posted
I discovered something in that old TNG technical manual:
"...Galaxy-class is catergorized as an Explorer...in a classfication system that includes cruiser, cargo carrier, tanker, surveyor, scout...shuttles are catergorized as craft to distingusih them from larger ships...."
So, I guess we can use that classifcation system as at least semi-cannon. After all, we used to take that 12 galaxy starhsips sotry in the TNG manual so seriously.
But, if this the classification system, where would we pout the various starships in it? Here are a few examples:
Explorer: soverigns, galaxies, nebulas, akiras (?), etc.
Crusiers: excelsiors, steamrunners, mirandas (maybe too small), etc.
surveyor, which i think is kidna confusing: nebulas, akiras, norways (they have those long warp nacelles, so maybe they can go on long starmapping missions), etc.
scouts: intrepids, sabers/sabres, oberths (in Star trek 3, sulu referrred to the grissom as a scout-class vessel, thought this may be an older classfication)
cargo carriers and tankers would probaably be classes we've never seen before, that are ussually found deep within fedceration space.
I actually don;t think that this is a good classification system. Where do the research vessels like the nova-class go? Where would the defiant go? I dunno, just thought i should mention this.
------------------ "How many people does it take before it becomes wrong?"- Jean-Luc Picard
"Fortune Favors the Bold."- Benjamin Sisko
"And so, the warriors, the peacemakers, the helpers, the saviors, the forgotten, and the remembered, they all signed on that data padd and a new federation was born...."- Shannon London-Karkarsku, leader of the Unisist Movement
posted
*knocks Frank into a vat of molasses with a broom handle*
------------------ "But compared with Star Wars, Star Trek, for all its obnoxious spin-off "make it so" durability, is Hamlet and Lear alongside Saved by the Bell."
"Good old Liam as Qui-Gon Jinn, the hero in this film, is represented as fighting against the forces of greed. A Star Wars picture that preaches against greed is a little like Bill Clinton in the pulpit for a chastity-begins-at-home campaign."
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posted
This is not a complete list. The class designations escort, frigate, and runabout are missing. And the class designations have sub class designations (ex. Cruiser-Heavy, Medium, Light). There may be also other class designations.
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The First One
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed
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posted
I've always had a problem with this whole naval designations thing anyway. The whole basis of the New Orleans being a Frigate was one line of dialogue by Riker, he of the heinous "Yamato-E" error. Cruisers I don't mind, there are pleasure cruisers as well as war cruisers. But what is a Frigate? Can anyone define it? Hell, I couldn't tell you what a 20th-century one is, let alone a 23rd-century one!
Battleships, now: in "Yesterday's Enterprise" Picard calls the E-D a battleship, but in fact in that alternate timeline no way would they build a ship like the Galaxy-class. It's not a warship, and no amount of kicking ass in TNG and "SofA" can persuade anyone otherwise.
So, I'm with Frank on this one, apart from the Cruisers. . . which I think fit in nicely between the Explorers and Scouts. Ships like the Steamrunner fir this bill perfectly.
posted
The definition of a frigate has varied slightly over the centuries but has always been roughly the same: "the smallest ship capable of independent patrol".
This fits fine with the Starfleet usage to describe the New Orleans - smaller ships are either largely non-military (scouts, surveyors) or are intended to be part of a larger group (escorts, corvettes if they exist in SF).
Frigate fits in fine with the other Starfleet designations. It's destroyers that are questionable.
Star Trek was heavily influenced by the Horatio Hornblower books. These are set in the early 19th century. Sloops, at that time, were smaller, lighter armed, more manoeuvrable than frigates. They were often used for taking messages across the oceans, reconnaisance and operations in coastal waters where Frigates and ships of the line would run the risk of running aground. The nearest ship to these charcateristics in the 24th century Starfleet is the Intrepid class. Smaller than the New Orleans (a canonical Frigate), fast and manoeuvrable with good sensors.
And Sloop is a much more traditional naval term than scout so you should love this, eh Frank?
And no the Yesterday's Enterprise war had been dragging on for years by the time the Galaxy class entered service.
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