posted
Dont know if it has been asked or answered but when the Enterprise-D was lost what ship became the flagship during the time between the loss of the E-d and the commissioning of the Enterprise-E? Any ideas speculations?
-------------------- "Who cares if we bomb a few hospitals, it just means we got them a second time" Warrant Officer Robert Clift, CVN-71 OEF
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
The Defiant was made flagship, as confirmed by dialogue in the 3rd season episode "Defiant". I forget the exact dialogue, but it's right after Sisko & Odo tell Dukat about Riker's stealing of the ship. Dukat's line is something along the lines of, "...how poorly secured you keep your flagship is your business, until it threatens ours!"
So what reason do we have to think that "flagship" is an official designation of any sort in Starfleet, and not just slang for "cool new ship that gets sent on all the sexiest missions and attracts the most attention from the press?"
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posted
I dont recall anything about the Defiant ever being the Flagship.
Besides, it could have been the flagship of that particular fleet (whereas the Enterprise is supposedly the Flagship of all creation or some shit).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
That's absolutely forbidden here. Get serious. Now. I mean it.
BTW, where do we learn that the E-E would be a flagship of any kind? I'd have expected the issue to arise in "First Contact" already, with everybody griping how the ship was being kept on the sidelines.
The confirmed flagships Enterprise (UFP or otherwise) so far number exactly one: the E-D. An argument could be made for NX-01, of course, but all the rest seem like regular grunts, box 47 in row 19 of column 23 in the organization chart.
posted
Kirk's ship should have been hauled away as garbage...
Just thought I'd say that.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
I think that in "Star Trek", the term flagship doesn't mean "command ship" in the usual naval sense, but in a way more like today's commercial "flagship product". After all, there were several cases in TNG where there was a fleet of ships gathered, and the Admiral in charge was not commanding from the Enterprise. ("Descent, Part I" is the example that first comes to mind; Nechayev was hanging out on another ship -- probably so that she didn't get dragged along to the Borg planet, of course, but we still need to justify it.)
Therefore, I think that the "flagship" is more of a ceremonial role, the kind of ship that's sent out for missions of state and high importance, among other things. Sort of like Air Force One, only without being tied so closely to the Federation President.
Based on that logic, I find it quite reasonable that there was no flagship in Starfleet for certain periods of time. Heck, maybe the designation of "flagship" in the TNG sense was created by Starfleet specifically for the Enterprise-D when it was launched, to try to make it more "special" for the public, especially considering the lineage of its name.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
I think (in TNG) that "Flagship" is a ceremonial honorific for diplomatic use- it's also the ship the "best of the best" wait in line to serve on.
Probably also why guys like Geordi and Riker had several postings prior to Enterprise but stuck around once they got there. Nothing has more prestige....and you can always hope Picard gets killed or something to free up the center seat.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Well in todays navy the flagship is the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67, its the ship that represents the navy at Fleet Week in Boston every year. Its a showboat it goes all over the place
-------------------- "Who cares if we bomb a few hospitals, it just means we got them a second time" Warrant Officer Robert Clift, CVN-71 OEF
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-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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quote:Originally posted by Intruder1701: Well in todays navy the flagship is the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67, its the ship that represents the navy at Fleet Week in Boston every year. Its a showboat it goes all over the place
Actually....it is an older, somewhat worn down, carrier that has trouble making it as an active ship in the fleet. So it gets used as a show the flag ship.
The Navy has a history of using some of its less deployable assets in this way as it serves a purpose, but keeps the more functional ones out where they are needed. The USS Nautilus was another example. It was never 100% capable as a fast attack, from what I hear. But it was a great PR platform.
There are three (I think?) dedicated Navy command and control ships that would have the Admiral aboard. There are old converted amphib's with only self defense capability. In trek terms this seems a good role for the second rate ships, like the Excelsiors that we see performing the role.
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Registered: Oct 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Toadkiller: There are three (I think?) dedicated Navy command and control ships that would have the Admiral aboard.
Four; Blue Ridge, Mount Whitney, Coronado and La Salle. Most carriers also have flagship facilities.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I'm kinda surprised that the Navy still has dedicated command ships; the entire idea of a fleet engagement is pretty much obsolete these days; besides, considering the amount of real-time communication available to today's military, the admiral could probably command from just about anywhere in the world...
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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