Well, we all know just how exact registries are... even though they are supposed to be chronological (some people disagree though).The problem is that the design style of the Akira/Steamrunner/Norway/Sabre is very different from what we had seen for old ships. The New Orleans, Cheyenne and Freedom classes whose designs are all canon look a lot like present-day Galaxies. An Elliptical saucer, squared-shaped escape pods and similar nacelles are common to all. They all seem to represent a design style being refined as the years go by.
The ships are all quite slick, with for the most part an engineering hull, rectangular engines with the warp exaust grill on the side running all the way to the back. They have a neck with a saucer which all look similar, with a round top with the bridge in the middle.
When you consider however that the Akira and the Steamrunner are supposed to be 20 years old, and that the Sabre and Norway aren't all that new either, and that they don't look like regular Starfleet Ships from the past, there's something that doesn't seem right.
The Akira and Steamrunner have the design style of the Sovereign. These alleged "old ships" have very different nacelles which are at an angle, triangular escape pods, a different deflector design, no shield grid on the hull, etc. They look like they're fresh out of the shipyard.
When you add in the Norway and the Sabre, all four ships have a saucer which is not round (well, the Akira is, but it has a bottom extension with the deflector and two connecting dorsal on top so it kind of ruins it).
Don't get me wrong, I like the new ships (except the Steamrunner. I thought the sketch in the book about the art of STG and STFC was in some way better. Heck, all the sketches of the STFC ships in that book look a lot like standard Starfleet design. Their engines had the grill on the sides like a Galaxy.) but we have to somehow rationalize their age.
Ok, my theory is that there always were a single major design group assigned to the ASDB. It would be divided in little teams working on separate ship assignment but each would carry the "design esthetics" of the group so most ships from the same era (like the Constitution) would look very similar. Their philosophy was probably "If it ain't broke, use it!"
Around the 2340's, an outside group began issuing new design ideas and was incorporated into the ASDB for it's innovative thinking. That group, instead of going for conservatism, prefered to try new ideas and hull configurations to move beyond what had been done until now and build more efficient ships. The old team didn't like the competition, so both team worked separatly, litteraly fighting for each ship contract and each one would carry on it's own design style.
Starfleet liked their idea, but since they were basically experimenting at the time, they prefered to issue their more important contracts (Galaxy, Nebula) to the old team. Less important contract were granted to the new guys (Steamrunner, Akira, Sabre, Norway, basically all the weird ones 
). Of course, over time, their work proved superior so the contract for the Sovereign was awarded to them (and since that seems to be the current design trend, we can assume the old team either disbanded or was incorporated in the new one). The End.
Whew! Alright everyone, I want feedback!
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-If you ask me, I think continuity is highly overrated...
*Brannon Braga*
-Let the Fates land where they may!
*Megatron - Beast Machines*
[This message has been edited by TerraZ (edited February 10, 2000).]
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