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Posted by Pro. Portside on :

I do not know if this has been talked about here or not but does any one know if the Oberth, olympic, and those miranda class varants have torpedo launchers? On the Mirandas the launchers where in the suspended above the ship but when that pod was removed and the several difrent "sensor? weapons?" add ons glued on the ship I can not id a torpedo launcher? The same thing with the Oberths and Olympic classes. Yes the only olympic to be seen on screen was a medical ship but the ship could be used for other science type missions (study a planet or two).

My question is does these ships have torpedo launchers or am I overlooking them?

after all they should have them to launch any probs. or are they tossing them out a shuttle or cargo bay?

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Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :

Maybe, science ships probably need torpedo launchers for the probes. The Miranda varient (USS Lantree) was a transport so why need torpedo launchers?

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Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :

There appears to be a torp launcher at the aft end of the oberth's secondary hull.

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Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :

Well we know Sisko's Saratoga had torp launchers. The Vulcan captain had said, "Load all torpedo bays. Ready phasers." My guess is that since the Saratoga was a podless Miranda, the lauchers were relocated, possibly to those two forward projections on the upper saucer. As for the aft launchers, I have no idea. But since the Saratoga could be fitted that way, all podless Mirandas could be as well including the Lantree. On the Oberths, I believe they could be located in a space in the deck-like level under the saucer.

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Bart: Ohhh, I see... you HATE him, so you gave him to the church.
Groundskeeper Willy: Aye. I also 'ate the mess he left on me rug. [Bart stares.] Ya heard me!

Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :

That space at the aft of the Oberth sec hull looks more like a deflector dish. Why it would have an aft facing one is beyond me, but it could be configured for other applications.

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

I can see why an aft-facing launcher would be more sorely needed than a forward-facing one. You could sow mines or comm relays from an aft-facing tube. In a battle, you could use it when you run away from the enemy (the smart move with a ship that small).

I don't really see a need for torp tubes in science vessels, though. These ships are supposed to do their probing by themselves, by going to the source of the information. Probes are a half-measure for gathering info when you are in a big ship that can't stop to take a closer look.

In cases where an unmanned probe is necessary because of a risk posed by the target environment, I don't see any reason why the probe should be launched at warp speeds. Surely these regions of danger can't be so large as to require warp travel to transit? Or if they are, a probe of special design is probably needed, one with self-sustaining warp engines and long endurance.

The Saratoga of "Emissary" was a mess. Phasers coming out from the bottom vertex of the saucer instead of the ball turrets. Torpedo bays but no visible tubes. Decks 1-4 somewhere in the lower hull (unless the lower hull hits were shown first, and then the damage report about decks 1-4 referred to a subsequent second hit we did not see). I'd be willing to say that the ship only had aft tubes: those could be more easily "concealed" than forward ones, and wouldn't the ship have fired the damn torps if there had been a forward-facing launcher?

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by Michael Dracon (Member # 4) on :

Actually, the phasers came from the right location, see 'Sacrifice of Angels' for reference.

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Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :

Let's not forget the Nova-class, the most heavily armed science ship. Click here. In the pic linked here I count 11 phaser arrays and 2 forward torpedo launchers. There also might be an aft launcher I can't see.

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[This message has been edited by Hobbes (edited October 07, 2000).]

Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :

Altair, Timo was talking about the Saratoga, not the Miranda from SoA.

Posted by Pro. Portside on :

I would like to thank yall for the replies so far. Now on with what I got to say

I think that at lest one launchers should be on a science ship due to the fact that it is a good idea to be able to send out a probe as needed.

OBerth: I will be taking a look at that aft section again. but if truth be toled I HATE the OBerths Never have like them never will. but that is another topic.

Olimpic:Ok gess what I need the most is one or two Good clear pics of them. and as mainly med. ships they don't need the launchers

Mirands: those things on the dorsal section of the ships hull on eather side of the brige where my first choise as lunches. but then As they do not seen to serve that function on the E-A I cast them aside. but then who knows.

Nova: you better bleve they are armed that designed was modified from a graphic first used in the DS9TM as the Defiant pathfinder. the Nova's secondaty deflector dish replaced two torpedo launchers and the port and starbord launchers located on the dorsal area of the primary hull where replaced by sensor platforms. Other than that not much was changed that I can think of.

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Tribbles and warp cores dont mix

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Well, maybe Ransom's crew 'refitted' the Nova, after they found themselves stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

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Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

About the Oberth not needing an aft launcher, the sole purpose of it is not necessarily to eject a probe when not capable to examine the target firsthand.
It can also be good to eject a probe that stays with an anomaly/object and sends back information as the mothership goes on with it's route and agenda.

Or perhaps, if it is a reconnaissance/scout ship, to eject a beacon that guides coming friendly ships or ward them off for some reason.

I've always wondered why probes never got launched whenever the E-D or Voyager ran across a planet with to o thick atmosphere or too much magnetic/electric distortion. They always send a shuttle wich gets close to torn to pieces almost every time.

Now, a probe could fly down and check the place out and then come back. Or is it too weak? I mean, if a torpedo can penetrate the atmosphere without burning up...
I thought that the nice probe that was the object of the Voyager/Malon Spacerace couldn't leave the atmosphere due to damage to it's hull/propulsion systems.. Couldn't it have escaped otherwise?

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Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :

I know Sternbach used the Pathfinder as the basis for the Nova-class. Also, the two large launchers were removed, but there are smaller ones on each side of the aux. deflector.

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Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

Yes, and damn fine one's too!

It's such a pity, for all the hope we put in the Nova-class, that they made a science-ship out of it. It could easily have been a fast destroyer, of course damaged enough for Voyager to have a sporting chance. When I look at the design it screams AZZKIKR...
It even has spoilers on the nacelles, for crying out very loud!!!

What I haven't found out is from where the Equinox's aft launcher fired at Voyager??? I freeze-framed but that didn't seem to help.

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Not to mention that probes can go places starships can't. You can launch a probe deep into the atmosphere of a gas giant or into a star, places where most captains aren't eager to visit personally.

In other words, you can send probes on suicidal missions to recover data that is difficult to get otherwise.

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Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

But you don't need a torpedo launcher to send those probes on their way. You can just shove them out of the nearest airlock; or launch them from a dedicated rack that comes so much cheaper than a torp launcher, since it omits all the stupid acceleration coils and reactant loaders and other expensive things.

About the Nova: I guess torp launcher technology has become cheaper and more compact since the TOS or even TNG era, so that nowadays even shuttles can have tiny torp tubes. Thus, a 2370s science vessel could carry multiple tubes as a "nice to have and costs nothing even thoguh we don't really need it" extra feature, while a 2350s or 2270s science ship could never have hoped to accommodate a torp launcher.

If 2370s shuttles can have torp launchers, then there is no reason not to have them aboard just about every dinky little tug, garbage barge or maintenance drone. Heck, I expect to see torp launchers on spacesuits soon enough. It's just that refitting them into those older vessels that were built when torp launchers were big and expensive might not be a high priority for Starfleet.

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

I guess I'm saying that an Oberth might indeed have a launcher, dedicated to launching probes and not torpedoes, with none of the high-end options available to a torpedo launcher, and yet be rather indistinguishable from a torpedo launcher.

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :

quote:
But you don't need a torpedo launcher to send those probes on their way.

Well, I think you *do* need one. Most of the probes are especially designed to go at warp speed, in particular the ones based on the photontorp itself.

I also think most of the ships are equipped with tubes, maybe because they're cheap, or maybe because it's regarded standard.

As for the aft-deflector on the Oberth: sensors are usually boosted by navdefs, and I guess the Oberth's got a lot of sensor equipement on board. Why aft?
I don't know..

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