This is topic Starship Spotter: Errors And Corrections in forum Starships & Technology at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.


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Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
 
I figured I should just put this in a new post instead of putting it in the existing once. After reading thoroughly through the book today, I'd like to point out some inconsistances and stuff that I think we need to address.

1) Constitution Class apparently was launched in 2245, same year as Enterprise. For those of you who believe registries are chronological, this screws with things.

2) Only 2 starships of the class had been lost by 2270. Unfortunatly we know Constellation, Defiant, and Intrepid were all confirmed as lost.

3) Apparently the Enterprise only had 2 phasers, stuck in a single bank. Now, if I remember correctly, weren't there other phaser banks stuck elsewhere on the ship?

4) According to the book, the Constitution Class entered refit in 2270 and was returned to service in 2273. Unfortunatly, this goes against Decker's comment in TMP that the ship had only been in refit for a year and a half. Book also claims the events of TMP took place in 2273 as well.

5) The book claims that before the USS Miranda was launched, a old class of frigate was refitted to be similar in design to the Miranda Class. Could this possibly be a reference to the Soyuz Class?

6) In the Nova Class section, the book claims that the Oberth class was first commissioned in 2290. Unfortunatly, this date is utterly impossible since the events of Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (which featured the Oberth Class USS Grissom) as well as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Which featured the Oberth Class USS Copernicus) both happened before 2290.

7) Commissioning date of Akira class put at 2368, which jives with those who believe registries are chrnological.

8) At the end of the Defiant section, it says the following line: "Another Defiant-class vessel, the U.S.S. Sao Paulo, was assigned to Deep Space 9 as a replacement. A special dispensation was made by Starfleet Command for the ship to be renamed Defiant, and to retain its original registry number." Now, does this mean it keeps the DEFIANT'S registry number or the SAO PAULO'S registry number?

9) Apparently the Sovereign Class has 3 torpedo launchers, even though the studio model had 5, and then we have the mysterious "6th launcher" in Insurrection.

10) The Intrepid class page seems to repeat the backstory that 4 Intrepid Class starships were launched, and Voyager was the 2nd.

11) Obviously someone didn't look very well at the Prometheus model. They claim the ship has 4 primary nacelle and 1 back-up nacelle (doh!)

12) Launch date of Prometheus is 2374, and it also has the NX-59650 registry. Again, another jive for people who like chronological registries.

I didn't really read over the Alien ship section, so I have no comment there.
 


Posted by Phelps (Member # 713) on :
 
4) A recent VOY episode set Kirk's mission between 2265 and 2270, so moving the movie to 2273 makes sense if we assume Kirk came back in late 2270.

8) Probably the Defiant's registry number, since Okuda confirmed that the registry remained the same even on the Okudagrams.

11) The nacelle could serve as a backup also if the others are damaged.

My complaints:

13) The Defiant being assigned to DS9 in late 2371, when it's in fact early 2371.

14) The Defiant having only two quantum/photon launchers, when we know from numerous episodes that it had at least one aft launcher as well, and at least one forward probe launcher in the nose. I believe they also failed to include the beam-phasers seen in "Shattered Mirror", "Paradise Lost", and "Message in a Bottle."
 


Posted by PopMaze (Member # 302) on :
 
quote:
11) The nacelle could serve as a backup also if the others are damaged.

The Prometheus has four main nacelles and TWO additional nacelles to the saucer that are extended and activated during multi-vector assault mode.
 


Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
 
We know that. I'm thinking that this particular explanation could be used for the ship's primary (docked) configuration, in which the fifth nacelle could be used as a backup in case one of the others fails.

Mark
 


Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
 
quote:
2) Only 2 starships of the class had been lost by 2270. Unfortunatly we know Constellation, Defiant, and Intrepid were all confirmed as lost.

No error. There's no onscreen evidence that the Intrepid was a Constitution class vessel.
 


Posted by Ryan McReynolds (Member # 28) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by The359:
4) According to the book, the Constitution Class entered refit in 2270 and was returned to service in 2273. Unfortunatly, this goes against Decker's comment in TMP that the ship had only been in refit for a year and a half. Book also claims the events of TMP took place in 2273 as well.

As Phelps mentioned, "Q2" (VGR) established that the five-year mission ended in 2270, not Okuda's conjectural 2269. While the Enterprise refit only took eighteen months, Kirk was behind a desk for two and a half years, as he told Scotty. And later, Decker said that Kirk hadn't "logged a single star-hour in two and a half years." As such, even if the five-year mission ended in January 2270, the earliest that The Motion Picture could be set is July 2272. Early 2273 is a perfectly logical choice if the ship returned in the middle of the year.

Interestingly, I noticed that the current issue of The Magazine includes the "Q2" date for the end of the mission, but strangely keeps The Motion Picture in 2271.

quote:
Originally posted by The359:
5) The book claims that before the USS Miranda was launched, a old class of frigate was refitted to be similar in design to the Miranda Class. Could this possibly be a reference to the Soyuz Class?

The tech specs were mostly written by Alex Rosenzweig, collaborator on the Avenger blueprints (and occasional Flare poster). It is almost certainly a reference to the Surya and/or Coventry classes from Ships of the Star Fleet, naturally. Incidentally, all of the names for the systems (RIM-12 phasers and so on) are taken or extrapolated from that book.

quote:
Originally posted by The359:
8) At the end of the Defiant section, it says the following line: "Another Defiant-class vessel, the U.S.S. Sao Paulo, was assigned to Deep Space 9 as a replacement. A special dispensation was made by Starfleet Command for the ship to be renamed Defiant, and to retain its original registry number." Now, does this mean it keeps the DEFIANT'S registry number or the SAO PAULO'S registry number?

According to Alex, this means that it keeps the Sao Paulo's number and the reused visual effects in "What You Leave Behind" were nothing more significant than reused visual effects.

[ November 10, 2001: Message edited by: Ryan McReynolds ]


 
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
 
However, there were *new* renders in WYLB which eplicitly show the old NX-74205 reg in various places. I'm all for keeping the new number as well, and just believing that some wanker made a deliberate mistake when they were out repainting the hull.

Mark
 


Posted by Ryan McReynolds (Member # 28) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Nguyen:
However, there were *new* renders in WYLB which eplicitly show the old NX-74205 reg in various places.

Pretend I said "reused Lightwave models" then.
 


Posted by Phelps (Member # 713) on :
 
Okuda said the old registry was on the scenic art as well. To me, that's pretty conclusive.

[ November 10, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]


 
Posted by J (Member # 608) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by The359:
1) Constitution Class apparently was launched in 2245, same year as Enterprise. For those of you who believe registries are chronological, this screws with things.

How? I don't exactly understand.

quote:
6) In the Nova Class section, the book claims that the Oberth class was first commissioned in 2290. Unfortunatly, this date is utterly impossible since the events of Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (which featured the Oberth Class USS Grissom) as well as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Which featured the Oberth Class USS Copernicus) both happened before 2290.

Maybe it's supposed to be 2190? Works with my setup.

quote:
7) Commissioning date of Akira class put at 2368, which jives with those who believe registries are chrnological.

Unless you're using jive in a different manner. No it doesn't. The USS Galaxy is 7**** and that's 2353. There are some Akira Class ships that are 63***, which places it in the 2340's. A contemporary to the Nebula Class.

quote:
12) Launch date of Prometheus is 2374, and it also has the NX-59650 registry. Again, another jive for people who like chronological registries.

Like the arguement that has been well talked about recently... the Yamato is 71807 and not 1305-E, the Prometheus is 74913 not 59650. If you accept one, accept both. If you have another opinion--- don't try to convince me of it
 


Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
 
er, I meant doesn't jive.

And ships like the USS Eagle NCC-956, USS Constellation NCC-1017, and USS Republic NCC-1371, if registries are chronological, couldn't have been launched in 2245.
 


Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
I'm questioning the canonicity of Starship Spotter at this point. While the graphics, registries and sizes are cool and a real good glimpse into a lot of our discussions, the textual histories seem to be riddled with errors that would label it as non-canon.

(Side Note: I just read the passage in Sternbach & Okuda's TNG TM that dismisses other Treknical publications.. something about previous technical forms being printed with false information by Starfleet Intelligence to confuse threat intelligence.. I wonder if the Klingons were scared when they read Starfleet Intelligence's 'fabricated' list of 100+ Constitutions in Franz Joseph's Tech Manual.)
 


Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
 
Why would it ever be a canon book in the first place?

(a) Canon is onscreen only.

(b) The generally-accepted definition of semi-canon (the Encylopedia, Chronolgy, two Sternbachian Tech Manuals and possibly even Pathways, Mosaic and Legends of the Ferengi) tends to be based on the idea that within a reasonable doubt we can assume that were something to come up onscreen about topic X the writers would take their cues from either one of the books in question of from the authors of the books. We can pretty safely assume that Cardassian lifeboats are made of what DS9TM says they're made of because (as Ira Stephen Behr writes in his introduction) if a situation had come up where their composition was to be noted onscreen he would have bugged Sternbach. Marauder Mo action figures and Slug-o-Cola are examples of stuff from RHW and ISB's imaginations that eventually did get canonized onscreen.

Starship Spotter doesn't strike me as a book that would meet either of those requirements.

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: The_Tom ]


 
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
Well, maybe i should have said 'semi-canon'. I was under the assumption that the authors of Starship Spotter worked on the actual creation of the ships for the filmed productions, and therefore are a good source of previously unseen data that is true to the the technical details of the ships as created for the shows.

Since all of the semi-canon works are done by people who are on staff of the show, i thought this might be under that umbrella.

Not that I give a shit what is canon and what isnt.
 


Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
quote:
And ships like the USS Eagle NCC-956, USS Constellation NCC-1017, and USS Republic
NCC-1371, if registries are chronological, couldn't have been launched in 2245

If the Sao-Paulo can have special dispensation to be renamed and repainted and regestered as NX-74205 USS Defiant then why couldn't the above ships, the Eagle, the Constellation and the Republic? Why couldn't this have also happened to the other ships with wierd-ass registries like the NX-Prometheus (I don't like this one as much since there was a Prometheus about 2 years before it.)

Same with the Yamato - maybe special dispensation was given at one time to the Captain to allow his ship to be known by that comical name... it didn't last long.

But the others work above. Presumably new ships with old names/registries given by special dispensation.
 


Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
whats so comical about the Yamato's name?
 
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
 
I didn't know this book was already out. Need to get it.

Although I have to agree, it does screw up the issue of chronological registries regarding the Akira and Prometheus.

I've always believed the Akira came around the 2350s. I have 2365 on my site, which came from Bernd who's a good judge of info. And if I put only my own opinions in, then my site would be no better than Daystrom Tech. Institute.

Some fans I talk to refuse to believe their vaunted Akira-class, with it's 50 torpedo launchers, predates the Galaxy-class believing it's heresy to think their favorite ship could be old.

As far as the Prometheus mess, I've already said it before. NX-74913: Seen on MSD and Dedication Plaque. NX-59650: Seen on hull. Regardless both were on screen, granted the MSD and DP weren't as visible. But since Okuda made them, has some idea of what he's doing I'll take his registry over the NX-59650 made by Foundation Imaging.
 


Posted by Veers (Member # 661) on :
 
Well, I was going to post something on the Yamato registry again and how it relates to the Prometheus, but I won't.
 
Posted by Phelps (Member # 713) on :
 
Maybe Yamato has the same problem as the Prometheus -- two registries.

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]


 
Posted by Ryan McReynolds (Member # 28) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by CaptainMike:
Well, maybe i should have said 'semi-canon'. I was under the assumption that the authors of Starship Spotter worked on the actual creation of the ships for the filmed productions, and therefore are a good source of previously unseen data that is true to the the technical details of the ships as created for the shows.

Depends on your definition of "author." Most of the technical specs, for isntance, were created by Alex Rosenzweig, almost verbatim from the "Dockyard Review" material extrapolated from Ships of Star Fleet. Perhaps Mojo can help clear up just who did what.
 


Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Hobbes:
Some fans I talk to refuse to believe their vaunted Akira-class, with it's 50 torpedo launchers, predates the Galaxy-class believing it's heresy to think their favorite ship could be old.

I refuse to believe that the Akira has 15 torpedo tubes, period.
 


Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
 
Except that we know that the actual model of the ship DOES have 15 torpedo launchers, and since the model was seen on screen...

...well, you know the rest.
 


Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
 
And the E-nil didn't have ANY torp tubes on the model, the359! I say the Ds9 Tech Manual is correct in saying the Akira has two tubes, and I also say that this was a new design at the point of First Contact along with the Steamrunner, Saber, and Norway, designed to combat the Borg.

But then, nobody cares what I say...
 


Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
 
The Enterprise's photon torpedo launchers were behind covers...that's in the Starship Spotter too I believe.
 
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
 
Until I actually see the Akira fire all 15 of its tubes on screen, I'm going with the number 2, which we actually did see fire. IMO, the Akira had enough chances on screen to be shown blazing away with its ungodly large number of tubes, but it never does it. Why didn't it alpha strike the Borg cube, or the Prometheus, or those Warbirds? Same with the hypothetical "fighter bay", where are those fighters?

Smoke me a Jaeger, I'll be back for breakfast.
 


Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
m4n, etH 4kIra totzally fuckn rrawks!!!!!!1~ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 oh yeah,, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~ OLOLOLOLOLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111~~~ hX0RT HE PL4NNZT IT COULD OTTaLLY KICK LI3K bOTH thE ENTREPR1ZE OR DEFINT ASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1~~~~~ lolololololololollo itz f1ghttarz storngar thaN the bOrg!!!!!!!!!!!11~~ LOLOOLOLOLO!!!!!!!! i love star trak now that itz got the 733t akira c7asz Bloow1ng shit up aNd sHoting guys in th3 fAce aNd not those llame storIes about that human eqUation shit.

Translated into 'hacker' by The Dialectizer
 


Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
 
Referring back to the original list of potential errors: if the Sovereign has three launchers, then Mojo/Alex probably counts two adjoining tubes as one launcher. Using that logic, an Akira with 15 tubes might have something like four (one pod launcher with umpteen tubes, one bow launcher with four, and the sideways launchers) or two (the multitude of saucer tubes is actually counted as one integrated launcher).

However, then a Constitution refit would have one launcher, and a Miranda might have either one or two. Since nobody has come yelling "there are two tubes in a Constitution refit, not one!" I gather that this "system" was not adhered to, either.

I'd happily accept the Constellation, the Republic and the Eagle as ships not belonging to the Constitution class, since two of the three were never seen and the third was visibly (if only slightly) different from the Enterprise. I'm also happy with a 2273 TMP, but agree with the other original nits.

Timo Saloniemi
 


Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
In Court Martial, Kirk said the Republic was Constitution class when he supplied its registry number to the computer at his deposition.

Didnt he?
 


Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
 
Nope, not that I remember...
 
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
Someone have the episode? I'm pretty sure thats the way it was
 
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
 
I don't think we knew for sure what class the Enterprise was until (ugh) "Naked Now" in TNG.
 
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
 
Unless there was a Dedication Plaque put up for 'TVH' and im not sure any of the 1-3 movies had one. (but it probably did say 'Constitution-class' on Chekovs screen in ST:III , which was a scan of Franz' Tech Manual.
 
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
The only time the word "constitution" was mentioned in "Court Martial" is when Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law, says:

"I'd be delighted to, sir. Now that I've got something human to talk about. Rights, sir. Human rights. The bible. The Code of Hammurabi, and of Justinian. Magna Charta. The Constitution of the United States. Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies. The Statutes of Alpha Three. Gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights. Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel, the rights of cross-examination. But, most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him, a right to which my client has been denied."
[emphasis added]

Also, the only ship registry stated explicitly was by Kirk:

"United Starship Republic, number one-three-seven-one."

 
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
 
"Constitution-class" was not said in TOS at all. Never. Not once.

"I'd happily accept the Constellation, the Republic and the Eagle as ships not belonging to the Constitution class, since two of the three were never seen and the third was visibly (if only slightly) different from the Enterprise."

I dunno. The Constellation was pretty close. And considering that the Enterprise changed most of it's details several times an episode (Bridge size, nacelle caps, deflector size, those black bands on the top of the saucer that might or might not have been on the WNMHGB model), and not forgetting that the radically different (by comparison) refit and Enterprise-A were still Constitution-class, I don't think you could claim the Constellation to be different.

You could try. But I'd laugh in your face and call you smelly.
 




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