Nothing very exciting. First the Saratoga and the Melbourne attack, Melbourne's saucer is destroyed and Saratoga manages to launch a few lifeboats, and then explodes. In the meantime the Yamaguchi and the Bellerephon are also attacking the cube. And somehow the Bonestell is involved too. And a nameless Nebula variant.
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
Which is the ship that there's confusion over whether it's an Excelsior or a Nebula, and why?
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
It's the one that gets cut up by the Borg beam in this photoset, AND the distant one that hovers gutted in the background in the final photo of the set, to the upper right.
Reputedly, both these models (the first an Excelsior, the second a Galaxy kitbash of a design that would later be refined and called the Nebula class) were labeled "USS Melbourne NCC-62043". The Nebula-like ship got this registry for "BoBW", but when a more detailed model was needed for "Emissary", the name and number were applied on an Excelsior.
As these photos nicely show, it is impossible to read the names or numbers on EITHER of the ships by watching the episode(s). By adjusting brightness on the Excelsior pics, one can bring out the lettering - but it still isn't easy.
Dialogue in "Emissary" doesn't suggest the presence of a starship named Melbourne. Dialogue in "BoBW" suggests that a ship named Melbourne is one of the wrecks on the viewscreen as Shelby and Riker watch the scene of carnage - and that viewscreen shows one Nebula model, but no Excelsior models.
Personally, I am ready to say that the Excelsior wasn't a Melbourne at all. If even the DVD cannot reveal the name and registry, then the ship for practical purposes was of unknown name and registry. Much like all those Excelsiors that appeared alongside the E-D... If we relied on backstage info on their identities, we'd find out they were all named Excelsior, or Hood, or whatever was printed on the model at the time!
The evidence for the identity of the other supposed Melbourne is even flimsier. Yet if we use as the starting point the idea that a Melbourne did exist (as dialogue confirms), and that the registry is correct (and since many registries we believe in are "made up" for Okudagrams only, we need not really care about the origins here), then a Nebula-like ship is a likelier candidate than an Excelsior.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by SoundEffect (Member # 926) on :
I find it hard to believe that the DVD is of inferior quality to a good copy of Emmissary on VHS. I'll see if I can get a screenshot of the Melbourne. It's plain as day on VHS.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:The evidence for the identity of the other supposed Melbourne is even flimsier.
Why? We have screenshots of the damaged Nebula-model with readable name and registry and a desktop model.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
neither visible onscreen
Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
quote:Originally posted by CaptainMike: neither visible onscreen
Doesn't matter.
Posted by Fleet-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on :
I just rewatched the Season 4 TNG episode "The Wounded" and noticed that inside Captain Maxwell's Ready Room is the Nebula Class study model that Okuda didn't blow up... the same model that is shown in Parallels.
Wait... no back stage info about the episode?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Hmm... looking at this screenshot of the Yamaguchi, it's eminently clear that either there's no inset into the deflector dish at all, or else that inset is colored blue like the rest of the dish.
It *does" have the red impulse engine, though. Posted by SoundEffect (Member # 926) on :
Hmm... looking at this screenshot of the Yamaguchi, it's eminently clear that either there's no inset into the deflector dish at all, or else that inset is colored blue like the rest of the dish.
It *does" have the red impulse engine, though.
It's clear that the Yamaguchi in that shot is blurry, that's all I gather. We have a plethora of photos of the studio miniature of Yamaguchi and it does in fact have an inset in the deflector.
Since I don't have any of the DVDs, I can't do this myself, but one of you guys could try this. Start at the point where the Excelsior Class Melbourne is already destroyed and play the scene backwards from that point at normal speed if possible. You may find it easier to read the name and registry on the hull. I actually got the number off the hull before I saw the entry in the Encyclopedia, so for me the confirmation was the other way around.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
What is the nameless nebula variant?? I thought the ship seen out the escape-pod window was a wrecked Connie saucer?
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim:
quote:Originally posted by CaptainMike: neither visible onscreen
Doesn't matter.
we've disregarded behind the scenes data that contradicts visible filmed canon before, you know.. the Melbourne was plainly visible as an Excelsior, its registry was clear, even on VHS. The Nebula never came close to being readable or identifiable as being named Melbourne
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
My public face is in line with the official party line that the Mebourne is an Excelsior, but I still maintain in private that it's a Nebula, and hope that one day the truth will out.
--Jonah
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
The "official" stance at THE website doesn't give a definite class identification to the Melbourne, however:
quote:A starship among the first of the four in the U.S.S. Saratoga's group at the Battle of Wolf 359 to be locked on by the Borg and put out of commission: the enemy's cutting beam destroyed the port side of its primary hull and was one of 39 vessel casualties there in 2367. It was stationed in 2364 at Starbase 74 and was in range when the Bynars hijacked the Galaxy-class Enterprise, but could not respond due to maintenance adjustments in progress. In late 2366, Commander William Riker was offered its command but declined in favor of remaining as first officer on board the Galaxy-class U.S.S. Enterprise. The Melbourne was named for the Australian city on Earth.
The description of its destruction quite clearly represents the 'Excelsior-class Melbourne theory'/scene viewed in "Emissary".
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
However, that site also says:
quote:Intrepid, U.S.S. (NCC-38907)
Excelsior-class Federation starship, registry no. NCC-38907. On Stardate 23859.7 (2346), the Intrepid was the first ship from Starfleet on the scene after the Romulan massacre at the Klingon outpost Khitomer. A warp engineer, Sergey Rozhenko, adopted the lone survivor, 6-year-old Worf.
In 2375, while infiltrating Species 8472's Terrasphere 8 in the Delta Quadrant, Commander Chakotay of the U.S.S. Voyager claimed to have just arrived from a three-year tour on the Intrepid. The creature posing as groundskeeper Boothby noted that the Intrepid was patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone at the time. This, though, was a contrived scenario in 8472's training simulation of the Federation. (In the Flesh)
This is obviously complete nonsense, as we have known that there was an Intrepid Class USS Intrepid for 8 years. The fact that Nemesis has given us its registry is just icing on the cake.
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