federation in origin since it has TOS Enterprise style computers. And I also know that the Antares-class issue is a big mess which I try to avoid cause it gives me a headache trying to figure it all out.


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This post sponsered in part by the Federation Starship Datalink

[This message has been edited by Hobbes (edited October 16, 2000).]


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Bernd
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I too seem to remember that Kasidy's ship was given some class designation in some episode. I suspect that whoever wrote the dialog might have read about Okuda's idea of the alleged Talarian-Antares and might have thought that the Xhosa should be of the same class.

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Harry
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ANTARES MAYHEM!! AARRRGGH!!!

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Saltah'na
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Well, where does the name Xhosa come from?

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grb
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The Xhosa were a tribe in southern Africa, I believe. They were defeated by the Zulu, after which the Zulu were taken over by Dutch settlers, after which the Dutch were taken over by English settlers. The new government set up the apartheid regime that lasted until 1990.

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TSN
I'm... from Earth.
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And it isn't pronounced "zo-sa", as I recall. The "xh" is actually some sort of odd clicking sound that only exists in the Xhosa language.

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Timo
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Try saying "Door-sah!" and sucking instead of blowing on the D... Kind of like the clip-clop sound you make to imitate a horse's hooves on pavement, just a tad softer.

I'm not sure if I ever got it right, but at least that's the kind of pronunciation I was taught in a choir project once.

Timo Saloniemi


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AndrewR
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Dosa?? Like in "MANDOZA!!!!!!!!!!!" exclaimed by McBain aka Ranier Wolfcastle on The Simpsons.

I heard that the African people known as the Xhosa, were actually a 'tribe' who had a belief that their ancestors would rise up and defeat the British who were opressing/controlling them at the time. They put so much belief in this "prophecy" that they destroyed all their food... They later died from starvation.

Well that was one of those "factoids" they provided as they went to the ad break on the History Channel on a show about Prophecies.

Andrew

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But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan


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Timo
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I believe that the Xhosa and the Zulu were mostly language groups instead of specific tribes, and that both language families survive to this day in RSA, along with a dozen other official language groups. More than one tribe or kingdom would have spoken IsiXhosa or IsiZulu during the course of the history, and the current "Zulu tribe" mightn't be such a unified whole at all if not for the political benefits of claiming that it is a single tribe.

Timo Saloniemi


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Timo
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This just in from Okuda: the Xhosa apparently had a dedication plaque, done in the TOS style. It read something like "SS Xhosa, Antares class, Copernicus Shipyards", no launch date, no list of fake Starfleet bigwig names, no indication of this being a Starfleet dedication plaque. The intention was to pay homage to the ship of "Charlie X" in all the interior details, the TOS style consoles and the plaque included.

So if we accept that as canon, we might as well bunch up the Antares from "Charlie X", the Hermes from "Redemption" and the Norkova from "Passenger" with this ship as the "Federation Antares class".

Okuda admits that this usage doesn't fit with the other two canonical uses of the expression "Antares class" - probably these should be considered "Alien Antares classes". Perhaps Bajorans spell it "Am'taeras" and Romulans "N'taaris", and the shared pronunciation is a coincidence?

Timo Saloniemi


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Shik
There's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait
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Or perhpas it's like Masao's Bison-class (it IS the Bison-class I'm thinking of, right?) where no 2 units were ever identical.

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Masao
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Geez, don't pull my poor ships into this! The belief that they were never identical was just an advertizing boast by the maker to emphasize that the ships could be customized on demand. The basic hull components were used in all ships but could be added or subtracted to make ship of different of different lengths. Maybe I should have named the class "Antares" just for fun?

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AndrewR
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Well I guess seeing as the same position that had "Starship Class" on the Enterprise says "Antares Class" on the Xhosa... means that Antares class isn't like Constitution Class like the Enterprise was - its a whole sort of superclass... that may apply to Cargo vessels!?!

Andrew

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"I threw bitter tears at the ocean
But all that came back was the tide..." 'I Will Not Forget You' Sarah McLachlan


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Sol System
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That's not a bad idea. Perhaps, in the pre-to-early Federation era, freighters were refered to based on their range. Hence, an Antares class could get from here to Antares comfortably, and so on. The custom became a tradition, and here we are today; two ships may be Antares "class", and that designation might say something quite meaningful about their capabilities, without having anything to do with who built the vessel.

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