posted
The E-nil was the first FEDERATION Starship Enterprise. The Pre-E is the first starship NAMED Enterprise. It's not a Federation starship, despite being in the Earth Starfleet (which is apparently absorbed into the Federation when it gets founded.
posted
But then what starfleet does the pre-e belong to? not to spoil anyone or anything but the latest promo shows them to be under service of starfleet.
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Easy answer. The Enterprise (NX-01) is under the operation of the Earth Starfleet. The Enterprise (NCC-1701) will be under the operation of the Federation Starfleet.
In 2151, Earth is under one world government. She's been exploring the great unknown for a while now. She's on friendly terms with the planet Vulcan, but Vulcan is still somewhat leary of Earth. The founding of the United Federation of Planets is a good way off. Earth maintains a fleet of exploration ships and defense ships that operates under the direction of Starfleet. In other words, the Starfleet of 2151 is not the same Starfleet that we will come to know in TOS through Voyager.
Once the Federation is formed and Earth is named as the capital, the Earth Starfleet will be absorbed and modified into a service for all of the members of the Federation. At this point, the Earth Starfleet becomes the Federation Starfleet. Instead of exploring for and defending one planet, Starfleet explores for and defends several planets.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
So this "starfleet" is like Earth Force from babylon5 and has nothing to do with the starfleet that is said in the encyclopedia to have been founded in the same year as the federation?
posted
This just occured to me - does this mean that the Pre-E is fated to be destroyed by 2161? Or will the re-write things to call the E-nil the first Feredation Starship Enterprise constructed *expressly* for the Federation Starfleet? Now THERE's a poser...
posted
Comparing the Starfleet of Enterprise to EathForce in Babylon 5 is probably the best analogy.
Somehow, though, I doubt that the Enterprise would be destroyed prior to 2161. I think that she'll still be in service after that, but I think it will still be in some capacity that only serves Earth. I think it would take some time to fully organize an interplanetary military/exploration organization that would be to the complete satisfaction of all the members. Thus, the Federation Starfleet does exist in 2161, but it takes a while before she becomes the powerhouse that she will become.
During this time, the member planets will probably maintain their own planetary defense force just in case the Federation Starfleet doesn't do a good job (and to ease the minds of the citizens). After all, the Federation was more or less an experiment in a large interplanetary alliance with member contributing to the mutual good of themselves and the others. It would seem a prudent move to me. With the Earth Starfleet becoming the Federation Starfleet, a small portion of her ships and staff members may be retained as a Earth-only organization. Perhaps this will be called the United Earth Space Probe Agency?
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
posted
None of them, explicitly. But the "Nth starship to bear the name" bit on the registry plaques is a rather large implicit hint.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
In Trials & Tribble-ations, doesn’t Sisko tell those fellows from temporal investigations that “This was the first Enterprise,” referring of course, to NCC-1701?
-------------------- “My experience with Rick Berman is, you know, he does not understand what he's doing, he does not understand science fiction.” -- Andrew Probert
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Yep, but he didn't know then what Berman and Braga would be up to a couple of years later. Though theoretically, Dulmer and Lucsley should have been able to know, being temporal investigators!
-------------------- Lister: Don't give me the "Star Trek" crap! It's too early in the morning. - Red Dwarf "The Last Day"
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
To assist the illiterate viewers who don't have high-quality stop-motion VCRs for reading the dedication plaque, TPTB inserted some verbal references in TNG already. For example "Remember Me" has an explicit reference where Crusher asks if there could be multiple starships Enterprise, and the computer says that there have been five starships of that name, that the E-D is the fifth, and that the E-D is the only one in service at this time.
She never wondered why she was serving on the only ship in Starfleet with a "-D" registry? Didn't they tell her when she got her assignment on the Ent-D?